diff --git a/tinygrad/runtime/support/hcq.py b/tinygrad/runtime/support/hcq.py
index dedee3c341..a267714dad 100644
--- a/tinygrad/runtime/support/hcq.py
+++ b/tinygrad/runtime/support/hcq.py
@@ -209,8 +209,8 @@ class HCQSignal(Generic[DeviceType]):
       value: The value to wait for.
       timeout: Maximum time to wait in milliseconds. Defaults to 10s.
     """
-    start_time = int(time.time() * 1000)
-    while self.value < value and (time_spent:=int(time.time() * 1000) - start_time) < timeout:
+    start_time = int(time.perf_counter() * 1000)
+    while self.value < value and (time_spent:=int(time.perf_counter() * 1000) - start_time) < timeout:
       self._sleep(time_spent)
     if self.value < value: raise RuntimeError(f"Wait timeout: {timeout} ms! (the signal is not set to {value}, but {self.value})")