Dual core processors

[JSPipe]

Can XP home be set so that one program will run uninterrupted on one
core while everything else shares the other core?

JSP

 

[Maincat]

Can XP home be set so that one program will run uninterrupted on one
core while everything else shares the other core?

JSP

I didn't think that XP Home supported Dual Core like that, nor two processor
rigs. XP Pro does support two processors.

 

[John John]

I didn't think that XP Home supported Dual Core like that, nor two processor
rigs. XP Pro does support two processors.

XP Home supports dual core processors on single die, it supports only
one processor socket but will support dual core on the socket. XP Pro
supports two processor sockets.

John

 

[JSPipe]

XP Home supports dual core processors on single die, it supports only one
processor socket but will support dual core on the socket. XP Pro supports
two processor sockets.

John

I have in mind a single socket with dual core cpu.
Does the user have any control over how the programs run?

 

[arthurbk]

XP Home supports dual core processors on single die, it supports only
one processor socket but will support dual core on the socket. XP Pro
supports two processor sockets.

John

In task manager go to the process and right click and select set
affinity. I dont know how to prevent other programs from using that
CPU's spare cycles though.

 

[John John]

I have in mind a single socket with dual core cpu.
Does the user have any control over how the programs run?

I think you can set affinity but I'm not too sure if you can actually
have one process only use one core and all other processes use the other
core. You will have to play with it and do more research to find out.

John

 

[JSPipe]

In task manager go to the process and right click and select set
affinity. I dont know how to prevent other programs from using that
CPU's spare cycles though.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Rock]

I didn't think that XP Home supported Dual Core like that, nor two
processor rigs. XP Pro does support two processors.

XP Home can handle multiple core's on a single chip.

 

[JSPipe]

I think you can set affinity but I'm not too sure if you can actually have one
process only use one core and all other processes use the other core. You
will have to play with it and do more research to find out.

John

I have single core at the moment and i wanted to know if dual-core
would give better performance, for this one program, not overall speed.

I tried, previously, changing the priority level to 'above normal' and
i had some instability (i don't know if the two were related) and haven't
repeated it.

Thanks for your help.

 

[John John]

I have single core at the moment and i wanted to know if dual-core
would give better performance, for this one program, not overall speed.

I tried, previously, changing the priority level to 'above normal' and
i had some instability (i don't know if the two were related) and haven't
repeated it.

Thanks for your help.

Unless the application is written to multi-thread or use dual processors
I doubt that it will make any difference if it is run on a dual core.
It may make a slight difference if you multi-task while running the
application but otherwise, other than the newer processor possibly being
a bit faster than your present one, don't expect miracles or leaps and
bounds in performance. What is the name of the application in question?
Maybe someone reading here has experience with it and they may be able
to add useful advice or share their observations and findings.

John

 

[Leythos]

I have single core at the moment and i wanted to know if dual-core would
give better performance, for this one program, not overall speed.

I have many Dual CPU (not core) and many Dual Core systems and I can
honestly say that every system benefits from Dual CPU and Dual Cores, but,
the level of benefit is based on many thing and you may not be able to
clearly see the difference in ONE application.

I've seen many Core 2 Duo systems at less than 2ghz out perform the 2 CPU
Xeon system running at 3Ghz, but, again, it's based on the hardware, the
OS, the applications, etc...

I have one Quad (4) CPU system that uses 2 Core CPU's, and I have one Dual
Quad Core CPU system and I can't tell the difference between them for
performance when using them as a workstation - but they are servers and
there is a large difference when multiple users are accessing services
from them.

A long time ago I had a Dual Celeron 500Mhz system that outperformed a
single CPU system that was rated at 933Mhz. In general, a Dual CPU system
will always give benefit, but you may not make use of it if your package
doesn't implement it properly or your apps are not multi-threaded. In
short, there is no way to tell you how your system will perform or what
benefit you can expect.

Generally, if you upgrade to a new system it will always be faster with
the same OS.

