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August 22nd, 2025 16:44
OptiPlex 7090 Micro form factor CPU heats up with screen saver on
Dell OptiPlex 7090 Micro form factor PC, from April 2022.
11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-11700T @ 1.40GHz (1.39 GHz)
15.7 GB Usable RAM
Windows 11
According to Microsoft and Dell, everything is up to date.
But when a screen saver turns on, within a minute, I hear the fan getting louder and louder. Exit the screen saver, and it quiets down. It doesn't matter which screen saver I select, it even does it with 'Blank'. It does it even if I don't have any apps running, e.g., browsers.
I used Microsoft Defender's Virus program to do a full scan, nothing found. I installed Malwarebytes and did a scan, nothing found.
I tentatively tried ending some processes and services but I was afraid of hosing the computer so I didn't do too many, but it still did it with the few I tried.
The Max temp in the HWMonitor screenshot was after the blank screen saver had been on for several minutes.
I have no idea what could start taking over my CPU when the screen saver is on. Should I just stick with my current plan to not use a screen saver at all, but have the power setting turn off the monitor? It works, but it's boring. I kind of like having a screen saver to watch, lol.
redxps630
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August 23rd, 2025 18:27
we have non Dell laptop Win 11 that does something similar. it is not the screensaver itself but when Win 11 thinks you are stepping away from laptop (screen saver kicks in) it has free rein to do its background maintenance work which can use a lot percentage of cpu and that triggers a loud cpu fan to cool it during some kind of stress.
try turn on task manager and go to details for cpu, then wait for screensaver to kick in and fan turns loud then immediately stop saver and check what percentage cpu is being used. I predict it is high and you may notice a process using a lot of cpu. in one my laptop Chrome was using a lot, yours may differ.
not sure what solution there is. there may be a group policy editor to stop auto update which may prevent some background installation. not promise to be relevant to your issue.
DonnaR251
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August 24th, 2025 16:58
I figured it out. After getting every driver I could find updated; after setting Windows Defender on a Task Schedule to control when it runs; after ending the Microsoft Office Click-to-Run process; the top CPU hog was HyperX Ngenuity. My mouse! It had something running in the background but I don't know what for. I turned it off via the sys tray and in the app settings set it to not launch on startup, etc. Tested with a screen saver and no problem! I don't even game. I just liked the mouse for its looks. I tracked it down by process of elimination and watching the Task Manager CPU list.