Realtime Priority Crashing

[DevinAnderson]

Changing a process priority to realtime crashes my computer in about approx. 1-2 minutes of use.

Windows 10 x64
CPU: i5 3470 (3.2 OC to 3.4ish)
GPU: gtx 1050 (non Ti)
RAM: 8gb

 

[13thmonkey]

yes, that is a likely outcome, what are you trying to run in realtime and why?

 

[DevinAnderson]

yes, that is a likely outcome, what are you trying to run in realtime and why?

H1Z1 KOTK. As you can probably tell, my CPU is pretty low end, so i'm just trying to make up for that. Do you think setting it on high would suffice?

 

[13thmonkey]

yes, that is a likely outcome, what are you trying to run in realtime and why?

H1Z1 KOTK. As you can probably tell, my CPU is pretty low end, so i'm just trying to make up for that. Do you think setting it on high would suffice?

Realtime is completely different to high, so try high. But you can't compensate for lack power with this.

 

[DevinAnderson]

yes, that is a likely outcome, what are you trying to run in realtime and why?

H1Z1 KOTK. As you can probably tell, my CPU is pretty low end, so i'm just trying to make up for that. Do you think setting it on high would suffice?

Realtime is completely different to high, so try high. But you can't compensate for lack power with this.

Could you quickly explain what realtime is? I guess I don't understand it as well as I thought.

 

[cryoburner]

Normally, your CPU will switch between a number of different threads as needed, many of which belong to various parts of the operating system and drivers. The priority level dictates how willing the OS will be to interrupt one process thread to switch to another for tiny fractions of a second. If you set the priority of a program to 'high', it will give that program greater priority to perform its functions in cases where the processor core is maxed out. Other threads may potentially not get the processor time they need to run smoothly though. At 'realtime' priority, the program will be unwilling to give up control to other threads, and if those other threads are supposed to be performing important things, those important things might not get done.

Typically, overriding programs to run at realtime priority is not a good idea, and can potentially even make a game's performance worse, since things like mouse or keyboard input might get delayed or stutter. High priority will likely be a lot safer in terms of system stability and responsiveness, although it too could potentially result in performance issues. It's unlikely to result in significantly better framerates than normal priority, but could avoid occasional stutters caused by other running processes. Of course, if you're running other resource-demanding programs while gaming, such as a web browser, closing those first would prevent them from affecting your game's performance.