A progarm with multi-threading support is only using one core worth of processing power.

[idata]

I have a i7 920 and am playing the MMOPRG game Age of Conan. Age of Conan, by all reports I've seen can use multiple cores, however it seems to use exactly one core worth of CPU resources ( with all 8 cores on it uses 12-13% CPU with only 4 cores on the usage is at 25%)

It does sometimes seem to use more than one core, but it doesn't take advantage of them ( that is it'll be 100% load on one core, or 50% load each on two cores, 25% each on four cores, etc.

I can think of a few reasons why this might be:

1. The game just happens to need exactly the amount of CPU power that one core can offer. I don't think this is likely because it stays steady, never dropping below 100% of one core total usage

2. The game doesn't really use multi-core CPUs dispite info saying otherwise.

3. Their is some sort of cap that prevents the program from using more than 100% of one core even if it's spread out over several, such as 12.5% each on 8 cores, the total always equals 100% of one core)

If there is some sot of CPU usage cap per program, is there any way to increase this? and is this a CPU limit, a BIOS limit, OS limit, a limit set by the program itself or something else?

CPU: i7 920 @3.6GHz

EVGA x58 3x SLI motherboard

Windows Vista home basic 64 bit

[Casey_H_Intel · Accepted solution]

Hello,

From what I see on the web, it appears the answer appears to be # 3 below, limited by the application. I'm reading the same issue is being seen across many platforms.

One other item to note is that the beta version of this application appears to limit multi-core use, so be sure to use a full version for best performance.

Casey H.

Intel Customer Support* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

[HERBERT_H_Intel]

seems like the program isn't really needing all that processing power.

You could try and run the game, ALT TAB back to windows, open Task manager, find the game executable process in the processes tab, right click and select Set Afinity. uncheck all but the first 4 CPUs (0 - 3). go back to the game, play for a minute or two and then come back to see the processor utilization.

OJ

[idata]

Ok, thanks, I was thinking that it was the program itself, I just wanted to double check and see if their was any other factors that could be limiting it. It seems that while the program is multithreaded, you really have to press it to turn it on, simply setting affinity in the task manager isn't enough, You have to press Ctrl-alt-C several times (not just once) for it to notice that it can use more than one core.