Can old software damage CPU?

[[email protected]]

I use a very old program called QPW (Quattro Pro) and it uses 51% of
the CPU (yes 51%, not 50% or 52%). I have a Core 2 Duo E6750, and most
of the stuff I use hardly reaches 10%, even AVI movies. I used the
Asus temp monitor utility and found that when the PC is idle the CPU
is at 32ºC (90ºF), for normal work it's around 34º to 36º (95ºF), and
with QPW it goes up to 42ºC (108ºF) and stays there. As soon as I
close QPW it quickly goes back down to 32ºC. The CPU fan speed always
hovers between 1950 and 1980 RPM in all of these different
temperatures. The motherboard temp is usually at 36ºC, and also
doesn't change.

These temps are ok with me, but what worries me is that this old QPW
program might be telling the CPU to do the same sequence over and
over, perhaps stressing certain section of it. I know nothing about
CPU architecture, so don't be surprised if what I just said doesn't
make any sense and I shouldn't be concerned about running this
software. I use QPW for about 2 or 3 hours a day, maybe 3 or 4 days a
week. I also use Excel, but I just love the old QPW (version 1.0).

Here's a graph of the CPU usage. There are 2 windows for the CPU (I
guess that's why they call it a "Duo" CPU). Notice that the left
window averages about 42% CPU usage and the right window about 58%.

 

[[email protected]]

Here's a graph of the CPU usage. There are 2 windows for the CPU (I
guess that's why they call it a "Duo" CPU). Notice that the left
window averages about 42% CPU usage and the right window about 58%.

OOps, here it is:

http://img219.imageshack.us/my.php?image=qpw10cpuusageofcore2duoja1.gif

 

[Rich Webb]

I use a very old program called QPW (Quattro Pro) and it uses 51% of
the CPU (yes 51%, not 50% or 52%). I have a Core 2 Duo E6750, and most
of the stuff I use hardly reaches 10%, even AVI movies. I used the
Asus temp monitor utility and found that when the PC is idle the CPU
is at 32ºC (90ºF), for normal work it's around 34º to 36º (95ºF), and
with QPW it goes up to 42ºC (108ºF) and stays there. As soon as I
close QPW it quickly goes back down to 32ºC. The CPU fan speed always
hovers between 1950 and 1980 RPM in all of these different
temperatures. The motherboard temp is usually at 36ºC, and also
doesn't change.

These temps are ok with me, but what worries me is that this old QPW
program might be telling the CPU to do the same sequence over and
over, perhaps stressing certain section of it. I know nothing about
CPU architecture, so don't be surprised if what I just said doesn't
make any sense and I shouldn't be concerned about running this
software. I use QPW for about 2 or 3 hours a day, maybe 3 or 4 days a
week. I also use Excel, but I just love the old QPW (version 1.0).

Back in the day, software was often written with "busy wait" loops
rather than being multi-tasking friendly and releasing itself to wait
on an event trigger from the operating system. I'd bet that the
original Quattro Pro for Windows was just a quick'n'dirty port of the
earlier DOS version where there *was* no multi-tasking operating
system and a running app would just assume that it owned all of the
machine's resources.

As long as the CPU's temperatures stay within the manufacturer's
recommended limits, you're okay. You won't "wear out" any of the CPU's
silicon. All it's probably doing is repeatedly polling the keyboard,
waiting for you to type something.

I was a fan of Borland's DOS-based Quattro too. Used to use it as a
drawing program for flowcharts and suchlike. Worked great! '-)

 

[Grinder]

I use a very old program called QPW (Quattro Pro) and it uses 51% of
the CPU (yes 51%, not 50% or 52%). I have a Core 2 Duo E6750, and most
of the stuff I use hardly reaches 10%, even AVI movies. I used the
Asus temp monitor utility and found that when the PC is idle the CPU
is at 32ºC (90ºF), for normal work it's around 34º to 36º (95ºF), and
with QPW it goes up to 42ºC (108ºF) and stays there. As soon as I
close QPW it quickly goes back down to 32ºC. The CPU fan speed always
hovers between 1950 and 1980 RPM in all of these different
temperatures. The motherboard temp is usually at 36ºC, and also
doesn't change.

These temps are ok with me, but what worries me is that this old QPW
program might be telling the CPU to do the same sequence over and
over, perhaps stressing certain section of it. I know nothing about
CPU architecture, so don't be surprised if what I just said doesn't
make any sense and I shouldn't be concerned about running this
software. I use QPW for about 2 or 3 hours a day, maybe 3 or 4 days a
week. I also use Excel, but I just love the old QPW (version 1.0).

