Why does Windows 7 not make full use of a quadcore processor? 2

[OfficeAnimal]

Since upgrading to a quadcore I have been frustrated that W7 ignores the computing power available.
Sometimes Task Manager shows it using all available on one core, sometimes most of the work on one and some spread over the others. Never, with any software, have I seen the whole power of all four cores utilized.

This is especially frustrating when I am working with video files. Such work is CPU-intensive (to be polite) and it annoys me that I am sometimes waiting for hours while W7 sends to work to only one core.

Is there some setting I have missed which is restricting performance?

The trouble with the French is
they have no word for entrepreneur.
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[strongm]

That's not the way multiple cores work; they cannot split a single thread across multiple cores. So, if your video app is written with a main thread that does all the hard work, then yes, I'm afraid it will indeed run on a single core.

 

[hairlessupportmonkey]

as mentioned above. Try seeing if there is an update to your software for multi-threaded support. Many of them support multi core procs now.

ACSS - SME
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[Sympology]

Just as a side note to the above, it's not really an OS issue, but an application issue. Most older apps were only ever designed for single processor / core systems, with only decent high end stuff being multi-processor aware.
It gotten better, but still many apps are single threaded or have limited multi-thread capability. Ironically, the more cores you have, the less likely you are to be able to use them, as it gets harder and harder for developers to right code for them.
We have 24 cores servers, where often 20 of the cores are hardly ever touched.

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[spamjim]

Also recognize that even if an application has been "generally" developed for multiple processors, there may be plugins or other internal functions that may not be developed for multiple processors. Photoshop comes to mind.

 

[cdogg]

One other point to mention is that even when you are only running single-threaded applications, having multiple cores can still be beneficial. The OS should spread single-threaded apps evenly across the various cores as they are launched, allowing for better performance when multiple applications invoke a high workload simultaneously. XP was not inherently designed to support this concept and struggles at times, but major improvements in Vista and Win7 allow the OS to do a much better job at managing this.

Also when you are taxing the system with only one single-threaded app, extra cores still assist with other background system processes that have been hopefully distributed well among the available cores. This frees up more resources on the core executing the single-threaded app.

-Carl
"The glass is neither half-full nor half-empty: it's twice as big as it needs to be."

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[MitelInMyBlood]

I don't know what effect this will have on your applications, but if you have a quad-core processor, it wouldn't hurt to tell the O/S that it's there.

To do this, run MSCONFIG. Then click on the BOOT tab, then find and click on ADVANCED OPTIONS. Next place a check in the box alongside NUMBER OF PROCESSORS and use the dropdown arrow to select the number that you have. Then click OK then on the next screen click APPLY.

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[cdogg]

It wouldn't hurt, but it's also not necessary if Task Manager / Resource Monitor is already showing the correct number (note: CPU's with hyperthreading will show double the number of threads).

-Carl
"The glass is neither half-full nor half-empty: it's twice as big as it needs to be."

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[OfficeAnimal]

Thanks to MitelInMyBlood (TechnicalUser) for this suggestion.

... run MSCONFIG. Then click on the BOOT tab, then find and click on ADVANCED OPTIONS. Next place a check in the box alongside NUMBER OF PROCESSORS and use the dropdown arrow to select the number that you have. Then click OK then on the next screen click APPLY.

FTR: while I feel subjectively that my machine runs better, Task Manager shows (when I am running that graphics package) the same total percentage of CPU usage. That would appear to support those who suggested that the problem is COTS-based rather than OS-based. However, it is interesting to note that, instead of running the program on one core, the OS spreads the load evenly across all four.

I don't know if that means anything, but I thought it was intriguing.

Thanks to all who contributed.


The trouble with the French is
they have no word for entrepreneur.
George W. Bush (attr.)