Why is the CPU Usage History pane "split" in Windows Task Manager / Performance

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Solution 1

Each for one processor core. Unless it is an Intel chip with Hyperthreading (HT), in which case there are two panes per core, one for each core and one for its HT. For example, a quad-core chip with HT will show eight panes rather than four.

Solution 2

You are presumably using a quad-core processor with hyperthreading, which makes it look like an 8-core processor in Task Manager. Task Manager by default shows each core as a separate graph. If you would prefer a single graph, select the View -> CPU History -> One Graph, All CPUs menu option.

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Tomas Aschan

I am an engineering physicist from Stockholm, Sweden, with a passionate interest in programming and software architecture. Since creating my first program at age 12 (a VB6 app that showed a smiley when a button was clicked) I've spent many hours in front of my computer, watching screen casts and reading blogs about programming as well as trying all the new concepts out in my own programs. With a Master's degree in Engineering Physics from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, I have deepened my modelling and reasoning skills, as well as had the opportunity to try out many different technologies and tools. I am currently working as a software engineer at Spotify, mostly massaging data to enable our internal research into developer productivity.

Updated on September 17, 2022

Comments

Tomas Aschan almost 2 years

In Windows Task Manager, under the Performance tab, Page File Usage History is shown in a continuous pane, while the CPU Usage History is split up into 8 narrow panes, which make it look like the graph is just "overlaid" with the pane separators.

Why is this? Why not show the graph in a continuous pane?
- JJ_Australia almost 14 years
  
  You can also change it back, with View => CPU History => One Graph, All CPUs.
Tomas Aschan almost 14 years

Ah! So simple! I was sitting on remote desktop to our production server, but the thought that the server actually has 8 cores didn't occur to me - I'm so used to working on laptops that dual core is enough, and quad is cool :P