Hyperthreading is sweet

[axeman]

Got my new PC this week, fully loaded speed machine.

I do some heavy number crunching, and my old machine
was difficult to use with the CPU spiked 100%.
Always had to lower the process priority on my backtest engine
to be able to use it effectively.

This almost made me want a dual processor box, just so the
machine would still be usable while one processor smoked
on the numbers.

Im pleasantly surprised with hyperthreading on my 3.2ghz Pentium 4.

My machine behaves as if it has more than a single processor now.

Even with the cpu spiked hard at 100%, its still totally fast
and usable for regular stuff like browsing,etc, even snappy.

Very nice... thanks intel


Now for the REAL test...can it run a 3D shooter while backtesting? LMAO

peace

axeman

 

[axeman]

Holy crap!!! I was just kidding about running a 3D shooter
with my backtest engine running, BUT IT WORKS!!!

And it was smooooth! Unreal!
This is amazing!


peace

axeman

 

[TGregg]

Yeah man. I recently upgraded to an HT chip. I really thought the whole HT thing was mostly BS, but I was wrong. It's nice. It doesn't "ROCK!!!", but it is nice.

 

[prophet]

Quote from axeman:

Always had to lower the process priority on my backtest engine
to be able to use it effectively.

This almost made me want a dual processor box, just so the
machine would still be usable while one processor smoked
on the numbers.

Wouldn't it be even more usable with hyperthreading and your engine set to low priority?

What is wrong with keeping your backtest engine's priority always set to low? It will still get all free CPU cycles.

 

[stockwrangler]

Quote from axeman:

Got my new PC this week, fully loaded speed machine.

I do some heavy number crunching...

Im pleasantly surprised with hyperthreading on my 3.2ghz Pentium 4...

Even with the cpu spiked hard at 100%, its still totally fast and
usable for regular stuff like browsing,etc, even snappy.

Very nice... thanks intel.

And it was smooooth! Unreal! [running a 3D shooter with backtest engine running]...

Great news.

Give us the brand and full specs.

 

[axeman]

Well thats the point... I no longer have to change the
process priority on my backtesting software to lower, every
time I run it.

This machine runs so fast and smooth WHILE I am running
the backtest, that I cant even tell its running!
Now THAT is pretty amazing.


PS. This is a custom built PC, no brand name.
I hand picked each component, since im a geek.

peace

axeman

Quote from prophet:

Wouldn't it be even more usable with hyperthreading and your engine set to low priority?

What is wrong with keeping your backtest engine's priority always set to low? It will still get all free CPU cycles.

 

[stockwrangler]

Quote from axeman:

......This machine runs so fast and smooth WHILE I am running
the backtest, that I cant even tell its running!
Now THAT is pretty amazing.

......This is a custom built PC, no brand name.
I hand picked each component, since im a geek.

All the better that it's customized to your own specs -
geek is good...

Can'tcha at least give us a fully-loaded idea...?

 

[axeman]

The Specs:

3.2ghz Pentium 4
1 gig 400mhz DDR ram, using 2 channels
800 mghz front side bus
Intel 875P motherboard with built in RAID 0
Two 80 gig SATA harddrives, striped (raid 0 - looks like a single super fast 160 gig drive to the OS)
DVD rom

Total cost: $950


It SMOOOOOOOOOKES....

Over twice as fast as my old Dell 2.0ghz machine.
But feels like its 5 times faster with the hyperthreading.

peace

axeman

 

[axeman]

Actuallty its not "fully loaded", but its effectively fully loaded.
I have it tuned to my backtesting.

I could have added faster harddrives, but it would not
have helped at all since im CPU bound, not IO bound.

Even with average SATA drives (7200 rpm), I benchmarked these drives
in raid 0 configuration to run at:

Average: 43 megs/sec
Top speed: 86 megs/sec
Random seek time: 13.1 ms

Compared to my high performance 15,000 RPM SCSI II drive:

Average: 54 megs/sec
Top speed: 57/megs/sec
Random seek time: 6ms

As you can see, two average drives striped/raid 0, can really
perform well. Since candle data file is sequential, they
can actually outperform my expensive drive in read mode.



Benchmark your harddrives with: http://www.simplisoftware.com


peace

axeman

 

[BSAM]

Quote from axeman:

The Specs:

3.2ghz Pentium 4
1 gig 400mhz DDR ram, using 2 channels
800 mghz front side bus
Intel 875P motherboard with built in RAID 0
Two 80 gig SATA harddrives, striped (raid 0 - looks like a single super fast 160 gig drive to the OS)
DVD rom

Total cost: $950


It SMOOOOOOOOOKES....

Over twice as fast as my old Dell 2.0ghz machine.
But feels like its 5 times faster with the hyperthreading.

peace

axeman

Wow......Wish I were a "geek". Unfortunately, I'm pretty much computer stupid!! Point is, I bought a new machine in December that is reasonably comparable to what you built. I know you already know, but you definitely saved yourself SEVERAL HUNDRED DOLLARS!!!