CPU Widget Does Not Identify CPU Usage Correctly

[TRGameLore]

What is the request?

When I game, I run into the issue where the CPU widget doesn't display the actual usage. It only displays half of the actual usage. The base speed of my CPU is 2.50 GHz, but it gets turbo'd to ~4.50 GHz. It would be nice if it could be added so it reads correctly all the time. Image included as an example (CPU widget: 25.9% | Actual usage: 52%).

Why is it useful?

I love the fact that I can monitor my PC's usage with the top bar. But It's extremely inconvenient looking at it while I'm playing a game, seeing that I'm only at 45% usage. When in reality I am at 90% usage.

How could it be implemented?

No response

Additional context

No response

[yasb-support]

Hi there, thanks for reaching out! 👋

I've looked into the CPU widget's code and documentation to understand how the CPU usage is calculated.

How the CPU widget works: The widget reads CPU usage via the standard Windows PDH (Performance Data Helper) counters — specifically the % Processor Time counter, which is the same counter that Task Manager uses. So in a healthy system, the values should match Task Manager's readings.

Looking at the source code, the widget reads % Processor Time from \Processor Information(_Total)\% Processor Time, which returns a 0–100% value directly, and displays it via the {info[percent][total]} placeholder.

---

To help figure out why you're seeing roughly half the actual usage, I need a bit more info. The bug report template asks for a few required fields that are missing:

1. Windows version — Are you on Windows 10 or 11?
2. YASB version — You can get this by running yasbc --version in your terminal.
3. Relevant log output — Could you share the log file from ~/.config/yasb/yasb.log? (You can also enable debug: true in your config.yaml for more verbose logs.)

Also, a couple of quick questions to help narrow it down:

• Could you share your CPU widget config from your config.yaml? (Specifically the cpu: section)
• Is the value shown consistently about half, or does it vary?
• Does Task Manager show the same reading as YASB when the system is idle (not gaming)?

In the meantime, you can try rebuilding your PDH performance counters by running this command in an Administrator terminal — this has fixed similar issues for some users:

lodctr /r

(More info in the FAQ under troubleshooting.)

Looking forward to the additional details so we can get to the bottom of this!

YASB Support Bot

[TRGameLore]

1. Windows 10
2. YASB v.2.0.4
3. YASB Log

yasb.log

config.yaml code:
cpu:
type: "yasb.cpu.CpuWidget"
options:
label: "\uF4BC {info[percent][total]}%"
label_alt: "\uF4BC {info[percent][total]}%"
update_interval: 2000
histogram_icons:
- '\u2581' # 0%
- '\u2581' # 10%
- '\u2582' # 20%
- '\u2583' # 30%
- '\u2584' # 40%
- '\u2585' # 50%
- '\u2586' # 60%
- '\u2587' # 70%
- '\u2588' # 80%+
histogram_num_columns: 8
callbacks:
on_right: "exec cmd /c Taskmgr"
container_padding:
top: 0
left: 0
bottom: 0
right: 0

It varies whether it shows ~half CPU usage; typically, when I am doing something resource-intensive, such as gaming.

YASB shows the same CPU usage when I am idle or not gaming.

[amnweb]

@TRGameLore which CPU do you have there?

About Turbo/Boost, YASB works a little differently than Windows, especially on Windows 11 where CPU usage can go above 100% when boost is active. In YASB, the calculation is always capped at 100%.

Note: There is a Libre Hardware Monitor widget that might work better for your CPU.

[TRGameLore]

My CPU is... 11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-11700F @ 2.50GHz, 2496 Mhz, 8 Core(s), 16 Logical Processor(s)

Maybe, if it's possible. Adding an option for people who Turbo/Boost their CPU, so YASB can read above the usual 100%? I'm not exactly knowledgeable about coding or anything, so I don't know how difficult that would be.

[amnweb]

You can't match the task manager number, especially on Windows 10 where everything is a mess. Open task manager, run a hard CPU benchmark, and tell me the max percentage you see there.

[amnweb]

But also I found something very frustrating about how Microsoft calculates this.

OS Build	Task Manager uses
Win10 (build < 22000)	% Processor Utility
Win11 24H2+ (build ≥ 26100)	% Processor Time

So basically we need to switch to Processor Utility for Windows 10 users if that thing I found is true.

[amnweb]

Okay, please go to this URL https://github.com/amnweb/yasb/actions/runs/27667810994
Download the build and install it, and let me know if there's any difference.

[TRGameLore]

I just now got around to all of this; sorry for the delay. I ran a benchmark in my browser; it didn't show a percentage on the benchmark itself, but in Task Manager, my max utilization was 100%.

It gave me a Windows Defender warning, which it typically doesn't for the normal releases. I'm noting it in case it is important.

That dev build seems to have fixed it! It's reading accurately now. It is a little off from Task Manager itself. But I assume that is because they're just slightly apart when they update.

[amnweb]

I just now got around to all of this; sorry for the delay. I ran a benchmark in my browser; it didn't show a percentage on the benchmark itself, but in Task Manager, my max utilization was 100%.

It gave me a Windows Defender warning, which it typically doesn't for the normal releases. I'm noting it in case it is important.

That dev build seems to have fixed it! It's reading accurately now. It is a little off from Task Manager itself. But I assume that is because they're just slightly apart when they update.

Thanks for the feedback. Yeah, the defender popup is because this is not a signed build.
Anyway, I'll need more feedback from more users before I merge this, but probably this is the right way. Simply, I made this widget on Windows 11 and everything is different there regarding how CPU data comes up, that's why there's a difference between Windows 10 and 11.