Extremely High CPU Usage with iCue 4 (Any Version Number)

[AceTheSamurai]

Just to preface this, all my specs for my PC are listed in the photos attached to this post.

Just recently upgraded to the latest version of iCue from 3 to 4, being that I recently got a pair of HS80 headphones and they weren't detected on the previous version. After restart the iCUE and the Corsair services seems to work normally only eating about less than 1% CPU usage. After about 4 hours of uptime, it magically skyrockets to almost over 99% CPU usage.

Listen, I've had my gripes with Corsair before with the software, but this is absolutely egregious. My whole build dedicated to Corsair peripherals, as I do love the hardware and implementation of RGB, but the software is an utter nightmare. All my fans are ready to take off from my desk that is clearly now a helipad.

All I'm asking is for a fix to iCUE 4, or at least a new update to iCUE 3 as that seemed to be less buggy for a lot of people on the internet. 

Not too sure if the Dev Team is on a holiday since it released, but this software is a pure hinderance of all other software.

And before anyone mentions, my other RGB software was never an issue and unless it's a game running on Ultra my i7 6700k never surpasses 80% CPU Usage under full load.

 

PLEASE SOMEONE AT CORSAIR CARE ABOUT THE USER. WE LOVE YOUR PRODUCTS. LOVE US BACK BY GIVING US SOFTWARE THAT MEETS BASIC STANDARDS.

[c-attack]

Seems like some type of leak, but this is likely a local issue. There aren’t any current reports of something like that and most threads with this in title are about 3-5% being too much or keeping cores active. Obviously at that level of commit % something is wrong and this is not an operational state. 
 

Export any valuable profiles before following the directions below. You will be able to reimport them after, but you will need to do your lighting setup, dashboard, and basic settings again. Make sure you check the regedit locations mentioned. This is some kind of  entanglement between the OS and CUE. 
 

https://help.corsair.com/hc/en-us/articles/360025166712-Perform-a-clean-reinstallation-of-the-Corsair-Utility-Engine-iCUE-

Edited January 22, 2022 by c-attack

[AceTheSamurai]

12 hours ago, c-attack said:

Seems like some type of leak, but this is likely a local issue. There aren’t any current reports of something like that and most threads with this in title are about 3-5% being too much or keeping cores active. Obviously at that level of commit % something is wrong and this is not an operational state. 
 

Export any valuable profiles before following the directions below. You will be able to reimport them after, but you will need to do your lighting setup, dashboard, and basic settings again. Make sure you check the regedit locations mentioned. This is some kind of  entanglement between the OS and CUE. 
 

https://help.corsair.com/hc/en-us/articles/360025166712-Perform-a-clean-reinstallation-of-the-Corsair-Utility-Engine-iCUE-

I will say I did a 3 separate clean installs, which just led me to going back a version in iCUE 4 and not using the the latest version out. Even with this version, I experienced the issue at least 2 times, but as for me using it on this day iCUE has been at a moderate 1% CPU usage with the slightly older version. Even while playing a game at Ultra Settings 4K resolution.

 

I'll be keeping this post updated, but it still is a shame that the software is experiencing any type of spikes for anyone. cause even a 3% spike in usage can make or break having this software running in the background while trying to accomplish other tasks.

[c-attack]

Uninstalling the program through Windows and checking to delete all files is not necessarily the same thing and if there is some type of corruption things can get left behind. My educated guess is the conversion from CUE 3 to 4 didn’t go well. There have been a lot of changes since the original 4.9 launch. Hopefully you have resolved that and it over. We are several weeks into this 4.19 cycle. If there was some sort of base level problem with that version, the complaint thread would be pretty large by now. I am using all of the same hardware as you on 4.19 with the exception of the headset, so I don’t think it’s device specific. 
 

The other possibility is CUE is becoming entangled with another program. Usually this presents itself as bad RGB control and not escalating CPU usage, but it’s possible. I can see LED keeper (Mystic Light) and Logi G-Hub are running. However, if this is no longer occurring then this was not likely the origin of the problem.

[AceTheSamurai]

On 1/23/2022 at 7:32 AM, c-attack said:

Uninstalling the program through Windows and checking to delete all files is not necessarily the same thing and if there is some type of corruption things can get left behind. My educated guess is the conversion from CUE 3 to 4 didn’t go well. There have been a lot of changes since the original 4.9 launch. Hopefully you have resolved that and it over. We are several weeks into this 4.19 cycle. If there was some sort of base level problem with that version, the complaint thread would be pretty large by now. I am using all of the same hardware as you on 4.19 with the exception of the headset, so I don’t think it’s device specific. 
 

