cpu usage hovers around 50%

I am using Win XP Pro x64 at work for 3D CAD. The cpu usage hovers around
50% when the 3D CAD is doing calculations. Most of the time the HD is idling
and I have enough memory for the job, so I presume these two items are not
dragging the system. I can tell I am spending an hour per day accumulatively
on waiting and I certainly want to cut this down.

There is a hotfix KB896256 for the XP SP2, but it seems not for the 64 bit
machine as the installation warns me "This KB896256 is for a different
hardware platform." Has anyone experienced the same and is there any other
tweak?


Hardware:
ASUS P5K
Intel Core 2 Duo E6550
8GB DDR2 800MHz
NVidia Quadro FX1500
Seagate 250GB HDD

Carlos
Tue Apr 22 19:46:00 PDT 2008

Hi,
That update (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896256/en-us) applies only to
32-bit XP.
Carlos

"cpw" wrote:

> I am using Win XP Pro x64 at work for 3D CAD. The cpu usage hovers around
> 50% when the 3D CAD is doing calculations. Most of the time the HD is idling
> and I have enough memory for the job, so I presume these two items are not
> dragging the system. I can tell I am spending an hour per day accumulatively
> on waiting and I certainly want to cut this down.
>
> There is a hotfix KB896256 for the XP SP2, but it seems not for the 64 bit
> machine as the installation warns me "This KB896256 is for a different
> hardware platform." Has anyone experienced the same and is there any other
> tweak?
>
>
> Hardware:
> ASUS P5K
> Intel Core 2 Duo E6550
> 8GB DDR2 800MHz
> NVidia Quadro FX1500
> Seagate 250GB HDD

Colin
Tue Apr 22 21:08:30 PDT 2008

In any case, the issue addressed in the KB arises with AMD and not Intel.

"cpw" <cpw@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:AD100A3D-8A44-4669-A024-FA88B4E17EAB@microsoft.com...
>I am using Win XP Pro x64 at work for 3D CAD. The cpu usage hovers around
> 50% when the 3D CAD is doing calculations. Most of the time the HD is
> idling
> and I have enough memory for the job, so I presume these two items are not
> dragging the system. I can tell I am spending an hour per day
> accumulatively
> on waiting and I certainly want to cut this down.
>
> There is a hotfix KB896256 for the XP SP2, but it seems not for the 64 bit
> machine as the installation warns me "This KB896256 is for a different
> hardware platform." Has anyone experienced the same and is there any
> other
> tweak?
>
>
> Hardware:
> ASUS P5K
> Intel Core 2 Duo E6550
> 8GB DDR2 800MHz
> NVidia Quadro FX1500
> Seagate 250GB HDD

Charlie
Tue Apr 22 21:58:59 PDT 2008

Frankly, that's probably the best you're going to do on that particular
application. It's worth looking at the numbers on memory usage and I/O, just
in case.

--
Charlie.
http://msmvps.com/blogs/xperts64
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/charlie.russel


"cpw" <cpw@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:AD100A3D-8A44-4669-A024-FA88B4E17EAB@microsoft.com...
>I am using Win XP Pro x64 at work for 3D CAD. The cpu usage hovers around
> 50% when the 3D CAD is doing calculations. Most of the time the HD is
> idling
> and I have enough memory for the job, so I presume these two items are not
> dragging the system. I can tell I am spending an hour per day
> accumulatively
> on waiting and I certainly want to cut this down.
>
> There is a hotfix KB896256 for the XP SP2, but it seems not for the 64 bit
> machine as the installation warns me "This KB896256 is for a different
> hardware platform." Has anyone experienced the same and is there any
> other
> tweak?
>
>
> Hardware:
> ASUS P5K
> Intel Core 2 Duo E6550
> 8GB DDR2 800MHz
> NVidia Quadro FX1500
> Seagate 250GB HDD

Martin
Wed Apr 23 00:53:11 PDT 2008

What CAD package is it ? Is it multi threaded (sounds like it is not) ? If
it is not the behaviour you are seeing is as expected. You have 2 cores so
when showing 50% the PC is using half of it total available processing power
i.e one core.

