can't get CPU to do 100% load in XP

[vassili_zaitsev]

abit ic7 (bios ver. 16)

pentium 4C 2.4 @ 2.8 (HT enabled)

2x 512 ocz ddr400 cas2 (2-3-3-6)

radeon 9700np 333/315

windows xp sp1

hi guys, this has been bothering me forever. my cpu scores in 3dmarks '03/aquamark 3 are all on par with the norm. they are 650/9463 respectively. real world gaming performance verify this. however, when i'm executing non-gaming apps in XP, my CPU rarely operates above 90% one thing that stands out the most is video rendering/encoding. (although i don't know the cpu usage during gameplay, performance is on par with published benchmarks, so i assume it's operating at maximum)

right now, i'm encoding video through Virtual Dub. when i look under cpu usage, it's only operating at 50%. isn't there something wrong? why is it not utilizing 100% of my cpu when encoding video? the following picture might better explain things. at the time of screenshot one processor is maxed out and the other sitting pretty at 0% (one logical cpu, XP sees 2 due to hyperthreading). just a few minutes prior both were operating at 50%...but the total usage still reamined 50%. i've even tried to set it's priority to realtime/high in the processes tab but it does nothing. and processor affinity shows both cpus under use by Vdub.

http://home.cogeco.ca/~konig/usage.JPG

the only times i see >85% cpu usage is when multiple applications are working away. is this the nature of HT? does it only allow one application thread a certain amount of cycles? i get simialar results when rendering video with premiere 6. i dunno, something must be wrong. my old 2.4b @ 2.8 (non HT) was always 99-100% loaded when rendering video.

(i can't recall video redering performance/speed of the 2.4b @ 2.8. so i can't really compare redering times between the "b" and "c" versions to find out if the "c" is infact faster at 50% load than the "b" at 100% load...although synthetic gaming benchmarks ala 3dmarks show higher scores for the C at same speeds)

I've installed the neccessary intel chipset stuff from the install cd that came with the mobo. i have the latest (well, almost latest) bios rev. is there something i might be missing in a bios setting? please help me before i waste mad monies calling intel support long distance. thanks guys.

[camelNotation]

Vassili Zaitsev is a name of a Latvian/Lithuanian G.M.

[)BIG"B"Affleck]

Look at other similar threads called 100% I know there is 1 thats in the most popular thread at daniweb.com
Yue IS and yuero ine to tyue of rusiian of shorld the tyuose shyuo of knosh of notes.One of to tyue greatest snipers shyuo of ever to lived.Yue of yueld of doshn of staligrad of yuimself.

[feigned]

is this the nature of HT? does it only allow one application thread a certain amount of cycles?

Yes, that's the nature of HT. You get a "second" processor for "free," though it's logical and not physical which you all ready understand quite clearly.

The reason why you see 50% usage with vdub is that vdub isn't multi-threaded, therefore it only uses one of the "two" available processors.

It's not hurting performance either way. You just have a "second" processor to handle the other tasks while vdub is hammering away at your Divx encodes. :)