CPU is the most important part of your computer, and you have to properly take care of it to make use of your computer for a long time. Sometimes, your computer heats up, and you become worried if something happens to your CPU. Maybe you check on your CPU usage and see it’s pretty high. This makes you worried, and you want to know how much CPU usage is normal.
When you are doing regular work on your computer, a CPU usage of 2%-4% is normal. But, if you are gaming on your computer, it can go up to 30%-50% CPU usage. Similarly, if you are doing some rendering work, you may see a CPU usage of 90%-100%.
So, it depends on what you are doing on your computer. If you are writing a presentation, your CPU usage will be lower than playing a game.
So, let’s discuss this in detail and get to know everything about CPU usage and how you can control it.
What is CPU Usage?
CPU Usage measures how busy your computer’s CPU, or central processing unit, is. It is a simple metric that shows how much processing power on a computer is being used at any given time.
Zero CPU usage means that no tasks are being completed at the moment. When you have low CPU usage, your computer has the spare processing power and can complete tasks faster.
How Much CPU Usage is Normal?
There is no fixed amount of CPU usage that is normal for all computers. It depends on which programs you are running and what kind of work they are doing.
Suppose your computer is running many programs at once, or it’s working through some intense data like encoding a video or rendering an image. In that case, it’s reasonable for your CPU usage to be higher than usual.
On the other hand, if you only have a few small programs open, and they are not doing very much, then your CPU usage will be lower.
CPU usage can vary from 0% to 100%, depending on what you are doing. While using most apps, your computer will use only a small percentage of its CPU power. But when you run something that requires a lot of processing power, your computer will need to use more CPU resources to get the job done.
Normal CPU Usage
Usually, your CPU usage would vary between 2% to 4% if you are doing some simple tasks on your computer like surfing the web, working on MS office, watching videos or pictures, etc.
But if you are playing a game, your CPU usage may be slightly higher than the usual, and it may vary between 30% to 50% depending on the type of game you are playing. If the game is heavy and your computer system is hardly running it, the CPU usage may also go higher than 30% because it’s hard for the CPU to run higher-end software.
Similarly, if you are running multiple high-end software or applications at once on your computer, your CPU usage may go to 90% or even 100%, depending on its capability.
How Can I Reduce my CPU Usage?
The best way to reduce your CPU usage is to shut down as many programs as possible and use only the most important programs at once.
You can check which processes are using the most CPU by using a program such as Windows Task Manager or Apple’s Activity Monitor. Once you check which program or process uses the most CPU, you can use that program according to your needs.
So, try closing any programs that you are not currently using. You should also close any programs running in the background, such as downloading software like Torrent, Download Manager, Anti Virus, etc. This can reduce your CPU usage significantly.
But, if you are doing this and still facing high CPU usage, the following tips can help you.
- Check out the programs you have installed on your computer and uninstall those you don’t need anymore.
- Another way to reduce CPU usage is to use a lightweight operating system. Downgrading from Linux, Windows, or Mac OS to a lighter operating system like Ubuntu, Chrome OS, etc.
- You can also try updating drivers and programs because software updates bring a better version of the user experience.
Conclusion
So, here I have briefly discussed how much CPU usage is normal, and you got to know that there is no fixed amount of CPU usage. It all depends on multiple factors, and the most important factor is your usage. If you are using high-end software and performing intense tasks, then the CPU usage will go higher, and if you are doing some regular stuff, the CPU usage will be less.