The other possibility is CUE is becoming entangled with another program. Usually this presents itself as bad RGB control and not escalating CPU usage, but it’s possible. I can see LED keeper (Mystic Light) and Logi G-Hub are running. However, if this is no longer occurring then this was not likely the origin of the problem.

So I still get abnormal CPU usage like about 10-16% with iCUE and although it doesn't completely usurp my system for the most part it still is a terrible inconvenience. And honestly, these forums are barren on this issue compared to reddit and other sites. It just seems like people couldn't be bothered with the website's forum. I have asked a few to write in their issues on here as well, so at least the company knows this is somewhat of a common issue.

[AceTheSamurai]

UPDATE ON THIS TO WHOEVER SEES THIS:

 

I was able to locate a "fix" in the forums for this issue that way more people were having just at different extremes.

It seems that the Corsair LLA Service is to blame for negative/abnormal system usage. As soon as I disabled that service, iCUE CPU usage goes no further than 1.8%. which is fine being that that's the highest it cycles to.

Link to the original post where I found it: 

 

[djase]

not a single reboot or crash since december.

[AceTheSamurai]

9 minutes ago, djase said:

not a single reboot or crash since december.

thank you again for posting in these forums. Too many people were denying the iCUE issues, but reddit and other sources clearly show more than a handful of issues. wish i could hug you lol

[c-attack]

This is nice, but he's talking about the app hanging and you are reporting escalating memory usage.  These are different things.  The LLAccess service is responsible for memory RGB control and since you don't have any Corsair RGB RAM, it's a bit difficult to make a logical connection.  Others run into issues with this as their MB RGB software fights with CUE for control over the RAM and ends with frozen lights or a locked up program.  

 

If the memory leak returns, try disconnecting the HS80 receiver and turn off the headphones.  Then restart the PC.  The only recent hits on memory leaks have involved wireless headphones.  

[AceTheSamurai]

2 hours ago, c-attack said:

This is nice, but he's talking about the app hanging and you are reporting escalating memory usage.  These are different things.  The LLAccess service is responsible for memory RGB control and since you don't have any Corsair RGB RAM, it's a bit difficult to make a logical connection.  Others run into issues with this as their MB RGB software fights with CUE for control over the RAM and ends with frozen lights or a locked up program.  

 

If the memory leak returns, try disconnecting the HS80 receiver and turn off the headphones.  Then restart the PC.  The only recent hits on memory leaks have involved wireless headphones.  

Trust me when I say, I've done every possible thing I could down to removing all the USBs and fully wiping iCUE from my computer, and outside of completely wiping the software, drivers, etc from my machine, this has been the ONLY thing to have shown any positive results to my issue. I believe I also stated that this worked for people who were experiencing different issues, but system issues nonetheless with iCUE. At this point, if a specific service being disabled assists with multiple issues, it's just nice to share potentially good info as much as possible. I doesn't hurt to try at least.

 

I personally know 4 people in my Discord who have also been experiencing with iCUE (2 with the exact issue as mine, 1 with the same as the "djase", 1 with a Fan RGB issue) who this also just worked for almost instantly. I mean, I do still have to completely test it, but Corsair did the same thing again today and as soon as I did this I went from 98-100% CPU usage to less than 2%.

[STOPchris]

I get this issue as well. I noticed it the other day. I was playing a game and my CPU was running about 10 - 15 degrees hotter than normal. I closed the game and sure enough iCue was running about 20% of my CPU. This software is VERY unreliable. The older versions of iCue were much better. I now feel like I have to start buying my fan setup from another company in order to be able to rely on it to work.

Meanwhile, Corsair keeps releasing updates that add special lighting options! Good job Corsair, you fail to fix the technical issues, but add lighting options...

[farmeunit]

I see this as well.  I don't remember seeing it previously, but at least the last month or two.  I don't notice system slowdown, but that's because I've got a 5600X and 32GB of RAM, but the lights don't follow their selected patterns.  I've mainly noticed after playing Division 2 just becuase the fans are running at higher speeds.  CPU usage is typically around 20% for just iCue, also I have seen it higher.  I can end task on iCue and then restart and it's fine.  I usually play for 2-4 hours at a time, and it's mainly been Division 2 that I notice it, although it could be other games  I do have several other RGB programs installed, but only issues after gaming from what I can tell.  I've left it on for many hours at a time.  

