hyperthread or not?

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punkin

punkin

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Just came to realize that one of the machines I've been using has hyperthreading enabled...it's a P4 3.0 GHz machine...anyone have any thoughts on if this should be enabled or not? I'm using this particular machine stirictly for recording and playback, working with SONAR 3.1.

Thanks
 
It is good to have hyper threading, definitely helps. Especially when you have a dual channel ram. You would see a great difference in processing speed.
 
Does the application program have to be coded/compiled for HT or does it just happen for everything?
 
Thanks for the responses...

I do have dual channel memory (1024 worth).

As for the question of weather or not the app has to be compiled for HT...heck if I know...I sent a the same question off to Cakewalk but no response yet. I'm certain that the PC doesn't differentiate between applications but rather the applications would take advantage. The PC builder indicated that HT would boost performance based upon the type of computations or calculations the application was demanding but that it would depend upon the app...computer wizard stuff...at this point over my head.

I'm just wondering if any SONAR users out there have realized a performance increase with HT enabled vs. disabled? Fundamentaly, my curiosity comes from the fact that from time to time (not frequently) I'll experience "Drop-Out" during recording...I hate when that happens. Just trying to put this issue to rest.

Thanks
 
Dropouts on a 3GHz P4 with a gig of ram? That's a worry
 
I know!...should never happen! Like I said before, only once in awhile...never during play back but sometimes during record.

I've got two 7200 hard drives...OS and Apps running on c: and storage/audio on d: . Sampling at 44/16. Kind of weird...watching CPU usage, generally about 10 - 15% and hard drive about 0-7 %. Generally very light track numbers...4-12 total.

One of those scary intermittent problems.
 
What kidns of programs are you running in the background?
(ie: Firewall, Anti-Virus...)
 
Good thought...I'm running Norton Antivirus - Corporate Edition. I don't have a NIC on the machine in question. No network access at all... mentioned it before, this machine is strictly for recording.

Running XP Pro.
 
punkin said:
I know!...should never happen! Like I said before, only once in awhile...never during play back but sometimes during record.

I've got two 7200 hard drives...OS and Apps running on c: and storage/audio on d: . Sampling at 44/16. Kind of weird...watching CPU usage, generally about 10 - 15% and hard drive about 0-7 %. Generally very light track numbers...4-12 total.

One of those scary intermittent problems.
Click to expand...

That's pretty much identical to the setup I'm planning. I get intermittant dropouts on my current machine and I'm hoping they'll be a thing of the past when I upgrade, but from what you say, I'm beginning to wonder.

My theory is there's some dodgy Mircoslopped code in the bowels of XP that every now and then decides to premptively go and check a usb port or something, and fuck whatever pointless thing you happen to be working on at the time because of course MS always know what they're doing
 
Turn off the virus checking during recording! It really can play havoc with real-time dependent processes.

Sonar 3.1 *IS* coded/optimized for hyperthreading. Some folks are seeing darn good improvements turning HT on. On the other hand, you have to make sure the REST of your system is also HT compatible/safe -- especially the audio drivers of your interface.

-lee-
 
laptoppop said:


1. Turn off the virus checking during recording! It really can play havoc with real-time dependent processes.

2. Sonar 3.1 *IS* coded/optimized for hyperthreading. Some folks are seeing darn good improvements turning HT on. On the other hand, you have to make sure the REST of your system is also HT compatible/safe -- especially the audio drivers of your interface.

-lee-
Click to expand...

I totally agree with both statements.

spin
 
Thanks everyone...since having turned off the virus scan, I've not had a drop-out. It's been about a week now...seems like the trick.

sjl
 
This may be really stupid as a question, but if a computer had no network access, is an antivirus program doing anything other than taking up hard drive space? Maybe there's the possibility of introducing viruses through some foreign wave file? Just wondering.

I *of course* have access on all my computers. So, it wouldn't be good for me to rid myself of the antivirus software, I know!

Just had a thought, and wanted to know what you thought in return to my thought...blah blah blah.

Here's another question. If I'm turning off Norton antivirus, is it okay then that the icon is still in the system tray, but just x'ed out? Or should I be killing the app all together while working with audio, like by say, using the Windows Task Manager or startup configuration settings?

That last question is definitely more applicable to me. I have hyperthreading on one of my p4s.

Thanks,
kirstin
 
Uninstall it.

Every single piece of software that requires you to reboot the machine during installation, has injected yet another component DLL into the system message chain.

It takes time to pass the zillions of system messages between these extra components. If one of them is brain dead or poorly written, keee-rasssshh time.

Better yet, use your 2nd drive to keep a GHOST image of the installed system. Start with fdisk and fresh install. Do only the Windows Updates, then image the system as BASE.GHO. Build the system modularly, and image it along the way. If you dork something up, restore from the previous image, instead of starting fresh from fdisk again.

Once the system is installed, image it again. Then, start turning off the various Windows services that are not required. Opus has an in-depth document that describes this. If you screw up, restore from the saved GHOST image. When the final system is completed, image it yet again.

This is a little off topic for hyper threading, but if enabling hyper threading induces system damage, it is best to have a current image to restore from.
 
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