Misconceptions?
CPU using DeskScapes...
Tuesday, March 13, 2007 by Armbut | Discussion: DeskScapes
Okay, here's my problem. I've used a few DeskScapes from here, and the one included with Windows Dreamscene. ALL of the animated wallpapers have caused my CPU to go beserk. It hovers at anywhere from 25-40% all the time, with just Firefox and Windows Sidebar running on my machine.
I thought that Aero was supposed to take advantage of advanced graphics cards instead of CPU, and pushing all the energy needed to create cool glassy effects onto the GPU instead. Last time I checked, I needed Aero to run DreamScene, and DreamScene to run DeskScapes. Whats up???
Here's my system:
Windows Vista Ultimate
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (2.0GHz)
1GB PC4200 DDR2 RAM
ATI Radeon X1300Pro (256MB)
I thought that Aero was supposed to take advantage of advanced graphics cards instead of CPU, and pushing all the energy needed to create cool glassy effects onto the GPU instead. Last time I checked, I needed Aero to run DreamScene, and DreamScene to run DeskScapes. Whats up???
Here's my system:
Windows Vista Ultimate
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (2.0GHz)
1GB PC4200 DDR2 RAM
ATI Radeon X1300Pro (256MB)
 |
|
Page 1 of 2 | |
|
|---|
vStyler
Reply #2 Tuesday, March 13, 2007 5:30 AM
Reply #2 Tuesday, March 13, 2007 5:30 AM
I'd venture to say your system just isnt competent enough and 25 % is porbably just how its gonna run.
I could be way off.
I could be way off.
Intri
Reply #3 Tuesday, March 13, 2007 8:12 AM
Reply #3 Tuesday, March 13, 2007 8:12 AM
That's easy to answer ( at least I hope so... ). Dreamscene is not finished yet. It's not optimalized for GPU usage.
unclerob
Reply #4 Tuesday, March 13, 2007 9:52 AM
Reply #4 Tuesday, March 13, 2007 9:52 AM
Your system sounds more than adequate enough, it's probably a problem with the software itself, it's still pretty new.
bistro
Reply #5 Tuesday, March 13, 2007 10:00 AM
Reply #5 Tuesday, March 13, 2007 10:00 AM
Intri is correctomundo. What you and the rest of us are currently running is a Dreamscene Preview only...it does not have the GPU optimization. The full version will have that optimization and then you will see the CPU usage drop...hopefully dramatically.
Yosmel
Reply #6 Tuesday, March 13, 2007 10:46 AM
Reply #6 Tuesday, March 13, 2007 10:46 AM
Here's to praying... my FX-55's performance is a little worse than the original poster's 3800, and I know my 7800GTX can pick up that slack! (albeit it is only single core...)
tamarlin
Reply #7 Tuesday, March 13, 2007 1:21 PM
Reply #7 Tuesday, March 13, 2007 1:21 PM
Dude... crazy. My PC is essentially the exact same thing except my processor is a 3800+ 2.4. It does the same with me, but like they said, dreamscene isn't actually released yet. On top of that, our systems are kinda starting to drop on the scale of 1 to awesome. Eh, it's okay. I'm still satisfied with the performance.
Armbut
Reply #8 Tuesday, March 13, 2007 3:05 PM
Reply #8 Tuesday, March 13, 2007 3:05 PM
Yeah...a score of 4.2 isn't really something to brag about.
Armbut
Reply #9 Tuesday, March 13, 2007 3:07 PM
Reply #9 Tuesday, March 13, 2007 3:07 PM
Oh......I just saw a 21%. Seems to be goin down a little, it doesn't go above 30 now. Wow, I wonder what happened while I was at school today... 
Frogboy
Reply #10 Tuesday, March 13, 2007 3:08 PM
Reply #10 Tuesday, March 13, 2007 3:08 PM
My opinion is that you're probably running Dreams that use .WMV instead of .MPEG. WMV has a lot higher CPU cost for decoding. Other than that, I would say that as the video drivers get better, the CPU use will go down.
SolusCado
Reply #11 Tuesday, March 13, 2007 3:45 PM
Reply #11 Tuesday, March 13, 2007 3:45 PM
Hmm - if the 'release' version of Dreamscene/Deskscape will take better advantage of GPUs, does that mean there is a chance those of use with multi-monitor displays might actually be able to run animated wallpapers across our entire desktop?
tamarlin
Reply #12 Tuesday, March 13, 2007 4:40 PM
Reply #12 Tuesday, March 13, 2007 4:40 PM
Frogboy- I've run both, and they both kind of eat things up.
Armbut
Reply #13 Tuesday, March 13, 2007 5:29 PM
Reply #13 Tuesday, March 13, 2007 5:29 PM
yeah...the ones that im talking about are encoded using MPEG-2.
david groves
Reply #14 Tuesday, March 13, 2007 6:59 PM
Reply #14 Tuesday, March 13, 2007 6:59 PM
Seems Microsoft released 3 new Dreams, found them on my latest updates....
