How to check CPU usage?

P

P90Xfit

macrumors regular

Original poster

• Feb 13, 2009

• #1

I was googling the question at hand, but all I keep getting is Mac Apps to do this. is there a way to do this just from OS X? If not, what would be the best app for it?

 

fleshman03

macrumors 68000

• Feb 13, 2009

• #2

Two options.

Activity Monitor: hit command + Spacebar and type activity monitor. Press enter. You'll get something like in the first picture.

iStat Pro. I use Dashboard widget flavor. Download Here. A screen shot of that is the second picture.

I used both. Activity Monitor can kill process and is good for seeing which program is using what. iStat is a really good fast way to see what resources you have open.

 

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A

aristobrat

macrumors G5

• Feb 13, 2009

• #3

If you want a dashboard widget, check out iStat Pro or iStat nano.

If you want something in your dock, just run the Activity Monitor program (in Applications > Utilities) then click on View > Dock Icon > Show CPU History. You can close the main window, and the dock will still update with CPU usage.

Gives you something like this:

 

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fleshman03

macrumors 68000

• Feb 13, 2009

• #4

aristobrat said:

If you want a dashboard widget, check out iStat Pro or iStat nano.

If you want something in your dock, just run the Activity Monitor program (in Applications > Utilities). Go View > Dock Icon > Show CPU History

Gives you something like this:

Click to expand...

That's funny. Same suggestions, few second apart. I guess he knows what to do! 😀

 

J

JKitterman

macrumors member

• Feb 13, 2009

• #5

Open Terminal and use 'top' command
Hitting Q will exit from TOP

 

A

aristobrat

macrumors G5

• Feb 13, 2009

• #6

fleshman03 said:

That's funny. Same suggestions, few second apart. I guess he knows what to do! 😀

Click to expand...

great minds think alike?! 😀

 

Abstract

macrumors Penryn

• Feb 13, 2009

• #7

JKitterman said:

Open Terminal and use 'top' command
Hitting Q will exit from TOP

Click to expand...

That's the best way, I think. It doesn't use up much in terms of resources, which is what you're after when you open up things like Activity Monitor. 😉


And just for shiggles, in Terminal, type in "uptime" to see how long you've used your laptop without shutting down or restarting. 🙂