Fix: Warframe High CPU Usage

Digital Extremes did come up with a free-to-play looter shooter action role-playing game called ‘Warframe’ back in 2013 that brings the story-driven online gaming experience as a warrior and getting into the battle with your friends. It seems that some unexpected reasons are triggering the high CPU (processor) usage of up to 100% on the computer. Plenty of players have started reporting about the Warframe High CPU Usage issue on the Windows PC which becomes frustrating.

We all know that video games are graphics-intensive and can go through some issues with the system’s performance. But high levels of CPU usage on the machine can trigger several conflicts with the game launching or even gameplay issues on most low-end PCs. Sometimes your PC specification can become outdated which might also occur high CPU usage or bottleneck while the graphics and RAM usage are low. Meanwhile, an unstable version 22.2.2 is buggy enough to cause this issue majorly.

Fix: Warframe High CPU Usage

Luckily, downgrading the Warframe game back to v21.20.2 can be helpful enough for some Warframe players to avoid the high CPU usage issue. Now, if you’re also facing the same issue then make sure to follow this troubleshooting guide to resolve it. The chances are high that an outdated game patch version, corrupted or missing game files, an outdated CPU driver, incompatible system requirements, third-party background processes, etc can be possible reasons. So, without further ado, let’s get into it.

1. Reboot the PC

First of all, you can try rebooting the PC to ensure there is no issue with the temporary system glitch or cache data. Sometimes a normal restart of the system can resolve multiple issues with the system’s performance. As rebooting the PC doesn’t take too much time, you can try it out.

2. Check the System Requirements

It’s highly recommended to cross-check the system requirements of the Rust game to ensure there is no compatibility issue with the PC specification. Sometimes not running the game with the required specs might trouble you a lot with the smoother gaming experience. Both the minimum and recommended system requirements are mentioned below for your ease. If your PC specs don’t meet the requirements, just upgrade the specific hardware or software respectively.

MINIMUM:

• OS: Windows 7 64-Bit (32-bit not supported)
• Processor: Intel Core i7 860, Intel Core i5 750, or AMD FX-4100 (SSE 4.2 support required)
• Video: DirectX 11+ capable Graphics Card
• Memory: 4 GB RAM
• Storage: 50 GB available space
• Internet: Broadband Internet Connection Required

3. Run Steam as an Administrator

It’s also recommended to run the Steam launcher as an administrator on the PC by following the steps below to allow the User Account Control (UAC) permission. It eventually allows the system to run the game client and game application properly without any permission conflicts.

• Right-click on the Steam application on your PC.
• Select Properties > Click on the Compatibility tab.

• Click on the Run this program as an administrator checkbox to enable it.
• Once done, click on Apply, and then OK to save changes.

4. Update Warframe

Mostly an outdated game patch version might trouble you a lot with the errors. You can check for the game updates to the latest version to ensure there is no issue with downloading or installing the game patch. Make sure to follow the steps below to do so:

• Open the Steam client > Go to Library.
• Click on Warframe from the left pane.
• Now, Steam will automatically search for the available update.
• If there is an update available, click on Update.
• Wait for a couple of minutes to complete the update.
• Once done, close Steam, and reboot your PC to apply changes.

5. Verify the Integrity of the Game Files

Sometimes there might be an issue with the installed game files like corrupted or missing game files on the PC. It eventually causes game launching or slow download speed issues even if your internet speed is fast enough.

• Launch the Steam client > Click on Library.
• Right-click on Warframe from the list of installed games.
• Click on Properties > Go to the Local Files files.

• Click on Verify Integrity of Game Files.
• You’ll have to wait for the process until it gets completed.
• Once done, restart your computer.

6. Update the CPU Driver

You should always check and update the processor driver to the latest version to avoid potential bugs, glitches, and incompatibility issues. An outdated CPU driver might occur high CPU usage always while running video games which can trigger FPS drops.

• Press the Win+X keys to open the Quick Link Menu.
• Click on Device Manager from the list.
• Double-click on the Processors category to expand the list.
• Right-click on the specific chipset > Click on Update Driver.
• Click on Search automatically for drivers > It’ll check for the update.
• If there is an update available, the system will automatically install the update.
• Once done, reboot the PC to apply changes.

7. Close Background Tasks

Sometimes closing the background tasks which are not necessary for you to run always might help in boosting the system performance or specific app performance. Otherwise, third-party tasks can consume a lot of system resources in the background without notifying you.

• Press the Ctrl+Shift+Esc keys to open the Task Manager.
• Click on the Processes tab > Click on a particular task consuming higher resources.
• Now, click on End Task to close the same.
• Do the same steps for each unnecessary task individually.
• Once done, restart your PC to apply changes.

