[sf-lug] Computer freezes every so often; system monitor shows CPU maxed out. Recommend CPU upgrade?

[Ken Shaffer]

If you can get to a virtual terminal before the machines freezes solid, top
will run there.  You can also easily kill processes (type k) then
optionally a number.  I think the default process is the top one, which is
usually the one you want to kill anyway, so it's pretty easy.  I can
usually tell things are going bad when my fan starts blasting, and then the
mouse cannot move or close windows -- I have a short time to get to a vt
before things toally freeze.
Ken


On Sun, Jun 8, 2014 at 1:10 PM, Michael Shiloh <michaelshiloh1010 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Very true about Thunderbird and Firefox. I do experience system slowdowns
> that are much worse than the occasional freeze, and that is always cured by
> restarting Firefox and/or Thunderbird.
>
> Yes, I have considered the graphics side of things, and I'm sure you're
> right that my freezing is caused by this. Unfortunately the GPU is not
> upgradeable on my T61P, which is why in another thread I'm looking at
> upgrading to a T530 with a much better GPU. The $75 CPU upgrade is a
> stopgap solution until I get the T530, which may be awhile due to funds and
> availability.
>
> Out of curiosity, is there a way to monitor GPU usage?
>
> Thanks, as always, for your tips
>
> M
>
>
> On 06/08/2014 12:59 PM, Bobbie Sellers wrote:
>
>>
>> On 06/07/2014 02:05 PM, Michael Shiloh wrote:
>>
>>> Hiya,
>>>
>>> Every so often my laptop freezes, typically in but not limited to
>>> Firefox. Happens too with Thunderbird and other applications. Whenever
>>> this happens, System Monitor shows my two cores maxed out.
>>>
>>
>>      The Mozilla programs are very useful tools but they are memory hogs
>> and I
>> have read that they should be shut down and restarted at least daily.
>> They also
>> do memory leaks.
>>
>>
>>> As I mentioned in my other thread, I'm a heavy Firefox tab user.
>>> Typically I have about 50 open. This may or may not relate to the
>>> problem at hand. I have about a dozen windows open, most of them not
>>> doing much (terminals, system monitor, arduino). The two busiest are
>>> almost always Firefox and Thunderbird.
>>>
>>
>>      Well see above.
>>      Restarting programs may be a drag but it may help.
>>
>>>
>>> System details:
>>>
>>> ThinkPad T61p 6457-AK7
>>>
>>> 15.4in 1680x1050 LCD
>>> nVIDIA Quadro FX 570M
>>> Intel Cpu Core 2 Duo T7500  @ 2.20GHz, 4MB cache
>>> Ram: 6GB total, I forget what speed (is there a utility to tell me that?)
>>>
>>> System Monitor also shows that my memory usage is around 60%-70%
>>> pretty consistently, and my swap usage rarely above 10% of available
>>> 3GB. These do not change noticeably when the momentary freezing happens .
>>>
>>> This all leads me to believe that my CPU is the limit here, and since
>>> I can get an upgrade to an Intel Cpu Core 2 Duo T9300 (2.5GHz, 6MB
>>> cache) for $75, that seems like a wise investment.
>>>
>>
>>      Actually I think you should think more about the graphic side of
>> things and that
>> a 4 core i7 with an nVidia with at least 2 gigabytes would be closer to
>> fixing things.
>> and that is on an 8 or 16 Gigabyte machine.  I would look for a used
>> game machine
>> or a high end Dell Latitude.  The weight might be off-putting though.  I
>> saw such a
>> machine but it was older and the weight was above 9 lbs.  The price was
>> still over
>> a thousand dollar at the repair shop where it had been placed.
>>
>>      I used to have independent private windows to read my manga on stuck
>> on my
>> Virtual Desktop #4 but since the problems I had last month I am
>> confining the Firefox
>> windows to the VD #1 where the parent Firefox runs.  I am not opening so
>> many
>> Firefox windows either.  I was not using as many windows as you mention
>> at my
>> best(worst?).
>>
>>
>>> (I still plan to replace my spinning disk with an SSD, but I don't
>>> think that's related to this problem because the CPU is maxing out.)
>>>
>>
>>      That will help with startup speed but I doubt it has much to do with
>> your freezing problems
>> unless it can be shown that disk access is getting into problems.
>>
>>
>>> Would you agree with my conclusions?
>>>
>>
>>      See my remarks above.
>>
>>>
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>>>
>>>       bliss
>>
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