"Stratcat�" <none@no.org> wrote in message
news:bfpDb.12434$aw2.6552632@newssrv26.news.prodigy.com...

"sweet" <sweet430@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:9DnDb.422680$pT1.27942@twister.nyc.rr.com...

Hi,

I have been running SETI@home for a few years now and only since I

installed

Windows XP Pro have I been able to see the amount of process time the
application receives. It's only 50% and the other 50% is "System Idle
Processes."

What gives??

One scenario would be: You're running a single instance of the Seti client
on a HyperThreaded enabled cpu.

Bingo.

If that's the case, your single client will run nearly identical WU times
with or w/o HT enabled.

I would have thought that HT was "time-sharing" (remember that? :) built
into
a PC's CPU. So it seemed very wrong for my machine to be splitting it's time
between idle and sah.

If you run two CLI clients w/a HT system you will see your WU times

increase

by ~40 - 50%, but will process 2 units in that time period, for an

aggregate

increase in production of ~50% for your machine

Sweet. I'll look into it.

- - - cut - - -

If you're currently using the GUI client & change to CLI's,  your increase

will be

even more substantial. If you're running a single instance of CLI 3.08 &
convert to CLI 3.03(s), you will see an additional ~ 10 -15% increase in
production vs. the CLI 3.08's

Even sweeter.

If you have a reasonably quick HT  machine [2.6G+], & a decent graphics
card, you can easily run two CLI's, & still use your machine for moderate
general use w/o too heavy of a performance hit.

My Specs:
-----------
Windows XP Pro
MB: ASUS P4P800 - 800 FSB
CPU: Intel P4 3.00 GHz - 800 FSB
GC: ASUS Radeon 9600XT
RAM: Twin Corsair 512MB = 1 GB Dual channel DDR 400
HD: 2x80 GB configured as RAID0 160GB HD
PWR: Enermax 460W
CASE: Lian-Li PC-61

It takes about 3 hrs. to finish a wu - compared to my old machine which took
about 16 hrs (PIII/450).

Thanks for the tips about CLI's and 3.08 vs. 3.03.

-sweet
_________________________________
sweet 430 at hot mail dot com
http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/jbc33/