Microgaming Softare 100% CPU Utilization??

[nafanny29]

If this is the same problem that affects/affected microgaming poker sites (Bet365 to name one) then the program is not just eating up "idle cycles".

When I used to run bet365 poker with any other program/application it brought everything to a standstill and I had to re-boot the machine. (It would not even let me force close the program down using Task Manager)

I havent played any Microgaming poker sites for the last few weeks due to this so I dont know if its the same as the casino problem (because I dont play MG casinos)

When I see the problem is resolved I will start playing on Prima again.

For one of THE biggest online casino software providers to code their software to do this is discraceful IMHO. How come every other software manages to avoid this sort of nonsence.

Just my 2c

 

[spearmaster]

I suspect long sessions autoplaying MG software while also running BitTorrent

LOL... BitTorrent *hopefully* doesn't put strain on your CPU, but naturally your hard drive may have to work overtime as you are saving files on it

As it is a large number of MG users will be significantly lowering the life span of their hard drives by running the software

Again, this is incorrect. Using idle CPU cycles does NOT affect the hard drive, and neither should heat be a problem unless there is a design flaw or otherwise with the cooling system.

Minimum system requirements:

Note the key word Microsoft said that Windows XP would work on 128 mb ram... yeah right...

Those system requirements look awfully old. Let me check on that with them, I would obviously suggest that a Pentium 100 with 16MB RAM is not sufficient for anything these days.

Inefficient software? Definitely agreed. Though I'd call it greedy, not necessarily inefficient.

nafanny, can I have your system specs please? The program is designed only to claim cycles not used by other programs. Your situation may be caused by a number of things which may or may not directly be related to the software.

 

[nafanny29]

nafanny, can I have your system specs please? The program is designed only to claim cycles not used by other programs. Your situation may be caused by a number of things which may or may not directly be related to the software.

I have a Dell 8400 pc, (P4 processor 3.2 Ghz, 1024MB ram) ATI graphics 128MB and a lovely 20" flat screen for 4 tabling

The MG problem does not really affect me because I can take or leave Prima Pokerrooms and never play MG casinos, but it really did cause my CPU to run at 100% and crash my pc everytime I loaded the software.

 

[Vesuvio]

Again, this is incorrect. Using idle CPU cycles does NOT affect the hard drive, and neither should heat be a problem unless there is a design flaw or otherwise with the cooling system.

Judging by this thread I don't seem to be the only person whose computer gets extremely hot when running MG software. You said yourself many laptops will run hot under this strain as it's hard to cool components packed so tightly together. At higher temperatures hard drives have a shorter lifespan and at extreme temperatures develop errors.

"Using idle CPU cycles" sounds innoculous enough, but it puts as much strain on my computer as running benchmark tests, so either it's doing a bit more than idling or MG's bug affects some computers differently to others.

Inefficient software? Definitely agreed. Though I'd call it greedy, not necessarily inefficient.

You have the casino in the lobby doing absolutely nothing and it takes maximum power and capacity from your computer - and that's not inefficient? If it was using all those resources to do something then I might accept it was just greedy - though maybe it's searching for 1000 digit prime numbers or something

 

[spearmaster]

lovely 20" flat screen

I want one too! LOL...

The only thing you didn't provide is your hard drive spec - and while you're adding that, would you by any chance have a full or near-full hard disk, or else some low virtual memory setting (right click My Computer/Properties/Advanced/Performance Options)

Optimize Performance should have Applications checked

Click on "Change" to see what the VM ranges are for each drive in your machine.

If the problem is not here, it's likely to be some sort of memory fault - a problem I had for a while but disappeared after one of the files was updated. If you have a firewall on, casino/poker updates may not be able to update your files to the latest versions.

 

[spearmaster]

Judging by this thread I don't seem to be the only person whose computer gets extremely hot when running MG software. You said yourself many laptops will run hot under this strain as it's hard to cool components packed so tightly together. At higher temperatures hard drives have a shorter lifespan and at extreme temperatures develop errors.

"Using idle CPU cycles" sounds innoculous enough, but it puts as much strain on my computer as running benchmark tests, so either it's doing a bit more than idling or MG's bug affects some computers differently to others.
You have the casino in the lobby doing absolutely nothing and it takes maximum power and capacity from your computer - and that's not inefficient? If it was using all those resources to do something then I might accept it was just greedy - though maybe it's searching for 1000 digit prime numbers or something

Laptops excepted... LMAO... laptops are generally not built for gaming purposes and as such really ought not to be subjected to intense activity. There are exceptions, mind you, but I'd still say your machine was not up to spec.

