What does 60 percent cpu usage mean in task manager?

[remo233]

So I have an 8 core 16 thread cpu. Would 60 percent mean that more than 8 cores are being utlised?

[TatamiMatt]

10 minutes ago, remo233 said:

So I have an 8 core 16 thread cpu. Would 60 percent mean

Ill start with this, it could mean a few things, 60% of the 8 cores are being used at 100%, all 8 cores are being used at 60% each, or anything in between

 

10 minutes ago, remo233 said:

more than 8 cores are being utlised?

And now this, you quite simply dont have more than 8 cores, so you cant use more than them

 

To give an example, you cant drive on more than 4 wheels of your car

[Needfuldoer]

5 minutes ago, remo233 said:

So I have an 8 core 16 thread cpu. Would 60 percent mean that more than 8 cores are being utlised?

It means 60% of your processor's total processing capacity is in use. The workload isn't necessarily on one core/thread, or evenly distributed across all the cores/threads.

[Tegneren]

If you right click the CPU utilization graph and click "Change graph to->Logical processors", you can see the individual core/thread utilization

[KnoT]

[Agall]

2 hours ago, TatamiMatt said:

Ill start with this, it could mean a few things, 60% of the 8 cores are being used at 100%, all 8 cores are being used at 60% each, or anything in between

 

And now this, you quite simply dont have more than 8 cores, so you cant use more than them

 

To give an example, you cant drive on more than 4 wheels of your car

8c =/= 8c/16t. I've always come to understanding hyperthreading/multithreading as the CPUs capability to have a core perform more than one task in a serial processor which traditionally could only do one task at a time.

 

I always go back to this comparison as the easiest way to differentiate the performance hyperthreading/multithreading provides:

 

Intel Core i9-9900K vs Intel Core i7-9700K Benchmark, comparison and differences (cpu-monkey.com)

 

Hyperthreading would be like having to collect Sonic the Hedgehog style coins while driving and your wheels could extend to reach more coins. Yeah there's only 4 wheels, but they can do the work of 5-6 total by being capable of multitasking. Pretty poor analogy, but I tried. 

 

2 hours ago, remo233 said:

So I have an 8 core 16 thread cpu. Would 60 percent mean that more than 8 cores are being utlised?

Generally, that would mean you're using 60% of those 8c/16t available from your CPU at its given boost clock.

 

If the usage is a lot higher than you're expecting, I'd consider a few variables, like if you're in a c-state or p-state, background applications, thermal headroom to the throttle point, etc. 

[remo233]

5 hours ago, Tegneren said:

If you right click the CPU utilization graph and click "Change graph to->Logical processors", you can see the individual core/thread utilization

Thanks for this, helped me identify an issue with a game.