Glasswire causing high idle temp on Ryzen 9 3900x

So i just made this discovery, which is pretty weird.

I just switched back from Intel to AMD. Namely a Ryzen 9 3900X.

After a fresh install of Windows i installed all my usual software and also Glasswire again.
As i run a custom watercooling loop i also always have a close look on cooling performance.

As you might know, even with a custom waterloop with a lot of radiator space, idle temps of the 3900x will be in the high 40s to low 50s when idle in Windows. That´s perfectly normal.
BUT i was seing idle temps of low to high 60s (with spikes to low 70s even), which is NOT normal.
So i began to investigate. At first i thought my waterloop monitoring software was to blame as there can be issues with the CPU missinterpreting monitoring tools as a high load and thus raising voltage and clocks.
In the end this was not the case. So i had a closer look at software i installed recently, as right after the install, temperatures were perfectly fine.
Looking at task manager i then saw the GlassWire Control Service constantly using 2 to 3% of CPU.
This doesn´t look like much but made me suspicious.
So i quit the Glasswire GUI and ended the Control Service process from task manager. And, would you believe it, my temparatures instantly dropped down to the mid 40s again with the usual fluctuations.

I don´t know why this happens but in my case Glasswire is definitely the culprit of the 3900x high idle temps and i will need to stop using it for now.

I can perfectly reproduce this issue on my machine. If i should test something to help fix this issue, just let me know.

@Tetsuo

Were you running Bittorrent or any applications that use the network in a complex way, that would cause GlassWire to have to work hard to keep up with logging that activity? Usually issues like this are due to Bittorrent or apps that connect to thousands of hosts simultaneously.

GlassWire then has to work super hard to keep up with those hosts so it uses a little bit of CPU.

It is not normal for GlassWire to use 2-3% CPU all the time.

Hi Ken,

nope. this was idle on the desktop, right after boot.
Browser open but no downloads whatsoever.

@Tetsuo

When you go to GlassWire’s graph do you see any unusual activity there that could indicate GlassWire working hard to keep up with thousands of simultaneous hosts connecting to your PC? Can you scan your PC for malware with something like Windows Defender?

We are working to put out a major update soon that will not count hosts at all as an option for people who want to use Bittorrent or other apps that connect to thousands of hosts at a time. You can also choose apps like Bittorrent now and make them Incognito where GlassWire will not record their data.

Find the app name on the Firewall tab (that is connecting to thousands of hosts at a time) and click its icon, then choose “more” then “Incognito”.

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@Ken_GlassWire

Nope. no unusual activity whatsoever. From what i can see Glasswire is almost asleep :slightly_smiling_face:
As this machine is freshly installed and i trust my network security i find it highly unlikely to have a malware issue. Running a full scan with Kaspersky anway, just for completion.

Edit: Kaspersky full system scan just finished flawlessly. No findings.

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Normally I’d ask for more details and maybe even do a custom build for you with logging, but we’re about to release a major new update. The update has a completely new redesigned Windows service.

I recommend that you wait until the update is out and see if this issue continues. If it does we can prepare a custom version of GlassWire to see what’s going on. The logs would be on your computer only and you’d need to email them to us if you wanted to participate in that testing.

Thanks for reporting this issue. If you have time please send me a list of all your installed apps privately if you feel comfortable and we can try to recreate this with the update before it goes live.

Sounds reasonable.
For now, i won´t be using Glasswire as the issue starts right wenn the service is running.
Will be happy to try with the new version once it´s released.
Just preparing the list to share with you so i can be of assistance narrowing down this weird issue.
How would i be able to send it to you?

Please click on my name and then click “message”. Thanks!

If only there was a message button :roll_eyes:

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Oh, sorry! Maybe they changed Discourse with the latest forum updates.

Please email it to me @Tetsuo https://www.glasswire.com/contact/ to our “help” email. Put a link to this forum post in the email and I’ll get it. Thank you!

In the forum software, Discourse, personal messages (PMs) are not enabled for users at Trust Level 0 (TL0) which will be why the message button is not visible for you. But AFAIK you can reply to a PM sent by @Ken_GlassWire.

Oops! I should have known that.

So @Ken_GlassWire will you send me a PM? :slight_smile:

Edit: Just forwarded the list of installed applications to the contact mail as suggested above.

Sent! Sorry about the delay.

We can each call it whatever is clear. It’s called a personal message in the site settings but most of the UI shows just message.

I hadn’t heard of a DM because I don’t use sites that use that name i.e. Twitter, Instagram and Facebook… To me DM means direct marketing or death match.

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I hope we will not have death matches and direct marketing in the forum! Both those things are equally terrible in my opinion. :grinning:

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