P4 dual core problem

tholloway · 2006-10-25, 00:26

I have a P4 D805 processor running at the normal 2.666GHz and get iteration times of 0.092sec if running only a single instance of prime95 (50% CPU utilization) but if I try running two instances of prime95 (with affinities set to different cores and 100% CPU utilization) the iteration times more than double to 0.199sec. The CPU-Z program doesn't show any CPU throttling and I have varied fan speeds to change my CPU temperature from 47C to 67C (monitored by MBM5) with no effect on single or double instance iteration times.
Does anyone have a similar experience or an explaination as to what is happening?

S485122 · 2006-10-25, 06:54

I had a D830 and have a D945. With both processors I had the same benchmark results running one instance of prime95 or two (one on each core obviously.)

Is it LL iteration times you speak of? If it is P-1 stage two or torture tests, you might not have enough memory and the OS would start swapping.

D8XX processors are quite sturdy, but I would try to keep the temperature under 65°C: thermal specifications from Intel is 64.1°C.

rx7350 · 2006-10-25, 12:21

Check to make sure cpu affinity is set to '0' for one core, and '1' for the other core.

Cruelty · 2006-10-25, 13:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by rx7350

Check to make sure cpu affinity is set to '0' for one core, and '1' for the other core.

Or "Let program run on any CPU", although that will cause a performance hit on P4 platform.

tholloway · 2006-10-25, 16:29

Yes it is the LL iterations and the memory usage of each instance is only ~23mb. Also, I do have the affinities set to "0" on one and "1" on the other instance but it makes no difference which I add as the 2nd instance so both cores are performing the same with one instance.
One other piece of info is that I have tried it both on XP-pro and Linux-64 Fedora and get very similar results. When using Linux I get a CPU throttling warning only if I try overclocking to ~3.1MHz and add the second instance. That's why I'm not overclocking when trying to run 2 instances.

tholloway · 2006-10-28, 20:16

I just swapped out my 266MHz DDR memory with a 333MHz DDR memory from another computer and this made a significant difference in iteration times. Single instance times went from 0.092sec to 0.085sec and double instance times went from 0.199sec to 0.131sec. It looks like memory speed makes a significant impact on interation speed, particularly with dual processors. I'm now going to look into upgrading to 533MHz DDR2 memory if I can find a good price.

Has anyone else noticed a difference with different memory speeds??

2006-10-25, 00:26	#1
tholloway Oct 2006 3 Posts	P4 dual core problem I have a P4 D805 processor running at the normal 2.666GHz and get iteration times of 0.092sec if running only a single instance of prime95 (50% CPU utilization) but if I try running two instances of prime95 (with affinities set to different cores and 100% CPU utilization) the iteration times more than double to 0.199sec. The CPU-Z program doesn't show any CPU throttling and I have varied fan speeds to change my CPU temperature from 47C to 67C (monitored by MBM5) with no effect on single or double instance iteration times. Does anyone have a similar experience or an explaination as to what is happening?

2006-10-25, 16:29	#5
tholloway Oct 2006 3 Posts	More Info on problem Yes it is the LL iterations and the memory usage of each instance is only ~23mb. Also, I do have the affinities set to "0" on one and "1" on the other instance but it makes no difference which I add as the 2nd instance so both cores are performing the same with one instance. One other piece of info is that I have tried it both on XP-pro and Linux-64 Fedora and get very similar results. When using Linux I get a CPU throttling warning only if I try overclocking to ~3.1MHz and add the second instance. That's why I'm not overclocking when trying to run 2 instances.

2006-10-28, 20:16	#6
tholloway Oct 2006 3₁₀ Posts	Update - memory speed makes a big difference I just swapped out my 266MHz DDR memory with a 333MHz DDR memory from another computer and this made a significant difference in iteration times. Single instance times went from 0.092sec to 0.085sec and double instance times went from 0.199sec to 0.131sec. It looks like memory speed makes a significant impact on interation speed, particularly with dual processors. I'm now going to look into upgrading to 533MHz DDR2 memory if I can find a good price. Has anyone else noticed a difference with different memory speeds??

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2006-10-25, 06:54	#2
S485122 Sep 2006 Brussels, Belgium 2·3·281 Posts	I had a D830 and have a D945. With both processors I had the same benchmark results running one instance of prime95 or two (one on each core obviously.) Is it LL iteration times you speak of? If it is P-1 stage two or torture tests, you might not have enough memory and the OS would start swapping. D8XX processors are quite sturdy, but I would try to keep the temperature under 65°C: thermal specifications from Intel is 64.1°C.

2006-10-25, 12:21	#3
rx7350 Feb 2006 AR, US 2⁴×3² Posts	Check to make sure cpu affinity is set to '0' for one core, and '1' for the other core.