Performance Issues

[Gedrean]

Okay I run SB at Normal Priority - The reason is I figure while I'm not at my PC why not have it chugging full away for me.

Is this bad?
When I run this with the Direct Connect filesharing program it has issues (crashes occasionally) should I set it to low or idle and will this drastically affect my processing of the data at hand?

Also, My cEM's/sec in the client show aroun 170000 (approx) yet I keep ending up with a rating of about 80k/sec on the site, why is that?

Finally, I'm seriously interested in a Windows (maybe 2k) version of the client that would not require installation and would write its data to disk when closing instead of to Registry (as I assume, perhaps wrongly, that SB windows client does). The reason is I log in to a computer at my school (DeVry) and while I'm there I consider that while I'm logged in wouldn't it be nice to get more processing power at least temporarily shoved to the SB cause? And since I can run exe's off the zip disks as long as they're nonvirulent, I figure...

If this is a doable thing maybe I could get a chance at the source code and try to make a modified client (save the creator the time and hassle of doing such coding). If not, then let me know and I'll shut up on it.

[nuutti]

There will be a new version of the client that will write all the information to the disk, not to the registry. I guess that new version will be out during next few months.


Yours,

Nuutti

[eatmadustch]

running sob at normal priority is not a good idea. If it's set to idle, it will only take that processor cycles that wouldn't be used by anything else anyway. That's like 95-99%* of the total processor usage, if you're not playing unreal tournament or so When it's set to normal it will probably take away unnecessary performance of windows and make your whole machine slower.
I recommend you turn it back down to low or idle!

*edit: 95-99% of the processor usage would be free for seventeen or bust, not the other way round!

[RangerX]

I've found running on XP that switching it to normal does slow down the entire system. Also, the extra processing power garnered is, in my opinion, not even worth the slowdown. As dust said, ~95-99% of your processor is thrown into SB at idle, so most of your processor. Even squeezing 1% more out when you're already getting that much doesn't raise your cEM's much at all.

Now, of course, if you're not using your computer at the time, stealing processor from the OS really doesn't have any consequences, so maybe even that little bit extra is worth it since there's no adverse effects. But if you're using your computer then I'd agree with the others in that you should leave it at idle.

[Gedrean]

Anything in response to the 170,000 cEM's/sec being reported as around 80k/sec ? It goes between 160 and 190 but still that seems odd that it only says I have about 80/sec.

Could it have ANYTHING to do with the fact that while I was running at 'normal' I'd have occasional system hangs?

[Hawk]

I think there is *absolutely* no point in running at normal priority.

When you ask the computer to do something, it has to execute a certain number of instructions to finish that task. If both the thing you asked it to do and SoB are at normal priority then your task gets 50% processor and so does SoB. So your task takes twice as long and during that time SoB only gets 50% CPU. Therefore, instead of SoB getting 0% CPU for 1 second it gets 50% for 2 seconds, so SoB gets just as much work done but your machine is slower to respond.

Ok, so that is a rather simplified view, but give or take a few cEMs (not K cEMs) it is right.

[smh]

The GIMPS page says the following, it also applies to SOB:

Will the program run faster if I raise the priority?

No. The operating system does an excellent job of giving all spare CPU cycles to the program. The only thing that raising the priority will do is make your other jobs less responsive.

For example, lets say during the next minute your spreadsheet needs 10 seconds to recalculate. If your spreadsheet is running at a higher priority, then it will take 10 elapsed seconds to display its results. Prime95 will then get the remaining 50 seconds of the minute. If they run at equal priority, then the spreadsheet will get 10 of the next 20 elapsed seconds before it displays its results. Prime95 also gets 10 of the first 20 seconds as well as the remaining 40 seconds. In both cases prime95 got 50 CPU seconds, but in the first case you saw your spreadsheet results faster.

The only reason to to raise the priority is when you are using a screen saver. Some screen savers (bad idea when running a DC project) take away most of the cpu time from the client, because they run at priority 4.

[dudlio]

<b>Anything in response to the 170,000 cEM's/sec being reported as around 80k/sec ?</b>

Yeah. The stats are rendered per proth test (or per block?), not per hour. If you turn off your machine for an equal period of time, you would expect to see an average of 80,000.

Try leaving your machine on contiuously for a whole proth test. You should see the full rate reflected in the graph.

[Gedrean]

Unf! Damn I was hoping it wasn't something evil.

I can't leave the machine running all the time. The Alpha fan is too loud for me to sleep to. Though the additional heat in the room all night is nice, I've tried it and I keep ending up waking up with a ringing in my ears and the inability to hear a lot for at least half the day. I don't like that idea.

[dudlio]

lol. I hear ya. System hangs can be caused by anything. If you are running at rated speed, I would check the video card temperature, bios settings, drivers, software, etc. If you are overclocked, then that itself could be the problem. Some systems will only run rated speed no matter how much cooling there is.

As for noise, an all-around reduction in fan speed will quiet the system w/o sacrificing too much. I still have a lot of work to do on my system, but an Antec PSU (which regulates the speed of its fan + 2 case fans) has made a big difference so far.