Greedy for CPU power

Holonet · Post by **Holonet** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 1:26 pm

Okey dokey... First off, I'm running Windows XP (SP2) on an Athlon 2600+ (2.08 GHz), 1.5 GB of RAM (Not to mention my spare 20 GB drive having a 4 GB page file dedicated to it...wish I could make it bigger...), the drives are on separate cables, Radeon 9550 (256 MB), and I'm using the modest Super 2xsai graphics filter... While running ZSNES, I notice, even in the GUI mode when the game isn't really running, it's eating up like 93% of my processor... And I watched it while playing Chrono Trigger, and if I stand still it sinks down to around 40-60%...but if I start walking or running, it maxes out. What I'd love to know is why... I ran the same thing on a computer less than half this speed a while back, and I can barely tell the difference...so where does that processor power go? I also notice this horizontal line that looks like the beginning of tearing whenever I run in the game. It's no big deal, but I'm curious...is that just because it needs still more power to run perfectly?...and if so, why wasn't my old PIII with 512 MB of RAM and a Geforce reject card not doing much worse?

Post by **grinvader** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 1:55 pm

Get a recent version (post 1.42 WIP) that sleeps instead of just looping like crazy to get the proper timing.

Holonet · Post by **Holonet** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 2:45 pm

I am using what I believe is the latest WIP (November 9th)...1.43 whatever it is... Sorry, I forgot to put that in my original post... I thought that looping issue was solved a while ago though..? Well either way, I'm still confused hehe.

snkcube · Post by **snkcube** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 7:36 pm

Are you running any programs in the background? If so, close them.

Holonet · Post by **Holonet** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 8:00 pm

Well I was, but nothing of consequence. Without the emulator on, the processor never goes above 5 or 10%...even so, to be sure, I checked with them closed...it still is weird. With the GUI up, it hovers around 90%, and with Chrono Trigger running, I noticed the usage follows a very distinct pattern...regardless of if I'm running or just leaving it still. What it does is max out at 100% for like 10 seconds or so, drop down to about 60 and pop back up agian for another 10 seconds or so...etc... I tested another game out just to see, and it did the same thing, except it didn't stay up quite as long and dropped a little further. I tried SNES9X for experimenting..same resolution and graphics filter, and it just stayed maxed out... Could this mean my processor is like partially fried or something...or is there a way to test that? I'm quite at a loss... Another thing is that it seems to run perfectly fine save that little occassional beginning of a tear I mentioned before...not really acting like the processor is being taxed...

whicker · Post by **whicker** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 8:34 pm

just wondering what kind of background tasks you have going on... stuff like yahoo, aol, adobe pdf, installshield update, Norton antivirus update, ATI control panel, quicktime, realplayer, indexing service, blah-blah. And that's just the benign stuff. (well, except indexing service).

I have a 1.8 GHz P4 Williamette with a held-back memory bus (PC133). Using 2xSAI I get 72% cpu usage in Chrono Trigger running around in Guardia Forest 600AD. Idles at around 50%, with firefox, zonealarm, Norton Antivirus running in the background.

All that I can suggest is to type msconfig into the Run... box. (Windows-R) I don't know your skill level, so either you can list all you find in the startup tab or else just go through yourself and try and identify which background tasks don't need to run. (Stuff like RECGUARD, navapw32, ps2, certain OEM-specific stuff (i.e. HP or DELL) need to run).

Holonet · Post by **Holonet** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 9:13 pm

Ok, I have AVG Anti-Virus control center, but I don't think that's as much of a system resource hog as Norton. Just AOL as a messenger, yes, the ATI bit, acrobat assistant, something to do with my sound card as well, a center for my Lexmark all-in-one printer... But really nothing that would do this. Like I said, it's like 5% when the emulator is not running. I know my way around Windows, though I admit I'd never used msconfig... But I took out anything
that was unnecessary and rebooted...same thing. I mean I don't know, is this thing really that demanding? I just don't see how being, like I said, that I ran it the same way on my old PIII 600MHz (512 RAM) and the difference in the emulator performance was very small. That's why I was reaching and wondering maybe if it's possible my processor's going or something... It just seems like it shouldn't be eating that much power...as you said, your machine appears to be running more and be slower than mine yet have lower CPU usage. Plus, I recently formatted...it's not fragmentation or anything like that. I'm a baffled

EDIT: Oh yeah almost forgot...I also tried watching it with no ROM loaded. I had it in 1024x768 DS Winl, no ROM loaded, and no graphics filter on...and no GUI snow, water or anything, and just sitting there like that the processor's averaging around 80%...while without it loaded, it was around 3...blargh

EDIT AGAIN!: Alright truth is stranger than fiction... I obviously put it in window mode so I could watch the task manager simultaneously...and it acts as I've said...but I just tried it in full screen, and looked at the graph, and it looks like it wasn't doing much to it at all...but in window mode still does the processor hogging...with or without the focus. I think it's alive...

whicker · Post by **whicker** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 9:52 pm

Interesting. Other than having dodgy video drivers or possibly a too-high refresh rate with V-sync on with a too-large desktop screen size, I can't suggest anything.

I seriously doubt it's your computer's hardware that is faulty, as you would be reporting tons of other weird problems.

Holonet · Post by **Holonet** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 10:06 pm

Dodgy video drivers...that is a possibility, I'm using the ones from guru3d.com...mainly because for some reason unbeknownst to me, after I formatted and tried to install the regular ATI drivers, it didn't want to install. I'll try to get that issue sorted. When I get around to that, I'll try to post in here to let any interested know if that was the issue. I'm sure it's not the refresh rate, I'm just using the typical 60 Hz. Nice to know all my efforts to keep the PC speedy weren't totally off though, from the graph, with it running as it "should" in full screen mode, looks like Chrono Trigger took me up to only about 35%

. That being the case though, I still wonder about that horizontal line that hints of very minor tearing...maybe that's the driver too. I'll look into it. Thanks to all for the input.

Holonet · Post by **Holonet** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 10:51 pm

Ok, I've got the kosher drivers installed...and I'm fine with it. The processor curiosity in windowed mode is still there...and is just plain cause for curiosity, but that slight tearing issue seems to be gone now, which is what got me nosing around for problems in the first place

. However, even in full screen, the graph seems to show that when I run around in the game, it cranks back up and maxes out the processor...but it certainly doesn't show... Well hopefully this has been useful for more than just me...