Setting priorities on Windows' apps? at DVinfo.net

David Ho · February 11th, 2004, 03:17 AM

Is it always better to set the priority of either your editing program or any program that you want to solely dedicate all your processing power to realtime or high priority for faster/better results?

Brian M. Dickman · February 11th, 2004, 09:35 AM

If you haven't messed with any of the scheduler settings, Windows will give the most priority to the active application, e.g. if you're in the editor editing, it's getting a little boost from Windows already. Messing with priority level yourself usually doesn't get you anything, and putting normal applications in "real-time" priority is a great way to crash your machine.

Glenn Chan · February 11th, 2004, 12:54 PM

I don't think the real-time setting crashes your machine. At least, it doesn't the few times I've tried it.

With Vegas, you'll render slightly faster with Vegas on real-time but the difference is so slight (2%?) it's not worth doing unless it's like a final render.

It's worth shutting off other programs that steal CPU cycles, like distibuted computing apps.

The only tweak I find worth doing with Vegas is overclocking. Performance will increase almost linearly with processor clock speed.

Imran Zaidi · February 11th, 2004, 01:08 PM

With rendering, good old fashioned cpu horsepower is king. XP is a pretty darn good OS from a multitasking and process management standpoint, and while I wouldn't generally recommend doing real-time adjustments to process priority, it may offer some mild performance gains. Nothing to write home about, as Glenn mentioned.

What makes a pretty big difference is stopping any unnecessary applications, especially those that auto-start when you boot up, and then when you're ready for that final render, do a full system restart first. And, of course, regular maintenance of your drive and your OS through utilities such as Norton's Speed Disk and Win Doctor will help much as well.

And as a rule, stay away from ever installing non-essential programs on your production system. Leave the testing and playing for your play system - or better yet, someone else's system ;) .

Rob Lohman · February 12th, 2004, 02:57 PM

As I've said before David, stick with the basics. Real-time *can*
be dangerous for your Windows. Yes, I've seen it crash on that.
If you by any chance get to hang Vegas or one of the components
it loads (like the mpeg or windows media encoders) and it's
in real-time your only way out is usually the powerplug so to
speak.

Priority settings is usually done to lower an application that is
using too much cycles.

Stick with the default settings, they work fine.

David Ho · February 17th, 2004, 01:41 AM

Imran, to be honest... I've tweaked and cleaned the hell out of my system to ensure its up to its par performance. I'm pretty sure my system will be fine -- but just had to make sure. :P

February 11th, 2004, 03:17 AM	#1
David Ho Major Player Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 354	Setting priorities on Windows' apps? Is it always better to set the priority of either your editing program or any program that you want to solely dedicate all your processing power to realtime or high priority for faster/better results? __________________ "Everyone has a photographic memory. Some just don't have film."

February 12th, 2004, 02:57 PM	#5
Rob Lohman RED Code Chef Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Holland Posts: 12,514	As I've said before David, stick with the basics. Real-time can be dangerous for your Windows. Yes, I've seen it crash on that. If you by any chance get to hang Vegas or one of the components it loads (like the mpeg or windows media encoders) and it's in real-time your only way out is usually the powerplug so to speak. Priority settings is usually done to lower an application that is using too much cycles. Stick with the default settings, they work fine. __________________ Rob Lohman, visuar@iname.com DV Info Wrangler & RED Code Chef Join the DV Challenge \| Lady X Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Buy from the best: DVinfo.net sponsors

February 17th, 2004, 01:41 AM	#6
David Ho Major Player Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 354	Imran, to be honest... I've tweaked and cleaned the hell out of my system to ensure its up to its par performance. I'm pretty sure my system will be fine -- but just had to make sure. :P __________________ "Everyone has a photographic memory. Some just don't have film."

February 11th, 2004, 09:35 AM	#2
Brian M. Dickman Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 148	If you haven't messed with any of the scheduler settings, Windows will give the most priority to the active application, e.g. if you're in the editor editing, it's getting a little boost from Windows already. Messing with priority level yourself usually doesn't get you anything, and putting normal applications in "real-time" priority is a great way to crash your machine.

February 11th, 2004, 12:54 PM	#3
Glenn Chan Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 4,750	I don't think the real-time setting crashes your machine. At least, it doesn't the few times I've tried it. With Vegas, you'll render slightly faster with Vegas on real-time but the difference is so slight (2%?) it's not worth doing unless it's like a final render. It's worth shutting off other programs that steal CPU cycles, like distibuted computing apps. The only tweak I find worth doing with Vegas is overclocking. Performance will increase almost linearly with processor clock speed.

February 11th, 2004, 01:08 PM	#4
Imran Zaidi Trustee Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 1,315	With rendering, good old fashioned cpu horsepower is king. XP is a pretty darn good OS from a multitasking and process management standpoint, and while I wouldn't generally recommend doing real-time adjustments to process priority, it may offer some mild performance gains. Nothing to write home about, as Glenn mentioned. What makes a pretty big difference is stopping any unnecessary applications, especially those that auto-start when you boot up, and then when you're ready for that final render, do a full system restart first. And, of course, regular maintenance of your drive and your OS through utilities such as Norton's Speed Disk and Win Doctor will help much as well. And as a rule, stay away from ever installing non-essential programs on your production system. Leave the testing and playing for your play system - or better yet, someone else's system ;) .