Dual Core Not Being Fully Utilized?

[Lul2x]

I just installed an AMD X2 4600+ into my computer last night and I must say, I do notice quite a big improvement. But can the performance be better? I've noticed that rarely will my CPU usage ever go up to 100%. Even when I have 2 instances of ConvertXtoDVD open, the first core will be at 100% usage, but the second just hovers around 40%.

Why isn't the CPU being fully utilized? It's like most of the programs are using the first core and the second core is reserved for something else. Perhaps I'm just not understanding correctly how a dual core processor works.

In any case, here is a snapshot of my Task Manager with two instances of ConvertXtoDVD running. As you can see, the first core is 100% (as it should be), but the second is only around 40%. If anyone has an explanation for this, I'd appreciate hearing it. Thanks!

[Bjs]

Most program's are not designed as yet to take up the dual core method of processing .

But from somewhere in this forum , i think I heard a mention that you could test the process via encoding a clip to xvid which has this feature for multi threads .

Here it is : https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=314874&highlight=dual+core+xvid

[Soopafresh]

I'll post a multithreaded encoder test in this thread for you to test out.

[Lul2x]

Bummer, I don't have a second drive that I can test with right now [edit: thanks, i'll give it a try]. I did check out that other post and got a better understanding of how this works.

As a small test, I tried converting an avi to dvd using Nero Vision while ConvertXtoDVD was running at the same time. By doing this, I was able to bump my usage up to 100% . So, it seems as if all ConvertXtoDVD processes are opening in the first core and then other programs are running in the second. So my next question is, is there any way to trick my computer into opening the first instance of ConvertXtoDVD on the first core and the second instance on the second core?

[jagabo]

Open both programs. Bring up Task Manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del). Go to the Processes tab. Right click on one instance of the program and select Set Affinity. Pick which core you want to use that instance. Do the same for the other.

[Lul2x]

you rock jagabo, that did it

[redwudz]

One of the nice things about dual core is you can adjust the amount of CPU use between the cores. I had a P2P program that seemed to overly load down the system. I set it it to just use one core and that helped considerably with multitasking when I wanted to run other CPU intensive programs.

One program that I found that seems to utilize both cores fully without any adjustments was the Divx 6 codec. I had to try a few things with Xvid to get it up there in utilization.

Just for testing dual core multitasking, I ran a P2P app, encoded a video and watched a movie at the same time with no problems. My single core would have choked on that. But I wouldn't recommend doing this regularly.

[jagabo]

Just for testing dual core multitasking, I ran a P2P app, encoded a video and watched a movie at the same time with no problems. My single core would have choked on that. But I wouldn't recommend doing this regularly. :lol:

I do it all the time!

[Lul2x]

heh, I've been loading this puppy since I got it. Dual core is awesome!

[Krispy Kritter]

DVD2One (similar to dvdshrink) is written for dual core.