CPU pegged at 90+% even in idle game

[ZOOMIE1980]

I know someone may have responded to this issue somewhere along the line, but things get buried in a hurry around here.

I run Windows XP, but Windows 2000 users should be able to see the same thing. Just bring the game up and load a save game or start a new scenario. Turn off all sound to eliminate that as causing the problem. Now Atl-TAB and look at your performance monitor. Game uses roughly 200MB RAM, which I now understand why, but it also sits steady at 85-95% CPU even though nothing is going on! What could it possibly be doing to consume the CPU? At it consumes the CPU at that level on PIII 650 and a PIV 2.4GHz machine..... So the power of the CPU seems not to be an issue. Anyone else seeing this?

[msaario]

Yeah, same thing. It kinda hogs your machine, all RAM and CPU it can get.

What a beast

--Mikko

[tsimmonds]

Don't know about that, but my fan comes on about two-three minutes after the map pops up. Never notice it running for any other application.

[Feinder]

Probably too much krap running in the back-ground from DL-ing porn...[:-]

Just kidding!
-F-

[plaxx]

I have a 2.6 athlon, win XP, 512mb ram, as I am writing this I have WiTP minimized, CPU usage 0%-14%...so it is not doing it to everybody[8D]

[Mr.Frag]

Yep, must be a driver thing. Something not releasing properly.

The spikes are the Alt-Tab's back and forth.

[dinsdale]

Most games do this, it's to do with their design. One of the few exceptions is Korsun Pocket which doesn not request cycle time when in the background.

If this runs the same as other games, then it's not truly using that CPU and it will be reclaimed by other apps while the game is in the background.

[Alikchi2]

The game actually runs better on my laptop than on my primary computer (which is far superior by the numbers). So it's definitely computer specific and probably has to do with old drivers or simply a whole bunch of background crap hogging my cpu. Can't tell..

[ZOOMIE1980]

ORIGINAL: dinsdale

Most games do this, it's to do with their design. One of the few exceptions is Korsun Pocket which doesn not request cycle time when in the background.

If this runs the same as other games, then it's not truly using that CPU and it will be reclaimed by other apps while the game is in the background.

I'm surious what is it that is requesting the cycle time? The system DX drivers the game is using? I run all sorts of appliations that even in the foreground rarely eat up more the 10% of the CPU, I've even got got a CAD/CAM app that even when rendering a complex drawing rarely eats up more than about 50-60% CPU at a time. It only takes a few minutes of WitP play to kick my fan off, so what is it that requests all those cycles?

[Mr.Frag]

If it was the game, *everyone* would see it. Since only some folks see it, it's a local machine problem, probably the video driver or the sound driver not releasing properly. Might even be the Mouse drivers.

That being said, most games are written to comsume 100% of what they are running on, little thought is generally given to sharing the machine with other applications.

[dinsdale]

ORIGINAL: ZOOMIE1980
I'm surious what is it that is requesting the cycle time? The system DX drivers the game is using? I run all sorts of appliations that even in the foreground rarely eat up more the 10% of the CPU, I've even got got a CAD/CAM app that even when rendering a complex drawing rarely eats up more than about 50-60% CPU at a time. It only takes a few minutes of WitP play to kick my fan off, so what is it that requests all those cycles?

I have no idea. I suggest you run another game, alt-tab and see what happens.

Mr Frag, why don't you look at your process tab and see what the process cpu% is. I'd be surprised if this was a driver issue, unless it's a very common driver. I've seen the same questions posted on other game sites so this is hardly something rare. Try another game, see what the process cpu % is on that.

[ZOOMIE1980]

ORIGINAL: dinsdale

ORIGINAL: ZOOMIE1980
I'm surious what is it that is requesting the cycle time? The system DX drivers the game is using? I run all sorts of appliations that even in the foreground rarely eat up more the 10% of the CPU, I've even got got a CAD/CAM app that even when rendering a complex drawing rarely eats up more than about 50-60% CPU at a time. It only takes a few minutes of WitP play to kick my fan off, so what is it that requests all those cycles?

I have no idea. I suggest you run another game, alt-tab and see what happens.

Mr Frag, why don't you look at your process tab and see what the process cpu% is. I'd be surprised if this was a driver issue, unless it's a very common driver. I've seen the same questions posted on other game sites so this is hardly something rare. Try another game, see what the process cpu % is on that.

Yes, that the measure I'm looking at, the process tab and CPU % by process. And the problem seems to be widespread on here with all the claims of fans kicking on within minutes of game load. I realize most games are written as if they are the only thing on the machine....another ill-begotten trait inherited from the old DOS days and yet another basic programmin paradigm game developers need to wake up to. The notion that people may actually want to do something ELSE while their game is running (like using my browser to keep up with football game scores while playing, executing a big download, or compiling a big library.....)...

[Mr.Frag]

Mr Frag, why don't you look at your process tab and see what the process cpu% is. I'd be surprised if this was a driver issue, unless it's a very common driver. I've seen the same questions posted on other game sites so this is hardly something rare. Try another game, see what the process cpu % is on that.

Why would I look at the cpu% ? my machine's sitting at 97-99% idle [:D]

I have many games that do *not* support Alt-Tab and do not release the CPu when focus is shifted. This is *not* one of them I run windowed or full screen, same effect. Focus shifted, cpu released.

I hope we are not talking about while a turn is executing here. This is sitting idle, looking at the standard map with no panels open.

[Caltone]

I've got IE, Outlook, Adobe, and WitP running atm and CPU usage is 0% - 12%. I've even got sound on for WitP, music is playing as I type. Seems to let go when minimized as I'd expect.

[dinsdale]

ORIGINAL: Mr.Frag
I hope we are not talking about while a turn is executing here. This is sitting idle, looking at the standard map with no panels open.

That certainly might be it. Though I can't speak for WiTP, many, many games hold the CPU even when doing nothing.

[Caltone]

Agreed, but WitP doesn't seem to be one of them. OTOH, I've never had any luck alt-tabbing while turn is executing. Heh I wouldn't want to miss anything anyways [:D]

[Feinder]

If you've got Adobe up for the manual or something else, that could be what's killing you.

I recall reading somewhere that Adobe does NOT necessarily release all threads, even if you close Adobe.

Try -NOT- starting Adobe when you run your game, see if it's smoother.

-F-

[Mr.Frag]

Ok, I have 6 separate WitP's running at once, and I'm still sitting here idle.

It's not WitP. Might explain why some folks get the lag between bases though ... hardware and drivers suck ... something to be said for the good old days where you wrote directly to the hardware and didn't have to trust other peoples mistakes.

[kew]

I have the same issue as the poster (80-90%). My computer was however able to complete a single turn in 7-8 minutes. I'm not sure what happened, but the other day my computer started going a lot slower. Now it takes 20 minutes to complete a turn[:o]! When I look at the usage it's pegged at a 100 with small drops at perfect intervals.

Any tips for discovering what the source of this is would be most appreciated.[&o] And yes I've run anti spy-ware prgrams and Norton to check for viruses.

[Mr.Frag]

Need your hardware info ... see what you, zoomie and msaario have in common.

Video Card & Sound card are most likely, but then USB mice/keyboards etc could fit in.