Why does processor spike to 100%

I notice from the Task Manager that my processor from time to time spikes to 100% usage. Sometimes it does this when I'm just surfing the internet.

What might be causing this? Can internet surfing really use 100% of a pent 4 2GHz? The spikes to 100% will last several seconds at a time.

Would getting one of the new c2d procs prevent this? how fast do I need to get?

 

Those spikes are nothing to be worried about. It even happens with Core Duo processors.

I'm guessing these spikes occur when opening a new page, etc.? As long as you're not freezing up you'll be fine.

 

the processing and rendering of a web page can do this, usually you'll see it for 1 - 5 seconds as a page loads, if there's a flash ad on the page it could cause a slightly longer spike. Nothing to be worried about, your processor is just trying to work as fast as possible to get that page rendered.

 

well the spikes often (but not always) coincide with "lagging" pages that are loading the page's contents.

 

Sounds like a windows problem. Something I never really thought about until recently (since reading about it somewhere) is that Windows does a terrible job of allocating and prioritizing 'memory' to tasks.

The example I read, which I totally agreed with, was that you can move files separately or in a group, and the in a group method always ends up being faster. (assume that the time it takes to click and drop files is removed, to make the 'experiment' controlled) It's true, isn't it? I am sure you have experienced this kind of stuff. Microsoft doesn't really care about real improvements - they want cover ups. New interfaces and colors. Animation that slows down the machine.

Another example - in Vista RC1 - it seems that a new feature is an improved crash dialog. Now, instead of ugly error messages or 'send error report' you get a neat message that says "Wait to Respond" and "Close without Waiting" and "Close and Restart." It's about convenience, but I would seriously doubt that they attempted to make Windows LESS susceptible to crashes.

 

Using firefox? It tends to a bit crazy on cpu usage for flash player.

 

Another thing to keep in mind is that the "CPU usage" figure is only an average in any case. The CPU *never* works at 10 or 50%. What it does is, it works at 100% until it runs out of work. Then it idles at 0%.

So when Task Manager says your CPU is running at 50%, it simply means that it's running at 100% half the time, and idling the other half, on average. It doesn't mean your CPU is running at half speed.

And in that context, it's easy to imagine 100% spikes appearing. If the CPU has work to do for a second or two, Task Manager will show 100%. After that, it'll fall down to idle. After all, every time the CPU has work to do, it runs at 100%. So a bunch of work just has to pile up at the same time, which can easily happen (for example when you open a webpage, the browser need to parse it and figure out how it should be rendered. Once that is done, it consumes almost no CPU, but for big pages, it might take a couple of seconds before that's done.