CPU Utilization is Wrong (2017)

6 comments

• kvemkon 12 hours ago

  Related recent discussion: "%CPU utilization is a lie".

  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45110688

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  • dang 11 hours ago

    Thanks! I was just coming here to mention that. Macroexpanded:

    %CPU utilization is a lie - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45110688 - Sept 2025 (162 comments)

    Also these past discussions of the OP:

    CPU Utilization Is Wrong (2017) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36580006 - July 2023 (57 comments)

    CPU Utilization Is Wrong - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23827032 - July 2020 (1 comment)

    CPU Utilization is Wrong - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14301739 - May 2017 (91 comments)

• dvh 11 hours ago

  I always understood it "how many CPU cores would I need so that they all run at 100%"

  E.g. if I have 1 core and utilization is 3 then if I had 3 cores they would run exactly at 100%

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  • zamadatix 11 hours ago

    The problem (or really, nuance) comes when you try to define what "run exactly at 100%" means.

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    • adityaathalye 3 hours ago

      Yeah, I love the expression the "Flaw of the Averages".

      Depends on what you're counting, among other things. (Not to mention when you took the samples being averaged).

  • 11 hours ago
    [deleted]