High Processor Usage Caused by the Intel® Optane™ Memory Acceleration

A high processor usage has been observed in systems where Intel® Optane™ memory is enabled. The percentage may vary depending on the system, and high temperatures have been reported.

This behavior seems related to a driver mismatch as described in Intel® RST Driver and Intel® Optane™ Memory Capable App Version Mismatch After Update.

The following steps can be used to update the driver to the latest generic version provided by Intel:

1. Disable the Intel® Optane™ memory acceleration by following the instructions in How to Disable System Acceleration with Intel® Optane™ Memory. Remember to back up your data before disabling the Intel® Optane™ memory acceleration.
2. Uninstall any Intel® Optane™ memory applications and restart the system.
3. Install the latest Intel® Rapid Storage Technology (Intel® RST) driver for your platform by following the below steps. Refer to What Intel® Rapid Storage Technology Driver Is Supported on My Platform? to know the specific version to use for your platform.
   1. Download the file SetupRST.exe and install the driver. It may indicate that this driver will replace the existing one with a different version.
   2. Restart the system.
4. Install the Intel® Optane™ Memory and Storage Management application and restart the system.
5. Launch the Intel® Optane™ Memory and Storage Management application and re-enable the Intel® Optane™ memory acceleration.