CPU usage spikes

So my laptop isn't the best. It normally runs FF14 around 40 FPS and around 26% CPU usage.

But... every 5 minutes or so, the CPU usage will spike into the 80s or 90s, accompanied by massive audio cracking/stuttering and dropping down to 2-3 FPS.

The problem? This change doesn't seem to be tied to anything. It doesn't appear to be heat related, as even when my temperature gauges say the computer is at a normal temperature it still occurs (and if it was heat it shouldn't cycle so regularly). It's not gameplay related: I'll go fight a dungeon boss with lots of particles everywhere and have no noticeable impact on performance... but then standing around in the hallway after the fight this cycle occurs. It doesn't seem to be related to processes either, as whether I'm surfing the internet and chatting on skype and looking at steam or whether 14 is the only program open on the computer the same problem occurs.

Restarting FF14 will fix the problem for half an hour or so, but nothing else seems to really change it.

Sounds like a background process. The usual culprits are security software or hardware monitoring/tweaking apps. Some security software runs a streaming update process of sorts where it pulls down mini-updates in real time--this can be pretty CPU intensive. Hardware monitoring/tweaking programs that may throttle fan speed or CPU/GPU power save calls can also cause this sort of thing. The crackling audio is a common sign of the old HLT method of software based CPU cooling programs. Then there are other things like multimedia apps or support services that can cause odd behavior as well. Could even be malware/adware that is trying to reach out to a server somewhere in the background for that matter.

Check your processes for all users in Task Manager while it is going on. This may help narrow down the culprit.

Spent some time checking that. The only process that spikes is ff14.. and I've noticed that if I'm looking at the task manager when these spikes occur it actually says that FF14 stops responding when one of these spikes occur. I've tried shutting down background processes and I've tried fiddling with CPU settings to make sure there was no throttling... nothing.