Idle (CPU)

A computer processor is described as idle when it is not being used by any program.

Programs which make use of CPU Idle Time mean that they run at a low priority so as not to impact programs that run at normal priority. Many programs that use CPU idle time cause the CPU to always be 100% utilized, so that the time spent where the CPU would have been idle is instead spent performing useful computations. This generally causes the CPU to consume more power as most modern CPUs can enter power-save modes when they are idle.