Increasing process priority

Does increasing the priority of a process, let's say mediaplayer or game bring any stability/speed improvement on a system where you're trying to push the limits?

My first thought is not, wouldn't games and such by default use "above normal" priority if that was the case?

Anyone have any input on this?

 

Process Lasso works with process priority.
I've tested it. But... well... I can't really see an improvement and, yes, some instability.
Sometimes the only resource is getting a better hardware

 

I use Process Lasso Pro and find that it smooths out multitasking when there are many apps running. There is a free version so you could give it a try. For games and media players where you really want as much processor as possible it's good to unload all third party applications and disable AV (remember to turn it back on afterward )

 

yes.

i use XMPlay music player which does not have this feature built-in.
i can tell the difference right away when i elevetate the Priority via Process Hacker.

if i don't elevate, i get audio glitches when i open Chrome or do other things.

 

If increasing the process priority class (not generally recommended due to potential complications arising from the interdependence of system processes), at least do so with caution. This does not give the process more 'horsepower', or make it go faster. It *only* comes into play when there is contention for the CPU(s) (other threads are using it). Process Lasso's ProBalance algorithm, one of its many automation features, only temporarily lowers the priority class of certain overly active background processes in certain situations.

For more information, see our web site: http://bitsum.com/about_probalance.php for research, and a graphical 'CPU Eater' demo that you can use to measure the effects of ProBalance on your system.

This CPU Eater can easily be recreated in any language (included a Batch file), so there's no trick to it. It is a simple infinite loop, consuming all available CPU cycles given to it. Importantly, it runs at Normal priority class. I say this because Process Lasso's ProBalance ignores processes of non-normal priorities under the assumption is that their priority class was adjusted for a reason. For instance, if you did elevate the priority class of your media player, or it elevated itself, you wouldn't want Process Lasso restraining it

 

I would not recommend it, it's a never-ending complication.
Mrk

 

I agree completely. When we tested foreground boosting in our labs, we found it wholly ineffective anyway. That is why Process Lasso's ProBalance does not use foreground boosting (or any other priority class increases), and a warning is presented when turning those features on.

I did not want to use strong language because the aforementioned poster sweared by it, and I believe him in that instance. For media players, they do need increased priority because they are real-time applications. HOWEVER, people should keep in mind that just because the PROCESS is running at Normal priority, that does not mean its THREADS are running at Normal priority. Also, in NT6+ the Multimedia Scheduler comes into play, for applications that properly register with it - as all multimedia players should.

However, temporarily lowering the priority class of background processes was proven much safer and has a surprising effect on system responsiveness when a CPU bound thread(s) is allocating all available CPU cycles.

 

well,

elevating my media player priority solved the audio glitches.

so i would say it can be very useful for some application.

 

Yes, I did not doubt that one bit, which is why generalization is bad. I just do not want to encourage too many people to go raising priority classes unnecessarily. In some cases, it is just what is needed - particularly if the media player is a legacy one and/or not running in NT6+ (Vista) and registered with the Multimedia Scheduler.

When you raise the priority class of the process, you raise the effective priority of all its threads. It is these thread priorities that really matter.

As a side note about Chrome, it uses a mechanism very similar to ProBalance. First, it forks its process for each tab (unusual for Windows), and it lowers the priority class of each background tab, until it becomes visible again. That is exactly like what ProBalance does, except it does it only when system conditions warrant such.

 

This is one of those things that I let Windows handle. Win8 is apparently going to implement further adjustments to this.