Does anyone know why my cpu Usage would go up and down and up and down???

Question

It goes from like 0-5% up to 30-40% then back down to 0-5% etc.

Answer 1

Probably because the PC is initiating a process or perfoming some routine action that causes the cpu cycles to go.

If you have nothing that you can think of that causes these fluctuations, press CtrlAltDel and go to Task Manager and then click on the processes tab. You can then see what processes are using what % of the cpu. If you don't recognize the process, you may be able to kill it (but I would suggest finding out what that process if for before doing anything...you can do this by just googling the name of the process).

If it is definitely something you have no idea about it and it is not related to any necessary program running on the computer, it may in fact be a virus or some other form of malware.

Answer 2

Because different programs and processes keep needing to use the CPU from time to time.

You should begin to worry about available resources only if usage stays above 80% most of the time.

Answer 3

yes the kernel schedules your processes based on what is happening. Since you only have one processor (or maybe two) the operating system has to quickly switch which process is running. Sometimes processes sleep(meaning they are not switched to) unless something happens. Every so often, the processes that make you cpu usage go up are awakened and so use your processor and then they go back to sleep.

Answer 4

You're computer is running programs. It does this as it caches new data, or launches new applications. Most of the time it is your computer launching/terminating programs in stealth mode, so you wont see them in task manager, but they are being accessed none-the-less

Answer 5

Using programs? Doing things on the computer?

Answer 6

Mine does all the time--depends on how much work it is doing at that particular second in time. Your blood pressure works the same way. Its normal.