SQL Server factors that can contribute to high CPU usage <p>I am trying to figure out or enlist factors that contribute to persistent high CPU utilization related to SQL Server</p> <p>Here are few that I came up with</p> <p>a) Compilation or Frequent Recompilation of stored procs or queries</p> <p>b) Poor performing queries that perform huge sort or ended up using Hash Join </p> <p>c) Parallelism (multiple threads are span so it can keep CPU busy)</p> <p>d) Looping construct in T-SQL for e.g. WHILE Loop or use of CURSOR</p> <p>e) Missing or inappropriate indexes that leads to table scan</p> <p>What are other SQL server operations can lead for a high CPU use? </p>