Q:

Why am I getting excessive CPU Usage with "clock( )"?

I'm trying to create a simple timer using the clock() method. When the application is executed, my CPU usage jumps from 0% to 25%. For a simple program that does nothing but count from 60 to 0 in seconds, it's a bit excessive. 
I was following this: http://www.cplusplus.com/reference/clibrary/ctime/clock/
Any reason for this? Are there any alternatives I could use?

A:

See:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms686298%28v=vs.85%29.aspx
The code you reference:
 while (clock() < endwait) {}

will clearly just chew CPU while waiting for the time to pass, hence the 25% usage ( one core).
while (clock() < endwait) { Sleep(1);}

should solve your problem.

