High CPU usage hurt my macbook air?

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Level 1

5 points

High CPU usage hurt my macbook air?

I am using an app called Roon which manages my music. During set up it needs to perform an audio analysis of all my CD tracks, which is very slow. They allow you to manage the speed at which this happens, from throttled (30% of 1 core used which doesn't impact performance of the computer) to using 100% of 1, 2, 3, and 4 cores. My MBA has 2 cores, and at 2 cores it speeds up but will still take forever. They suggest cranking it up to "4 cores" and letting it run overnight when you don't need the computer. They warn that this will run the fan. I have tried this, and it does run the fan, and it also takes CPU usage up to 300%.

Main question: It vastly improves the speed of the analysis, but will it hurt the computer?

Second question: what does it mean to use 300% of my CPU and what does it mean to be using 4 cores when the CPU only has 2?

Thanks.

MacBook Pro (13-inch Late 2011), Mac OS X (10.7.4)

Posted on Feb 2, 2017 2:47 PM

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Answer 1

tjk

Level 9

51,192 points

Feb 3, 2017 4:05 AM in response to Kunming

Hi,

No, it shouldn't hurt your Mac. The fans are set to ramp up when the CPU and/or other components reach a certain temp. Macs are also set to go into thermal shutdown if the fans can't cool things enough, thereby saving the hardware. Thermal shutdown should occur between 105C and 110C depending on who you talk to. If you're really concerned about it not working as it should, download a temperature monitor and note how hot things get with "analysis" set to full before you let it go overnight.

A very basic explanation, as I understand it, is that a Mac has what is called "hyper threading" which allows compatible apps to "see"/use an extra "virtual" core for each physical core, so your dual core Mac acts like it has four cores and that app is using 300% of a single core.

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