Windows 10: "Desktop Windows Manager" using 80-100% of GPU in Windows 10

This seems to be a somewhat common occurrence with threads being updated for years with no real answer, so I figured it's time to make one for 2020. "Desktop Windows Manager" is using so much GPU when playing games, and if playing a game and on an any kind of web browser, the GPU load increases to 90-100%. I have an i7-8700k, 1080Ti, and 32GB of RAM so it really shouldn't be this difficult to do this. I'm getting massive frame drops, have tried every single possible troubleshooting method I have found on the internet aside from completely uninstalling and reinstalling Windows. I've tried manually reinstalling drivers, I've bought programs to look for viruses, I've tried to set dwm.exe to low priority, etc. The list goes on.


My theory is that this happened due to a Windows update probably around two weeks ago. I'm going to link below some threads that I've tried and just know that I have tried basically everything everyone has suggested on there. If there is anything else that anyone has in mind, has encountered this before and fixed it, or is currently going through this pain, tell me your stories and we can cry together. My theory is that this happened due to a Windows update probably around two weeks ago.


https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-performance/desktop-window-manager-dwmexe-using-high-usage-gpu/a14dae9b-8faf-4920-a237-75ebac8073f5

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/high-gpu-usage-of-desktop-window-manager-dwmexe/4f5f0c6c-6332-4177-9d10-ef39de2e9829

https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/forums/game-ready-drivers/13/384163/desktop-window-manager-dwmexe-high-gpu-usage/


https://www.reddit.com/r/Dell/comments/8ktvlm/high_gpu_usage_of_desktop_window_manager_client/

:)

 

Cripplingly High GPU in Windows 10

Dave, the two processes apparently hogging all the GPU were desktop windows manager and client server runtime process.

However, when I list them now, after numerous reboots and reinstalls, no apps show up as consuming GPU, yet GPU is at 80-100%. I think this is because the apps are only consuming the 3D component of the GPU and not the others - copy, decode, processing or
shared memory usage?

I've spent some time on Google and it seems to be a fairly common symptom but none of the suggested solutions are effective.

It doesn't seem to be linked to any significant changes, I even tried uninstalling the most recent windows updates.

Any thoughts?

 

Desktop Windows Manager taking up high gpu

Desktop windows manager is taking up around 10%-80% of my gpu. This can be INCREDIBLY annoying when playing games, because it can lag to like 20 fps, or start freezing. I can't figure out the solution after clicking on almost every site google suggests.
I tried changing the theme, which didn't work.

 

Windows 10 Tweaks

Pressing “Windows+Pause Break” (it’s up there next to scroll lock) opens the “System” Window.

Windows 10: In the new version of Windows, Explorer has a section called Quick Access. This includes your frequent folders and recent files. Explorer defaults to opening this page when you open a new window. If you’d rather open the usual This PC, with links to your drives and library folders, follow these steps:

• Open a new Explorer window.
• Click View in the ribbon.
• Click Options.
• Under General, next to “Open File Explorer to:” choose “This PC.”
• Click OK

credit to Lifehacker.