Benchmarking is meant to use all CPU cycles - so naturally the results are quite the same.

There is no reason at all why Microgaming's software should use idle cycles, especially to 100% usage - absolutely no reason at all. Unfortunately, it currently does that and they have undertaken to resolve this shortly.

By inefficient I presumed you meant inefficient in the software performing its tasks, not inefficient as in conserving power or capacity. Yes, I would agree it is most inefficient when it comes to using up power and CPU capacity. Totally unnecessary.

 

[Vesuvio]

There are exceptions, mind you, but I'd still say your machine was not up to spec.

Ok, I agree with all that except I'm sure the specs will be more than sufficient for running the software as soon as MG fix the bug!

 

[nafanny29]

The only thing you didn't provide is your hard drive spec - and while you're adding that, would you by any chance have a full or near-full hard disk, or else some low virtual memory setting (right click My Computer/Properties/Advanced/Performance Options)

Optimize Performance should have Applications checked

Click on "Change" to see what the VM ranges are for each drive in your machine.

If the problem is not here, it's likely to be some sort of memory fault - a problem I had for a while but disappeared after one of the files was updated. If you have a firewall on, casino/poker updates may not be able to update your files to the latest versions.

Harddrive is:160GB (7200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive with 8MB DataBurst cache. Currenly have 137GB free space!!

Virtual memory set at 2047MB.

I bought it in Jan this year came with everything pre-installed. I use a Norton Firewall but allow any programs I use full access. (Have checked and I dont have any on deny at all)

Hope that helps Spearmaster.

 

[spearmaster]

LOL. Didn't help me at all!

Norton Firewall was a bit problematic for me, so I removed it. Not saying it's the problem - but if you get a chance, could you test with the firewall completely disabled?

 

[spearmaster]

Ok - I thought I had better do an update here, as it is clear some of my data is slightly out of date.

According to the CPU scorecard for Pentium 4 processors (

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, the max operating temperature of these processors ranges between 69 and 78 degrees Celsius. If you are running a Pentium 4 and your temperature is outside these ranges, you should check your cooling system.

If you are running a Pentium-M (Centrino), the max temperature is 100C (note that this is a notebook CPU, and that the temperature is much higher).

I am running an AMD Duron 700, and currently have the CPU at 94% running Lake Palace. My temperature has increased a scant 3-4 degrees from near-idle to high CPU usage, and I have been running for 30 minutes. The max temperature is a huge 90 degrees - and I am running 60 degrees below that.

Granted, I have a little extra cooling on my machine (just a couple of hard drive fans, both clogged like heck), and the cover is partially open, which in fact should make things worse. But 100% CPU load has had little apparent effect on the temperature.

I shall again suggest that anyone operating outside their normal ranges should have their cooling systems checked. 100% CPU load should NOT be causing any huge increases in temperature unless your system is not properly built.

And for the record, my machine is about 4 years old and has NEVER been cleaned, or had any cooling system component replaced.

Vesuvio - your 90 degrees ought to be fine, but still a bit hot. The cooling is definitely not optimal at those temperatures.

Nafanny - I suggest you have your cooling system components checked as well.

 

[Simmo!]

Hey guess what. I've been running 32Red today for hours and my CPU is dead silent! Has there been a stealth fix while we werent looking?

 

[nafanny29]

Nafanny - I suggest you have your cooling system components checked as well.

Dont worry bout me. i never play MG casinos due to Ladbrokes being 100% rigged, and as I said I can take or leave PrimaPoker and havnt been on their network for 2 months

Also when I play any other poker site, even 4+ tables my CPU runs under 15% all the time so any site/program that hits 100% can go to hell as far as I am concerned

 

[spearmaster]

I gotta stop posting after just getting out of bed and not having my coffee... I almost edited out the post above, sorry Nafanny. Guess I better not participate while my brain is idling

 

[Webzcas]

Dont worry bout me. i never play MG casinos due to Ladbrokes being 100% rigged, and as I said I can take or leave PrimaPoker and havnt been on their network for 2 months

Also when I play any other poker site, even 4+ tables my CPU runs under 15% all the time so any site/program that hits 100% can go to hell as far as I am concerned

I doubt very much Ladbrokes is rigged, sounds like you have had a bad run there. It happens.

 

[Simmo!]

Hey guess what. I've been running 32Red today for hours and my CPU is dead silent! Has there been a stealth fix while we werent looking?

I can answer my own question....No there hasn't. It's as bad as ever today

 

[Chatmaster]

Dont worry bout me. i never play MG casinos due to Ladbrokes being 100% rigged

So do I understand you correctly, are you claiming that Microgaming is rigged?