--
Leythos
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum.
Calling an illegal alien an "undocumented worker" is like calling
a drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist"
(e-mail address removed) (remove 999 for proper email address)

 

[JSPipe]

Unless the application is written to multi-thread or use dual processors I
doubt that it will make any difference if it is run on a dual core. It may
make a slight difference if you multi-task while running the application but
otherwise, other than the newer processor possibly being a bit faster than
your present one, don't expect miracles or leaps and bounds in performance.
What is the name of the application in question? Maybe someone reading here
has experience with it and they may be able to add useful advice or share
their observations and findings.

John

A USB tv/radio tuner and even listening to radio (~5% cpu) i get interference
from other programs which is why i hoped to peg it exclusively to one core.

JSP

 

[JSPipe]

I have many Dual CPU (not core) and many Dual Core systems and I can
honestly say that every system benefits from Dual CPU and Dual Cores, but,
the level of benefit is based on many thing and you may not be able to
clearly see the difference in ONE application.

I've seen many Core 2 Duo systems at less than 2ghz out perform the 2 CPU
Xeon system running at 3Ghz, but, again, it's based on the hardware, the
OS, the applications, etc...

I have one Quad (4) CPU system that uses 2 Core CPU's, and I have one Dual
Quad Core CPU system and I can't tell the difference between them for
performance when using them as a workstation - but they are servers and
there is a large difference when multiple users are accessing services
from them.

A long time ago I had a Dual Celeron 500Mhz system that outperformed a
single CPU system that was rated at 933Mhz. In general, a Dual CPU system
will always give benefit, but you may not make use of it if your package
doesn't implement it properly or your apps are not multi-threaded. In
short, there is no way to tell you how your system will perform or what
benefit you can expect.

Generally, if you upgrade to a new system it will always be faster with
the same OS.

--
Leythos
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum.
Calling an illegal alien an "undocumented worker" is like calling
a drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist"
(e-mail address removed) (remove 999 for proper email address)

I know nothing about operating systems and i had wondered if it
is possible to set ProgamX to run exclusively on one core -
ProgramX not running and the o/s distributes the work over
both cores, when i start ProgramX the o/s assigns one core
to that and moves everthing else on to the other core.

Out of curiosity are there any operating systems where this
can be done?

JSP

 

[JSPipe]

XP Home can handle multiple core's on a single chip.

This is my problem.

I have a USB tv/radio tuner and even listening to radio (~5% cpu) i get
interference
from other programs which is why i hoped to peg it exclusively to one of two
cores.


I know nothing about operating systems and i had wondered if it
is possible to set this tuner to run exclusively on one core -
tuner not running and the o/s distributes the work over
both cores, when i start the tuner the o/s assigns one core
exclusively to that and moves everthing else on to the other core.

Out of curiosity are there any operating systems where this
can be done?

JSP

 

[Rock]

This is my problem.

I have a USB tv/radio tuner and even listening to radio (~5% cpu) i get
interference
from other programs which is why i hoped to peg it exclusively to one of
two cores.


I know nothing about operating systems and i had wondered if it
is possible to set this tuner to run exclusively on one core -
tuner not running and the o/s distributes the work over
both cores, when i start the tuner the o/s assigns one core
exclusively to that and moves everthing else on to the other core.

Out of curiosity are there any operating systems where this
can be done?

Sorry I don't know. Why not create a hardware profile that has limited
number of devices installed, and run just the program in question under that
profile.

 

[dobey]

This is my problem.

I have a USB tv/radio tuner and even listening to radio (~5% cpu) i get
interference
from other programs which is why i hoped to peg it exclusively to one of
two cores.


I know nothing about operating systems and i had wondered if it
is possible to set this tuner to run exclusively on one core -
tuner not running and the o/s distributes the work over
both cores, when i start the tuner the o/s assigns one core
exclusively to that and moves everthing else on to the other core.

Out of curiosity are there any operating systems where this
can be done?

JSP

Under XP Pro you can set affinity for a program to 1 CPU/Core using the
START command, so I suppose you could do that then run the program at a
higher priority.

What is your current CPU. I'm using an XP 2500 CPU with a PCI tuner and
almost never have problems, usually they are related to reception.

