Xorg constant high cpu usage

Question

CPU
  AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4400+
Kernel
  2.6.38-7.dmz.1-liquorix-amd64
X server version:
  X.Org X Server 1.9.0
OpenGL direct rendering:
  Yes
OpenGL vendor:
  NVIDIA Corporation
OpenGL renderer:
  GeForce 8400 GS/PCI/SSE2
OpenGL version:
  3.3.0 NVIDIA 270.41.06
GCC version:
  4.4.5
Java version:
  1.6.0_20
Python version:
  2.6.6
GTK version:
  2.22.0
PyGTK version:
  2.21.0
Firefox version:
  Mozilla Firefox 5.0
Ubuntu version:
  10.10
GNOME version:
  2.32.0

The issue is, the Xorg process always seems to be active with over 6% CPU and +50MB RAM usage, which in turn keeps the fans blowing all the time.

Solution

You're having a memory leak. Either you should check if the drivers aren't compatible with the new linux kernel or there is a program that you've recently installed that is hogging the system. What I can suggest to you is to load back the basic graphics driver and check for possibilities if there where programs that you've recently installed is causing the issue or wait till an update fixes it (Driver update) or you can load back to the previous versions which didn't gave you this issue.

Comments

[Broam]

Xorg always uses a little CPU, even when programs are closed - but something is wrong here - my AMD Athlon 1100 uses like 3% cpu on idle.

[omnidan]

I think there is some problem with your GPU driver. Check if you're using the latest version and update it if possible.