How can I find out if the CPU on my T2 or T3 EC2 Windows instance is being throttled?

Resolution

To verify if your CPU is being throttled, check the CPU credit balance and the CPU within the operating system (OS).

Check the CPU credit balance

1. Open the Amazon EC2 console, and then choose Instances from the navigation pane.
2. Select the instance that you want to troubleshoot.
3. On the Monitoring tab, note the current number of remaining credits on the CPU credit balance graph.

If the credit balance is close to zero, then the instance CPU is likely being throttled. To resolve this issue, you can either turn on T2/T3 Unlimited or change the instance type. For more information, see How can I resolve high CPU utilization on my T2 or T3 EC2 Windows instance if my CPU is being throttled?

Note: If T2/T3 Unlimited is already turn on for the instance, then the credit balance launches with zero credits.

Check the CPU utilization on the OS

1. Open the Amazon EC2 console, and then choose Instances from the navigation pane.
2. On the Monitoring tab, note the CPU utilization. Confirm that the average is close to the baseline performance per vCPU for your instance type.
3. Connect to your instance using Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP).
4. Open Task Manager, and then note the CPU utilization on the OS.

If CPU utilization is peaking near 100% in Task Manager but is near the baseline in the console, then the instance's CPU is being throttled. To resolve this issue, you can either active T2/T3 Unlimited or change the instance type. For more information, see How can I resolve high CPU utilization on my T2 or T3 EC2 Windows instance if my CPU is being throttled?

Related information

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