Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Can you make MemTest86 use less CPU when idle? ie. HLT instruction? DOSIDLE like?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Can you make MemTest86 use less CPU when idle? ie. HLT instruction? DOSIDLE like?

    Currently there's less CPU usage (based on fan noise) when MemTest86 v8.4 Free is running test 6 than when all tests and passes are completely finished and it's waiting for me to press a key.

    For example in any of the following 3 screens, the fans are whirring way faster and louder than when test 6 was in progress and it's how I know the tests finished when I'm not at the screen but I am nearby:

    Click image for larger version  Name:	_IMG_20201025_023022.jpg Views:	0 Size:	135.7 KB ID:	48875
    Click image for larger version  Name:	_IMG_20201025_023052.jpg Views:	0 Size:	67.8 KB ID:	48876
    Click image for larger version  Name:	_IMG_20201025_023140.jpg Views:	0 Size:	89.4 KB ID:	48877
    EDIT: actually this last screen(main menu?) uses less CPU than the prev. ones (fans spin down a bit) but still more than when test 6 gets started (almost no fan noise)

    I think Windows 95 needed some program called Rain or similar to cool the CPU when idle. In DOS it was dosidle.exe
    Something about executing the HLT instruction which the NT Windowses like XP/7/10 already do in the "System Idle Process" process

    Would be nice if MemTest86 could do it too. Thoughts?
    Thanks.
    Last edited by hackasynthetic; Oct-25-2020, 01:08 AM. Reason: main menu screen uses less CPU than the press-a-key screens, but still more CPU than when test 6 is running (based on fan speeds)

  • #2
    We'll look into reducing excessive CPU usage when idle. MemTest86 relies on UEFI system calls for handling user input, which is implemented by the UEFI firmware. So it's possible that we may be limited in what we can fix or that it is just a problem with a particular motherboard.

    Comment

    Working...
    X