Are those games CPU killers?

Remove all ads!

I now have a P4 3.0 GHz Northwood. It seems more than enough to run a game like Shadows of Amn.
Yet, I remark that the game consumes 100% CPU whatever (task manager), which of course brings a lot of heat in my machine. When I play BG2, the fan in my power unit runs faster, and louder.
It seems the way it was programmed. When I had a Duron 800, it was just the same.
After upgrading CPU, I noticed progress (in % CPU used)with almost all apps but BG2.
Did someone notice it, and is there a "cure"?
I wouldn't like to burn my CPU with a game while serious apps leave it in peace.

 

Using a processor at 100% isn't going to damage your processor, a computer nowadays restarts when it's processor gets too hot.

 

Most computer games use 100% of the CPU...but that really doesn't mean much anymore. I can be playing BG2 - using 100% of my CPU, then open up MSN, Trillian IRC, and Winamp with the game still going. Sure it kind of slows down how fast all those other programs open, but not much more. Now, if you run out of free memory, then you'll notice a big slow down.

And yes, running a CPU at 100% will put out more heat, but modern CPUs are designed to run with a heavy load for long periods of time...that's why geeks designed heatsinks and fans to cool them down.

 

Also, your P4 Northwood has a niffty feature known as Hyper-threading. If you start another app while running another, your processor will divide itself to account for the multi-task. But it will only do this once, with two separate apps.

[ March 30, 2005, 05:44: Message edited by: Chandos the Red ]

 

True, Hyper-threading is not enabled on my system.

But I suppose total charge would stay at 100%?
My problem is not running other apps while I'm playing, it's to somehow reduce undue CPU charge.

I agree that the components are made to take the heat, but everybody knows the cooler is the better. Hot electronic components last shorter, at least that's what they say.

The CPU idles at 36 C (net surfing), BG 2 brings it at 47-49.

 

Well, you also need to consider the game's graphics. The faster the CPU and the video card talk to each other, the better . I suggest that you download one of those full range CPU monitors...it could be that the CPU monitor that you get by pressing CTRL + ALT + DEL looks at everything that the CPU is doing and crunches all that in to one graph.

Just a thought.

 

Just to be sure I made the test with or without hyper-threading.
Same results, the game (and it's the bgmain.exe processus) claims 100% CPU, whether there is one unit or two.

 

Well, be that as it may, I suggest you buy and install Doom 3...which also takes up 100% of the CPU. Once the game is up and running, ALT + TAB to the desktop and try opening misc. aplications, like MS Word, IE, or other programs. Measure how long each one takes to open.
Now close all programs that are running. Start up BG and get anywhere in the actual game. Now ALT + TAB back to the desktop and run the same exact programs that you did before and measure the time it takes for those programs to load.
If the times for the programs to load under BG aren't lower than while under Doom 3, I'll dance naked in public...

If you still don't believe me...buy a P4 3.4 Presscot Extreme Edition CPU....for $1000 or so, and you'll have the same problem that you're having with your 3.0 Northwood.

 

I do believe you. That's very strange. CPU usage is 100% but there's no problem opening other apps. Yet the CPU does get hot.

 

It's just uses the full power of the CPU but has no problem yielding the processortime to other applications when those demand time.

 

A trick I recently found: underclock the CPU!
This way, it's still required 100% but it gets less hot.
At 2,25 GHz (instead of 3), it's of course fast enough for BG 2.

Problem is you must go into the BIOS. But if you play hours, it's only a small inconvenience.

 

Understanding why a game runs at 100% CPU requires understanding how they run.

A high performance game will have a game loop like so:

while(shouldQuit == false)
{
DrawStuff();
ProcessInputFromUser();
ProcessArtificialIntelligence();
}

A game, unlike an application, doesn't pretend to share the computer with anything else. It runs as fast as it can for the most part.

Now, some games will pace themselves. How they pace themselves determines how well they "behave" with other games or applications. Most games will simply go into a loop:

while(timeFrame != 1)
{
// Pause. Sleep. Do something to keep yourself busy.
}

Some games will yield the CPU back to the operating system, but not many do because they're not guaranteed to get the CPU back in a timely fashion.

So the Duron 800 Mhz might have hit that loop four hundred times while it was running. The Pentium 4 3.0 Ghz might be hitting the loop 3200 times while it's running. Because the game limits the number of frames drawn (which is a good thing; see below) they both appear to be stable and run at identical speeds. In this case the game's CPU usage is irrelevant.

Limiting or pacing: some folks might think it's silly to limit the number of frames that your game can process. However, if you've ever tried to play older games (Pool of Radiance, Curse of the Azure Bonds, etc) on a high powered CPU you'll immediately become aware as to why limiting your speed is a good thing. It's a small impact on current processors but it ensures your software runs smoothly on future generations as well, no matter how fast the processors become.

 

As to Intel's processors, they are pretty power hungry and usually generate quite a lot of heat even in normal use, according of the articles I have read, so you shouldn't worry about it. You bought Intel, now you pay of it.

 

I bump this old topic because I finally found something effective to play Baldur's Gate games on a recent PC at far less than 100% CPU, therefore requiring less energy and sparing mother nature... very druidic that! Jaheira will be happy!

But no joke, you may play at, say, 10 Watts instead of 60 or 90 or more. Your ears will thank you too, since fans will not ramp up. Your expensive dual core computer will last longer.

At the same time, it's less drastic than undervoltage or such...

It's the well known (?) "CPU Idle" utility. It seems to work with most of those games that require 100% CPU no matter what. Perhaps other utilities of that kind do that as well.

It was a surprise for me since I thought under XP, it was useless. It isn't. Note it may depend on material. It works with a P3 anyway.