A couple of our workstations have Quad core CPU's in them however when
running our 3D package, which is not multi threaded the CPU usage shows 25%.

If you want the calculation time to reduce then you could overclock your CPU
or buy a faster one.

Regards

Martin

"cpw" <cpw@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:AD100A3D-8A44-4669-A024-FA88B4E17EAB@microsoft.com...
> I am using Win XP Pro x64 at work for 3D CAD. The cpu usage hovers around
> 50% when the 3D CAD is doing calculations. Most of the time the HD is
idling
> and I have enough memory for the job, so I presume these two items are not
> dragging the system. I can tell I am spending an hour per day
accumulatively
> on waiting and I certainly want to cut this down.
>
> There is a hotfix KB896256 for the XP SP2, but it seems not for the 64 bit
> machine as the installation warns me "This KB896256 is for a different
> hardware platform." Has anyone experienced the same and is there any
other
> tweak?
>
>
> Hardware:
> ASUS P5K
> Intel Core 2 Duo E6550
> 8GB DDR2 800MHz
> NVidia Quadro FX1500
> Seagate 250GB HDD

cpw
Fri Apr 25 19:41:00 PDT 2008

Odd enough. The cpu is Intel, but the XP64 recognizes it as an AMD64 as seen
on the Computer's properties.
Is it a clue?




"Colin Barnhorst" wrote:

> In any case, the issue addressed in the KB arises with AMD and not Intel.
>
> "cpw" <cpw@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:AD100A3D-8A44-4669-A024-FA88B4E17EAB@microsoft.com...
> >I am using Win XP Pro x64 at work for 3D CAD. The cpu usage hovers around
> > 50% when the 3D CAD is doing calculations. Most of the time the HD is
> > idling
> > and I have enough memory for the job, so I presume these two items are not
> > dragging the system. I can tell I am spending an hour per day
> > accumulatively
> > on waiting and I certainly want to cut this down.
> >
> > There is a hotfix KB896256 for the XP SP2, but it seems not for the 64 bit
> > machine as the installation warns me "This KB896256 is for a different
> > hardware platform." Has anyone experienced the same and is there any
> > other
> > tweak?
> >
> >
> > Hardware:
> > ASUS P5K
> > Intel Core 2 Duo E6550
> > 8GB DDR2 800MHz
> > NVidia Quadro FX1500
> > Seagate 250GB HDD
>

cpw
Fri Apr 25 19:51:00 PDT 2008

It is CATIA and it is not multi-thread as told by the agent.

The XP64 is running 50% on each core that is shown on the cpu usage history,
so it is 50% overall. In the Quad core case, I guess each core is running at
25% as well so the total is 25%. I am wondering if the OS considers the cpu
as only one piece despite of the number of core.

Thus, I assume that it is the OS who limits the percentage of cpu
utilization. Over-clocking or buying a faster cpu are not options for me.
BTW, as the cpu power is there, why shouldn't I be able to use them all?





"Martin G" wrote:

