[ParkerPC]

Hi. I wonder what is mean to CPU usage? Why my CPU usage is always 100%? Thanks.

[BAMT]

If you go under the Processes tab in Task Manager (Start -> Run -> taskman) and click the CPU section's label, it will put the process that is eating your CPU at the top (or bottom). Please report that process here, as well as the statistics given.

[lilxkid24]

1.) Press ControlAltDelete.
2.) Once the windows task manager box appears, click on the Processes tab.
3.) There are 4 tabs at the top. "Image Name" "User Name" "CPU" and "Mem Usage".
4.) Click on "CPU" -- then scroll right down to the bottom and tell me which one is using 100%.



Does your computer feel very slow or do you feel like its still at normal speed?

[coastie65]

Hey Parker, Your system specs would be helpful, in the meantime though you can follow lilx's post and see what may be using up your cpu. coastie65

[ParkerPC]

My system specs: Intel Pentium D 2.80 GHz, 2G of DDR2. Firefox.exe is using up the cpu the most.

[coastie65]

Ok, As lilx suggested you need to go into task manager and see which processes are using a lot of CPU as there is definitly something running in the background thatprobably shouldn't be. Also, click on the performance tab and see if you have two windows open on CPU Usage History. You should have two windows open as it is a dual core processor. If you only see one window there, then you are running in single core mode, which will cause your CPU usage to spike. coastie

[ParkerPC]

I have see what is in the task manager and there are two windows open on CPU Usage History. The processes that are running are firefox.exe and system Idle Process. The mem usage for both processes are around 170M and 28K.The CPU usage raise up when using firefox. What is the effect if this condition continuous? Thanks.

[jbking]

It can vary depending on what firefox is doing, my guess is usually waiting but I could be wrong. Firefox may consume a lot of CPU if it is doing some updates or if you use a lot of add-ons that could cause the program to be more CPU intensive. The System Idle Process is how much room your CPU still has to perform tasks. One thought is that Firefox is consuming the CPU as it waits for website data to load or change in the case of plug-ins or add-ons like Flash or Sliverlight where the browser can become rather multi-threaded can consume a lot of resources to run possibly.

JB

[lilxkid24]

Firefox does consume a lot of memory. Right now as i am typing this firefox is using 91k. If you feel no lag whatesover then theres nothing you need to worry about. You need to worry bout something if stuff starts freezing your getting bad lags. If you want firefox not to use that much memory close firefox exe from processes then go back to firefox which means a fresh start.

[coastie65]

To expand a little on what the others have said, You didn't say which Pentium D you had in there. If it is an "8" series PD, it doesn't support HT, meaning it could cause a spike due to the inability to run multiple threads. If it is a "9" then it does support HT. I was playing "The Witcher" and it was using about 30% to 40%, I switched to single core mode and it immediately jumped to 100% CPU Usage as that game is rather intensive anyway. This thing came with a Pentium D 805 (2.66 Ghz ) and I changed it to a Pentium D 925 ( 3.0 Ghz and HT) after I determined that my MOBO would support HT. coastie

[ParkerPC]

I'm using Pentium D 915. I discover that the CPU usage raise up high when I open video from youtube.

[coastie65]

Hi Parker, Ok, i just went over there and did an experiment. I was at 1% to 3%. When I clicked to open the video it spiked to about 52% then dropped back and stayed around 1% to 3%, but spike to 7% to 10% at times and settle back to where it was. I am using IE7 for my browser. As the others have stated, I believe you have something running in the background that is using a lot of CPU for some reason. coastie

[ParkerPC]

So how can I know what are running in the background that is using a lot of CPU?

[coastie65]

Hi Parker, The CPU reading you stated, was it the CPU reading in the processes column by system idle? If that is where you are getting that from, then you are looking at it wrong. That means that 95% to 99% of your processor is is idleing and not doing anything and only about 1% to 5% is actually being used. This can be corroborated by going to the performance tab and checking the usage. Check that and let us know as I don't think you have a problem. coastie

[ParkerPC]

Under the column Processes,I the System Idle Process show the reading around 93-99 in the CPU column and 28K in the mem uasage column. the CPU usage was around 3-8% in the Performance column.

[coastie65]

Hi Parker, You are fine. The 93-99 is what is NOT being used. The performance tab will show what IS being used thus if the CPU in processes shows 93, then in the perfirmance it would show 7% being being used and 93% idleing. coastie

[coastie65]

Hi Parker, You are fine. You were misreading the CPU in processes. That was showing the amount of processor being used in the idle process. When idleing, you are doing nothing, then you are using no processor, so, if it shows say, 97%, then if you went to CPU usage in the performance tab, it would show that 3% of your processor was being used for something, most likely your browser and whatever. Anyway, you have no problems and all is as it should be. coastie

[ParkerPC]

It is ok when I just open website that does not contain video files. But when I opening two to three videos at once the CPU usage will raise to almost 100%. Is it this is the normal condition? Thanks.

[coastie65]

The more windows you have open the more CPU you will use. I only opened a single video and it spiked to 50% briefly before settling back to 10% or less. Also the videos will use more CPU than just the regular stuff. The big thing is when you start running at that percentage is it will hurt your performance to some degree, and also Processor cooling could become an issue, particulerly if you run it for an extended period of time at those rates. I have one game in particular that will run it up to 40%-50% as it is a pretty intensive application. I can disable the security apps and cut it back some while playing, but so far it hasn't really been an issue. coastie