How do you view your CPU usage?

[regis169]

Hi guys,

I'd like to find out how much CPU usage is consumed when playing a 720p mkv file on my VMC player.

I opened Activity Monitor and it's showing a lot of things,

1. There's CPU usage right next to VLC program which is reading between 30 to 45.
2. There's also CPU usage meter in the lower left corner in 4 different types; % User, % System, % Nice, % Idle

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Now, my question is,

what is the difference between #1 and #2?

And can you explain to me what % User, % System, % Nice, % Idle are in simple terms?

 

[robbieduncan]

1 shows what a single process is using, 2 shows the whole system usage. User are user processes, System are system processes, Nice are processes that are set to relinquish CPU when there is heavy load and Idle is just that: Idle CPU cycles.

 

[Adamosaur]

You can also try downloading MenuMeters

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/17713

It is freeware, and displays some extra stuff in the top toolbar (where batterylife, time, etc is) without having to have activity monitor open all the time.

 

[regis169]

1 shows what a single process is using, 2 shows the whole system usage. User are user processes, System are system processes, Nice are processes that are set to relinquish CPU when there is heavy load and Idle is just that: Idle CPU cycles.

Thanks for your answer,

It's a bit strange though, at one time, I had VLC player going 40% + firefox 6% + other stuffs 5%, however my system usage was reading like 80% idle, 17% system and 3% user. Why is it not equal?

Shouldn't it be,

40% + 6% + 5% = 51% (That means, my applications are currently using a total of 51% of the CPU load, right?

In that case, my left lower CPU meter should show,

51% System & User and 49% Idle

Am I missing something?

 

[angelwatt]

Am I missing something?

Make sure up at the top you have Shoe set to All processes.

 

[donuttakedonuts]

stuff doesn't equal because they update at different times. In fact, I've seen a a single process take up 117 % of cpu... activity monitor = buggy?
Also: Do nice processes even EXIST? I've never seen one.

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

To monitor the CPU usage without having Activity Monitor and the video side by side, go to Activity Monitor and select View > Dock Icon > Show CPU Usage. Easier to roughly tell how much CPU is being used.

 

[rackalamb]

hey something i use at all times is the widget iStat on your dashboard. It's really cool sits across the bottom and shows CPU usage and a bunch of other things. heres a link:

http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/status/istatpro.html

 

[dmmcintyre3]

stuff doesn't equal because they update at different times. In fact, I've seen a a single process take up 117 % of cpu... activity monitor = buggy?
Also: Do nice processes even EXIST? I've never seen one.

I think that on a quad core 400% would be the same as 100%. 200 on a dual.

iStat Menus is the first thing I put on my Macs when I get them

 

[CubeHacker]

Also: Do nice processes even EXIST? I've never seen one.

They are rare but they do. I don't remember exactly, but I believe using unrarx uses %nice.