MCActiveX.exe uses up CPU 50% or so when

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2haerim
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MCActiveX.exe uses up CPU 50% or so when

Postby 2haerim » 13 Jan 2008

plotting tick charts spanned over 6 X 22" monitors.

tsServer.exe stays calm using almost 0% CPU, but MCActiveX.exe uses up CPU so much and the screen frequently gets frozen.

Please test under this environment to see what is the cause of high CPU.

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TJ
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Postby TJ » 13 Jan 2008

I found my screen gets frozen quite a bit lately.
I am using a 1.6ghz 2gb notebook. I think it is a bit under powered.
I will upgrade my computer next week and see how things work out.
I do have a gut feeling that the frozen screen is a combination of under power and some incorrect settings in my computer.


ps. I have disabled Windows update and other program auto-check for updates. It seems to have helped.

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TJ
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Postby TJ » 14 Jan 2008

ps.
number of bars loaded makes a big difference.

Every time there is a tick change, MC evaluates every bar from the beginning of the chart till the end, for each of the indicators,
if you have 20 days loaded vs 10 days loaded, the computer has to work twice as hard for the 20 days chart.

ps.
for the non-critical indicators (eg. ABC's daily pivot points), you should take it off "Update every tick". It will save a lot of CPU time.
Last edited by TJ on 14 Jan 2008, edited 1 time in total.

jek
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Postby jek » 14 Jan 2008

I've heard there is a bug (haven't searched for it though) that you need to periodically modify the number of bars back so that it will discard the bars over that number. Apparently, it will keep collecting bars so that you end up using a lot more than the specified number of bars back. Might also affect time intervals also.

This can cause large resource utilization over time.

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Marina Pashkova
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Re: MCActiveX.exe uses up CPU 50% or so when

Postby Marina Pashkova » 16 Jan 2008

plotting tick charts spanned over 6 X 22" monitors.

tsServer.exe stays calm using almost 0% CPU, but MCActiveX.exe uses up CPU so much and the screen frequently gets frozen.

Please test under this environment to see what is the cause of high CPU.
Dear HaeRim,

If you have multiple charts on multiple monitors, most probably you just have too many bars. Graphically, the program simply can't cope with plotting millions of bars.

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Marina Pashkova
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Postby Marina Pashkova » 16 Jan 2008

Every time there is a tick change, MC evaluates every bar from the beginning of the chart till the end, for each of the indicators,
if you have 20 days loaded vs 10 days loaded, the computer has to work twice as hard for the 20 days chart.
Dear TJ,

I am afraid the above explanation of how MultiCharts calculates indicators is not exactly accurate. Actually, if the principle above were implemented, the program would not be functional at all.

When a new tick arrives, MultiCharts does NOT calculate everything from the very first bar. This can be proven by a simple test. Plot a chart, apply an indicator and have it update on every tick. See how much time it takes. Then, to force the indicator calculate everything starting with the very first bar, turn the indicator off and then on again. Note how long it takes the indicator to get calculated this time. Then compare the two results.

Regards.

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Marina Pashkova
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Postby Marina Pashkova » 16 Jan 2008

I've heard there is a bug (haven't searched for it though) that you need to periodically modify the number of bars back so that it will discard the bars over that number. Apparently, it will keep collecting bars so that you end up using a lot more than the specified number of bars back. Might also affect time intervals also.

This can cause large resource utilization over time.
Hi jek,

I am afraid I don't know anything about the existence of this bug.

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TJ
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Postby TJ » 16 Jan 2008

When a new tick arrives, MultiCharts does NOT calculate everything from the very first bar.
Regards.
I stand corrected.
Thanks.

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Postby jek » 16 Jan 2008

I've heard there is a bug (haven't searched for it though) that you need to periodically modify the number of bars back so that it will discard the bars over that number. Apparently, it will keep collecting bars so that you end up using a lot more than the specified number of bars back. Might also affect time intervals also.

This can cause large resource utilization over time.
I am afraid I don't know anything about the existence of this bug.
I haven't done any independent testing on this.

Presumably you just need to set the number of bars back (on a volume chart for example) and then allow lots of time to go by and observe the memory consumed by the chart (probably something that only your developers can do properly). If the person who told me is correct, you will see the memory requirement growing.

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Postby Marina Pashkova » 18 Jan 2008

Hi jek,

Probably you are referring to the situation when so much bars get accumulated that it takes toll on the system. If this is what you are talking about that this situation is normal if we are talking about large numbers of bars.

Regards.

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Postby TJ » 18 Jan 2008

I trade ES and HSI. They have different market hours, so it is easy to make comparison.

I use similar charts and indicators for both symbols.

On the HSI, I have never experienced CPU overload.

On the ES, which has higher trade volume, I found that the CPU goes up to limit a few times a day. Especially during high volatility periods.

I use IB as datafeed. IB has aggregated feed, so the tick count should not affect MC even if the volatility is high.

I don't know the problem.

This is just a thought.

I am upgrading my computer anyway. I should see if there is a difference in a few weeks.

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Postby jek » 18 Jan 2008

Probably you are referring to the situation when so much bars get accumulated that it takes toll on the system. If this is what you are talking about that this situation is normal if we are talking about large numbers of bars.
It is a slowdown due to a large number of bars.

However, the person I spoke to said that the number of bars stored becomes larger and larger, rather than being limited by the Symbol/Settings declared "number of bars".

The way that he gets around the enormous number of bars is to go to Symbol/settings and changing the "number of bars back" by a little bit (say from 6000 to 6001).

After doing that, the resource utilization dramatically decreases.

Hope this helps to make clear what the stated problem is.


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