Unparking CPU's is it worth it?

[Aytex]

Are there any bad things about it or does it just give a small performance boost?

[Kyuubixchidori]

makes zero difference. 

[Aytex]

makes zero difference. 

Yea it acutally does make a difference. but I was wondering if there were any downsides to it

[Tim Drake]

No trade off and BF4 benefits from it so yes obv

[Jerombolo]

I don't feel a difference, I don't even know if theyre parked or unparked^^ I did it once but I can't remember if it was before or after I did a new windows install

[typographie]

I know of no negative side-effects of doing so, but from what I can tell it's a placebo at best. I don't see why your cores would be "parked" in the first place.

[martward]

Correct me if I am saying something stupid, but wouldn't that make you cpu consume more energy by activating cores it doesn't really need when you aren't doing very intensive stuff while not actually making any difference when you are doing intensive stuff? I mean the cores get activated when needed right?

[Dietrichw]

On a desktop there is nothing bad about it. (laptops loose battery life). You usually wouldn't see a difference unless there is something that isn't using some CPU cores because the OS is parking them to save power. 

 

Just monitor CPU usage by core and see if any cores are idling when they shouldn't be 

[Aytex]

I know of no negative side-effects of doing so, but from what I can tell it's a placebo at best. I don't see why your cores would be "parked" in the first place.

Cores are parked so they can be on standby when I utilize them in a certain program or Game

[Sakkura]

Correct me if I am saying something stupid, but wouldn't that make you cpu consume more energy by activating cores it doesn't really need when you aren't doing very intensive stuff while not actually making any difference when you are doing intensive stuff? I mean the cores get activated when needed right?

 

If the core parking and unparking is handled perfectly by Windows, it has no downside and saves power. The question is whether Windows ever derps and ends up hurting performance in the name of power savings.

 

When Windows 7 was still fresh, there were some issues with that. It's my understanding that Microsoft have tweaked the implementation to where manually unparking cores makes no difference to performance.

[ThE_MarD]

Heyyo,

@Aytex

Unparking was an AMD issue as Intel cpus never suffered that issue tbh.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2645594

 

This article introduces an update for computers that are running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 and that have a processor from one of the following series installed:

AMD FX

AMD Opteron 4200/4300

AMD Opteron 6200/6300

AMD Opteron Bulldozer

Currently, the CPU scheduling techniques that are used by Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 are not optimized for the AMD Bulldozer module architecture. This architecture is found on AMD FX series, AMD Opteron 4200/4300 Series, and AMD Opteron 6200/6300 Series processors. Therefore, multithreaded workloads may not be optimally distributed on computers that have one of these processors installed in a lightly-threaded environment. This may result in decreased system performance for some applications.

Important The power management policy for processor core parking on your computer may prevent this update from producing the desired performance increase. To disable core parking, install the hotfix that is described in Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) article 2646060.

and

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2646060

 

This article introduces an update that enables the hotfix installer to selectively disable the Core Parking feature in Windows 7 or in Windows Server 2008 R2 if an AMD FX, AMD Opteron 4200 Series, or AMD Opteron 6200 Series processor is installed.

Currently, the CPU Power Policies that are used by Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 are not optimized for the dual core AMD Bulldozer module architecture. This architecture is found on AMD FX series, AMD Opteron 4200 Series, and AMD Opteron 6200 Series processors. This can result in decreased system performance with multithreaded workloads in lightly-threaded environments.

When this update is installed, Bulldozer modules will be less likely to achieve the C6 power state. This potentially results in increased power consumption in more lightly-threaded environments.

Important If you apply this update, you cannot revert the settings by uninstalling this update. This update should only be installed on computers that have KB2645594 installed.

[Sakkura]

Heyyo,

Unparking only works on AMD cpus as Intel cpus don't suffer that issue tbh.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2645594

 

and

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2646060

 

 

That info is outdated.

 

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/windows-8-bulldozer-performance,3289-7.html

[Aytex]

That info is outdated.