Bluephaze
Reply #15 Tuesday, March 13, 2007 8:24 PM
Reply #15 Tuesday, March 13, 2007 8:24 PM
And what is your cpu without deskscape running, with aero enabled? If it is low without DS running then it is not aero. It is the video you are using.
Armbut
Reply #16 Tuesday, March 13, 2007 9:16 PM
Reply #16 Tuesday, March 13, 2007 9:16 PM
My CPU right now with Aero and DeskScapes disabled is 0%
Without Aero, its 0%
Without Aero, its 0%
Harkonian
Reply #17 Wednesday, March 14, 2007 4:07 PM
Reply #17 Wednesday, March 14, 2007 4:07 PM
I have a Intel 6700 Core Duo. My CPU utilization hovers around 5% running @ 1920x1280. If the final DreamScene has more GPU optimizations that would be outstanding, but I can't imagine the utilization would drop much for me.
Also, keep in mind that any animated background relies on your video driver performance, even without GPU optimizations. If you have a beta video driver or one that is having issues you could very well see high CPU utilization as a result.
Also, keep in mind that any animated background relies on your video driver performance, even without GPU optimizations. If you have a beta video driver or one that is having issues you could very well see high CPU utilization as a result.
Armbut
Reply #18 Wednesday, March 14, 2007 4:20 PM
Reply #18 Wednesday, March 14, 2007 4:20 PM
Im not using a beta video driver...
but now my total resolution is 2560x1024.
but now my total resolution is 2560x1024.
Intri
Reply #19 Thursday, March 15, 2007 6:39 AM
My opinion is that you're probably running Dreams that use .WMV instead of .MPEG. WMV has a lot higher CPU cost for decoding. Other than that, I would say that as the video drivers get better, the CPU use will go down.
I might be wrong, but I thought that's exactly what MPEG hardware acceleration on graphic cards is for. To take over decoding operations so the CPU doesn't have to do anything with the video itself.
Reply #19 Thursday, March 15, 2007 6:39 AM
My opinion is that you're probably running Dreams that use .WMV instead of .MPEG. WMV has a lot higher CPU cost for decoding. Other than that, I would say that as the video drivers get better, the CPU use will go down.
I might be wrong, but I thought that's exactly what MPEG hardware acceleration on graphic cards is for. To take over decoding operations so the CPU doesn't have to do anything with the video itself.
velveticecream
Reply #20 Thursday, March 15, 2007 8:55 AM
Reply #20 Thursday, March 15, 2007 8:55 AM
Hi guys 
I am running a intel core 2 duo 6400 (2.13GHz) with 2GB of RAM with an NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT (256MB)
I also running dual monitors (main DVI and 2nd VGA) both at 1280 x 960
I have Dream Scene running across both monitors with no hassles. The .dream format files play smoother than the large WMV files. the smaller WMV files play fine as do the Mpeg2 files. Processor usage is between 8 and 20 percent whilst not doing much.
I noticed Vista downloaded new drivers for my monitors, and new drivers for my graphics card a week ago.
Also worth noting that I upgraded from 1GB of RAM and a 128MB grpahics card a few weeks back as I found Vista ultimate with Aero running on dual monitors didnt cope with the orignal setup. Things were slow, the mouse and keyboard had lagging and repeated key errors and video would stutter when email and web applications were open. Once I upgraded the RAM and Graphics card everything started running smooth.
Everything from office to itunes, CAD programs and web applications are all working fine and Dreamscene is fantastic now
Hope this helps
SMILE
I am running a intel core 2 duo 6400 (2.13GHz) with 2GB of RAM with an NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT (256MB)
I also running dual monitors (main DVI and 2nd VGA) both at 1280 x 960
I have Dream Scene running across both monitors with no hassles. The .dream format files play smoother than the large WMV files. the smaller WMV files play fine as do the Mpeg2 files. Processor usage is between 8 and 20 percent whilst not doing much.
I noticed Vista downloaded new drivers for my monitors, and new drivers for my graphics card a week ago.
Also worth noting that I upgraded from 1GB of RAM and a 128MB grpahics card a few weeks back as I found Vista ultimate with Aero running on dual monitors didnt cope with the orignal setup. Things were slow, the mouse and keyboard had lagging and repeated key errors and video would stutter when email and web applications were open. Once I upgraded the RAM and Graphics card everything started running smooth.
Everything from office to itunes, CAD programs and web applications are all working fine and Dreamscene is fantastic now
Hope this helps
SMILE
Please login to comment and/or vote for this skin.
Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:
- Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums and downloading skins.
- Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
- Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
- It's simple, and FREE!
|
|
Page 1 of 2 | |
|
|---|
Reply #1 Tuesday, March 13, 2007 4:51 AM