Core Parking!

[Virgorising]

I just, via serendipity, 5 mins ago, learned about CORE PARKING.

So, I went into Resource Mgr, and yes, indeed, some of my cores are "parked." I had no clue I had PARKED CORES! That this serious thing I never heard of before is suddenly cracking me up is only cause I am very, very tired.

Has anyone turned off this feature? What would be the downsides of doing that? Is is common for people to turn it off? I do get the upside purpose, to save CPU energy.

I also learned there is some MS update U can download to turn this off....tho there are other ways as well.

Thank you!

 

[Idontcare]

I turn it off in Win7, leave it on in Win8. In Win7 the parked cores seem to get stuck sometimes and never come "unparked", so annoying.

 

[cbn]

Some more info from the Anandtech article:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7189/choosing-a-gaming-cpu-september-2013/2

The Bulldozer Challenge

Another purpose of this article was to tackle the problem surrounding Bulldozer and its derivatives, such as Piledriver and thus all Trinity and Richland APUs. The architecture is such that Windows 7, by default, does not accurately assign new threads to new modules – the ‘freshly installed’ stance is to double up on threads per module before moving to the next. By installing a pair of Windows Updates (which do not show in Windows Update automatically), we get an effect called ‘core parking’, which assigns the first series of threads each to its own module, giving it access to a pair of INT and an FP unit, rather than having pairs of threads competing for the prize. This affects variable threaded loading the most, particularly from 2 to 2N-2 threads where N is the number of modules in the CPU (thus 2 to 6 threads in an FX-8150). It should come as no surprise that games fall into this category, so we want to test with and without the entire core parking features in our benchmarks.

 

[ChronoReverse]

If you don't have a CPU with either HT (Intel) or CMT (AMD) then it's basically irrelevant for you.

 

[BrightCandle]

Some games really play poorly with core parking still. Arma 2 used to gain 10 fps just by turning core parking off. Arma 3 seems less bothered by it, especially in Windows 8.

The only real downside to turning it off is slightly higher power consumption at idle. A parked core consumes less power than a mostly idle low clocked one.

 

[Virgorising]

I turn it off in Win7, leave it on in Win8. In Win7 the parked cores seem to get stuck sometimes and never come "unparked", so annoying.

I DO RUN W7! They GET STUCK????? Seriously???????

What I think I should do...is monitor which are parked, etc when I am not keeling over with exhaustion, to find out of any are stuck. OMG.....I am sooo tired, must be why just thinking about stuck, parked cores, forget typing the word... sends me into lunatic laughter.....cause this is not funny stuff.

 

[Virgorising]

Some games really play poorly with core parking still. Arma 2 used to gain 10 fps just by turning core parking off. Arma 3 seems less bothered by it, especially in Windows 8.

The only real downside to turning it off is slightly higher power consumption at idle. A parked core consumes less power than a mostly idle low clocked one.

Thank you for this, re the slightly higher power consumption. Remember, this is a phenomenon I only just found out about!!!!

 

[Virgorising]

If you don't have a CPU with either HT (Intel) or CMT (AMD) then it's basically irrelevant for you.

Cept I DO. Have an Intel chip with Hyperthreading. So, it's entirely relevant.

 

[Virgorising]

Some more info from the Anandtech article:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7189/choosing-a-gaming-cpu-september-2013/2

OMG. Cause this whole thing is so new to me, much of what you quoted is beyond me. Wanted to make and put up a screenie of Resource Monitor.....but the screenie would not cover the live real time graphs on the right, cause U have to scroll to see them all.

My cores are listed zero thru 7, not 1 thru 8. Not sure why. And right now, cores 1,3,5 & 6 are parked.

 

[ChronoReverse]

Cept I DO. Have an Intel chip with Hyperthreading. So, it's entirely relevant.

Well, if you upgrade to Windows 8 then it's not a problem either haha.

In any case, if you run into a game that works better with it off, then you can set it. It doesn't actually hurt to disable it on the desktop anyway.

 

[bononos]

It used to be a problem way way back for Intel and the AMD X2s. I think it should no longer be an issue. Surprised that IDC still disables the feature.

 

[Virgorising]

Well, if you upgrade to Windows 8 then it's not a problem either haha.

In any case, if you run into a game that works better with it off, then you can set it. It doesn't actually hurt to disable it on the desktop anyway.

No way will I "upgrade" to W 8.....and, by the way, not every member of this community is a gamer. Including me.

Thanks for sharing it doesn't hurt to turn it off. I need sleep bigtime, have early meeting, so it would be insane for me to make a decision about this and act on that now!:|

 

[ChronoReverse]

*shrugs*

The nice thing about Windows is that you can install whatever you want to customize it however you want. I had the Start button in 8 and even in 8.1 if I press the winkey it shows the Win7 Start menu.

