I've had a MacBook Air 2019 for a few months and recently downloaded a game that increased CPU usage to 198%. The notebook gets pretty hot too.
I don't know my way around this at all and I would like to know if that's too much or if I can continue playing with peace of mind.
At 100%
If a CPU has reached 100% load, then you call up the full performance of the CPU, everything above is "harmful"
Should common sense tell you…
There's no too much, in the sense of what is broken. If the load increases to 198%, it means that 2 cores are working permanently. If you do this for a long time, you get into thermal throttling, i.e. The CPU clocks down.
or whether I can continue playing calmly.
Yes No problem.
However, it can make sense to use an FPS limitation or V-Sync, as the FPS can then become more even, because if you do not work constantly at full load, there's less throttling and more reserves are left over during peak loads.
More than 100% is not possible.
While playing. 100% utilization, it can get warm. If it gets too hot, the CPU switches off.
Nothing happens to your book. An Apple switches off at 98 degrees.
Clean the fan with a paintbrush. Blow through. This helps.
Too much is not possible, at 200% it is over, i.e. 100 per core. If they get too hot, they clock down. The MBA is not so well suited for this with its relatively weak mobile CPU, that's the point.