Here's a graph of the CPU usage. There are 2 windows for the CPU (I
guess that's why they call it a "Duo" CPU). Notice that the left
window averages about 42% CPU usage and the right window about 58%.

You're fine.

You might be able to get the application to simmer down by running in
"Compatibility Mode." Get the property sheet for the program file, and
you'll see a "Compatibility" tab. Pick Windows 95, or whatever seems to
help.

 

[Adrian C]

Back in the day, software was often written with "busy wait" loops
rather than being multi-tasking friendly and releasing itself to wait
on an event trigger from the operating system.

The other thing old DOS software (we may talking very old here so maybe
not QP4W) may do is to run some delay loops to catch the vertical sync
of the monitor refresh before transfering memory stored graphic info to
the screen. These 'snow' avoidance schemes made glitch free graphics
operation possible on the original PC's but needlessly kills the
performance of newer graphics hardware if left enabled. Check what the
graphics driver is set to and if there are any anti snow settings.

 

[Rich Webb]

The other thing old DOS software (we may talking very old here so maybe
not QP4W) may do is to run some delay loops to catch the vertical sync
of the monitor refresh before transfering memory stored graphic info to
the screen. These 'snow' avoidance schemes made glitch free graphics
operation possible on the original PC's but needlessly kills the
performance of newer graphics hardware if left enabled. Check what the
graphics driver is set to and if there are any anti snow settings.

Woah! I'd forgotten about those settings. They disappeared even before
the "turbo" switches.

 

[jaster]

I use a very old program called QPW (Quattro Pro) and it uses 51% of the
CPU (yes 51%, not 50% or 52%). I have a Core 2 Duo E6750, and most of
the stuff I use hardly reaches 10%, even AVI movies. I used the Asus
temp monitor utility and found that when the PC is idle the CPU is at
32ºC (90ºF), for normal work it's around 34º to 36º (95ºF), and with QPW
it goes up to 42ºC (108ºF) and stays there. As soon as I close QPW it
quickly goes back down to 32ºC. The CPU fan speed always hovers between
1950 and 1980 RPM in all of these different temperatures. The
motherboard temp is usually at 36ºC, and also doesn't change.

These temps are ok with me, but what worries me is that this old QPW
program might be telling the CPU to do the same sequence over and over,
perhaps stressing certain section of it. I know nothing about CPU
architecture, so don't be surprised if what I just said doesn't make any
sense and I shouldn't be concerned about running this software. I use
QPW for about 2 or 3 hours a day, maybe 3 or 4 days a week. I also use
Excel, but I just love the old QPW (version 1.0).

Here's a graph of the CPU usage. There are 2 windows for the CPU (I
guess that's why they call it a "Duo" CPU). Notice that the left window
averages about 42% CPU usage and the right window about 58%.

Although spreadsheets are processing hogs, that usage does seem high.
Have you tried running multiple programs with QPW and checking cpu
usage?

Also, QPW was Borland?, bought by Wordperfect, bought by Corel??? Why
not upgrade to Wordperfect 11 which includes QP 11 for about 20USD?

 

[Tim Williams]

{FWIW, when my CPU temp gets close to 65°C under full load, then I
clean the case: fans & filters & heatsinks. After cleaning, the CPU
temp drops ~10°C.}

Hell, I noticed my processor was running warm lately... took off the fan:
totally caked up with dust! This room is *dusty*.

Tim

 

[Richard Henry]

Back in the day, software was often written with "busy wait" loops
rather than being multi-tasking friendly and releasing itself to wait
on an event trigger from the operating system. I'd bet that the
original Quattro Pro for Windows was just a quick'n'dirty port of the
earlier DOS version where there *was* no multi-tasking operating
system and a running app would just assume that it owned all of the
machine's resources.

As long as the CPU's temperatures stay within the manufacturer's
recommended limits, you're okay. You won't "wear out" any of the CPU's
silicon. All it's probably doing is repeatedly polling the keyboard,
waiting for you to type something.

I was a fan of Borland's DOS-based Quattro too. Used to use it as a
drawing program for flowcharts and suchlike. Worked great!  '-)

--

The hottest operation I ever found for DOS 3.1 was waiting at the C:\>
prompt for input.

 

[Rich Webb]

Not only that, but it can do things that so-called "Excel" cannot to.
Too bad that Corel screwed up their X3 office version.

Yes, unfortunately it seems to be devolving. For example, in V 12 (I
didn't move to V 13 (aka "X3")) the labels for a chart axis can not be
formatted as dates! You can *set* a date format for the labels but it
still shows up as the numeric, Julian date. Freakin' unbelievable. Who
could ever have anticipated that a business spreadsheet might want to
have something as obscure as a date for an axis label?