I also get to enjoy fixed Core Parking, faster overall performance and other benefits. Not saying that you have to upgrade or even that you're wrong to not upgrade. Just that there's no reason to avoid it either.

 

[Virgorising]

*shrugs*

The nice thing about Windows is that you can install whatever you want to customize it however you want. I had the Start button in 8 and even in 8.1 if I press the winkey it shows the Win7 Start menu.

I also get to enjoy fixed Core Parking, faster overall performance and other benefits. Not saying that you have to upgrade or even that you're wrong to not upgrade. Just that there's no reason to avoid it either.

I luv W7. and I customize everything. Cept stuff I did not know EXISTED, like CORE PARKING.

Re I would rather eat worms than upgrade to W8....somewhere here, I posted every single reason. i like U LUV it! I do. But I DO NOT LUV IT.

I do tho, luv you focus, listen, connect, automatically take nuances into account....and so, have the blessing of kindness and class in yr responses.

More tomorrow!!!!!

 

[Virgorising]

One more before I keel over. I found about an app called UnparkCPU. Got it, ran it.
Again, it would be abject madness for me to do anything now....completely exhausted and in desperate need of sleep. But what do U think?

 

[Idontcare]

That's the app I used (IIRC).

 

[john3850]

One more before I keel over. I found about an app called UnparkCPU. Got it, ran it.
Again, it would be abject madness for me to do anything now....completely exhausted and in desperate need of sleep. But what do U think?

Cool program that saves a trip to registry editor.

 

[Virgorising]

That's the app I used (IIRC).

Just walked in and saw this.....well, that makes me feel better, but I am still afraid to turn it off, cause I remain unclear re the downside.
i.e., if I turn it off and no cores get parked ever, will the cores have higher temps than now? Cause now, they are mostly around 28C

Right now, apart from cores getting stuck in park in W7 (OMG!!!!!), my feeling is this thing is in place for maybe good reasons?

When I can, what I think I should do, is do some video converting.....the only thing I do(and not often) that is CPU intensive. During that, I would look again and see if the same 4 cores are parked. If they are, that would be messed us, and maybe sign the parked ones are stuck, yes? I will use that app to turn the whole parking thing off.

But it will still creep me out a little.

Pls comment! I just do not wanna do anything to mess anything up.
Remember, late last nite was the first time I ever even heard of this thing!!!

Thanks as always for any feedback.

 

[ChronoReverse]

Core parking won't kill your thermals. It obviously won't because Windows XP won't kill your thermals will it? And it doesn't have core parking.

It's just a power-saving measure (as well as a more intelligent way of using virtual cores if working properly like in Windows 8).

 

[Virgorising]

Core parking won't kill your thermals. It obviously won't because Windows XP won't kill your thermals will it? And it doesn't have core parking.

It's just a power-saving measure (as well as a more intelligent way of using virtual cores if working properly like in Windows 8).

Raising the example of core parking free XP not killing thermals....EXCELLENT!:biggrin:

But I still need to find out, given I do get and respect it is in place to foster "intelligence" and efficiency......if my parked cores are stuck in park.

Now that I have learned that phenomenon exists in W7 sometimes, that is the only part I am worried about.

OK...I feel more confident re doing this, plus I can also turn it on again with the app!!!

 

[red_222]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrvDVZg6C58
I had the same issue with my Phenom x6 and the link above helped me out a lot. I no longer have W7 all my computers have W8 and I came across this forum when I was frantically searching for a solution.

 

[Virgorising]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrvDVZg6C58
I had the same issue with my Phenom x6 and the link above helped me out a lot. I no longer have W7 all my computers have W8 and I came across this forum when I was frantically searching for a solution.

Wow. You not in the least bit LATE! But, given what helpers said in this thread, I am not clear why the guy disabled core parking in W8.

I feel bad U hadda use this and reg edit to solve YOUR problem; the word "frantic" made my tummy hurt, and I relate.

I feel blessed I cam upon that little app early this AM, put up screenie its interface, and was told here by someone experienced, it is also what he uses.

 

[WOTMODS]

I just, via serendipity, 5 mins ago, learned about CORE PARKING.

So, I went into Resource Mgr, and yes, indeed, some of my cores are "parked." I had no clue I had PARKED CORES! That this serious thing I never heard of before is suddenly cracking me up is only cause I am very, very tired.

Has anyone turned off this feature? What would be the downsides of doing that? Is is common for people to turn it off? I do get the upside purpose, to save CPU energy.

I also learned there is some MS update U can download to turn this off....tho there are other ways as well.

Thank you!

one I like: http://bitsum.com/about_cpu_core_parking.php

 

[Burpo]

You don't need any apps to do this.

Just set minimum at 100% in Power options, advanced settings in Control panel.

No cores will be parked.

 

[ChronoReverse]

Well, it would be nice to at least have the CPU's clock down when idle. Kinda overkill to turn that off entirely.