> What CAD package is it ? Is it multi threaded (sounds like it is not) ? If
> it is not the behaviour you are seeing is as expected. You have 2 cores so
> when showing 50% the PC is using half of it total available processing power
> i.e one core.
>
> A couple of our workstations have Quad core CPU's in them however when
> running our 3D package, which is not multi threaded the CPU usage shows 25%.
>
> If you want the calculation time to reduce then you could overclock your CPU
> or buy a faster one.
>
> Regards
>
> Martin
>
> "cpw" <cpw@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:AD100A3D-8A44-4669-A024-FA88B4E17EAB@microsoft.com...
> > I am using Win XP Pro x64 at work for 3D CAD. The cpu usage hovers around
> > 50% when the 3D CAD is doing calculations. Most of the time the HD is
> idling
> > and I have enough memory for the job, so I presume these two items are not
> > dragging the system. I can tell I am spending an hour per day
> accumulatively
> > on waiting and I certainly want to cut this down.
> >
> > There is a hotfix KB896256 for the XP SP2, but it seems not for the 64 bit
> > machine as the installation warns me "This KB896256 is for a different
> > hardware platform." Has anyone experienced the same and is there any
> other
> > tweak?
> >
> >
> > Hardware:
> > ASUS P5K
> > Intel Core 2 Duo E6550
> > 8GB DDR2 800MHz
> > NVidia Quadro FX1500
> > Seagate 250GB HDD
>
>
>

cpw
Fri Apr 25 20:03:00 PDT 2008

This one gives a hint.
http://msmvps.com/blogs/xperts64/archive/2007/11/11/the-multi-core-fallacy.aspx
But I am not satisfied because why should I be limited to only 50% on a
dual-core and 25% on a quad-core?
Lucky enough I didn't jump into a quad-core setup when making the purchase
decision.





"Charlie Russel - MVP" wrote:

> Frankly, that's probably the best you're going to do on that particular
> application. It's worth looking at the numbers on memory usage and I/O, just
> in case.
>
> --
> Charlie.
> http://msmvps.com/blogs/xperts64
> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/charlie.russel
>
>
> "cpw" <cpw@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:AD100A3D-8A44-4669-A024-FA88B4E17EAB@microsoft.com...
> >I am using Win XP Pro x64 at work for 3D CAD. The cpu usage hovers around
> > 50% when the 3D CAD is doing calculations. Most of the time the HD is
> > idling
> > and I have enough memory for the job, so I presume these two items are not
> > dragging the system. I can tell I am spending an hour per day
> > accumulatively
> > on waiting and I certainly want to cut this down.
> >
> > There is a hotfix KB896256 for the XP SP2, but it seems not for the 64 bit
> > machine as the installation warns me "This KB896256 is for a different
> > hardware platform." Has anyone experienced the same and is there any
> > other
> > tweak?
> >
> >
> > Hardware:
> > ASUS P5K
> > Intel Core 2 Duo E6550
> > 8GB DDR2 800MHz
> > NVidia Quadro FX1500
> > Seagate 250GB HDD
>

Colin
Fri Apr 25 20:56:51 PDT 2008

That does not mean it thinks it is an AMD brand cpu. AMD64 is the generic
classification for all 64bit cpus that support backwards compatibility with
the x86 instruction set. It is called AMD64 because AMD was the first out
with such a 64bit cpu just as x86 is the generic classification for cpus
that use the instruction set that debuted with the Intel 8086 cpu regardles
of the maufacturer of the chip.

"cpw" <cpw@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:22AC459E-72E2-4820-8891-FBEF0CEF8E41@microsoft.com...
> Odd enough. The cpu is Intel, but the XP64 recognizes it as an AMD64 as
> seen
> on the Computer's properties.
> Is it a clue?
>
>
>
>
> "Colin Barnhorst" wrote:
>
>> In any case, the issue addressed in the KB arises with AMD and not Intel.
>>
>> "cpw" <cpw@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:AD100A3D-8A44-4669-A024-FA88B4E17EAB@microsoft.com...
>> >I am using Win XP Pro x64 at work for 3D CAD. The cpu usage hovers
>> >around
>> > 50% when the 3D CAD is doing calculations. Most of the time the HD is
>> > idling
>> > and I have enough memory for the job, so I presume these two items are
>> > not
>> > dragging the system. I can tell I am spending an hour per day
>> > accumulatively
>> > on waiting and I certainly want to cut this down.
>> >
>> > There is a hotfix KB896256 for the XP SP2, but it seems not for the 64
>> > bit
>> > machine as the installation warns me "This KB896256 is for a different
>> > hardware platform." Has anyone experienced the same and is there any
>> > other
>> > tweak?
>> >
>> >
>> > Hardware:
>> > ASUS P5K
>> > Intel Core 2 Duo E6550
>> > 8GB DDR2 800MHz
>> > NVidia Quadro FX1500
>> > Seagate 250GB HDD
>>

Charlie
Fri Apr 25 23:04:01 PDT 2008

Because the software you're running doesn't know how to use more.

