8 replies to this topic

[stryder]

So, I downloaded HandBrake because it looked like a cool way to compress some of my DVDs that I put on my hard drive.

For the first time that I've ever noticed, a program is using 190% of my CPU!  Has anyone ever had that experience on their dual core or dual processor Mac before?

The most I've ever seen is about 135% total useage (for a single program).  My graph is pegged at Max (and has been for over 8 hours!).

[miranda363]

Not that high but in the 90's using iMovie on a 2.8 Celeron D

[stryder]

miranda363, on Jan 18 2006, 05:15 AM, said:

Not that high but in the 90's using iMovie on a 2.8 Celeron D

Handbrake took 24hours to compress a 2 1/2 hour DVD (8GB) to a 1.2 GB H.264 QuickTime file.  I'm presuming the 190%, as it was completely pegged, and when I ran TOP, it dropped a slight amount to allow top to run.  Top took ~10%, and I saw Handbrake go from 188% in top to 180% to allow TOP to run.

Once I stopped TOP, it pegged back up again.

I wish I could download a temperature monitor for my G4.  None seem to support it.  I'm sure running it for 24+hours at full throttle made it hot (lotsa heat coming out the back!).

[cyrana]

Yeah, I've seen 190% on a dual CPU box.  Just means each one is pegged at 95%, though.  I was doing some encoding work and a few other things at the same time, though...don't think one single program was that high for me.

[stoavio]

Sorry for the extremely lame question but how do you check CPU usage? Obviously CTRL+ALT+DEL isn't going to work on here so what do I do to view running processes/tasks/network statistics/cpu information/etc.

Thanks

[jbettcher]

Applications -> Utilities -> Activity Monitor.app or
Terminal.app and type in "top" minus quotes ofcourse.

[stryder]

jbettcher, on Jan 20 2006, 12:39 AM, said:

Applications -> Utilities -> Activity Monitor.app or
Terminal.app and type in "top" minus quotes ofcourse.

I use a program called MenuMeters to display the CPU useage in the menubar (uses less CPU than Activity Monitor, and it allows you to combine the results of both CPUs into one graph as if they were one CPU).  MenuMeters also lets you monitor used/free memory, how much bandwidth you are sending/receiving, etc.

Right now I'm compressing with HandBrake (0.7) and I'm pegged at 100% for both CPUs (including running this Safari window, though).  This is on my Dual G4.

Activity Monitor is the power users' best friend.  It allows you to force quit processes, monitor network bandwidth, hard disk activity, etc.

[macgirl]

stryder, on Jan 18 2006, 06:52 AM, said:

Handbrake took 24hours to compress a 2 1/2 hour DVD (8GB) to a 1.2 GB H.264 QuickTime file.  I'm presuming the 190%, as it was completely pegged, and when I ran TOP, it dropped a slight amount to allow top to run.  Top took ~10%, and I saw Handbrake go from 188% in top to 180% to allow TOP to run.

Once I stopped TOP, it pegged back up again.

Make top not the priority app with this:
top -ocpu -R -F -s 2 -n30

I have an alias for this ttop='top -ocpu -R -F -s 2 -n30' from an old MacOSX hint.

[stryder]

macgirl, on Jan 20 2006, 10:03 AM, said:

Make top not the priority app with this:
top -ocpu -R -F -s 2 -n30

I have an alias for this ttop='top -ocpu -R -F -s 2 -n30' from an old MacOSX hint.

Thanks, that works better!