The speed of the CPU on a computer has one of the most significant impacts on its performance. In the Task Manager on Windows you can see what percentage of our CPU is being utilized. Based on my extensive research, in this article I will explain if 50% CPU usage is fine.
50% CPU usage is fine when idle, but when gaming or doing something resource intensive it means the CPU is much slower than the GPU. A PC like this can benefit from a faster graphics card (GPU).
50% CPU usage when idle is also a little bit high. It indicates something may be running in the background that is using a significant amount of the CPU.
Below, I will explain:
- Is 50% CPU usage good
- What your CPU usage should be when idle
- What is a good CPU usage
- Is high CPU usage bad while gaming
Let’s dive in!
Is 50% CPU Usage Good
Having been an avid gamer for over 10 years, I always loved to use a computer that was super fast, and optimizing it to make it as fast as possible. I even went as far as to build a custom PC with the help of my friend. Overall, 50% CPU usage is OK when idle.
I did a survey of over 30 computer experts and gamers and asked them if high CPU usage is better. Here’s a table that shows the results:
| Is it OK to run a CPU at 100% for long periods of time? | Responses | Percentage of responses |
| Yes | 32 | 94.12% |
| No | 2 | 5.88% |
The vast majority stated separately that high CPU usage is ideal.
On the other hand, if you’re doing something that puts a big demand for resources on the CPU such as gaming, or streaming, or rendering a video and the CPU usage is 50%, it means your CPU is future proof, and will last a long time.
Because at the moment your CPU can easily handle the demand you’re putting on it.
If it’s at 50% when idle you should look into lowering it. It’s possible there is something wasteful that is hogging the resources on your CPU. On most mid-range PCs the CPU usage when idle should be under 50%. With 50% being on the upper end.
To lower CPU usage you should:
- Scan for viruses and malware
- Close any programs you don’t need open, and disable them on start up
- Keep the fewest number of applications possible open at a time
- Overclock your CPU
- Get individual sticks of RAM if you have one single stick (5% to 10% decrease in CPU usage) more on this here.
Ideally, when gaming our CPU usage should be at 100%. Here’s a screenshot of my Task Manager showing how much of the CPU is in use when I have one Google Chrome Tab open, and below that is one where I am in a game of Dota 2 on the highest graphics settings.
My CPU is an Intel i3-10th generation.
As you can see when idle it hovers around 15% to 20%. Whereas, when ingame, it’s around 100% and bounces back and forth between 60% and 100%.
Interestingly, there is no downside to running a CPU at 100%. In fact, it’s ideal. I explained why this is in more detail in this article about if high CPU usage is bad.
Another factor that some people believe affects the performance of a computer is how full or empty the hard drive is.
I looked into some independent tests that measured the performance of a computer based on how full the hard drive is, and showed the conclusions in this article about whether having a full hard drive slows down a computer.
What Should CPU Usage Be When Idle
The percentage of CPU utilization – CPU usage – should be within a range and varies based on how many programs are open, and the speed of the CPU. Below, is a table that shows how these affect what your CPU usage should be when idle.
| CPU type | When idle |
| Low end | Less than 50% |
| Mid range | 25% |
| High end | 5% |
A low end CPU is the cheapest computer at the store. Or, a computer that was decent about 5 years ago. A mid range computer is one around the USD$500 range. A high end CPU would be one found on a gaming laptop, or a custom built PC.
The CPU usage when programs are open depend on how big the programs are. For example, Google Chrome generally only uses a small fraction of the CPU.
Whereas, a computer game or video editing software is very resource intensive. And one of these open, will typically utilize 100% of the CPU. Unless, your CPU is high end.
What is a Good CPU Usage
A good CPU usage varies based on how fast your CPU is. Here’s a table that shows what it should be based on what CPU you have:
| CPU type | CPU usage when using resource intensive programs (gaming, streaming, and video editing) |
| Low end | 100% |
| Mid range | 100% |
| High end | 50% to 100% |
If your CPU is lower than this, it means you can turn the graphics settings up on the game you are playing. Or, your CPU is very high end. Because it can easily keep up even when putting the most demand for resources on it.
Is High CPU Usage Bad While Gaming
High CPU usage is not bad while gaming. On the contrary, high CPU usage is good when gaming. Virtually all computers will have a high CPU usage when gaming, unless the CPU is very high end.
It’s desirable for the CPU usage percentage to be as high as possible. A PC like this will benefit from getting a better graphics card.
The one way to know if you can increase the performance of your PC when the CPU usage is at 100% is to look at the GPU utilization.
It’s shown just below the CPU usage in Task Manager. If it’s also very high, above around 70% – ideally 100%, the CPU is perfect. It is able to max out the GPU.
Whereas, if the GPU usage percentage is lower, around 50% or less when gaming, it means the best way to boost performance is to get a faster CPU.
There are a range of minor improvements that can increase the GPU utilization by 10% to 20%. I covered these in detail in this article about if your GPU is supposed to be at 50%.
The CPU is not fast enough to max out the GPU.