hi.

i have a cpu usage problem.
i have a Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 and however i set the cpu usage options it just keep bumping from 50 to 100%.

Any idea of the problem?

Is it your Vista host? Or your Win XP?

They are both running on a beta BOINC version (the last number is not an even number).

There are local settings for the host in BOINC, so to the simple view to "preferences" and see what it shows there for the % of processor time and the little checkbox for "I want to customize my preferences for this computer only".

There are also General Preferences, which are configured via the website. Just click on the [Participants] link at the top of this forum page.

You might have set it in either place.

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Rosetta Moderator: Mod.Sense

i want boinc to run all the time but i want to limit the usage of the cpu to 80% so it works cooler
by the way i have an Intel Core 2 DUO E6600.

use at most 80%
40% when computer is in use
80% when computer is idle

the problem is that even if i set the options or not, both cpus keep bumping from 43% up to 100% and then 43% and it keeps it up...

Windows XP

I want to customize my preferences for this computer only yes
Do work while computer is in use? yes
Use at most 80 percent of CPU time
Use at most 50% of memory when computer is in use
Use at most 80% of memory when computer is idle
Run based on preferences

Not certain what you are expecting. If you are expecting the task manager to show 20% of each of the two Rosetta threads... that's not the way it works.

First, I presume that in order to observe it, your computer is "in use". And so it should be using a total of 40% of CPU. Boinc will achieve this by running for 2 seconds and then cutting off for 3 seconds, then back on. However, the task manager screen refreshes every second... but not necessarily on the same timer as BOINC. So you may catch a fraction of the time BOINC is on, averaged in with a fraction of the time BOINC is off in the same refresh and show 25% of one thread, 50% on the other. The numbers can go from zero to 50 each and anywhere in between. Just depends upon how close BOINC's end of a second coincides with the task manager's.

Instead, do this. Pick a point in time and jot down how many CPU seconds is shown for the two BOINC tasks. Then wait for 100 seconds and again jot down how many CPU seconds have accumulated. Take the difference and see how many seconds of crunching occured during your 100 seconds of observations. You should expect to find that 40 seconds of progress were made on each task... give or take a second.

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Rosetta Moderator: Mod.Sense

well maybee it's my english :) || sry about that.
ill try to explain it again.

basicaly i have the same problem of torn, it keep oscillating.
but the real problem is that even if i set the maximum usage at 10 o 20% (for example) it keeps oscillating from 100% to 43%.

i just dont want boinc to reach 100%

BOINC is going to reach 100%. But only for short periods of time. The lower your overall CPU %, the shorter the times at 100%. There is no good way to set the throttle at partial power on a computer. You create overhead to start and stop all the time, so BOINC minimizes this by starting for at least a second at a time.

Always keep in mind that the BOINC processes are running at a lower priority. If your machine has anything else to be working on, it will interrupt BOINC.

As for heat, you will find that the cycling that BOINC does will very effective at helping you control your heat levels.

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Rosetta Moderator: Mod.Sense

so its normal that reaches 100%?

thx a lot for the help and time u spent..

so its normal that reaches 100%?

thx a lot for the help and time u spent..

that's right - as MS said there's extra overhead due to more cache swapping etc with shorter periods so the oscillation is over a period of about 1s. If you take it to the extreme, there is no way to do a % of less than 100 on a computer - it's just the number of time-slices a process gets that you can control.

HTH
Danny

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