Programs that actually use all 4 cores of a quad core chip... please contribute!

[graysky]

Here is a short list of programs that actually use all 4 cores of a quad core chip. If you know of others, please post them to this thread, and I'll update it.

THE LIST:
Real-World Applications
3D Studio MAX using Mental Ray Renderer (http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=5659302) (>99 % of 4 cores)
Adobe Premiere Elements v3.0.2 (http://www.adobe.com/products/premiereel/) (52-85 % of 4 cores depending on source type, filters, etc.)
AutoGK v2.40 (http://www.autogk.me.uk) (30-53 % of 4 cores depending on source type, filters, etc.)
Cinema 4d Rendering (http://www.maxon.net/) (>99 % of 4 cores)
Dr. DivX v2.0.0 (http://labs.divx.com/DrDivX) (47-65 % of 4 cores depending on source type, filters, etc.)
DVDShrink v3.2 (http://www.dvdshrink.org) (~90 % of 4 cores)
Lightwave 3D (http://www.newtek.com/) (>99 % of 4 cores)
Nero Suite 7.x (http://www.ahead.de) (>90 % of 4 cores when encoding)
Noise Ninja v2.13 (http://www.picturecode.com/) (~80 % of 4 cores when doing the noise reduction on an image)
Sony Vegas 7.0e (http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/products/vegasfamily.asp) (83-100 % of 4 cores depending on source type, filters, etc.)
TMPG XPress v4.2.3.193 (http://tmpgenc.pegasys-inc.com/en/product/te4xp.html) (65-100 % of 4 cores depending on source type, filters, etc.)
Winrar v3.70 (http://www.rarlabs.com) (~85-90 % of 4 cores on benchmark; ~75% in practice)
x264 v0.55.663 (http://x264.nl/) (>99 % of 4 cores when doing the 2nd pass of a 2 pass encode)

Benchmark/Distributed Computing Applications
BOINC Clients (most of them) (http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/index.jsp) (>99 % of 4 cores)
Folding@home SMP client (http://folding.stanford.edu/download.html) (>99 % of 4 cores)
Muon1 DPAD (http://www.stephenbrooks.org/muon1) (~85 % of 4 cores)
OCCT (http://www.ocbase.com/perestroika_en/index.php?Download) (>99 % of 4 cores)
Prime95 v25.3 (http://www.mersenneforum.org/showthread.php?p=109514) (>99 % of 4 cores)
wprime v1.50 (http://www.wprime.net) (>99 % of 4 cores)

Games
none that I know of yet

If you'd like to contribute an application or game, please post the following:

1) Program name
2) URL to homepage of the program
3) The percentage as shown in the Windows task manager of the CPU's that are getting used @ peak or thereabouts along with a screen-shot of the task manager.

Here's an example screen-shot of my task manager during the Noise Ninja noise reduction:
http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/8140/noiseninjara2.gif

Also, please limit the replies to quad chips only (yeah, I know this will limit the amount of replies, but this is after all what this thread is all about).

Thanks!

Note: I don't think this thread really belongs under the software section since it's specifically about software for quad core chips.

[freecableguy]

Xvid 1.1.3
wPrime
PCMark05 (last test)
3dMark06
EVEREST (benchmarks)
SANDRA (benchmarks)
BOINC

[Neon Biker]

Supreme Commander (the first game to use 4 cores). ;)

[crossg]

Folding@Home SMP Client (http://folding.stanford.edu/download.html). 100% x 4 cores

[graysky]

All, thanks for the replies... my hope was to keep the list kind of semi-quantitative. If you offer up an app or game, please make sure that it's tested on your quad machine and you report the CPU usage. As you can see in my short list, Noise Ninja does use all 4 cores, but only 80 %.

Thanks!

[3NZ0]

Winrar - cpu level depends on speed of hard drives but tends to use around 80-90% in the benchmark
Maya
3dsmax
WMM
Adobe After Effects CS3
Adobe Premier Pro CS3

will get round to checking the other when I use them later on. :)

[graysky]

@crossg: thanks for the screenshot and the info!

[graysky]

Winrar - cpu level depends on speed of hard drives but tends to use around 80-90% in the benchmark

Which benchmark are you talking about here?

[Locust]

Lightwave 3D

[3NZ0]

Which benchmark are you talking about here?
The one built into winrar, open it up the gui and press alt+B

[graysky]

The one built into winrar, open it up the gui and press alt+B

yep.. very cool. I had no idea it had that feature. 85-90 % on my q6600.

Thanks!

[[XC] DragonOrta]

DPAD Muon1 (a distributed computing app) uses as many cores as it can, although it's not very efficient at it, so it usually uses about 85% on my Quadcore.

