100% CPU Usage - Possible Damage?

[iKwak]

During the DVD encoding, my CPU usage is peaked at 100%.The process can take a minimum 30 minutes to a maximum 2 hours.

I am concerned that the CPU will be damaged and lead to a meltdown (read it somewhere). The AMD Athlon 1.2ghz CPU is using the stock fan that came along.


1) How long is it okay for the cpu usage to stay at 99-100%?
2) Should I get a new CPU fan that blows crazy amount of air?
3) Or should I invest in a new Athlon XP cpu (money is short)?

I like to continue using this outdated cpu if possible.

[iKwak]

Also:
Should I buy a budget priced CPU fan that blows crazy amount of air?
And does replacing the stock cpu fan with an aftermarket cpu fan help lower the % of the cpu usage?

Thanks for your time.

[Krismen]

I am concerned that the CPU will be damaged and lead to a meltdown (read it somewhere). The AMD Athlon 1.2ghz CPU is using the stock fan that came along.
Until your core CPU temperature is within ~70C you should't worry to much.

1) How long is it okay for the cpu usage to stay at 99-100%?
If your CPU fan is effective, CPU can run at 100% for a long period of time.

And does replacing the stock cpu fan with an aftermarket cpu fan help lower the % of the cpu usage?
No way. CPU usage dosen't depend on cooling at all.

[alexnoe]

My CPU has been running on 100% for months (setiathome :D ). Just make sure the cooling is working.

[neo75903]

yep seti@home here too. No problems for long runs.
My cpu's are have an average 'healthy' temp between 45-50c.

You are rite to be concerned since Athlon XPs do not have thermal protection.
I think the new 64bit onces have thermal protection.

[Minas]

yeah...its safe to run your cpu at 100% as long as your cooling is enough for it. i've encoded video straight for over 16 hours, nothing bad happened, and i am 100% sure nothing bad ever would. i dont know if you know this, but your cpu has been 'broken in', thats what they do before they ship the cpus. say you have a and 2500+ they would run the cpu at maybe a 2700 or a 2800 speed for 24 hours, thats breaking it in. after that they mark the cpu for use at 2500. dont worry about your cpu running at 100%, it not too often when a cpu dies by itself.

[stef24]

i noticed my 2G P4 with 1GB of ram running at 100% too which aint normal. try to defrag your hard drive. if its very fragmented (and i find that moving around huge video files does that) it drains your cpu just to look at your HD.

as the previous posters say its not dangerous for it to run at 100% but its usually not necessary either

[dragongodz]

its not dangerous for it to run at 100% but its usually not necessary either
well actually since he said
During the DVD encoding, my CPU usage is peaked at 100%
it is actually normal. video encoding(including mpeg,xvid etc) does try to use all the cpu power it can to encode as fast as it can. again, that IS normal. the only time you would see a major drop off would be on a P4 where HT was enabled but the encoder didnt support it.

[stef24]

HT = hyperthreading? can you point me to a link that explains what this is?

is vdo encoding not program specific, ie Ulead, dvd2svcd, ... ? do all the progs try to use 100% of your cpu?

[dragongodz]

yes by HT i mean hyperthreading. short version, HT is the cpu pretending to be 2 cpus. so when a program wants cpu power HT limits it to its "virtual" cpu if you will. thats whu you will sometimes see people mentioning only 50% of their P4(yes thats pentium 4) being used. they then turn off HT and suddenly 100% is used.

ok other running tasks can be assigned to the other virtual cpu so its not actually on 0% use but compared to the power an encoder is trying to use its not far off. :)

test a program thats written or compiled for dual cpu use and you will see it speed up and notice the cpu usage % go up aswell, though maybe not to 100% since you would need perfect threading from the program(so no lag per cpu).

as for encoding being program specific well yes and no. yes they do try to do certain things differently but its also true they will in general try to use every resource they can to do it as fast as they can. why would you want a program that ran slow on purpose ? :D

for more about HT you can also read this. there is some Intel hype(excuse the pun) in it of course but it should answer most questions.
http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/21119.html

[neo75903]

Idd,

i think this will be the future for cpu's, i think it is called something like virtual cpu's, meaning a cpu can present himself as a multiprocessor. This is certainly true for future Dual core cpu's, in which it is possible to present 4! cpu's and more.
HT will be superseded by LaGrande and vanderPool,as presented by Intel and AMD has also announced to work on something similar.
It will contain more features then just cpu emulation, but i havent found much details what the whole thing will looks like.

I only wonder about windows license, coz my win2k pro only recognizes two cpu's max. What if i have an dual, with dual core (4 cpu's)?

[stef24]

well it could be useful to have programs runs slowly in the background. i dont use my pc to do only vdo encoding. for ex. i let dvd2svcd run on idle in the background, same for Diskeeper defragmenter

like that i can keep working ... i got 1gb of ram but contrary to my expectations im unable to multitask to the extent i want

in addition i have a problem with java that makes downloading torrent files lock up my pc! aaaargh

my point being: hardware is nothing if your software is f*cked

[dragongodz]

i dont use my pc to do only vdo encoding. for ex. i let dvd2svcd run on idle in the background, same for Diskeeper defragmenter
yes but you have to understand that you have not made the programs slow themselves down by using idle process. you have infact told windows to limit the amount of cpu cycles etc being assigned to them. so if another program is running as a normal process then windows gives more cpu cycles to that. the programs are still trying to run their normal speed. with encoders this means as fast as they can. :)

i got 1gb of ram but contrary to my expectations im unable to multitask to the extent i want
multitasking is of course very cpu dependant aswell.

my point being: hardware is nothing if your software is f*cked
yes and the reverse holds true aswell. thats called the fun of owning a pc. :D

[neo75903]

get yourself an dual system, the price is acceptable when you build your own system.
My XP2000MP runs more smoothly then my friend's AMD64 3000+, windows is more responsive. Mine is ofcoz slower when it comes to gaming, which are ussually written for single cpu's.
But if you are talking about encoding an video, and browsing the web comfortably, i prefer mine. :)

[neo75903]

read this link:
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=47204148&tid=5979

appearantly an dual core cpu will require two licenses for the software.
Just waiting what M$ gonna say for future licenses, otherwise, dual core cpu's might be an expensive solution.