The fact is that most software today is single threaded. That means it can
only use one core effectively. Now, if you run a lot of different programs
at once, it doesn't matter that each program is single threaded. They get
spread across the available cores to balance the load. But when you're
basically only doing one task, it will only use that one CPU.

--
Charlie.
http://msmvps.com/blogs/xperts64
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/charlie.russel


"cpw" <cpw@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:E72B6FB4-B761-4433-8B75-917D05E9BBB7@microsoft.com...
> This one gives a hint.
> http://msmvps.com/blogs/xperts64/archive/2007/11/11/the-multi-core-fallacy.aspx
> But I am not satisfied because why should I be limited to only 50% on a
> dual-core and 25% on a quad-core?
> Lucky enough I didn't jump into a quad-core setup when making the purchase
> decision.
>
>
>
>
>
> "Charlie Russel - MVP" wrote:
>
>> Frankly, that's probably the best you're going to do on that particular
>> application. It's worth looking at the numbers on memory usage and I/O,
>> just
>> in case.
>>
>> --
>> Charlie.
>> http://msmvps.com/blogs/xperts64
>> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/charlie.russel
>>
>>
>> "cpw" <cpw@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:AD100A3D-8A44-4669-A024-FA88B4E17EAB@microsoft.com...
>> >I am using Win XP Pro x64 at work for 3D CAD. The cpu usage hovers
>> >around
>> > 50% when the 3D CAD is doing calculations. Most of the time the HD is
>> > idling
>> > and I have enough memory for the job, so I presume these two items are
>> > not
>> > dragging the system. I can tell I am spending an hour per day
>> > accumulatively
>> > on waiting and I certainly want to cut this down.
>> >
>> > There is a hotfix KB896256 for the XP SP2, but it seems not for the 64
>> > bit
>> > machine as the installation warns me "This KB896256 is for a different
>> > hardware platform." Has anyone experienced the same and is there any
>> > other
>> > tweak?
>> >
>> >
>> > Hardware:
>> > ASUS P5K
>> > Intel Core 2 Duo E6550
>> > 8GB DDR2 800MHz
>> > NVidia Quadro FX1500
>> > Seagate 250GB HDD
>>

Tony
Sat Apr 26 04:11:12 PDT 2008

In reality, I think you are cheating yourself maintaining this view. You
seem to think the CPU is being limited to run at half it's speed but the 50%
you see is a 'usage' percentage. If you compare your present situation with
having a single core CPU of the same clock frequency, the fact that your
sofware is single threaded means you are having the resources of one spare
CPU to do other things while your CAD project is running at full speed. You
are the only one who can tell if that is a bonus. If it isn't, then at least
it is nobody's fault unless you have alternative software to chose from that
can do your work in multiple threads.

If two guys are given the task of assembling a chickenshed with only one set
of hand tools, that doesn't have to mean they are not working at full
speed - the workforce is only utilized to 50% and if each were having his
own set of tools the job could be finished somewhat sooner, but probably not
in half the time, since working as a team together will be more efficient
anyhow. It is much the same thing for the OS, there is a lot going on under
the surface besides the things you start yourself and all of that will
benefit from not running in a congested environment, while you are doing
your CAD 'thing'.

For myself, my system runs much of the time at 50% or less but I can start
the Flightsimulator and defrag the partition it runs from at the same time,
and if my Anti-Virus then decides to do it's on-line updating while I'm
taking off in the middle of all of this, I don't notice even the briefest
attempt at hesitation. To me that is certainly a bonus!

