when doing high processor use tasks like copying 5 gb files or playing hl2 on steam the processor use always stays below 50% (istatpro)
1) why is this the case ?
First, as already stated, copying files is not a high-CPU task. The process of copying a file and writing it to another location does not take up very much CPU at all, particularly with current system designs being way faster than a single network or hard drive can keep up with. Additionally, most I/O and media control tasks are handled by a set of chips known as a
Southbridge. The Southbridge handles the details of the I/O work, and the CPU only supervises. This is why it appears to take up so little resources.
HL2 on Steam also won't appear to take up many resources because a lot of the graphic-intensive work is being handled by your 8600m GPU and the
Northbridge. Again, the CPU is only supervising the graphics work, and handling other things (integrating keyboard/mouse inputs, talking with network interfaces that connect to game servers, delegating RAM and GPU tasks to the Northbridge, etc.).
2) if i could use more processor time would it improve performance of high use tasks?
For copying files, no. your disks and network are already going as fast as they can.
For game play, again no. Your 8600m GPU is handling the brunt of the work (graphics rendering) because the game was coded to let the GPU do that, AND because the GPU is designed to do this far more capably than your CPU could.
There are some tasks that WILL max out your CPU. Tasks like data modeling, audio processing, and video encoding will easily max out one or both cores of the CPU, and you'll definitely feel the difference. You'll also realize why maxing out your CPU all the time is
not desirable, and not something you want to be doing all the time. Your system will heat up, your fans will kick in, and performing other tasks will be a very sluggish process as your system gets bogged down.
Oh yeah, and visiting a website with Flash will eat your CPU as well. Not because the system can't handle the things that Flash is being used to do, but simply because Flash is badly coded for unix/linux machines, including the Mac.
It should also be pointed out that if you had a newer system (with say, a 9400m/9600 GPU, or a 320/330m), even video encoding won't necessarily max out your CPU if you use the right program, because OS X is written to use the GPU for video encoding tasks when possible.
3) if this is not normal behavior what could cause this ?
It's normal behavior, and it's caused by the fact that your computer and the software running on it is designed to do this.
This isn't Windows XP, where everything rested on the CPU, and having the fastest processor always meant you can do more, faster. Modern operating systems like OS X (and even Windows 7) take into account that there's a lot more muscle to a modern computer than just a single CPU, and so tasks are distributed and delegated accordingly. It's no longer the case that you always have to max out a CPU to do a process as quickly and efficiently as possible.
I think the
real question to ask is: is your computer performing poorly when you're playing HL2 or when copying files? If not, then there's no need to worry.