 

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/windows-8-bulldozer-performance,3289-7.html

lol rekt  im not looking for a huge fps boost just wondering it it would give me 2-5 extra frames. Would like to sqeeze extra preformance from everything

[WaitForMeImOnDialUp]

depending on your cpu it makes a huge difference..and no there are no downsides to it. although this is pretty much for windows 7 i believe 8.1 didnt park cores

[ThE_MarD]

Heyyo,

 

That info is outdated.

 

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/windows-8-bulldozer-performance,3289-7.html

So what that shows is what? The whole issue was on AMD's end and they eventually fixed it? Check Aytex's sig... he's Intel. That's what I was saying all along dude. For his Intel CPU? That whole unparking thing doesn't matter lol.

 

Unparking only works on AMD cpus as Intel cpus don't suffer that issue tbh.

Sorry. I'll edit my post to make it more clear for you... I'll change it to say "Unparking was an AMD issue as Intel cpus never suffered that issue tbh." to make it more clear. I'm sorry if I confused you.

[Sakkura]

Heyyo,

 

So what that shows is what? The whole issue was on AMD's end and they eventually fixed it? Check Aytex's sig... he's Intel. That's what I was saying all along dude. For his Intel CPU? That whole unparking thing doesn't matter lol.

 

Sorry. I'll edit my post to make it more clear for you... I'll change it to say "Unparking was an AMD issue as Intel cpus never suffered that issue tbh." to make it more clear. I'm sorry if I confused you.

 

No. It was a Microsoft problem, and once they tweaked the core parking behavior of Windows 7, there was no longer any benefit to be had from disabling core parking, even with an FX CPU.

 

The reason Intel CPUs may not have been affected by this issue, or at least less than FX CPUs, is probably that Microsoft was optimizing for that more traditional SMT architecture before they took on the CMT design from AMD.

[ThE_MarD]

Heyyo,

No. It was a Microsoft problem, and once they tweaked the core parking behavior of Windows 7, there was no longer any benefit to be had from disabling core parking, even with an FX CPU.

That's not what the article you linked said...

Installing Windows 8 does translate to slightly faster benchmark numbers, and without the power spike. But Microsoft's latest certainly cannot be expected to uncork results that many enthusiasts were hoping might have been bottled up by a poorly-optimized operating system. The onus for fixing Bulldozer was clearly on AMD, and we saw the company take a first step toward that goal with its Piledriver-based FX parts.

AMD told us not to expect any additional performance from FX-8350 prior to our review. But now that we know Microsoft plans to roll out performance- and power-altering updates to Windows 8 right away, rather than waiting for a service pack, there's renewed hope for even a small nudge forward.

Then again, software fixes for hardware problems are only viable when software was the problem originally. I remember once telling a programmer that his computer had a bad memory module. Rather than swapping it out, he charged in with determination to create a software-based solution. Had he identified the bad memory cells and kept his system from accessing them, he might have enjoyed about as much success as AMD waiting for Windows 8.

I eventually talked the programmer into fixing the hardware problem, rather than doggedly looking for a never-quite-finished software solution. AMD, do you see where I’m going with this?

Either way, the whole park/unpark thing doesn't apply to Aytex's Intel i7-4790k which is what I've been saying all along. Sure, AMD worked with Microsoft and got it fixed... but that still doesn't matter in the case of why this thread was created...

[Sakkura]

Heyyo,

That's not what the article you linked said...

Either way, the whole park/unpark thing doesn't apply to Aytex's Intel i7-4790k which is what I've been saying all along. Sure, AMD worked with Microsoft and got it fixed... but that still doesn't matter in the case of why this thread was created...

 

You're misinterpreting the article. It says it was AMDs job to fix Bulldozer - not core parking. Microsoft fixed the core parking behavior, and though it did help Bulldozer a little, it was far from enough to close the performance gap with Intel's Sandy Bridge architecture.