Is ZProcess supposed to be resource hungry?

[Azimuth]

not sure about hunter.exe.
but yes, when the MVP session finishes at the end of the video, everything returns to normal. once the transcode portion finishes ffmpeg dissapears but zprocess keeps going at the same processor usage as always (100% of one processor) until you finish watching the video.
here are some screen shots during transcode on the fly.

[Azimuth]

I just realized, dual CPU... ZProcess runs on one CPU and ffmpeg on the other.... hmmm. I have no idea what should be happeing in a case like this.

I suspect that if ZProcess is isolated, and the ffmpeg processing isn't consdiered (because it's on the other processor) then ZProcess would be clicking away every 100th of a sec checking if ffmpeg is finished. I've never seen it work like this. Because they both run at below normal, and ffmpeg needs more cpu than zprocess, zprocess has always bowed out of the way in favour of ffmpeg....

Is there a way you can force zprocess and ffmpeg to use the same processor...?

I don't think I can change the affinity since they are "system" processes.
but that still does not explain why zprocess keeps running after ffmpeg is done.
I will have a screen shot of that symptom as soon as this file finishes it's ffmpeg process.

[Azimuth]

OK that's odd. tonight once ffmpeg finished transcoding, all three processes finished (hunter.exe, zprocess.exe and ffmpeg.exe)

I wonder if there is a switch to add when those two processes are spawned that would set affinity. It's a shame to have zprocess.exe cooking a second processor for no good reason.
my server room is already hot as it is.

[zehd]

I don't think I can change the affinity since they are "system" processes.
but that still does not explain why zprocess keeps running after ffmpeg is done.
I will have a screen shot of that symptom as soon as this file finishes it's ffmpeg process.

I do not know how to do it, but I heard that you could pre-set the affinity for programs. So that ZProcess and ffmpeg could always use the same processor.

Hunter is designed to close ffmpeg if ZProcess is closed (a transcode is cancelled) and then it closes itself.

To my understanding, if a process is at 100% or near, but at below normal, it will all too willingly move out of the way for anything that needs the CPU. I have never seen the temp on my CPU rise, because ZProcess/FFmpeg runs at 100 or near.

I would say, that I will not be able to add anything specific to ZProcess to work with dual CPUs, unless I have one myself, and that's unlikely.

[Azimuth]

you may run into this issue with others that have dual core systems. Dual core systems are common these days.
Is there any way to program zprocess.exe to not perform it's functions at such a high processor percentage?

[zehd]

you may run into this issue with others that have dual core systems. Dual core systems are common these days.
Is there any way to program zprocess.exe to not perform it's functions at such a high processor percentage?

So long as ZProcess is Below Normal and allows other processes to function properly, I'm not going to worry about it's apparent CPU use.

I found an api for setting the affinity. I might try that, but I won't know if it's working, as I don't have a dual.

It will be a while before I work on this

[zehd]

Is there any way to program zprocess.exe to not perform it's functions at such a high processor percentage?

ZProcess does nothing except sit and wait. The CPU usage is the clock ticking

[Azimuth]

OK, well my biggest concern was if this was expected behavior. and it looks like it is.
I was also getting clicky audio during high motion scenes and some other performance related artifacts, but I put that down to the 640x480 destination resolution. I have lowered it to the lowest NTSC option and I think the performance is better.

Looks like I may need some new hardware.. now the question is, should I risk getting Dual Core or not?

[zehd]

OK, well my biggest concern was if this was expected behavior. and it looks like it is.
I was also getting clicky audio during high motion scenes and some other performance related artifacts, but I put that down to the 640x480 destination resolution. I have lowered it to the lowest NTSC option and I think the performance is better.

Looks like I may need some new hardware.. now the question is, should I risk getting Dual Core or not?

To be clear, it was not expected, only guessed at. Perhaps I can set the affinity and then ZProcess would probably start working the way it does for myslef and many others....

I'm a little confused. You have a dual 2Ghz and you wanna upgrade...?

I have a two single 2Ghz PVRs, and they transcode smoothly at 640x480. (have to crank the PrePlay delay to 7000 for one of them)

Perhaps you want to keep the dual as is, and just reinstall Windows, with a tight little install. It would make a killer PVR...

Maybe take the upgrade money and get a second PC.

A dedicated PVR seems to be the best anyway...

For HD though, I think we're all going to need upgrades. I have no idea what I will end up with personally.

[Azimuth]

To be clear, it was not expected, only guessed at. Perhaps I can set the affinity and then ZProcess would probably start working the way it does for myslef and many others....

I'm a little confused. You have a dual 2Ghz and you wanna upgrade...?

I have a two single 2Ghz PVRs, and they transcode smoothly at 640x480. (have to crank the PrePlay delay to 7000 for one of them)

Perhaps you want to keep the dual as is, and just reinstall Windows, with a tight little install. It would make a killer PVR...

Maybe take the upgrade money and get a second PC.

A dedicated PVR seems to be the best anyway...

For HD though, I think we're all going to need upgrades. I have no idea what I will end up with personally.

This is an OLD amd Socket A server. 2 processors on a Tyan motherboard.
It is dedicated for GBPVR on a fresh install. (windows 2003 standard server)
I built this thing 5 years ago back when the processors cost around $500 a piece. None the less it is dated and these MP processors run hot! they idle at around 60^C under load they can hit close to 80^C
I have huge heatsink and fans on these things, so temperatures are not something that can be improved on.