"Have you ever noticed that if you are downloading many things in Safari and have the “Downloads” window open, your CPU usage jumps up? On my 800MHz G4 this can amount to 40%. If I close the downloads window or hide Safari this usage drops back down to 5%.
This got me thinking, and it turns out that its the repeated updates to the window that crunches the CPU, not the downloads. By hiding apps, you can reduce the number of CPU cycles they use as OSX no longer has to re-draw their windows when something changes. Programs which show progress bars or other such frequent window changes are most affected."
Thursday, April 08, 2004
Save CPU Power in OS X
The Unofficial Apple Weblog posted this great tip on how to save CPU power in OS X.
