2-year old laptop CPU, not fast enough for Skype?

[VirtualLarry]

@ VL

This 'chrome + skype' 'ie + skype' thing, is the link the 'skype click to call' extension? I always remove it. I didn't think it had a chrome extension though...

From reading, no, it has to do with if IE is registered to handle .htm files.

 

[VirtualLarry]

http://community.skype.com/t5/Windows-desktop-client/Skype-using-high-CPU/td-p/2113581

18-11-2013 02:25
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I have a Windows 8 computer that I've had for about a year. I've had skype on it ever since. Just recently skype is taking up 90% - 100% of my CPU. Any help?

18-11-2013 02:44
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Same problem. 4.5GHz Core i5-2500k and it's using roughly 90% of my CPU.

Affecting all my games VERY badly.

Hurr hurr! Those cheap bastards that still run 4.5Ghz 2500K rigs, they should buy a 5960X if they expected their PCs to last longer than two years. Never buy cheap! Idiots!

 

[jhu]

http://community.skype.com/t5/Windows-desktop-client/Skype-using-high-CPU/td-p/2113581




Hurr hurr! Those cheap bastards that still run 4.5Ghz 2500K rigs, they should buy a 5960X if they expected their PCs to last longer than two years. Never buy cheap! Idiots!

Damn straight. Although I'd go further and have those people get IBM POWER8 machines.

 

[jacktesterson]

http://community.skype.com/t5/Windows-desktop-client/Skype-using-high-CPU/td-p/2113581




Hurr hurr! Those cheap bastards that still run 4.5Ghz 2500K rigs, they should buy a 5960X if they expected their PCs to last longer than two years. Never buy cheap! Idiots!

Yeah. I just installed the Desktop App and this was my usage in a quick call to the wife doing nothing else. I was curious so why not. It shows 60 seconds. I peaked at 100% once during this snap. My wife said I sounded fine the whole time.

Here is another one playing a "Super HD" Movie in Netflix just for comparison. (Doing nothing else).

What's with the spikes in CPU usage while on a skype call? I was doing nothing else. My HTPC has barely anything installed on it.

I did not have 100% usage like you and no issues with performance, so I think you have a software issue or compatibility issue somewhere. I am using Win 8.1 though, not sure if that would matter.

 

[AnandThenMan]

Don't install version 7.xx unless you like an application looking like a cartoon. Version 6 still works and has a better interface.

 

[VirtualLarry]

What's with the spikes in CPU usage while on a skype call? I was doing nothing else. My HTPC has barely anything installed on it.

I did not have 100% usage like you and no issues with performance, so I think you have a software issue or compatibility issue somewhere. I am using Win 8.1 though, not sure if that would matter.

I had consistent 95-99% CPU usage, half of that was "kernel time", in Win7 64-bit SP1. In Task Manager's Processes tab, Skype was listed as taking 70% CPU.

Granted, I hadn't rebooted in six months, and my commit charge was around 4.8GB, with 4GB of RAM. But the laptop has an SSD.

I restarted it last night, and installed the newest Skype, newest Waterfox, did some Windows Updates, etc.

I'll see if it's still taking that much CPU time next time I Skype.

 

[CHADBOGA]

http://community.skype.com/t5/Windows-desktop-client/Skype-using-high-CPU/td-p/2113581




Hurr hurr! Those cheap bastards that still run 4.5Ghz 2500K rigs, they should buy a 5960X if they expected their PCs to last longer than two years. Never buy cheap! Idiots!

An i5 isn't an i7.

 

[ninaholic37]

Edit: I just tried Skyping the same person again, with my Winbook TW700 tablet. It has a quad-core Atom Z3735F (G?), 1.33Ghz. It's using 33% for Skype, 40% total CPU usage (with Firefox and Task Manager running), on Win8.1.

On my 1007U 1.5Ghz IB dual-core laptop, Skype is taking 70% (half of that is "kernel time"), and overall CPU usage is 95-100%. Win7 64-bit HP SP1 + updates.

Edit: It should be mentioned, that on the tablet, the video is not entirely smooth. It pauses for a split-second, fairly often. Unsure if that's because of my wifi or not.

Is Skype only using 2 cores on the Atom? If so, then it would be using around 66% of those 2 cores on the Atom too (on my Atom, DosBox can only use 25% CPU for the same reason).

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I dunno . . . what are your expectations for Skype? It worked fine on my desktop with an E8400, although I never looked at CPU usage.

The bottleneck seemed to be at the other end of the "teleconference:" my friend was using a notebook computer, communicating wirelessly with his home LAN, and limited by DSL speeds. His notebook systems all use wireless-g.

Are you accessing the internet wirelessly with the laptop? Is the laptop configured with wireless-g, wireless-n -- or wireless ac?

