graphical display of core activity?

Have you tried Activity Monitor?
Selecting Monitors, you can see a (floating, if you so desire) graphical display of CPU usage.
(I have a Core2Duo, so I get two bars showing CPU activity of each of the two cores.)

iStat Menus will put a graphical display of each processor core's activity level in your menu bar, where you can see it at all times without having an extra window open.

http://bjango.com/apps/istatmenus/

Nothing wrong with iStat Menus, but you don't have to resort to another program.

To view CPU status in Activity Monitor _without opening another window_:

Start Activity Monitor from the Applications Folder.

While AM is running Control-click on the Activity Monitor icon in the Dock.
Select 'Open at Login' That start it every time you open your identity.

Now you have three choices to display CPU activity...

1) Select 'Dock Icon' and then 'Show CPU Usage'. Current CPU usage will automatically appear in the Activity Monitor icon in the Dock in the form of a vertical bar graph.
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2) Select 'Dock Icon' and then 'Show CPU History'. CPU usage will automatically appear in the Activity Monitor icon in the Doc as a horizontal graphical representation with the most recent CPU activity appearing at the right, and about 30 seconds of history.
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3) If you'd like to use the Activity Monitor in the Dock to display information other than CPU usage (I use it for Network Usage), you can select 'Floating CPU Window' then select 'Show horizontally', or 'Show vertically' and place the a floating CPU activity graph where YOU want it., such as at the very top of the screen, also without having another window open.

Message was edited by: kostby

I have an iPulse icon on my desktop. Display graphically, all memory, cpu utilization (each core separately), disk activity, network activity, power consumption, battery condition, date and time. Mouse over provides a process list, core utilization (numeric), cpu temp.

Not free, but pretty cool for $13

http://iconfactory.com/software/ipulse/