[Corsair Notepad]

46 minutes ago, farmeunit said:

I see this as well.  I don't remember seeing it previously, but at least the last month or two.  I don't notice system slowdown, but that's because I've got a 5600X and 32GB of RAM, but the lights don't follow their selected patterns.  I've mainly noticed after playing Division 2 just becuase the fans are running at higher speeds.  CPU usage is typically around 20% for just iCue, also I have seen it higher.  I can end task on iCue and then restart and it's fine.  I usually play for 2-4 hours at a time, and it's mainly been Division 2 that I notice it, although it could be other games  I do have several other RGB programs installed, but only issues after gaming from what I can tell.  I've left it on for many hours at a time.  

If this is occurring during you playin Division 2 its most likely due to the RGB integration with iCUE and the game. If you are worried about the extra CPU usage while playing the game you can disable the SDK in the iCUE settings.

[farmeunit]

1 hour ago, Corsair Notepad said:

If this is occurring during you playin Division 2 its most likely due to the RGB integration with iCUE and the game. If you are worried about the extra CPU usage while playing the game you can disable the SDK in the iCUE settings.

Not worried about usage during the game.  I'm worried about it high usage AFTER I shut down Division 2.  Usage at idle is 6-8%.  Usage at idle with iCue after I shutdown Division 2 is 20-25% JUST for iCue and won't go down until I restart iCue.;  I will try disabling the SDK.

[Fion Noir]

I can confirm the problem and it has existed for over a year. CPU utilization of more than 20% in IDLE on multiple machines when iCUE is running.
Please take care of it! The software is garbage and not recommended.

Edited July 7, 2022 by Fion Noir

[borgdrone7]

I experience the same on my laptop, I bought a Corsair mouse and I cannot use it now because I cannot configure it. If I install iCUE my laptop overheats and fans are always at 100%. The worst thing is that mouse doesn't remember settings, so as soon as I uninstall iCUE my mouse settings are lost. Basically I cannot use the mouse at all at this point.

[jcbarbot]

almost a year later... 

I was having the same problem, and I've disabled the LLA service and that seems to fix it.
All I have is just a RGB keyboard...  did NOT understand why the iCUE service was eating up 3-6% of my CPU time.
Love the keyboard and its features, but the service really shouldn't be using any CPU time at all, it isn't doing anything.

glad I found this thread!  it solved the problem.

Corsair folks - quite denying that this exists and fix it, please... 

[Mithrawndir]

So this thread was created well over a year ago. There's threads I've found from as far as 4 years ago. This matter STILL isn't resolved. I'm showing 20-25% CPU usage and don't give us anything about "it's idle usage" I don't want to hear it. My CPU is currently BOOSTING to support the usage that Icue is using. Running at 4.6ghz right now and still seeing 20-25%. How is this STILL a problem? How is this not fixed? How are you releasing updates that take away the known fixes for us but you haven't fixed this yourself? Like what? I'm sitting here with $750 worth of Corsair peripherals that I just can't use properly now? Virtuoso XT, K95 and M65. I've tried every single fix posted on every single corsair forum post, reddit, discord, you name it. The wireless headset fix, disabling the plugin setting (guess what, that's gone from Icue now), disabling LLA service (guess what, that's not a process that can be disabled anymore).. Like what are you guys doing over there? Not only are you not fixing this years long problem, but you're also patching out fixes that people can use? Give us a break here. Customers that give you this amount of money shouldn't have to deal with years long software problems that the hardware you sell requires.

[Mr_Rata]

I've the same issue too 😕 , If I close corsair.service.exe manually the cpu usage returns for normal ..

[sindead]

My issue started with the newest update. CPU idles around 70 degrees. Disable ICUE and it drops to 32 degrees. Tried everything recommended on reddit, ASUS and c-attacks posts on multiple threads responding to issues of any kind to clean install or repair, and it would seem this fixes most issues. Its a shame that c-attack responds to more posts than corsair does. He deserves thanks for that. Finally did a clean install of windows, updated all drivers, bios and installed ICUE to watch temps jump back into the 70s. I now set hardware lightning and shut down ICUE which is a shame because I have ran the software for years and own all things corsair. The temps are unacceptable and it would seem the issue has been a problem for others for years. I will now have to start replacing everything corsair to fix the issue because in PC repair if the software troubleshooting don't fix it, we start replacing hardware.