 

[Vesuvio]

So do I understand you correctly, are you claiming that Microgaming is rigged?

Most players casually assume it's rigged to be more streaky than it would be if purely random, I think, but it gives the right long-term results & you can autoplay low stakes, so there's not too much to worry about. Of course it'd be extremely difficult to prove...

 

[Chatmaster]

I have no axe to grind with nafanny29, or maybe I am over sensitive, but I am so tired of people claiming the ridiculous. At the end of the Microgaming are going through allot of trouble to proof to people that they are completely reliable. Independent auditors etc.

 

[nafanny29]

Guys im talkig about Ladbrokes casino about 18 months ago!! Proberly changed now its "viper".

But trust me back then it was 100% not random (IMHO ). Me and my missus could predict the cards before the dealer dealt them half the time as it was the same senarios over and over. It was laughable trust me.

At the same time i played other MGs and no funny stuff there, just Ladbrokes BJ.

Anyway back on topic, they fixed the problem yet??

 

[GrandMaster]

I just happened to have the task manager open when I started one of the old Microgaming casinos, and it was using about 90-95% of the CPU, which is the same if not more than what the Viper casinos use.

Correction: the high CPU use only lasts until you log in, afterwards it drops to a reasonable level.

 

[GrandMaster]

Well, it is happening. My desktop is dying It started crashing in a way which is usually caused by a overheating CPU or faulty memory according to my research on the web. I was able to run a memory test, and the memory is fine. The CPU fan was still working OK. If I manage to get Windows to stay up long enough, I will install Motherboard Monitor. Despite the problems with Windows, my computer still runs Linux quite happily.

Fortunately, I transferred all my documents to my laptop, so no data has been lost. I was planning to buy a new desktop anyway, so I will just have to do it sooner and at an inconvenient time.

It is too soon to say what caused the problem, whether it is Microgaming related or not. If anyone can help with hardware diagnostics, I would appreciate it.

 

[spearmaster]

If Linux is running properly, that's usually a sign that the problem is with software, not hardware.

If you'd post your computer and software specs here, as well as a description of when it is crashing, and what caused the first crash if you can remember, perhaps I can help

 

[GrandMaster]

The hardware is Elite K7SEM motherboard, Athlon 1.7 GHz CPU, 256MB RAM, the operating system is Win XP Pro SP2.

A few days agao it started crashing with this error message on the blue screen of death: Windows shut down to prevent physical damage to your computer.
IRQL_NOT_LESS_THAN_OR_EQUAL. There was also some other stuff and error codes, but of course there is no way of saving them.

At first there were several hours between crashes, yesterday it was so bad that the computer would boot into Windows then crash immediately. It was behaving better today, I was able to install Motherboard Monitor and it reported that the CPU's temperature was 127C! I did not wait for the crash, I shut down the computer.

 

[Tdoggy]

Mg is killing our machines

I'm telling you had one hard drive burn out already. I will not go near another MG casino because of this. Unless you have a super computer with one hell of a hard drive BEWARE!!!!

 

[spearmaster]

The hardware is Elite K7SEM motherboard, Athlon 1.7 GHz CPU, 256MB RAM, the operating system is Win XP Pro SP2.

A few days agao it started crashing with this error message on the blue screen of death: Windows shut down to prevent physical damage to your computer.
IRQL_NOT_LESS_THAN_OR_EQUAL. There was also some other stuff and error codes, but of course there is no way of saving them.

No kidding about the blue screen of death - that is usually not good.

At first there were several hours between crashes, yesterday it was so bad that the computer would boot into Windows then crash immediately. It was behaving better today, I was able to install Motherboard Monitor and it reported that the CPU's temperature was 127C! I did not wait for the crash, I shut down the computer.

But if you run Linux, it runs just fine?

127C is way the heck over normal limits. At least I think it is, I haven't checked the specs for the Athlon.

You definitely have some sort of a heat problem, and as you do not appear to have been running the casino software, I'd venture that either your fan has stopped operating normally, or that the silicone has dried up.

So if you don't mind opening up the case, you shouldn't have too much difficulty removing the fan (but check to see that it's operational first) - and then checking the silicone underneath. This is probably dried up or not even present.

You can then wipe it clean, go get some silicone from a nearby computer store, or maybe Radio Shack, apply a thin layer and then use the heatsink itself to smear the silicone evenly over the CPU.

Or else, take it to a computer shop and watch them as they inspect it - if they do not allow you to be present during the checking, take it to another store.