VMWare Workstation: High CPU on i7-7700HQ with basic load

[rauppe31]

Hello

I've a problem with my new notebook Acer Nitro 5 515-51-71ES.

Here are the technical specifications:
CPU: i7-7700HQ (4 Cores, 8 Threads)
RAM: 16GB DDR4
GPU: GTX 1050 Ti
HDD1: 256GB NVMe SSD (OS)
HDD2: 500GB Samsung Evo (Storage for VMs)
OS: Windows 10 Home

The CPU of this notebook shuld be pretty powerfull, and it normally is when I use the Windows 10 Home that's installed.
But, when I start using VMware Workstation (or also Virtualbox, the virtualization software doesn't matter) I get high CPU usages when trying to install a VM, or install updates in the VM. Just everything I want to do in a VM is causing a high CPU load.

Acer Nitro 5: High CPU on Windows 10 installation - YouTube

I've taken a video about the installation of Windows 10. When I allocate 8 CPU cores to my VM, the VM stucks at booting up the installation. I can wait 10 more minutes and nothing hapens.
When I allocate only 4 CPU cores the installation of the VM is working, but the notebooks CPU is always at 50% (means that the VM is causing 100% CPU). And the installation performance is very slow.

The Intel VT-x feature is turned on in the BIOS.

I didn't had such a problem in the past, and I don't know how I can solve it. Does anyone have an idea what I can try to do?

Regards
rauppe31

[mhampto]

Once the installation is complete does this high usage continue?

Allocating 8 CPU's will cause the VM and possibly the host system to hang as they are now forced to share all resources and will cause wait times for the CPU to be available.

[rauppe31]

Thanks for your reply.

Yes, after the installation the high CPU usage continues. I've also migrated one of my production PCs to a virtual machine and booting this machine takes five minutes and more. After the boot process I'm unable to do anything in this VM as it is that slow. The dedicated PC is booting in under one minute.

When I'm using my PC with an AMD Ryzen 7 1700 I can allocate all 16 CPU Threads to a VM and it's working fine.

The i7-7700HQ should also be very powerful.

I normally only allocate 4 CPU threads to one VM. So that should be fine.

I don't know if the problem is my notebook or just the CPU. I have the option to send it to an Acer repair center, but I don't think that they will find anything unusual and give me a new laptop 🙂

[wila · Accepted solution]

Hello,

Are you running AVG, Avast or BitDefender 2017 antivirus at the host OS?

If AVG or Avast then see:

XP VM suddenly slow, Win 7 fine

for a solution on using both antivirus products along with VMware

TL;DR

In Avast Settings, troubleshooting you should uncheck the "Enable hardware-assisted virtualization" feature.

In AVG Settings, troubleshooting, uncheck "Enable hardware-assisted virtualization" feature.

Note that you will have to reboot to apply the change and make it permanent.

If you are running BitDefender 2017 at the host then the only solution that I am aware about is to uninstall and revert to an older version of BitDefender.

--

Wil

[rauppe31]

Thank you very much for your answer. I've Avast Business Security installed on all my computers. I disabled the option in Avast and now it's working normally.

Again thank you. I never thought it would be an antivirus issue.