How are you using your computer. If you decide to run 20 programs at the
same time your PC will do it's best to keep up, but it does have it's
limits.

If you decide to upgrade and go to a 64 bit OS at the same time, make sure
your tuner has 64 bit drivers available.

 

[Leythos]

I know nothing about operating systems and i had wondered if it is
possible to set ProgamX to run exclusively on one core - ProgramX not
running and the o/s distributes the work over
both cores, when i start ProgramX the o/s assigns one core to that and
moves everthing else on to the other core.

Out of curiosity are there any operating systems where this can be done?

I know that you can set "Affinity" so that an app uses a CPU as it's
primary under XP Prof (not sure about home since I never use Home).
Normally, if you have the older HyperThreaded CPU's you won't see much
benefit, if you have a Core 2 Duo system you will see a good benefit from
it.

There is no way to tell for your application - you could see if you can
find someone that has a computer like you want, to test on...


--
Leythos
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum.
Calling an illegal alien an "undocumented worker" is like calling
a drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist"
(e-mail address removed) (remove 999 for proper email address)

 

[JSPipe]

Sorry I don't know. Why not create a hardware profile that has limited number
of devices installed, and run just the program in question under that profile.

That would work, but it isn't what i want.

Before recording from the USB tuner i close everthing else and my
recordings are free from interruptions, but for normal computing work,
including watching/listening through the USB tuner, i have WCG
running as a service in the background and that plus
surfing/downloading/uploading etc means the tuner has competition
for resources resulting in occasional hesitations and strange noises.

What prompted my enquiry was an advert for a cheap socket939 AGP
motherboard and cheap(ish) dual-core Athlon CPU and the hope that
these might give me interruption free watching/listening.

I guess i'm just going to have to live with the interruptions.

Thanks for your help.

JSP

Just an observation.
Watching tv used to take 20-30%CPU, peaking at about35% ,
but i see now it is taking 10-20%, peaking at about 25%.
The only change i have made is to install the April2007 Dx
update so i assume Ms have made a significant improvement
to DirectX.

 

[JSPipe]

Under XP Pro you can set affinity for a program to 1 CPU/Core using the START
command, so I suppose you could do that then run the program at a higher
priority.

What is your current CPU. I'm using an XP 2500 CPU with a PCI tuner and almost
never have problems, usually they are related to reception.

How are you using your computer. If you decide to run 20 programs at the same
time your PC will do it's best to keep up, but it does have it's limits.

If you decide to upgrade and go to a 64 bit OS at the same time, make sure
your tuner has 64 bit drivers available.

I wont be changing either hardware or software, my reply to Rock will
explain why.

My CPU is an Athlon @2.1Ghz so has ample power.

I used to have a PCI analogue tv tuner but it had diagonal line
interference which i was never able to eliminate completely
in hours of juggling slots/IRQs/latency etc.

This USB tuner is an Avermedia a800 HD device and the picture
quality is so good that i prefer to watch tv on my computer
than on my (old steam powered) tv.

Its not all good though, it not infrequently goes haywire and starts
using an increasing amount of memory until it freezes and i close it.
A couple of days ago i left the room for about 10 minutes and when
i returned Windows had closed the tuner and given a warning
the it had run out of room in the page file. Hmm.

Thanks for your help.

JSP

 

[Bob I]

I wont be changing either hardware or software, my reply to Rock will
explain why.

My CPU is an Athlon @2.1Ghz so has ample power.

I used to have a PCI analogue tv tuner but it had diagonal line
interference which i was never able to eliminate completely
in hours of juggling slots/IRQs/latency etc.

This USB tuner is an Avermedia a800 HD device and the picture
quality is so good that i prefer to watch tv on my computer
than on my (old steam powered) tv.

Its not all good though, it not infrequently goes haywire and starts
using an increasing amount of memory until it freezes and i close it.
A couple of days ago i left the room for about 10 minutes and when
i returned Windows had closed the tuner and given a warning
the it had run out of room in the page file. Hmm.

Thanks for your help.

JSP

That sounds like a poorly written application with a memory leak.