is it possible to limit the number of frames processed per second?

[codemaster]

When I encode with x264, cpu usage is 100% or near 100%, and I can't do something else, plus the pc emanates a strange smell from the excessive heat, and I'm afraid I might damage it.

Is it possible to limit the number of frames that AviSynth serves, each second? Does AviSynth allows me to specify in a script that I want only one frame to be processed and served, each second? Or or only 2 frames per second?

Or does the x264.exe have the capability to limit it's cpu usage to 10%? Or is there a program out there that can throttle the x264.exe process from 100% to 10% ?

Or is there any other solution to the problem I want to solve ?

[poisondeathray]

Anything in software is a "band aid" . Fix the underlying problem

Check your temps under load and Fix your hardware . Check your fans, clean out your vents, check to make sure HSF is properly installed, contact and TIM is good

You can underclock and undervolt your CPU, maybe set a lower thread count; but again, that doesn't address the real problem

[deadrats]

the answer should be obvious, limit the number of threads x264 spawns, by default iirc it spawns 1.5x the # of logical cores, most gui's have an option for setting the number of threads and there's a cli switch which i think is -threads #, just set it to 2 or 3 threads.

[johns0]

You should also check your psu and home power supply plugins to make sure they are not melting,there never should be anything smelling.

[Hoser Rob]

the answer should be obvious, limit the number of threads x264 spawns, by default iirc it spawns 1.5x the # of logical cores, most gui's have an option for setting the number of threads and there's a cli switch which i think is -threads #, just set it to 2 or 3 threads.

According to the OP's profile he's using a dual core AMD cpu & win xp. I doubt there's multithreading.

Go for the hardware suggestion. Actually I'd open it up and carefully blow out dust with a can of compressed air too. There may be a lot of dust in there, not just the vents. There are tutorials on how to do this on the web.

I've encoded to h.264 on a single core laptop with no overheating or funny smells (though it takes forever). This isn't normal.

[jagabo]

According to the OP's profile he's using a dual core AMD cpu & win xp. I doubt there's multithreading.

x264 will spawn 3 threads by default on a 2 core system. He can limit it to 1 thread and get ~50 percent CPU usage.

He can also run x264 with the default number of threads but at idle priority. That won't help with the over heating problem but will leave the computer usable for other programs while encoding.

[protoX]

You can do the following

1. In x264 command line add --threads 1 ( if using MeGUI add in the custom command box in x264 config)
2. Set the process priority low.
3. Right click on the process and click Set affinity. Select number of cores and apply.
4. If you have windows server use the Resource Manager to limit CPU usage in basis of application

Also theres this http://mion.faireal.net/BES/
I never tried it. Use at your own discretion.

[jagabo]

As others have pointed out, a properly set up system should be able to run at 100 percent CPU usage for hours on end without overheating.

[hello_hello]

codemaster, you might want to installed some sort of temperature monitoring software to see how hot the CPU's actually getting. It's probably a good idea to install more than one, at least initially, to make sure they agree on temperature. Sometime software needs adjusting to display the correct temperature. If multiple software agree on temperature, it likely to be correct (or close to).

SpeedFan, HWMonitor and RealTemp come to mind.

[codemaster]

I solved the problem with BES (Battle Encoder Shirase)

In BES, I've specified a limit of 20% cpu load for x264.exe process, and the cpu load dropped from 100% to 20% and remained constant at 20% throughout the entire encoding process.

In idle, cpu temperature is 52 degrees Celsius. With x264.exe running, cpu load is 100% and cpu temperature is 74 degrees C. With x264.exe, BES, and a cpu load of 20%, cpu temperature is 57 degrees C.

At 100% cpu load, the encoding process would have taken 1h and 45min. At 20% cpu load, it took 9h, but at least cpu temperature was reduced by 17 degrees C.

[jagabo]

Fixing your computer is the better option.