Houdini eats computer

[cdani]

Hi.
Some friends ask me that houdini eats all his cpu. So I propose them:
* Run with one thread less than physical cores.
* Run with low priority manually (task manager -> right click on process -> lower priority).
* Do this automatically, for example with process lasso http://www.bitsum.com/prolasso.php
May be you know another solution.
Thanks.

[Uly]

I've found running at low priority is best. I do it for all my engines. What I do, is starting the GUI at low priority, then, all engines loaded in it are automatically run at low priority.

I use this shortcut:

%SystemRoot%\system32\cmd.exe /c start "Shredder" /belownormal "D:\Chess\ShredderClassic3\Shredder.exe"

And the GUI starts at below normal priority.

[eddy158k]

I´m NOT sure Houdini is eating my CPU however I have a problem of poor performance particularly at mid game (out of the opening book but not yet at the end game tablebases) I have an i7 920 at 3.2 and the engine gets out of the opening book fine, most of the time even with small advantage but falls short right after that even playing against dual core processors. Depths reaches between 15-22 at speed of 4000+kN/s during that time (which I think is normal) I have set the threads at 4 and the rest of the engine´s parameters are default according to Houdini page. Fritz Benchmark give me Relative speed: 19.66 and Kilo nodes per second: 9437 ( which are normal too). The Hyper Trading is OFF at BIOS. Don’t Know what else to do in order to improve the engine or processor performance. I really appreciated any expert opinion the could help me solve this pulse.

[Greg Simpson]

My stock I5 750 is getting 5300 knodes/sec (analyzing white's move 20 of Nakamura vs. Kramnik in Dortmund) using only two cores. You don't say what time control you are using, but I get depth 22 after 4.4 seconds.

If this is really better than you get with four cores something must be wrong. Aside from checking your CPU temperature I don't have much to offer, though.

[ernest]

all engines loaded in it are automatically run at low priority.
...............
And the GUI starts at below normal priority.

Are low priority and below normal priority the same???

[eddy158k]

My stock I5 750 is getting 5300 knodes/sec (analyzing white's move 20 of Nakamura vs. Kramnik in Dortmund) using only two cores. You don't say what time control you are using, but I get depth 22 after 4.4 seconds.

If this is really better than you get with four cores something must be wrong. Aside from checking your CPU temperature I don't have much to offer, though.

Appreciate your input. The time control that I was referring to was 3 Min and I constantly checking the temp with Real Temp and never goes over 70. I know it may sound crazy but my only conclusion after months of analysis is that engines gets wear out with time.

[Uly]

Are low priority and below normal priority the same???

Low priority is below Normal priority, there's also a priority called BelowNormal, both are below Normal. Low priority also is below BelowNormal priority, so that BelowNormal gets a higher priority than Low.

[ernest]

BelowNormal gets a higher priority than Low.

Right!
I only use BelowNormal, which works well for my purpose.

[Greg Simpson]

The time control that I was referring to was 3 Min and I constantly checking the temp with Real Temp and never goes over 70.

I'm not sure, but 70 sounds a bit high to me. You might check for dust on your CPU.