It's up to you to see it, though. Make an effort to be happy!

(You could even try and start a specifically heavy bit of your CAD problem
solving and the Defragger at the same time while keeping an eye on the
percentage figure - back up first!)


Tony. . .



"cpw" <cpw@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8C982FAE-8211-432D-A1DA-57BE54FF9612@microsoft.com...
> It is CATIA and it is not multi-thread as told by the agent.
>
> The XP64 is running 50% on each core that is shown on the cpu usage
history,
> so it is 50% overall. In the Quad core case, I guess each core is running
at
> 25% as well so the total is 25%. I am wondering if the OS considers the
cpu
> as only one piece despite of the number of core.
>
> Thus, I assume that it is the OS who limits the percentage of cpu
> utilization. Over-clocking or buying a faster cpu are not options for me.
> BTW, as the cpu power is there, why shouldn't I be able to use them all?
>
>
>
>
>
> "Martin G" wrote:
>
> > What CAD package is it ? Is it multi threaded (sounds like it is not) ?
If
> > it is not the behaviour you are seeing is as expected. You have 2 cores
so
> > when showing 50% the PC is using half of it total available processing
power
> > i.e one core.
> >
> > A couple of our workstations have Quad core CPU's in them however when
> > running our 3D package, which is not multi threaded the CPU usage shows
25%.
> >
> > If you want the calculation time to reduce then you could overclock your
CPU
> > or buy a faster one.
> >
> > Regards
> >
> > Martin
> >
> > "cpw" <cpw@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> > news:AD100A3D-8A44-4669-A024-FA88B4E17EAB@microsoft.com...
> > > I am using Win XP Pro x64 at work for 3D CAD. The cpu usage hovers
around
> > > 50% when the 3D CAD is doing calculations. Most of the time the HD is
> > idling
> > > and I have enough memory for the job, so I presume these two items are
not
> > > dragging the system. I can tell I am spending an hour per day
> > accumulatively
> > > on waiting and I certainly want to cut this down.
> > >
> > > There is a hotfix KB896256 for the XP SP2, but it seems not for the 64
bit
> > > machine as the installation warns me "This KB896256 is for a different
> > > hardware platform." Has anyone experienced the same and is there any
> > other
> > > tweak?
> > >
> > >
> > > Hardware:
> > > ASUS P5K
> > > Intel Core 2 Duo E6550
> > > 8GB DDR2 800MHz
> > > NVidia Quadro FX1500
> > > Seagate 250GB HDD
> >
> >
> >

Stefan
Sat Apr 26 05:09:06 PDT 2008

On Fri, 25 Apr 2008 19:51:00 -0700, cpw
<cpw@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>It is CATIA and it is not multi-thread as told by the agent.
>
>The XP64 is running 50% on each core that is shown on the cpu usage history,
>so it is 50% overall. In the Quad core case, I guess each core is running at
>25% as well so the total is 25%. I am wondering if the OS considers the cpu
>as only one piece despite of the number of core.
>
>Thus, I assume that it is the OS who limits the percentage of cpu
>utilization. Over-clocking or buying a faster cpu are not options for me.
>BTW, as the cpu power is there, why shouldn't I be able to use them all?
>

I assume that CATIA will have support for simultaneous multi core
processing, but you will have to enable it, as you have to if you use
Unigraphics NX.
You should check the documentation.

If you display the load graph for each core separately, you will
notice that one is idle and the other is working hard, that results in
a load percentage of 50%.

It is common, that not every task you perform inside of CATIA will use
multiple cores simultaneously.

At least, you should be able to run two CATIA sessions concurrently to
get the most out of your hardware.

