How to delegate tasks for Multi-Core CPUs?

[holygamer]

I'm looking to buy a multi-core CPU from scan. I read somewhere that you can have a dual core CPU use 1 core for your main tasks and the other for background tasks such as your anti-virus program.

I read that another way of using the dual core CPU is if you are using programs or games that are specifically written to use the dual core processor in a way that allows it to use one core to run one part of the program, while the other core runs another part. This is called a "multi-threaded" program.

How do you decide which option to use or does the CPU just decide itself?

[Disturbedguy]

I dont know the answer to this, but you should probably ask questions like this in other parts of the forums, such as the hardware section where the thread is more likely to be seen.

Because in all honesty, it looks almost as if you are solely posting in this section to earn the free carriage reward, i could well be wrong, but that is what it looks like.

[g8ina]

Moved

[kalniel]

I'm looking to buy a multi-core CPU from scan. I read somewhere that you can have a dual core CPU use 1 core for your main tasks and the other for background tasks such as your anti-virus program.

I read that another way of using the dual core CPU is if you are using programs or games that are specifically written to use the dual core processor in a way that allows it to use one core to run one part of the program, while the other core runs another part. This is called a "multi-threaded" program.

How do you decide which option to use or does the CPU just decide itself?

Use something like Windows 7 and it will do it for you.

[Lee H]

I suppose you could use task manager and within there use the affinity settings to select which core you want to use for each specific process that is running.

[Domestic_Ginger]

start /affinity 1 C:\directory\Program.exe

Shortcut with above. just googled it so say if it works as I would like to try it. Of course the path has to be correct and I assume the number one is the core. (slashes may be the wrong way round too....)

[scaryjim]

tbh, with a modern operating system trying to tie programs/threads to a particular core is more likely to hinder performance than help it. Modern systems are very good at working out the best way to divide up time between cores and will usually choose the optimal division of labour.

The one exception to this is that some very old, legacy programs are coded in a way that relies on them being run on a single core, and can have performance issues on multicore machines. As long as you're using recent software (i.e. no more than 5 years old or so) you should be fine just letting it sort itself out.

[teppic]

You definitely don't need more than one core for stuff like this, let alone regulate it yourself. Operating systems for decades have managed to multitask on a single core CPU very effectively. The OS will even out the various tasks that are being run (and there can be hundreds at any one time) across as many cores as available.

Manually restricting one core to main tasks and another to small tasks would harm performance very much, and give you no benefits.

[badass]

tbh, with a modern operating system trying to tie programs/threads to a particular core is more likely to hinder performance than help it. Modern systems are very good at working out the best way to divide up time between cores and will usually choose the optimal division of labour.

The one exception to this is that some very old, legacy programs are coded in a way that relies on them being run on a single core, and can have performance issues on multicore machines. As long as you're using recent software (i.e. no more than 5 years old or so) you should be fine just letting it sort itself out.

Or software that's so rubbish it crashes when not set to use only one core. Yes, I have been unfortunate enough to have to support such shudder software.

[jim]

You can, but don't.

[holygamer]

OK thanks, at least I know now.

[MrNeil]

Because in all honesty, it looks almost as if you are solely posting in this section to earn the free carriage reward, i could well be wrong, but that is what it looks like.[/QUOTE]


Off subject ! But what is a free carriage reward ?

[Agent]

Off subject ! But what is a free carriage reward ?

See the little search box at the top right? Put "free carriage" in there and see what you get

[ET3D]

Process Lasso is a program that can help you configure which applications run on which cores. But as others have said, it's not all that necessary.