High CPU use
14 Apr 2012 9:22:12 UTC
Topic 196279
(moderation:
Hello,
I have a quadcore crunching 24/7 only for Einstein@home, with use of 75% processor, so I have one core free for mail, browsing etc.
However a few day I see the use is 100% all the time and outlook mail is very slow. With the program TThrottle I can see the Running Processes and it seems that one of your Einstein programs: hsgamma_FGRP1_0.23 is at full load. When I set BOINC to use only one core (should thus be 25% processor use), that hsgamma_FGRP1_0.23 is using 50%. Thus when I let BOINC use 50% or more of processor use, it will be always 100% Einstein, making the pc unfriendly to do other things. Is this normal? Is it a bug? Or is it a setting somewhere?
Thank you.
Greetings from
TJ
High CPU use
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Ummm... You may be talking about 2 different things. It's kind of hard to understand. There's two different setting for CPU usage, 1 being use at most x% of processors on multicore systems. This should be set at 75% for your case. This will tell BOINC to only use 3 cores, meaning you should be running 3 tasks. The other setting is use at most x% of CPU time. How this works however is if you were to set it at say 90%, the CPU would run for 9 seconds, than go off for one. Check to make sure you have 3 tasks running, and if that's the case, than change the other setting until it fits your needs.
Hope this helps.
RE: Ummm... You may be
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I know that setting but that is nog what I mean and want. I have set BOINC to use only 3 cores (75%), but I see a continuous CPU use of 100%. And when I check all running applications with TTrothle I see only 3 Einstein WU's. I am very sure this was not the case a few weaks ago. I found it just recently as my e-mail program is not reacting most of the time.
Greetings from
TJ
Currently this
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Currently this einstein_S6LV1_1.11_windows_intelx86__SSE2 is the only program runign om my system and it is using 51% of my CPU, while it should be 25% as this pc is having a quad core. If my 4 Einstein WU's are done I will quit Einstein and run another project to see if it does the same.
Greetings from
TJ
It is something from
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It is something from Einstein@home I guess. I have set BOINC to use 100% CPU thus all 4 cores, and what is happening is that 3 WU's run and the 4th not.
So einstein_S6LV1_1.11_windows_intelx86__SSE2 must somehow use more than one core to crunch. I would like to know if more crunchers see this, or even the admins.
Thanks.
Greetings from
TJ
RE: So
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No, I don't see it, and I doubt it is true. There is generally only one significantly active thread for a task of that kind, which inherently can't occupy more than one core.
Why are you so confident that the activity you see is all created by that Einstein task? I'd suggest that you download Process Explorer (originally an independent program, but they got absorbed by Microsoft, so the download from Microsoft is what you want).
With Process Explorer you can get a very detailed look at what is active on your system, and how much of various resources things are using.
Just to name situation I've seen happen--I've seen an instance of Firefox get into a state in which it simply runs at 100% CPU consumption (thus using a core worth), while doing nothing at all--probably because of runaway code on a web page, which I for example, saw with ads on the London Times web pages. I've also seen Firefox fail to go away completely even though I'd closed the program and no icon showed for it on my task bar.
I'm not saying an errant copy of Firefox is your problem--just trying to illustrate how it could be that things other than an Einstein GW task are your issue.
RE: RE: So
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Thanks for your help.
I hadn't Firefox runing. But I saw what you mean. As all WU's where done, the system was still 34% using of the CPU, after quiting Mail and IE. So I rebooted my system and now all is up again. Three Einstein WU's running for 75%. Mail and IE in background using a percent or two once in while just like before. I am happy again and will look for Process Explorer.
Greetings from
TJ
RE: I am happy again and
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When I want to get a fresh copy, I usually just type "download Process Explorer" into a Google search and find the current version high on the list.
Today it can be found here.
I just read through this
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I just read through this thread and have some input to share. I run an I7 here with 8 cores. At first I was just letting Windows 7 Pro manage cpu affinity. This quickly went haywire as everybody wanted to run on core 0 and then spread out from there. Like TJ, I couldn't do anything without severe lag times. I did a little research and found a program called Process Lasso, commonly called ProLasso. ProLasso allows me to direct specific tasks to specific cores. I then use SIV64 to monitor the changes and keep an eye on temps. Here's what I've done:
Core 0 - gen'l business programs, i.e Firefox/Thunderbird, Quickbooks, MS Office etc, games (SWTOR), Collatz Conjecture (this is actually a gpu app and it's cpu needs are very minimal. Maybe a per cent or two of Core 0 use). Total cpu use on this core has never been seen above 38% or so.
Cores 1-4,6,7 - Einstein apps, These run at 100% on each of the 6 working cores
Core 5 - Windows programs, Core 5 runs at about 90-95%
Actually, I don't set Windows programs to run specifically on Core 5, they just seemed to migrate there. For all Windows programs and their cpu affinity, I leave alone and let their default affinity automatically be set to Cores 0-7.
Every now and then, Einstein changes the type of work that is being done and consequently the file name. Since I haven't set up a default affinity for that file name yet, it will load up Core 0 to the point that I can't get much done. This is my clue to go into ProLasso and change the default affinity to Cores 1-4,6,7. After that, all is back to normal.
As I mentioned before, Windows 7 seems to do a horrible job of managing cpu affinity when you're doing the stuff I'm doing. I did a lot of research before I invested in ProLasso, and I have to say, it saved my ass, and continues to do so. I'm running about as efficiently as I possibly can given the hardware I have in my rig and the software I want to run. I also have 12gb ram in my system, but I never seem to use more than 6gb. Headroom is good, eh?
A quick note for clarity
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A quick note for clarity here, when I say Windows programs for Core 5, I mean the internal OS programs that are required for Windows to be Windows. Svchost.exe, conhost.exe, csrss.exe, lsass.exe, wininit.exe etc. Any Windows program that is designed to run under Windows and is not an update to the OS itself or installed by the OS for itself, gets allocated to Core 0. I just wanted to make that clear. In other words, if I buy or acquire a program for free and it runs under Windows, I force it to Core 0. OS specific files I leave alone.