Different cpu usage

strejceknimra · November 6, 2022

Hi, today i found out that my Task manager is showing different values than Performance monitor or NVidia overlay so i downloded MSI afterburner and it show different values as well
Lets say, while playing roblox while using fps unlocker

Task manager -54% cpu usage

MSI Afterburner -82% cpu usage
Performance monitor -16% cpu usage
NVidia Overlay - 14% cpu usage

My scpecs

Processor	Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3570 CPU @ 3.40GHz
Video Card	NVIDIA GeForce GT 1030 DDR5
Operating System	Windows 11 (22621.875 ni_release)
RAM	16 GB 4x4gb ddr3 1333mhz

What is the true usage?
How to fix it?
Is there problem with my pc?

Eigenvektor · November 6, 2022

I would expect them to show roughly the same value at the same time. So make sure you have them opened simultaneously.

If your CPU usage fluctuates wildly, then depending on the sampling interval, the sample duration and whether the particular app uses an average, some differences are normal. For better comparability, ideally you'd look at a graph over time instead of current usage.

~edit: Also for a multi-core CPU ideally you want to look at values for each core to compare. If software shows a total value, it can depend on how they represent all cores being used. E.g. some software will show 4/4 cores of a quad core CPU being used 100% as 400% usage, while other software shows 100%. So e.g. 1 of 4 cores being fully used will be represented as 25% by some software, while other software will show that as 100% usage.

27 minutes ago, strejceknimra said:

Is there problem with my pc?

Very unlikely. I can't think of any defect that would cause monitoring software to report different CPU usage. It's most likely simply an artifact based on how each app measures usage.

Mark Kaine · November 6, 2022

download heaven benchmark, run it at 720p, setup afterburner to show cpu usage, open taskmaster, make a screenshot like this

https://benchmark.unigine.com/heaven

1 hour ago, Eigenvektor said:

Also for a multi-core CPU ideally you want to look at values for each core to compare.

for this specific scenario overall usage is preferable imo (easier to read simply)

1 hour ago, Eigenvektor said:

It's most likely simply an artifact based on how each app measures usage.

there is definitely a bit of delay sometimes between monitoring apps, but it's not constant, and usually minimal, so yeah, it should at least roughly show the same values.

but then again, depending on winver the way taskmanager works seems to differ wildly (mine tells me the actual double data rate of my ram for example instead of half of it which most people report, ie my 3600mhz ram really runs at 3600mhz according to taskmanager )