I have also acquired an old dual-core laptop, but haven't tried Skype on it. I replaced the wireless-g NIC card with a wireless-n version of similar manufacture. I'll call my friend tomorrow and see if I can take my own appraisal firsthand.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Well, it's now a little better. Skype is taking 45-60% CPU. I think that there was some sort of driver issue, that was resolved with a reboot, because before I was getting excessive "kernel time" usage too. Maybe not, it just hit 69% CPU usage, and overall CPU usage was above 84%.

Edit: I tried exiting Skype, making IE my default browser, re-starting Skype, and going back into a call. Didn't make a significant difference, maybe 5% CPU.

 

[Torn Mind]

Netbooks allow you to carry Pentium 4 caliber performance with you at a cost of a few watts instead of locking you down to a desktop and 70 or so watts. They were borderline obselete upon release and with today's script heavy websites, painful devices to use....

 

[gmaster456]

I had consistent 95-99% CPU usage, half of that was "kernel time", in Win7 64-bit SP1. In Task Manager's Processes tab, Skype was listed as taking 70% CPU.

Granted, I hadn't rebooted in six months, and my commit charge was around 4.8GB, with 4GB of RAM. But the laptop has an SSD.

I restarted it last night, and installed the newest Skype, newest Waterfox, did some Windows Updates, etc.

I'll see if it's still taking that much CPU time next time I Skype.

Really? This whole time you hadn't thought that maybe it would be a good idea to reboot a system that's been running 24/7 for 6 months after discovering issues? Or install updates and patches?

Those would honestly be the first things I'd try before posting on a forum

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Really? This whole time you hadn't thought that maybe it would be a good idea to reboot a system that's been running 24/7 for 6 months after discovering issues? Or install updates and patches?

Those would honestly be the first things I'd try before posting on a forum

I agree on this. Last time I heard anything about it -- some time ago for sure -- there are "cosmic rays." An occasional alpha particle could change a memory bit.

Now. If this folklore is true -- I did see it in print -- the longer you leave a system running, the more likely such a haphazard event could occur for that particular computing session.

And since Larry brought up this topic, I think it's time I go through the house and reboot all the systems.

"Hibernate" is a useful feature to work with "Sleep." Sleep is a short-term accommodation to quick access. It makes work for the PSU, taking place without any airflow. Hibernate puts the computer into a shutdown state, perhaps after so many hours of sleep.

How this applies to laptops, I haven't entirely explored. I'm still trying to figure out when I'll need to replace the battery. Or whether it will still be available . . .

 

[VirtualLarry]

Really? This whole time you hadn't thought that maybe it would be a good idea to reboot a system that's been running 24/7 for 6 months after discovering issues? Or install updates and patches?

Those would honestly be the first things I'd try before posting on a forum

It wasn't running 24/7. Hibernate is your friend. It helped marginally, 85% CPU time instead of 95%.

 

[tential]

Really? This whole time you hadn't thought that maybe it would be a good idea to reboot a system that's been running 24/7 for 6 months after discovering issues? Or install updates and patches?

Those would honestly be the first things I'd try before posting on a forum

#VirtualLarryThread

 

[AnandThenMan]

I routinely have up times of 30-45 days or more with no issues.

 

[sxr7171]

Something is not right. Seriously iPhones from 3 years ago run Skype. And leaving that aside MS is pushing Atom based tablets with 1GB RAM. Skype better work with those or it defeats the point of such tablets. There's no reason it should not run on an IB Celeron.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Well, tonight, Skype was using a mere 30% of my CPU time on my 1007U netbook (IIRC, it was 55% total CPU). And 8-13% on my G3258 OCed to 3.8Ghz rig.

 

[Blue_Max]

Pretty damn clever BIOS-based malware, that can piggy-back on OS installs to implant malware.

Wait... WHAT???

Is this a thing? An actual, real thing??

 

[gmaster456]

Wait... WHAT???

Is this a thing? An actual, real thing??

Pretty rare but such things do exist. You'd have to screw up something fierce to end up infected with something like that though

 

[Shivansps]

You want me to try it on a Pentium E2140 and my Z3735D tablet?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Pretty rare but such things do exist. You'd have to screw up something fierce to end up infected with something like that though

It came like that from the factory, actually. Google "RPCNET.EXE", or "Lo-Jack for laptops". It's in most / all laptops already, just that it's normally "inactive".

 

[gmaster456]

It came like that from the factory, actually. Google "RPCNET.EXE", or "Lo-Jack for laptops". It's in most / all laptops already, just that it's normally "inactive".

What a second hold the phone.

Lo Jack isn't Malware it is an anti theft feature.

On second thought maybe the guberment put it there to track everything Virtual Larry is doing because they are out to get him.

 

[gmaster456]

You want me to try it on a Pentium E2140 and my Z3735D tablet?

Your results will just add to the conclusion that there was a bug somewhere in his setup and isn't an issue with Skype or his CPU. Although I am curious to see how a 1.6Ghz Allendale pentium would run it.

 

[wilds]

I have an HP Stream 7 if you want me to test it. Other than finding a fix for Skype, have you thought of trying Google Hangouts or any other alternative? May have a smaller impact!