My system specs are as follows:
CPU: AMD Phenom X4 - 2.4GHz GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 550 Ti (ASUS, Fermi) RAM: 8GB DDR2 OS: Windows 7 Ultimate, 64-bit
The issue I'm experiencing is that whenever I play Skyrim, after only a few minutes, regardless of my in-game location, my CPU usage skyrockets all the way to 100% and stays there. The fan, of course, also runs at 100% when this happens. When I press Escape and leave the menu open for about 5 seconds, the CPU calms down. It seems the graphic settings are not my issue, as I've lowered my resolution as well as setting the game's settings to 'Low', with no change. I've also uninstalled all of my mods, and unchecked the Dawnguard DLC in the Data Files menu. No change. I also tried uninstalling patches all the way back to 1.1, and still nothing.
What can I do to fix this issue? It's keeping me from playing the game, as I'm 1) annoyed at the noise of the CPU fan when this occurs, 2) concerned about overheating my CPU and causing it damage.