Won't that hurt the processor? Running at max the whole time can't be good can it?
It also depends on where you get the data from. If the emulator.exe is taking 100% of the CPU time then your processor is running at full whack on the emulation. If however the emulator is using up 60 or 70% and the remainder is allocated to system idle processing then its not actually using the full 100% of the processor.
It also depends what emulator you are running, which game, on what operating system, and what processor you are trying to run it on.
Different emulators and different games will demand different amounts of CPU time.
Some games in mame (like Carnevil for example) will suck 100% out of a top of the range Core2Duo and still want more, while others (like Pacman) will use about 5%.
It could also be to do with the way the data is reported. It may be reporting 100% because thats the only application the processor is concentrating on, even though the processor isn't being pushed or stressed in the slightest.