[MacClipper]

FS had a short app list on their Qx6700 preview too,
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/intel_core_2_extreme_qx6700/page2.asp

btw nice effort, does anyone knows if DVD Shrink 3.1 uses all 4 cores? 3.2 is listed above though but I somehow prefer the older 3.1 still.

[bichi]

Video Editing/Authoring, NLE, etc.
- load depends on source type, settings, filters, etc:

Sony Vegas 7.0e - 83~100%
TMPG XPress v4.2.3.193 - 65~100%
Prem Elements v3.0.2 - 52~85%
Dr. DivX v2.0.0 - 47~65%
AutoGK v2.40 - 30~53%

[davexl]

3DStudio MAX - up to 100% on renders
VRAY - renderer plugin for above, almost always at 100%
Eyeon Digital Fusion - High end compositing app like Shake, usually 100%

3dsmax and Fusion have been this way since around 1997 - I am just glad multithreading is becoming mainstream now - rather than multi cpu $$$$ workstations I am using overlclockable gamer rigs.

Gotta love cheap quadcore.:D

[ineedaname]

I've seen some stats where supreme commander only uses about 45% or so per core tho.

[alfaunits]

Acronis TrueImage - shows 100% util. when doing a compressed backup.
NOTE NOTE: requires fast disks to actually use all 4 cores (it can saturate 4 Raptors).

[RAMMAN]

while i am anything but a fan of [H], this article pretty much proves quad>dual>single in supcom:http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTMwNiw2LCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==

[freecableguy]

BIONC Client - use WCG (http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/index.jsp)
Cinebench 9.5

[caligula]

Lost Planet: Extreme Condition seems to make use of it. At least you can set up the no. of parallel threads...

[Mad1723]

Alan Wake will do it too, maybe Unreal and Crysis, but it's yet to be seen :)

[96redformula]

Nice thread, good to see what actually puts it to use. I was hoping to see more on the game section though, maybe I am being to optimistic for this year.

[mrcape]

Neat idea for a thread. What about vista, it utilizes multi cores? And what about developing apps for just multi core in general like way beyond quad.

[Jedda]

Luxology's modeling app Modo uses all cores for rendering.
It comes close to scaling directly too. ie 4 cores render in half the time of two.

[Clue69Less]

Also, please limit the replies to quad chips only (yeah, I know this will limit the amount of replies, but this is after all what this thread is all about).

I don't yet have a quad but have seen task manager screenshots of Cubase pegging 4 cores. The Mac magazines claim that cubase will hit all 8 cores on the new 2xquad Mac Pros.

[gone_fishin]

http://forums.gaspowered.com/viewtopic.php?t=13032&

Supreme Commander uses up to 8 cores. This guy did an indepth study on it and created an application to distribute the load more evenly. He provides screenshots and so on showing the cores usage.

[Fhqwhgads6680]

this is a very nice idea! Props Gray Sky keep it up!

[Slammin]

Fsx Sp1

[entropy]

If anyone is into chess:

Deep Fritz
Hiarcs 11.1
Rybka mp 2.2
Deep Shredder

etc, etc.

Chess is a game very conducive to multiple threads.

[mrcape]

So is that it? Any ideas on the future before this thread falls off the map?

[graysky]

@ mrcape: I have only been updating the first post with "verified" apps; those for which people actually report a taskmanager cpu usage. Otherwise, it's just hear-say.

[Don_Dan]

Fsx Sp1


I think I can prove it:
http://www.pcgameshardware.de/blog/2007/05/20/lust-und-last-mit-multithreading/#more-502 ( German! )
http://blogs.msdn.com/ptaylor/archive/2007/02/14/the-pc-industry-multicore-and-fsx-with-a-little-dx10-thrown-in-for-good-measure.aspx
http://blogs.msdn.com/ptaylor/default.aspx

[cheets]

Blender supports also multi-core processors, you can set the amount of threads used when rendering. At school I use 2 threads for dual-core cpu's and it's double times faster than with 1 thread. Don't have shot from quad core rendering as my q6600 is still waiting at store :) But below is wiki info about it.

http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/FAQ/Basic_Information#Does_Blender_support_multi-processor_computers.3F

[Jacky]

you need to upgrade your list, e.g. supreme commander, the provided link should be proof enough..

[KiD0M4N]

SuperPrime :)

http://forums.erodov.com/showthread.php?p=63#post63

A new C++ native implementation is in the works :)

[aka1nas]

Would any of you guys with a quad chip be willing to try Overlord? If definitely pegs at least 2 cores by itself.