---
Stefan Pendl

Windows XP Pro SP 2
Celeron M 1.3 GHz
752 MB DDR RAM

Martin
Mon Apr 28 05:22:25 PDT 2008

If your VAR has told you that it is not multi threaded then there is nothing
you can do. You may have only one physical processor in your machine but it
has 2 processors on the die, CATIA would need to be multi threaded to be
able to address both of these simultaneously. If you want to reduce the time
you are waiting for operations to complete all you can do is buy a faster
processor. from you specs you are running a E6550 which is 2.33GHz, there
are faster options out there, the E8500 runs about 30 % faster looking at
specs (3.16GHz).

On the bright side at least you are only waiting an hour a day my Inventor
2008 session was running for 7 hours on Friday and used the processor for
over 3 hours of it.

Regards

Martin


"cpw" <cpw@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8C982FAE-8211-432D-A1DA-57BE54FF9612@microsoft.com...
> It is CATIA and it is not multi-thread as told by the agent.
>
> The XP64 is running 50% on each core that is shown on the cpu usage
history,
> so it is 50% overall. In the Quad core case, I guess each core is running
at
> 25% as well so the total is 25%. I am wondering if the OS considers the
cpu
> as only one piece despite of the number of core.
>
> Thus, I assume that it is the OS who limits the percentage of cpu
> utilization. Over-clocking or buying a faster cpu are not options for me.
> BTW, as the cpu power is there, why shouldn't I be able to use them all?
>
>
>
>
>
> "Martin G" wrote:
>
> > What CAD package is it ? Is it multi threaded (sounds like it is not) ?
If
> > it is not the behaviour you are seeing is as expected. You have 2 cores
so
> > when showing 50% the PC is using half of it total available processing
power
> > i.e one core.
> >
> > A couple of our workstations have Quad core CPU's in them however when
> > running our 3D package, which is not multi threaded the CPU usage shows
25%.
> >
> > If you want the calculation time to reduce then you could overclock your
CPU
> > or buy a faster one.
> >
> > Regards
> >
> > Martin
> >
> > "cpw" <cpw@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> > news:AD100A3D-8A44-4669-A024-FA88B4E17EAB@microsoft.com...
> > > I am using Win XP Pro x64 at work for 3D CAD. The cpu usage hovers
around
> > > 50% when the 3D CAD is doing calculations. Most of the time the HD is
> > idling
> > > and I have enough memory for the job, so I presume these two items are
not
> > > dragging the system. I can tell I am spending an hour per day
> > accumulatively
> > > on waiting and I certainly want to cut this down.
> > >
> > > There is a hotfix KB896256 for the XP SP2, but it seems not for the 64
bit
> > > machine as the installation warns me "This KB896256 is for a different
> > > hardware platform." Has anyone experienced the same and is there any
> > other
> > > tweak?
> > >
> > >
> > > Hardware:
> > > ASUS P5K
> > > Intel Core 2 Duo E6550
> > > 8GB DDR2 800MHz
> > > NVidia Quadro FX1500
> > > Seagate 250GB HDD
> >
> >
> >

cpw
Fri May 02 08:02:01 PDT 2008

It makes sense.
So, while there is a hot fix KB896256 for the 32 bit XP, do you think there
will be one for the 64 bit soon?



"Charlie Russel - MVP" wrote:

