title: MySQL High CPU usage and persistent links
body: <p>I am having very high CPU spikes on mysqld process (greater than 100%, and even saw a 300% at one point).  My load average is around: .25, .34, .28.</p>
  
  <p>I read this great post about this issue: <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1282232/mysql-high-cpu-usage">MySQL high CPU usage</a></p>
  
  <p>One of the main things to do is disable persistent connections.  So I checked my php.ini and <code>mysql.allow_persistent = on</code> and <code>mysql.max_persistent = -1</code> -- which means no limit.</p>
  
  <p>This raises a few questions for me before changing anything just to be sure:</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li>If my mysqld process is spiking over 100% every couple seconds shouldn't my load average be higher then they are?</li>
  <li>What will disabling persistent links do - will my scripts continue to function as is?</li>
  <li>If I turn this off and reload php what does this mean for my current users as there will be many active users.</li>
  </ol>
  
  <p>EDIT:</p>
  
  <p>CPU Info: Core2Quad q9400 2.6 Ghz</p>