Member Avatar for Mace

hi,
i've been looking at the task manager and i see that while running the command line version of seti@home (didn't test the gui ver) it only uses 50% of the cpu, while system idle process uses the other 50%. i have a hyperthreading p4 @ 2997mhz. how do i get 1 instance of seti@home to use most of the cpu? i've tried setting priority. does it have to do with ram speed? is it the hyperthreading? it's a laptop, so i don't want to crank up the bus or any overclocking.
thanks.

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Brief, practical clarification for (and thanks to for the pointer): a Hyper-Threaded Pentium 4 presents two logical processors to Windows, but a single-threaded, CPU-bound program can only execute on one logical processor at a time. Task Manager reports total usage across both logical CPUs, so a single CPU-bound process will look like it’s using only half the reported CPU even though that one thread is running flat out on one logical core. This is a scheduling/architecture behavior, not RAM or a priority setting bug.

How to confirm and inspect: use a tool that shows per-thread activity (Process Explorer or the built-in Task Manager). Look at the process’s thread count and watch individual thread CPU; if one thread is pegged at 100% while the other logical CPU sits idle, the app is single-threaded. Raising process priority won’t make one thread use more CPU than the core can give.

Practical options to get both logical CPUs busy (use cautiously on a laptop): run a second instance of the client, or run a multi-threaded/SMP-enabled build if one exists for the project. You can pin processes to specific logical CPUs with Task Manager (right-click a process -> Set Affinity) or from a command prompt (example):

start "" /affinity 1 "C:\Path\to\seti.exe"

Affinity masks: 1 = CPU0, 2 = CPU1, 3 = both. Using two instances or an SMP build will raise throughput but also raises heat and power use.

Cautions: on laptops watch temperatures and battery/power profiles; full CPU load can trigger throttling or thermal shutdown. Check the SETI client documentation for SMP or CPU-throttling options before making permanent changes. Ignore off-topic replies and focus on the client docs/forums for up-to-date, project-specific builds.

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Member Avatar for Mace

hi,
i've been looking at the task manager and i see that while running the command line version of seti@home (didn't test the gui ver) it only uses 50% of the cpu, while system idle process uses the other 50%. i have a hyperthreading p4 @ 2997mhz. how do i get 1 instance of seti@home to use most of the cpu? i've tried setting priority. does it have to do with ram speed? is it the hyperthreading? it's a laptop, so i don't want to crank up the bus or any overclocking.
thanks.

i can get 100% cpu usage only by using 2 instances (processes) of seti. could someone with the tech knowledge explain why? my best guess is that seti@home isn't optimized to use 2 cpus, or smp. - edit

Member Avatar for MAD_DOG

Seti is dumb drop that piece of software time to be more productive.

Member Avatar for Catweazle

That's not much help, Jimmy. It's a person's own choice if they want to contribute to the seti@home project!

Mace, I don't run SETI - I run folding@home myself. But I've had a look at the documentation for SETI and it seems to me like the software can't be configured to use the full capacity of a dual-processor system, and should be 'forced' to use only one processor under those circumstances.

Used on a 'hyper-threaded' processor, I'd imagine it would get even more confused. Perhaps an experienced user of the software might pop up to offer more advice, or perhaps you could chase up more assistance at SETI's bulletin board:

(Please let us know how you 'fixed' it if you get success from there)

Member Avatar for Mace

doh! the bulletin board! i must be mental.
i've looked at a few threads and it seems you're right. nobody is running 1 process of seti with a multi cpu system.
thanks.

That's not much help, Jimmy. It's a person's own choice if they want to contribute to the seti@home project!

Mace, I don't run SETI - I run folding@home myself. But I've had a look at the documentation for SETI and it seems to me like the software can't be configured to use the full capacity of a dual-processor system, and should be 'forced' to use only one processor under those circumstances.

Used on a 'hyper-threaded' processor, I'd imagine it would get even more confused. Perhaps an experienced user of the software might pop up to offer more advice, or perhaps you could chase up more assistance at SETI's bulletin board:

(Please let us know how you 'fixed' it if you get success from there)

Member Avatar for Killer_Typo

lol Seti, my moms been running that on her extra computer for years now, every day, day in and day out that program runs, its actually quite funny. i think in the several years of her running it shes only got a couple of wopper sized signals. she has lots of awards though for how many things shes done though.

Member Avatar for MAD_DOG

I got a project you should try. It's called SETI2@HOME

Turn off your computer and look out the window you might find aliens that way faster. hahaha

Member Avatar for Killer_Typo

I got a project you should try. It's called SETI2@HOME

Turn off your computer and look out the window you might find aliens that way faster. hahaha

and wow your a real funny guy, i almost laughed then i realized it wasnt funny.

Member Avatar for caperjack

and wow your a real funny guy, i almost laughed then i realized it wasnt funny.

you are right it isn't funny, whats funny is loading a program like SETI on you computer and wasting you rescources !:)

Member Avatar for Killer_Typo

you are right it isn't funny, whats funny is loading a program like SETI on you computer and wasting you rescources !:)

i dont load it on my computer or any computer that i actually use. only computers that are not used any more and are taking up space so i find somthing for them to do. and seit just happend to be one of those things.

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