> Because the software you're running doesn't know how to use more.
>
> The fact is that most software today is single threaded. That means it can
> only use one core effectively. Now, if you run a lot of different programs
> at once, it doesn't matter that each program is single threaded. They get
> spread across the available cores to balance the load. But when you're
> basically only doing one task, it will only use that one CPU.
>
> --
> Charlie.
> http://msmvps.com/blogs/xperts64
> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/charlie.russel
>
>
> "cpw" <cpw@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:E72B6FB4-B761-4433-8B75-917D05E9BBB7@microsoft.com...
> > This one gives a hint.
> > http://msmvps.com/blogs/xperts64/archive/2007/11/11/the-multi-core-fallacy.aspx
> > But I am not satisfied because why should I be limited to only 50% on a
> > dual-core and 25% on a quad-core?
> > Lucky enough I didn't jump into a quad-core setup when making the purchase
> > decision.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > "Charlie Russel - MVP" wrote:
> >
> >> Frankly, that's probably the best you're going to do on that particular
> >> application. It's worth looking at the numbers on memory usage and I/O,
> >> just
> >> in case.
> >>
> >> --
> >> Charlie.
> >> http://msmvps.com/blogs/xperts64
> >> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/charlie.russel
> >>
> >>
> >> "cpw" <cpw@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> news:AD100A3D-8A44-4669-A024-FA88B4E17EAB@microsoft.com...
> >> >I am using Win XP Pro x64 at work for 3D CAD. The cpu usage hovers
> >> >around
> >> > 50% when the 3D CAD is doing calculations. Most of the time the HD is
> >> > idling
> >> > and I have enough memory for the job, so I presume these two items are
> >> > not
> >> > dragging the system. I can tell I am spending an hour per day
> >> > accumulatively
> >> > on waiting and I certainly want to cut this down.
> >> >
> >> > There is a hotfix KB896256 for the XP SP2, but it seems not for the 64
> >> > bit
> >> > machine as the installation warns me "This KB896256 is for a different
> >> > hardware platform." Has anyone experienced the same and is there any
> >> > other
> >> > tweak?
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > Hardware:
> >> > ASUS P5K
> >> > Intel Core 2 Duo E6550
> >> > 8GB DDR2 800MHz
> >> > NVidia Quadro FX1500
> >> > Seagate 250GB HDD
> >>
>

Theo
Fri May 02 08:40:22 PDT 2008

The problem is not Windows. It's the application. When you
see 50% usage on a dual core and 25% using on a quad core
CPU, that's telling you one core is running at 100%, but
since overall system usage is 50% or 25% respective.

If you want the application to utilize more than one core,
then it must be coded to do so.

Don't blame Windows, blame the programmer.


cpw wrote:
> It makes sense.
> So, while there is a hot fix KB896256 for the 32 bit XP, do you think there
> will be one for the 64 bit soon?
>
>
>
> "Charlie Russel - MVP" wrote:
>
>> Because the software you're running doesn't know how to use more.
>>
>> The fact is that most software today is single threaded. That means it can
>> only use one core effectively. Now, if you run a lot of different programs
>> at once, it doesn't matter that each program is single threaded. They get
>> spread across the available cores to balance the load. But when you're
>> basically only doing one task, it will only use that one CPU.
>>
>> --
>> Charlie.
>> http://msmvps.com/blogs/xperts64
>> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/charlie.russel
>>
>>
>> "cpw" <cpw@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:E72B6FB4-B761-4433-8B75-917D05E9BBB7@microsoft.com...
>>> This one gives a hint.
>>> http://msmvps.com/blogs/xperts64/archive/2007/11/11/the-multi-core-fallacy.aspx
>>> But I am not satisfied because why should I be limited to only 50% on a
>>> dual-core and 25% on a quad-core?
>>> Lucky enough I didn't jump into a quad-core setup when making the purchase
>>> decision.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> "Charlie Russel - MVP" wrote:
>>>
>>>> Frankly, that's probably the best you're going to do on that particular
>>>> application. It's worth looking at the numbers on memory usage and I/O,
>>>> just
>>>> in case.
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Charlie.
>>>> http://msmvps.com/blogs/xperts64
>>>> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/charlie.russel
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> "cpw" <cpw@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>>>> news:AD100A3D-8A44-4669-A024-FA88B4E17EAB@microsoft.com...
>>>>> I am using Win XP Pro x64 at work for 3D CAD. The cpu usage hovers
>>>>> around
>>>>> 50% when the 3D CAD is doing calculations. Most of the time the HD is
>>>>> idling
>>>>> and I have enough memory for the job, so I presume these two items are
>>>>> not
>>>>> dragging the system. I can tell I am spending an hour per day
>>>>> accumulatively
>>>>> on waiting and I certainly want to cut this down.
>>>>>
>>>>> There is a hotfix KB896256 for the XP SP2, but it seems not for the 64
>>>>> bit
>>>>> machine as the installation warns me "This KB896256 is for a different
>>>>> hardware platform." Has anyone experienced the same and is there any
>>>>> other
>>>>> tweak?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Hardware:
>>>>> ASUS P5K
>>>>> Intel Core 2 Duo E6550
>>>>> 8GB DDR2 800MHz
>>>>> NVidia Quadro FX1500
>>>>> Seagate 250GB HDD

