CPU Limiter?

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James wrote: Seems the 'Maximum RAM usage' thing in rendering options is broken because i have it set to 59% yet in task manager it's constantly at 99% all the time.

----Are you sure you're not comparing ram to cpu ? FF always uses "99%" of my cpu, like it always reads that in the task manager, but it has nothing to do with the ram usage setting.

jffe

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James wrote: Hmm ok sorry, so if i set RAM high it will go faster/make a difference to performance then?

----I haven't noticed much diff using 90% ram all the time (vs. other lower settings). Like maybe a 5%-10% freeing up of resources, but it costs maybe 1/4 to 1/3 in rendering time dropping the ram usage down, and getting that *first* square rendered can take up to 3X as long on really heavy duty filters if you don't use your max-ram (cause then I believe it has to do all that page file swapping hard drive crap, and even though I don't technically understand how that works, I do know it causes major slowness as everything bottlenecks from lack of ram to juggle the math bits around in etc.).

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James wrote: Is there anyway to make it not use 99% (limit cpu) because it sort of destroys my computer while it's rendering

----Kind of. Get a better computer ha-ha. Since I got a Core2Duo set up, I can render and still watch 'House" reruns with hardly any glitches at all, unlike with my old 2.4Ghz singlecore P4 unit, it would not allow for much more than mp3 playback at best. That said, I doubt you could run much else application-wise while rendering, but for me it sure made my summer/fall a bit less hellish being able to have something else to do besides wander out into the backyard with the neighbors/noon-beer-drinkers and work on my sunburn.

jffe

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James wrote: Genetica renders alot faster imo unless set to a huge res 4000x4000 etc but it stays under 50% cpu on this pc. They have yet to add multi core cpu optimizations also i think and i have a dual core pc

----Yeah, unless they did make it multi-core compatible, the last V3 I have is still singlecore only, so it would 50% max out when rendering. Not sure how they (Genetica) handle ram settings, but again, as you have found out, that doesn't matter much for the slow-everything-else-down problem when cpu is taking a 99% hit ha-ha.

----And while I kind of agree with you about a 'cpu limiter' feature, in a way I don't see the point, cause I well, I don't have any other apps that can get by with only using 1/2 the cpu power and not run into problems/slowness anyways, so better to give me full-speed and let me worry about scheduling different tasks in that sense. But that's just how I prefer working, your mileage may of course vary, or be totally different.

jffe

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James wrote: They have yet to add multi core cpu optimizations also i think and i have a dual core pc.

If you have a decent dualcore and 2 gigs of ram, then web browsing and watching videos in WMP (not the most cpu efficient video player ha-ha) then shouldn't be having major problems really. The only other things besides various audio optimizations/tweaks I have done that might not apply to graphics people (as I am far from a 'pro' graphics guy ha-ha) that I can think of, is to make sure you have 5-10 free gigs on the drive you are 1) rendering to, and 2) running FF from (this is advice from GMM if I recall). I had a case where I was down to about 1.5 or 2 gigs free space, and freeing up 10gigs seemed to help some, tough to really say exactly how much, or how much that helped since it was on the singlecore, but I swear I did notice some improvement.

Other than that, I can heartily recommend the 65mm (older) Intel E6850 3Ghz Core2Duo chip, the chip itself was $189 at new egg, and a top value for performance vs. price. There is a 45mm version now, but if you have a good fan & power supply, then save yerself $40-$60 and get the older 65mm version ha-ha. And just for anyone else reading this thread, for about $700 or so, you can get good enough parts to "upgrade" to a Core2Duo set up, and if you are a daily power user, it's well worth it. That said, going from singlecore to multicore, is less like upgrading than using your case and dvd burner in a new machine ha-ha. But, you can skimp some on the mobo, graphics & audio cards, and in some cases get the graphics and audio cards built in to the mobo to save another $50. The mobo/cpu/ram/power supply will still have to be upgraded, and depending on the mobo, perhaps a new hard drive and/or dvd burner, if you are not running SATA style already, as many new mobos only have 2 or fewer IEDE ports.

jffe

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James wrote: Hopefully some sort of cpu limiter option will be added in the future

If you don't need to render the image as fast as possible, select the 'single CPU/core' option in Options > Rendering options.