[The Asgard]

Games

Supreme Commander
Ghost Recon 2

[GAR]

LOST PLANET EXTREME CONDITIONS uses 4 cores.

[chessman]

If anyone is into chess:

Deep Fritz
Hiarcs 11.1
Rybka mp 2.2
Deep Shredder

etc, etc.

Chess is a game very conducive to multiple threads.


Hello, entropy !

Also Fritz Chess Benchmark : 100% 4 cores usage !!

http://www.jens.tauchclub-krems.at/diverses/schach/Fritz%20Chess%20Benchmark.zip

There is also a thread with results : http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=116144

[Apollonas]

http://www.maxwellrender.com/

A new render engine. Very demanding.

[Moe_Szyslak]

Crysis will use 4 cores. The devs mentioned that in several interviews.

[dinos22]

TMPG express i use which is already on the list

good software and certainly uses all cores it sees....most time around 80%

[ak_47_boy]

I am 99% sure the compiler in hammer world editor can make use of a quad core. Very nice feature since maps can take 10 hours or more to compile on a 4ghz p4.

[BigGaroupa]

Does Windows count? XP & Vista will ultilize all cores.

So either way buying a Quad core even though your applications don't use all four isn't a bad idea, your multitasking will be greatly improved.

Especially if you're like me who likes to play games in Windowed mode and running a bunch of other crap all at once.

Plus with the price drops of Q6600 coming around the corner, why not OC it up to 3+ GHz and pay similar price between E6600/E6700?

[MacClipper]

Lost Planet - loads and heats up all 4 cores as can be seen in this Speedfan monitoring screenie, has that Intel Quadcore logo blurb in its opening scene.

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w78/MacClipper/P5W_Q6600/LostPlanet_quad_usage.jpg

[Moe_Szyslak]

Bioshock is only dual core right?

[tvdang7]

hey i used dvd shrink and it only uses 1 of my cores whats up with that?

[ketchupwfries]

Alan Wake will do it too, maybe Unreal and Crysis, but it's yet to be seen :)

It's been mentioned that both Alan Wake and Crysis will definitely utilize all four cores. Unreal I'm not sure of - But check out Intel's demonstration of Alan Wake. It's pretty bad ass IMO to see how they utilize their quad setup.:up:

[Moe_Szyslak]

Unreal uses the unreal 3 engine (D'uh) and therefore is only optimized for 2 cores. However, the engine does somewhat scale to a quad core but only in an insignificant way. Half life 2 episode 2 will come with an updated engine and can utilize all four cores.

btw, where can I find that demonstration of Alan Wake?

[SafeFire]

Unreal ED 4.0, the Level Editor for the Unreal Engine
Can't post Screenshots of taskmanager as I at the time of writing cannot run it due to lack of sufficient Graphics Card. Will post when I get the last shipment of parts for my new rig though, hold on.

Will post more later...

EDIT: By the way, wouldn't "Programs that use 2/4 or more cores. Please Contribute!" Be more all round and describtive?:cat:

[reflux]

btw, where can I find that demonstration of Alan Wake?

Check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j6rR-Xv2Ro

[Moe_Szyslak]

Thanks :up:

Wow, thats very impressive. I just hope by the time Alan Wake is released the q6600 can still do the job.

[Spanki]

I don't own a quad (yet) so if someone else can post screenshots for these, that would be great...

Cinema 4D (http://www.maxon.net/pages/products/cinema4d/cinema4d_e.html) - uses up to 8 cores (maybe more?) Free demo available at that same link.
Cinebench - there's a new R10 version out - it's free, from here (http://www.maxon.net/pages/download/cinebench_e.html)
e-Frontier Poser 7 (http://www.e-frontier.com/article/articleview/1156/1/281?sbss=281) - will use all 4 cores for rendering (up to 16 threads, I think), free demo/trial version here (http://downloads.e-frontier.com/us/user/poser_7_english_demo_product_33041).

[dinos22]

bit disappointed that my video encoding apps only use 35-50% of quad core CPUs :(

[Shrekogre]

someone need to update the first post

[Sorrow13]

real world (ish)
Apophysis apophysis.org (http://www.apophysis.org). Beta 206 and later will use 100% of 1, 2, 4, or 8 cores when rendering.

Benchmarking
HiperPi- spawns up to 32 intances of superpi in one window (tabbed) and then runs them all simultaneously when you press start. (~80-100%)
http://www.virgilioborges.com.br/virgilioborges/hyperpi/

Oh and try not to laugh too hard at my times:rolleyes:

[Bootup05]

Im pretty sure DVD Flick (The latest build)takes advantage of Quad.
I don't have one anymore but I did notice a HUGE encoding FPS Increase