8. Adjust Graphics Settings in Graphics Software

You should also adjust the graphics settings in the graphics software manually to ensure there is no issue with the gameplay performance.

For Nvidia:

• Open Nvidia Control Panel.
• Click on Manage 3D Settings > Click on Program Settings.
• Select Warframe > Click on Monitor G-Sync.
• Choose the following options:
  • Maximum Pre-rendered frames: 2
  • Threaded optimization: On
  • Power Management: Prefer Maximum Performance
  • Texture Filtering – Quality:  Performance

For AMD:

• Open AMD Radeon > Select the following options.
  • Anti-Aliasing Mode: Use Application settings
  • Anti-aliasing Method: Multi-sampling
  • Morphological Filtering: Off
  • Anisotropic Filtering Mode: Use application settings
  • Texture Filtering Quality: Performance
  • Surface Format Optimization: On
  • Wait for V-sync: Off
  • OpenGL Triple Buffering: Off
  • Shader Cache: AMD optimized
  • Tesselation Mode: Override application settings
  • Maximum Tesselation Level: Off
  • GPU Workload: Graphics
  • Chill: Off
  • Frame Rate Target Control: Disabled

9. Disable Windows Firewall

Sometimes conflicts with the Windows Firewall protection on the system might occur several issues like FPS drops or high CPU usage while running video games. It’s better to manually turn off Firewall temporarily and check for the issue again.

• Click on the Start Menu > Search and open Windows Defender Firewall.
• Now, click on Turn Windows Defender Firewall on or off from the left pane.
• Select the Turn off Windows Defender Firewall (not recommended) option for both the Private & Public Network Settings.
• Once selected, click on OK to save changes.
• Finally, restart your computer to apply changes.

10. Delete Temporary Files on Windows

You can manually open up the Windows temporary folder and delete all the files once at a time. To do this:

• Press the Win+R keys to open the Run dialogue box.
• Now, type %temp% and hit Enter to open up the Local Temp folder.

• Press the Ctrl+A keys to select all the temporary files inside the folder.
• Once all are selected, press the Shift+Delete keys.
• Click on Yes to permanently delete all temp files.

• However, if some of the temporary files can’t be deleted and you’re receiving a Folder In Use pop-up window, click on the ‘Do this for all current items’ checkbox and select Skip.
• Close the window. There is no need to try deleting the pending files.

11. Set a High Priority

Make sure your program is not taking too many system resources in the background which can conflict with the system performance for other programs or games whatsoever. It’s recommended to set a lower priority from the Task Manager settings to run the Steam client or Warframe at the optimum level. To do this:

• Right-click on the Start Menu > Select Task Manager.
• Click on the Processes tab > Right-click on the Steam or Warframe task.
• Select Set Priority to High > Close Task Manager.
• Finally, run the program to check for the issue.

12. Turn Off Overlay Apps

The chances are high that some overlay applications might trigger game launching issues or performance issues whatsoever. You should turn them off to fix the issue by following the steps below:

Disable Steam Overlay:

• Open the Steam client > Go to Library.
• Right-click on Warframe > Click on Properties.
• Click on Enable Steam Overlay while in-game under the GENERAL tab to uncheck it.

Disable Discord Overlay:

• Launch the Discord app > Click on the gear icon at the bottom.
• Click on Overlay under App Settings > Turn on the Enable in-game overlay.
• Click on the Games tab > Select Warframe.
• Finally, turn off the Enable in-game overlay toggle.
• Make sure to reboot your PC to apply changes.

Disable Xbox Game Bar:

• Press the Win+I keys to open Windows Settings.
• Click on Gaming > Go to Game Bar.
• Turn Off the Record game clips, screenshots, and broadcasts using the Game bar option.

Disable Windows Game Mode:

• Press the Win+I keys to open Windows Settings.
• Click on Gaming > Click on Game Mode.
• Make sure to Turn Off the toggle.

Disable Nvidia GeForce Experience Overlay:

• Launch the Nvidia GeForce Experience app > Go to Settings.
• Click on the General tab > Disable the In-Game Overlay option.
• Finally, restart the PC to apply changes and relaunch the game.

You should also try disabling some other overlay apps like MSI Afterburner, Rivatuner, RGB software, or any other third-party overlay apps that run in the background always.

13. Contact Support

If none of the methods worked for you then make sure to contact Warframe Support to get further assistance. You should report the same issue and create a support ticket for a quicker resolution.

That’s it, guys. We hope this guide was helpful to you. For additional queries, you can comment below.