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[FFLaguna]

I have a brand-new quad-core system (Q9550). I have never seen a single process go over 25% CPU use (25% = one process using one processor fully) no matter how much I tax my CPU (seti@home, video games, whatever). The only exception to this is DF. It typically runs at 30-35% CPU use, and I can't figure out why. Any clue? Thanks!

[sneakey pete]

I'd hazard a guess that its because, for most games and other applications that you seem to be doing, the actual amount of CPU drain is not large, especially for most games, so the rest of your background programs are being run on the same core. Df is very CPU intensive, therefore takes up the whole core, sending your background stuff to another one.

Either that, or you've got something configured wrong... which could be possible.

[FFLaguna]

I'd hazard a guess that its because, for most games and other applications that you seem to be doing, the actual amount of CPU drain is not large, especially for most games, so the rest of your background programs are being run on the same core. Df is very CPU intensive, therefore takes up the whole core, sending your background stuff to another one.

Either that, or you've got something configured wrong... which could be possible.

You're wrong. Using task manager, the dwarf fortress process itself is using between 30-35% of the total CPU, whereas every other process maxes out at 25%. It's not user error/need glasses/can't read/something silly like that.

[Muz]

Lol, saying "you're wrong" is not very nice

I guess that maybe DF is running one core at full 25%, which makes your Windows, antiviruses, google search, whatever other applications running in the background using the other 5-10% of the other processor.

Or maybe Toady coded it to use the alternate processor if possible, which means it doesn't use up an entire processor, it just hogs one whole processor to itself.

[FFLaguna]

Lol, saying "you're wrong" is not very nice

I guess that maybe DF is running one core at full 25%, which makes your Windows, antiviruses, google search, whatever other applications running in the background using the other 5-10% of the other processor.

Or maybe Toady coded it to use the alternate processor if possible, which means it doesn't use up an entire processor, it just hogs one whole processor to itself.

Yeesh, I just replied to a person who said the same exact wrong thing. What you are stating is NOT the case. I have a list (you do, too! Hit CTRL+ALT+DEL) that shows the current processor usage of EACH running process on my computer. Dwarf fortress uses more than ANY other single process I've ever witnessed.

I'll say it again for the FOURTH time this thread: the DF process and ONLY THE DF process (that means ONLY THE DF PROCESS!!! NO OTHER PROGRAMS ARE INCLUDED IN THIS NUMBER!!!) is using 30-35% of my total quad-core processor, whereas all other processes top out at 25% (which equals full use of one core). I'm trying to see if anybody knows why this is. So far the duplicate replies are not helping me to figure this out.

[FFLaguna]

Or maybe Toady coded it to use the alternate processor if possible, which means it doesn't use up an entire processor, it just hogs one whole processor to itself.

Yup, this could be the case, but I'm not personally aware of that this change too place. Maybe somebody else knows for sure and can point to the dev page note about it, because I certainly can't find it.

[Thuellai]

Yeah, last I heard DF doesn't multithread at all...  Or I'd have enabled that with my dual-core and boosted my FPS already.

[FFLaguna]

Yeah, last I heard DF doesn't multithread at all...  Or I'd have enabled that with my dual-core and boosted my FPS already.

That's why I'm a little perplexed at these results. I'm gonna hit the sack and check this thread out in the morning.

[Tahin]

I remember reading that there was some small part of DF that actually is multithreaded, or something. I forget what it is, but if I remember correctly it shouldn't account for a full 10%... I think it had something to do with the rendering. Then again, I'm probably just imagining things.

[Keiseth]

Huh, that's weird. Maybe it's the OpenGL portion of Dwarf Fortress, or something related to windows (or whatever OS you're using?) I imagine it wasn't intentionally put in by Toady or else he would have said something.

Neat, though. Still curious as to why...

[Mr.Person]

Aree you sure that's not 30% of the one core? My understanding was each core reported as if it were alone in most cases.

[Morberis]

Aree you sure that's not 30% of the one core? My understanding was each core reported as if it were alone in most cases.

At least in Vista it reports it as the total available, so 25%=1core. I can see that happening on my widget which shows 1 core maxed out and task manager is reporting 25% usage.

[Draco18s]

Aree you sure that's not 30% of the one core? My understanding was each core reported as if it were alone in most cases.

Yes, multi-core OS's haven't reported per-core like that in ages (back when HyperThreading was new you could get 200% usage, but not since then).

[MuonDecay]

Huh, that's weird. Maybe it's the OpenGL portion of Dwarf Fortress, or something related to windows (or whatever OS you're using?) I imagine it wasn't intentionally put in by Toady or else he would have said something.

Neat, though. Still curious as to why...

It would be pretty unlikely that it was something Toady was responsible for. Last I heard (anecdotally) Toady was not exactly experienced with multithreading and was perhaps apprehensive of trying to tackle it as a result.

It is unfortunate since this would open up a whole new realm of performance for DF but one minor consolation is that the limitation to one core does encourage good optimization.

[Capntastic]

I think a lot of these sorts of things should really wait until the game is mostly done.   Consider it like a cake that needs to be baked before you can frost it.