Bobby
Sun May 04 09:38:51 PDT 2008

thanx for the info

Theo wrote:
> The problem is not Windows. It's the application. When you see 50%
> usage on a dual core and 25% using on a quad core CPU, that's telling
> you one core is running at 100%, but since overall system usage is 50%
> or 25% respective.
>
> If you want the application to utilize more than one core, then it must
> be coded to do so.
>
> Don't blame Windows, blame the programmer.
>
>
> cpw wrote:
>> It makes sense.
>> So, while there is a hot fix KB896256 for the 32 bit XP, do you think
>> there will be one for the 64 bit soon?
>>
>>
>>
>> "Charlie Russel - MVP" wrote:
>>
>>> Because the software you're running doesn't know how to use more.
>>>
>>> The fact is that most software today is single threaded. That means
>>> it can only use one core effectively. Now, if you run a lot of
>>> different programs at once, it doesn't matter that each program is
>>> single threaded. They get spread across the available cores to
>>> balance the load. But when you're basically only doing one task, it
>>> will only use that one CPU.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Charlie.
>>> http://msmvps.com/blogs/xperts64
>>> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/charlie.russel
>>>
>>>
>>> "cpw" <cpw@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>>> news:E72B6FB4-B761-4433-8B75-917D05E9BBB7@microsoft.com...
>>>> This one gives a hint.
>>>> http://msmvps.com/blogs/xperts64/archive/2007/11/11/the-multi-core-fallacy.aspx
>>>>
>>>> But I am not satisfied because why should I be limited to only 50% on a
>>>> dual-core and 25% on a quad-core?
>>>> Lucky enough I didn't jump into a quad-core setup when making the
>>>> purchase
>>>> decision.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> "Charlie Russel - MVP" wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Frankly, that's probably the best you're going to do on that
>>>>> particular
>>>>> application. It's worth looking at the numbers on memory usage and
>>>>> I/O, just
>>>>> in case.
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Charlie.
>>>>> http://msmvps.com/blogs/xperts64
>>>>> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/charlie.russel
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> "cpw" <cpw@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>>>>> news:AD100A3D-8A44-4669-A024-FA88B4E17EAB@microsoft.com...
>>>>>> I am using Win XP Pro x64 at work for 3D CAD. The cpu usage
>>>>>> hovers around
>>>>>> 50% when the 3D CAD is doing calculations. Most of the time the
>>>>>> HD is
>>>>>> idling
>>>>>> and I have enough memory for the job, so I presume these two items
>>>>>> are not
>>>>>> dragging the system. I can tell I am spending an hour per day
>>>>>> accumulatively
>>>>>> on waiting and I certainly want to cut this down.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> There is a hotfix KB896256 for the XP SP2, but it seems not for
>>>>>> the 64 bit
>>>>>> machine as the installation warns me "This KB896256 is for a
>>>>>> different
>>>>>> hardware platform." Has anyone experienced the same and is there any
>>>>>> other
>>>>>> tweak?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Hardware:
>>>>>> ASUS P5K
>>>>>> Intel Core 2 Duo E6550
>>>>>> 8GB DDR2 800MHz
>>>>>> NVidia Quadro FX1500
>>>>>> Seagate 250GB HDD