Impact of multiple open apps

[ivangela]

This is a very basic question I know, but I am always folding in the background and want to know what the impact of having several applications open at the same time is on resources.

 

And I'm not talking about reducing output by a fraction of a percent, I mean any real difference, 10%-20%+ 

 

Secondly, this might sound weird but is there a difference in the way the OS "sees" an app if it is minimized as opposed to open on the screen or maybe even tiled behind a couple of different apps? 

[Guest_Jim_*]

For a desktop OS, minimized applications are not treated differently unless they have been programmed to do so. For example, most games I've tried it with will automatically pause when they lose focus (minimized or not) but other applications, like Firefox or Word, shouldn't behave any differently. Though minimizing might open up some resources for the computer (like a GPU no longer having to render a window).

 

As far as how folding affects performance we need a little more info. The CPU client will definitely affect performance because it's your CPU. The GPU2 client is quite light, so you won't notice that, but the GPU3 client actually does pull a noticeable amount of CPU and GPU power. (The GPU2 client is, at least for nVidia, for 200 series cards and earlier while the GPU3 client is for 400+.) When I fold with my 570 the window previews when I mouse over, say, the Explorer tab in my taskbar actually come up noticeably slower. My 250 folds 24/7 and the only time I notice any performance issues is when a game uses PhysX, as that is also run on the 250.

Of course, without knowing what kinds of applications you're running with folding, and the folding client, it's hard to predict the impact folding could have. It is possible for folding to take away a noticeable amount of performance though.

[freddie]

Secondly, this might sound weird but is there a difference in the way the OS "sees" an app if it is minimized as opposed to open on the screen or maybe even tiled behind a couple of different apps? 

 

YES/no (kinda)

 

If you go to Control Panel > System and Security > System > Advanced system settings > Advance > Settings (under Performance) > Advanced

 

There under processor scheduling you'll see that by default Windows prioritises programs over background services, so there is a difference. Obviously a program minimised to the taskbar is still categorised as a program though. Either can and will affect system performance, how much depends on how much system resources its using and what else you're doing. Like Jim said though, most games resource use will drop after minimsing them, the same can apply to other programs but obviously will depend on how they've been coded.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

 

[ivangela]

I forget what client I'm running (I'm at work) but it's the new one, just installed win7 64bit 2 weeks ago. This client auto uses 2 clients, a GPU and SMP client. I have to pause the GPU client while using the computer because of the lag I experience otherwise.

The reason I ask the questions about the impact of the resources is that I leave a worddoc open a lot as well as at least one excel sheet, along with a multitabbed Chrome browser always open and Skype and Steam, etc

 

this made me wonder if it was costing my PPD significantly.

Thanks for all the responses

[Guest_Jim_*]

Actually to get the most performance back it's the SMP client you'd want to pause because that's what runs on the CPU. However you could also play around with some of the advanced settings to help with things. There should be an option to have it use fewer cores, make it a lower resource priority, and limit what percentage of the CPU the client can use. Tweaking those settings (which I believe exist) should return some performance to you, without having to pause the client.

[ivangela]

Actually to get the most performance back it's the SMP client you'd want to pause because that's what runs on the CPU. However you could also play around with some of the advanced settings to help with things. There should be an option to have it use fewer cores, make it a lower resource priority, and limit what percentage of the CPU the client can use. Tweaking those settings (which I believe exist) should return some performance to you, without having to pause the client.

 With the fancy new client, the SMP client actually is defaulted to low priority so if you need CPU cycles, it gives them up. According to the Stanford peops, the GPU client has no such love and the only thing they can recommend is to pause it :/

A slight inconvenience but my PPD is now 6-10K, instead of ~2K !!! Yeahh