Hello brothers.
I think that I have a question for PC experts.

My PC:
Mother board: Genuine Intel D865 GLC system board
Processor:Pentium4 3,00GHz,Socket 478,Bus speed 800MHz.
Physical memory:1024RAM, DDR400.
OS:Windows XP version 5.1 service pack2 build 2600.
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum Pro.
OK, I have installed my music softwares:
Sound Forge8, Adobe Audition 1.5, CakeWalk Pro Audio 9 and Encore notator.
I can open and work with any software WITHOUT problems with temperature but when Encore (notator) is openned, the temperature monitor of processor and mother board shows the temperature increasing very fast until to reach the "red zone".
So, I close the software and the temperature turns to normal zone.
Note:I have a Intelbox fan for processor, 2 ducted fans for mother board, 1 fan for HD and I fan for gabinet.
Help pls...
Chico

I guess there are minimum two possible sources of failers...

1. heated air problem
a. The air inside the PC case can't circulate in a good way. Make sure that all the flat cables inside the case are out of the air stream so that the air can circulate and the fan can provide the CPU an optimal air condition.
b. The surrounding heat of the PC is too high (I had some PCs crashed by heat in last summer). A fan doesn't really make its job if the air that it brings to the CPU is hot or even hotter like the air that it blows away from the CPU. In this case you need a cooler place - maybe the cellar or a climate control unit in your office. This year I'll use them with open cases...

2. the CPU is too much overclocked
a. If your CPU clock is too high then it isn't a matter as long as you're doing not too much on your PC. But right in that moment when you're starting an application which needs much CPU power then you'll have a heat problem after a (short) while. In this case you can try to slow down your CPU speed in your BIOS.
b. It's possible that your CPU is a so called monday product. Another CPU for testing your application would clear this point of speculation. In this case you can also try to solve your heat problem by slowing down your CPU speed in your BIOS.

Some may think that this problem would be caused by the program itself but a modern program only uses the software interfaces that the operating system provides them. So, this heat problem could be caused by every program that uses the same interfaces/routines.

I hope I could help you a little bit...

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Greetings from Frankfurt (Germany),
Sheriff ;-)

[This message has been edited by Sheriff (edited 06-01-2005).]

Hi Sheriff.

You wrote:
So, this heat problem could be caused by every program that uses the same interfaces/routines.

Cakewalk 9 and Encore use the same interface /routines.

I can run Cakewalk with normal level of temperature . The problem occurs just with Encore.

Cheers from Brazil
Chico

Be sure your cooling fans are working properly.
DonM

Hi Chico.

Your story is a bit strange. One would of course expect that high CPU usage could lead to high temperatures, but that specific dependance of the Encore application is really strange. Do you have a way of measuring (comparing) % of CPU usage with Encore opened and closed? Is there a big difference? Try to make sure that Encore doesn't trigger some kind of loop that eats a lot of processing power, when it's opened.

One sure way of solving your problem is changing your cooling system. Coolers with water are very good and silent.

Is your cooler a little noisy? If this is the case, it's a sign that it is not working well, but you can easily solve this problem. I had troubles with the AMD processor in my server/desktop PC a while ago. AMD processors are very sensitive to temperature and it would shut down from time to time, because of the excessive temperature. The reason was that the cooler was getting more and more dust and not turning with enough speed to cool the processor. Solution: take off the little label in the center of the cooler wheel and insert a little bit of fat (oil or preferably the kind of fat substance that is used to lubricate the rolling spheres of a car wheel - in portuguese: "massa consistente"). This worked perfectly for me.

Good luck, Chico.

-- José.

Hey Chico,

Interesting problem. I wonder if the program could be causing a loop...causing the CPU to grind away at a set of instructions it can't complete...And it just keeps workin' harder at it.

I checked the GVOX website for this problem...nothing. Under the download section there are patches for the various versions. You might want to make sure the program is up-to-date.

Are you familiar with Task Manager (press Ctrl-Shift-Esc together)(use your left hand...thumb on Ctrl, 2nd finger on Shift, 3rd finger on Esc)? This utility tool shows all processes running and allows you to view things like Page Faults, CPU Time, Peak Mem Usage, etc (if you have the columns checked for viewing). You can also set the priority of a process here (right-click on a process running and lower the priority). I doubt if that's it but just a thought. It would be interesting to see if one of the columns I mentioned above shows the number increasing exponentially when the program is running. The programmers would want to hear about that.

-mike

José and Mike

You are in the right way.

% of CPU usage:

Encore 50/54%
Cakewalk 1/4%

?????

Chico

Well, it's strange how Encore eats that amout of CPU.. I can't see what heavy calculations are behind a music editor... However 54% of CPU shouldn't be much a problem for a system working normally.

My only two ideas are: try to uninstall and re-install Encore, in order to kill a possible undesirable software loop. And... open the PC box and carefully check, clean and oil your coolers.

-- José.

A lot of those CPU monitors are not accurate. Best bet is to restart and enter your BIOS (hit delete when starting up, often when your motherboard logo comes up) and monitor that temp. Set your computer up so it will warn you at a certain temp, and shut down at any temp higher than safe. About 70 celcius is getting too hot. A few ways to effectively decrease CPU temp is to...

1. Remove the heatsink, wipe off dust, add more thermal compund (be very liberal)
2. Check CPU fans speed to see if it is performaning less than it should, a few hundred less rpm really drops it.
3. Add more fans, more the marrier, i curently have 12 (yes 12 haha) in my computer, 2.6ghz running at 3.1ghz and it is around 25-30 celcius. Fans are cheap!
4. Buy a new more efficient CPU fan, a good one will run 40 some bucks.

The logic between the temps on different programs is believable. If a prgram requires more work from the CPU it will get hotter. Let you comp set at idle and notice the temp, then run a demanding program and the temp will shoot up.

Phil

[This message has been edited by Pennywizz6 (edited 06-01-2005).]

Chico,

Is your mouse USB connected ? If so, if you have an adapter lying around, connect it to the PS2 mouse bus and check CPU % again.

John

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Have a nice day