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

[Michael Shiloh]

I don't want to switch to a terminal or other desktop; I want to see 
who's on top instantly, since the freeze is often quite short. That's 
why I want the other monitor.

I don't want to kill anything, I just want to see what's causing it.

On 06/08/2014 03:41 PM, Ken Shaffer wrote:
> 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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