Low Processor Utilization

Hi,
I am trying to write code that does a little bit of array manipulation and some simple trig to do something fairly time critical. I noticed that the processor utilization on my machine was awfully low, never really exceeding 50%. Perplexed, I tried to write some very simple code (an infinitely run while loop doing some simple math to the iteration counter) and ran that. Even with this simple code, the processor utilization did not improve. As stated before, I'm trying to write something fairly time critical, so the higher utilization, the better.
The computer I'm running this code on is admittedly not the top of the line - an Intel Atom Z530 1.6GHz with 1GB of RAM. However, I'm fairly limited in my choice of hardware (note that memory utilization is no where close to pegged, either - with my code, and the simple loop).
Is there anything I can do to increase utilization? I've tried turning debugging off, with limited luck.
Thank you.
Solved!
Go to Solution.

rcollins wrote:
I am trying to write code that does a little bit of array manipulation and some simple trig to do something fairly time critical. I noticed that the processor utilization on my machine was awfully low, never really exceeding 50%.
Well, 50% is within a factor of two of the max you can possibly get and that's not bad. .
In terms of math, that atom of course sucks. While it is hyperthreaded, it only has a single core and a very small cache (the advantage is that it only uses 2W of power). Trying to maximize CPU usage if of course the wrong approach. You might be able ot speed the time critical computations up by a factor of 10 by using a better algorithm.
What is the exact OS version? Can you get it to 100% CPU if you run two parallel while loops without waits?
I agree with Lynn, show us some code....
LabVIEW Champion . Do more with less code and in less time .

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Message was edited by: JamesWood

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3 FANtach White/Yellow -- 15 GND Black
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5 Reserved -------------- 17 GND Black
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1 +5V Red ---------------- 5 +5V Red
2 GND Black -------------- 6 GND Black
3 GND Black -------------- 7 GND Black
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{ edited }

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