GPU Spiking and EW7 Crashing

Hi everyone,


I am facing a problem with EW7, I've been using it for a while, however at random points the software just freezes up forcing to exit, I've noticed that it usually freezes up when switching from songs to bibles, during different operations as well though like when just switching between songs, or lyrics, or any basic operation, but at the same time I'm noticing crazy GPU spikes, from 0 to 100 to 0 to 100, at maybe 2 - 3 second intervals, I've tried running it with disable GPU shrink thingy checked and unchecked - no difference, reinstalling, basically everything one can think of.


Anyone able to clarify what is causing it and what the fix could be? It is frustrating when EW7 crashes on you during a service :(.


[Basic System Specs]

Windows 10 Pro

CPU AMD Ryzen 3 3200G (runs at around 10% with EW7)

GPU RX550 2GB GDDR5 (jumps between 0% and 100% when using EW7)

RAM HyperX 8GB 2666MHz

Output Resolution 1920x1080


I'll be glad to provide any additional info, I really need this looked into.


Hey man, I work in IT Distribution, I know exactly what you're talking about XDDD Pricing going crazy, especially where I live... crazy times we live in....


Anyways, hope to provide more info later, have a great day :) 

And this definitely isn't the time to be shopping for graphics cards. I was fortunate enough to upgrade the Church' system a few weeks before pricing went bananas.

No comment offended me, dw :) I'll be able to provide more info about the build, logs etc, more PC specs, screenshots on Sunday/Monday.


Some time ago we used to use a laptop, I don't remember the specs anymore, but I did notice it having the swing I'm talking about, we got to a PC which we can upgrade overtime, however, it was without a GPU due to budget issues, I must say that EW7 ran fine projecting at full HD, even though the GPU was understandably capped out at 90+%. This freezing up started occuring around 2 months ago, seemingly out of the blue, so I decided getting a dedicated GPU (surely should be better than using an APU). I am still getting the lockups, and in addition I'm getting this strange performance of the swinging by the GPU.

I have also never seen a GPU act like that. I would also be curious to know when this started happening and if it was working fine previously and also what build of EW you're running. We will have to wait until you get that info to continue troubleshooting.

I'm sorry. I didn't notice the consistent 2 to 3 second interval portion of the original post, and I wonder if Dan did as well. That is something that I have never noticed before. I have noticed that older, or lower powered hardware (especially the GPU) does swing somewhat even on the same slide, but never to that extreme. Unfortunately I won't have access to our Church's older projection system to see if exhibits anything resembling that. It's not exactly like yours, but closer than anything I have at home at the moment.

That said, did this start happening or get worse after upgrading to a new release of EW7? That does seem like something that would be more likely to happen in one of the 7.2.x.x builds than the 7.1.42 and before. It would definitely be helpful to know what Build you are running.

I'm sorry if any of my previous comments offended you. That was not my intent. And please note that I am not employed by EW in any capacity. I'm just an EW user trying to help others in the community.


I am fully aware of how computer hardware and software works :D

I'll be able to provide pictures and logs next week, but for now I'll just say that the CPU stays at a steady 10-20%, only the GPU keeps jumping up and down from 0 to 100 back to 0 back to 100% at consistent 2-4 second intervals, no matter if I remain on the same slide or switch between slides, this is not how somethings meant to work. It doesn't "run" between 0 and 100, it jumps between 0 - 100 - 0 - 100

Mainly because they made a change with the 7.2.x.x build to use the GPU than on the CPU. And because EW isn't a static program that uses a set amount of memory, cpu, or gpu. Each individual item in the schedule with have different needs of each to be able to display properly. A low bitrate 480p video in h.264 MP4 format will use considerably fewer resources than a high bitrate 1080p h.265 MKV format video would. There are simply too many variables as to what EW needs at any given moment o be able to have it use a set amount of resources. I have a 12 core 24 thread Rizen 3900x, 32 gigs or dual channel memory, and an 8 gig RX 480 and while I only see small swings in CPU and GPU usage during a schedule, but rarely over 20 percent. Most of the time it runs with the CPU between 1 and 10% and the GPU between 1 and 20%. Our Church's 6c/12t Ryzen 3600, 16 gig ram, and GTX 1660 Super will run between 5 and 20% on the same schedule with occasional swings as high as 30.  When you have a lower spec CPU and GPU it will cause them to ramp up more to go from one item to the next.


Think of it like a car. When you are traveling at a steady speed on a fairly level road it really doesn't matter if you have a small 4 cyl economy car or a big V8 truck. But throw a trailer behind that vehicle and travel down a road with a lot of hills and the 4cyl will have to work a lot harder to keep up while the big V8 will have a much easier time of it. EW is like that trailer. You'll see much higher swings in GPU and CPU usage with a lower spec computer than you will with a higher spec computer. The only solution is to get more powerful hardware.

I use motion backgrounds, I don't see any major performance jumps/differences between them and EW7 still locks up randomly. I'll get you the EW7 Build next week. Thanks for looking into this.

Hi, I used to run EW7 barely on the APU (Ryzen 3 3200G), lowering the resolution does not have any effect, still have the problem.


In general running EW7 causes no issue to the computer, with or without the GPU, I'm just using the main output with motion backgrounds, most being at 720p, some 1080p but this doesn't cause any performance differences. I'm mostly interested in why it causes the GPU usage to be jumping from 0 to 100% and not stay at a more steady usage, I do not know if this is what causes the lockup, but it just feels random. I'll get you the log file next week when I get to the computer.

A couple of other thoughts. What BUILD of EW7 are you running? There were a couple of early Builds of the 7.2.x.x series that really hammered the GPU. With that graphics card you really need to be running either 7.1.4.2 or 7.2.3.0 which are considerably easier on the graphics.  And try with static images as backgrounds to see if that helps. And if you do want to use motion backgrounds see if 480p versions work better than 720p or 1080p. Used a backgrounds you won't notice any visual quality difference between them and they put a lot less stress on the graphics card.

That video card is comparable to a GeForce GTX 560. This does meet our minimum requirements, but would be borderline on the top of minimum and the bottom of recommended. What type of content are you using? Are you using any HD videos? Are you using Foldback? Motion backgrounds?


The first thing I would try would be to lower the output resolution to 1280x720 to see if it still does the same thing. You can also look in the windows system log to see if it gives any information about the lockup. Most times it won't give any valuable info for us, it will just say "EW stopped responding", but sometimes there might be something in there that could help.

Need to add, all graphics drivers are the latest stable drivers from AMD, I'm having no other graphics problems with any other software.

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