CPU Usage question
#1
I have a C2D E8400 overclocked at 3.6 GHz and been playing FF X and Persona 4 with Pcsx2 0.9.6. Until yesterday, whenever I played those games, my CPU sidebar gadget showed that both CPU cores were being utilized (usage bar was always near 100% for both cores). Yesterday, I noticed that when I played FF X, only 1 core (Core 0) was being fully used. Core 1's usage didn't go above 10%. I checked the CPU temp monitor and the temp for Core 0 is higher than Core 1. However, the game still plays at the same FPS (around 60) and there are no problems with performance. I have MTGS mode checked in the CPU options and I've checked whether it's the sidebar gadget's fault (it's not). I'm not using any speed hacks and all settings are set to defaults. I read in Pcsx FAQ that the CPU not being used 100% is normal but I just want to know whether one whole core not being used is normal. Oh but I did make changes to my plugins yesterday. I upgraded to GSdx 1600 from 1479 and to SPU2-X 1.2.0 from SPU2-X 1.1.0. I don't know if this has anything to do with CPU usage. I'd appreciate any light on this question. Thanks!
My Specs: Intel E8400 @ 3.8 GHz (Stock cooler, Default voltages), Kingston 3GB 800MHz, XFX GTX 260 Core 216 55nm, Segate 160 GB & 500 GB SATA, Realtek HD Audio 7.1 Channels
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#2
It's not like second core was not being used at all probably the load of the GS plugin wasnt big at all to add much. To make sure try to see in the title bar of the GSdx plugin if the CPU % isnt that big, if it's a small quantity like 5-20% it should be ok but if it is 50% or something it might be something wrong Tongue

FFX is not a very heavy game so it should be right what it says. Try making sure the affinity for PCSX2 didnt change by some reason.
Core i5 3570k -- Geforce GTX 670  --  Windows 7 x64
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#3
I see.. That was really helpful. Looks like I'm being paranoid after all. Thanks a lot!
My Specs: Intel E8400 @ 3.8 GHz (Stock cooler, Default voltages), Kingston 3GB 800MHz, XFX GTX 260 Core 216 55nm, Segate 160 GB & 500 GB SATA, Realtek HD Audio 7.1 Channels
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#4
Try setting some crazy high internal resolution in GSdx like 2048x2048 and see how usage jumps up Tongue
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#5
and core 0 will always take a bigger hit than core 1 I have found out. Windows uses more of the first than any other (for the core of the system), then tries to spread the applications and rendering stuff between the two
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#6
@Bositman: I tried using 2048x2048 internal resolution and the first core still showed greater usage. However, there were slowdowns in areas that ran smoothly before.

@Saiki: That's what's probably at work in my case.
My Specs: Intel E8400 @ 3.8 GHz (Stock cooler, Default voltages), Kingston 3GB 800MHz, XFX GTX 260 Core 216 55nm, Segate 160 GB & 500 GB SATA, Realtek HD Audio 7.1 Channels
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#7
Yeah the first core will always be 100% or at least have more usage than the second since so much more is emulated on that thread (the whole EErec,VUrecs etc)
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#8
Don't know about quads or amd, but on my core2 when I reset affinity in taskman it adds 1 fps, consistently.
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#9
I don't know much about programming, but wouldn't it make more sense to use core 1 for the emulator and core 0 for the gpu plugin? To spread out the load more evenly?
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#10
As the number of cores increase the cache and in servers even main memory becomes closer to one core than the others, but currently the non-shared L1 cache is either too small or gets flushed too many times to make a difference, at least that's what I believe.
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