Turning Off Hyper-Threading In OSX Solved Most CPU Spikes And -9173

[Bobogura]

Hi all,

Don't know if this is something people already know about but I found a way to turn off Hyper-Threading in OSX.

It has solved most of my problems with CPU spikes, core loading and -9173 etc.. errors. See the attached screenshots of CPU usage in identical sessions. With HT on I got constant CPU spikes at 94% or more. With HT off it's pretty stable around 42%

The way to do it is to install apples Xcode and then use the instruments app. Then in the instruments app preferences, under the CPU tab it's an option to turn off Hyper-Threading. You need to change this setting every time you restart the computer.

It's made a massive difference for me. Especially with Acustica Audio's Acqua and Nebula Plugins but also with all other plugins. Even Kontakt runs well now… Game changer :)

My system is a 12-core 3.46Ghz Mac Pro running 10.8.5 and PTHD 12.4

[TAMBOR]

Originally Posted by Bobogura

Hi all,

Don't know if this is something people already know about but I found a way to turn off Hyper-Threading in OSX.

It has solved most of my problems with CPU spikes, core loading and -9173 etc.. errors. See the attached screenshots of CPU usage in identical sessions. With HT on I got constant CPU spikes at 94% or more. With HT off it's pretty stable around 42%

The way to do it is to install apples Xcode and then use the instruments app. Then in the instruments app preferences, under the CPU tab it's an option to turn off Hyper-Threading. You need to change this setting every time you restart the computer.

It's made a massive difference for me. Especially with Acustica Audio's Acqua and Nebula Plugins but also with all other plugins. Even Kontakt runs well now… Game changer :)

My system is a 12-core 3.46Ghz Mac Pro running 10.8.5 and PTHD 12.4

I tried it both ways in 12.5 and still got 9173 in Windows 7. With 12.5.1 haven't had spike yet, and I have left hyperthreading on.

[audiobob]

Originally Posted by Bobogura

Hi all,

Don't know if this is something people already know about but I found a way to turn off Hyper-Threading in OSX.

It has solved most of my problems with CPU spikes, core loading and -9173 etc.. errors. See the attached screenshots of CPU usage in identical sessions. With HT on I got constant CPU spikes at 94% or more. With HT off it's pretty stable around 42%

The way to do it is to install apples Xcode and then use the instruments app. Then in the instruments app preferences, under the CPU tab it's an option to turn off Hyper-Threading. You need to change this setting every time you restart the computer.

It's made a massive difference for me. Especially with Acustica Audio's Acqua and Nebula Plugins but also with all other plugins. Even Kontakt runs well now… Game changer :)

My system is a 12-core 3.46Ghz Mac Pro running 10.8.5 and PTHD 12.4

This has helped me and I've seen the results on how turning off hyper-threading makes my system more stable with fewer CPU spikes. Most people here say it's voodoo...but I see a significant drop in spikes when HT is turned off. Not to say I never get them, but they are much less frequent...I've experienced it. You have to repeat the process after a restart but it's part of my routine now.

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by audiobob

This has helped me and I've seen the results on how turning off hyper-threading makes my system more stable with fewer CPU spikes. Most people here say it's voodoo...but I see a significant drop in spikes when HT is turned off. Not to say I never get them, but they are much less frequent...I've seen it. You have to repeat the process after a restart but it's part of my routine now.

The effect of hyper-threading is going to be very dependent on what plugins you are running. So nobody should every just dismiss doing this because it did not help them.

---

BTW did you guys tried disabling dynamic plugin processing before trying diasbling hyper-threading? Are you running with both disabled? At what buffer sizes? (those three things together describe much of what users can do that affect plugin processing).

[TAMBOR]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

The effect of hyper-threading is going to be very dependent on what plugins you are running. So nobody should every just dismiss doing this because it did not help them.

---

BTW did you guys tried disabling dynamic plugin processing before trying diasbling hyper-threading? Are you running with both disabled? At what buffer sizes? (those three things together describe much of what users can do that affect plugin processing).

Would you be able to share which plugins liked hyperthread and which one didn't in your experience? Others might be able to verify.

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by TAMBOR

Would you be able to share which plugins liked hyperthread and which one didn't in your experience? Others might be able to verify.

My systems are pretty stable with hyper-threading. And I'm avoiding PT 12.5.x. Some of the most dramatic benefit I noticed with hyper-threading in the past was with NI VIs, e.g. on Pro Tools 11. And that would have had dynamic processing turned off. More to the point, all these things (hyper-threading disabled, dynamic processing off, increasing IO buffer) are just worth trying, and they are fairly quick and easy, worth doing before trying to pulling out plugins etc. (and yes I know many Pro Tools, especially 12.5.x issues are likely Avid breaking stuff, not third party plugins, but we need to try what we can).

[JuanPC]

HT is bad for Low Latency, and precision timing...

i have the game: Need For Speed The Run...
that game only works with 1x GPU, second GPU does not work, i had GTX590 "dual GPU", & GTX690 "dual GPU", NFSTR only works with 1x GPU...

to get real stable frame rates, No "micro stutter", 33.3ms stable for 30Hz and 16.7ms for 60Hz, one of the tweaks was to disable HyperThreading in the Bios.

back to video&audio: HyperThreading adds 35% more processing power...
if the software is designed to take advantage of HT.
if not, only half the core will be active.

PT try to take advantage of HT, since 9.
but HT is not for Low Buffer settings.

[Gordon Hookailo]

Don't know if anyone else is seeing this, but on my mid 2014 i7 MBP / 16 gigs, all versions of Pts from 11 through 12.5 got CPU spikes that would stop playback with either -9173 errors or video errors. I'm still troubleshooting, but I'm able to use lots more tracks and DSP on HDN without many any errors now. Something major has changed. I have noticed though that if I use PT control on the iPad I do get more errors, though my Artist mix doesn't seem to load down the system. More configs to try, but it looks like I'll finally be able to use my laptop for medium sized sessions with 12.5.1 on OS 10.10.5. Also of note, it makes no difference if I use my Motu Ultra light or not, which works great BTW.

So far, the only other thing that seems to effect performance is how many computer screens I'm using and if I make the size of the video playback full screen or not.

This is the first time a version of PTs 64bit HDN has been stable and usable on this laptop. I'm very hopeful about putting off buying a new Mac Pro for a while now. Good job guys!

[Landetta]

Can you specify where did you download xcode from??

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by Landetta

Can you specify where did you download xcode from??

Xcode is from Apple. The full Xcode is Apple's software development environment. You don't want the whole massive things, just the command line tools.

Things can vary depending on what version of OS X/macOS you are on. Try typing the following command into the Terminal.

$ xcode-select --install

And see http://osxdaily.com/2014/02/12/insta...ools-mac-os-x/

If that does not work try Googling for directions for your particular OS X/macOS version, you have to read through what you find, many folks will be describing how to install the command line tool if you are ready have the full Xcode package installed, you are not trying to do that.