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What is MFU (Model FLOPs Utilization), and why can GPU utilization be misleading?

nvidia-smi showing 100% can hide that you are using a fraction of the hardware's real compute. The signal is MFU (useful FLOPs vs peak) and the gap between 'the GPU is busy' and 'the GPU is efficient'.

Updated Aug 2026 · Grounded in real Applied AI Engineer interview loops and written to a senior-engineer editorial bar.

nvidia-smi showing 100% can hide that you are using a fraction of the hardware's real compute. The signal is MFU (useful FLOPs vs peak) and the gap between 'the GPU is busy' and 'the GPU is efficient'.

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