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Why am I getting a high CPU load > 70%, even when I tell Windows that it shouldn't be more than 20%?

I frequently get a CPU load of 70% plus. I tried adjusting the power plan

Laptop cpu (as shown by CPUZ), Intel Core i5 3210M

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I am not asking why is CPU load so high.. I am asking why the load isn't being restricted when I have instructed windows 7 to restrict the load.

added

useful powershell script for loading cpu, so as to reproduce this https://www.robvit.com/windows_server/generate-cpu-load-with-powershell/

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  • will try powersaver mode on hp probook the laptop in question, and will experiment with max processor of 30% with and without power saver mode. and see default for power saver moe
    – barlop
    Commented Apr 27, 2020 at 20:35
  • tested on win10 w/ dell E7450 , procesor pct seemed to be determining factor. power . POwer saver drops it to 30% so as much as poss. when on battery but doesn't say so it just lists 100% on each for power saver.
    – barlop
    Commented Apr 27, 2020 at 20:45
  • w7 freq lowered to 46% but load remains 100%, so looks like w10 is better at keeping cpu cool.. if cpu load is a factor which it probably is. Also power saver defaults no doubt 100% but doesn't drop even the cpu freq
    – barlop
    Commented Apr 27, 2020 at 20:57

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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These are two different numbers that you are comparing.

The Task Manager is showing under CPU Usage the number of CPU cores that are being used. The 100% means that all of your four cores are being used, none is idle.

The setting of "Maximum processor state" is found under "Processor power management", so relates to how much power the CPU draws. Since you have set it to 20%, the CPU is probably working very slowly, in order not to draw too much power.

For more information, see the post
What Is Minimum And Maximum Processor State In Windows 7 Power Management?

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  • interesting, I will look into if there any software tool that can show how much power the CPU is drawing, that way I can verify what you are saying and that that windows function is working
    – barlop
    Commented Apr 26, 2020 at 14:52
  • How can you measure this to prove that the setting is having any effect?
    – barlop
    Commented Apr 27, 2020 at 19:04
  • You might see it in the Resource Monitor, CPU section, as "Maximum Frequency".
    – harrymc
    Commented Apr 27, 2020 at 19:16
  • Looking here, i.imgur.com/gvZv5d0.png the task manager figure for CPU usage is the same as the resource manager figure for CPU usage. So whatever it is measuring whether percentage of CPU time, or cores, it's measuring the same thing. Also if it were how many cores then wouldn't it go up in chunks e.g. if a processor had 2 cores then it'd be 0% for 0 cores, 33% for 1 cores 66% for 2 cores, and 100% for three cores.
    – barlop
    Commented Apr 27, 2020 at 22:28
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I did a test on two laptops one with Win7 and an i5 xxxxM processor, and one with 10 and an xxxxU processor. (U is lower power than M. Nowadays there is also a Y series that is lower power than U).

This pic shows a really good result from the Windows 10 i7 xxxxU machine.

enter image description here

In the sense that it shows a direct relationship between on the one hand, the figure for max processor, and on the other, both CPU load and CPU frequency.

Best result for lowest CPU load and lowest frequency, is no more than 30% written in for max processor percentage, in power options. Less than 30% doesn't seem to affect CPU load percentage to any greater extent. It looks like 30% is as low as it lets you go.

The result on the Windows 7 i5 xxxxM machine was a bit different, not quite as good.

On the windows 7 machine with the i5 xxxxM processor, it wasn't reducing the load, but was reducing frequency. Frequency could go down to 30%. But load remained at 100%.

more info here https://pastebin.com/raw/at9j45Fr but I will improve this answer when i've done more tests.

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