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    setting affinity on processors to make the most out of two processors

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by sunjhoon, Mar 12, 2007.

  1. sunjhoon

    sunjhoon Notebook Evangelist NBR Reviewer

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    I just got a core 2 duo processor...I was wondering when you use task manager you can set which processor does what..But whenever i set an affinity to a different cpu when looking on it still says its being used by cpu '00'...for example when i set IEXPLORER to run on CPU 01 it still says CPU 00 and sometimes changes to CPU 01 for a few seconds then reverts back to CPU 00...what i wanna know is how do i know its actually using the second core or is there a program that can be used to make better use of the second core?

    And another thing why does the numbers randomly change to 08 or 33 etc?

    Also is anyone using programs to set affinity and is it worth it?

    Thanks :)
     
  2. Gator

    Gator Go Gators!

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    Relax! Let the scheduler in your OS take care of balancing processes on both cores. Certain programs and games nowadays, such as SupCom, will also do so by themselves. In fact, the more you mess with the process affinity the less efficient your system will become.
     
  3. sunjhoon

    sunjhoon Notebook Evangelist NBR Reviewer

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    lol im relaxed dude...jus wondering...You know curious thats all :) cheers
     
  4. Jalf

    Jalf Comrade Santa

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    The best way to utilize both cores is to not mess with affinity. You should only set that when you want to force a process to *only* run on one specific cpu. Which essentially kills any advantage there might have been to having a dual-core CPU.
     
  5. hehe299792458

    hehe299792458 Notebook Deity

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    Yeap. XP can utilize both cores just fine. If you want even more optimized performance, get Vista. You are not a computer, so don't try to do everything your OS does. Just leave it on automatic
     
  6. sunjhoon

    sunjhoon Notebook Evangelist NBR Reviewer

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    Hey u guys cheers for the advice (and my review for my laptop went up :D)
     
  7. acaurora

    acaurora Notebook Deity NBR Reviewer

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    Dont forget, Windows XP users to make sure you have that dual core Microsoft Windows XP Hotfix.. I believe it's stickied somewhere on these forums. Makes sure that XP utilizes BOTH of your cores... sometimes OEM's dont install it =[
     
  8. Gator

    Gator Go Gators!

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    Nice review! I was seriously considering the Amilo when I was shopping around for my laptop, they are very reasonable in price and packs a wallop with the X1800 series of video cards (now refreshed to X1900). Unfortunately, I could not find a seller in the US. Oh well, happy gaming!