Excel and Hyper-Threading Processors
 

I have a Gateway PC that has a Pentium 4 processor that uses
hyper-threading. The manufacturer advertised the machine as operating at
2.8 GHz. What I think this really means is that there are 2 1.4 GHz
processors.

Most applications seem to make appropriate use of the hyper-threading, so
the PC is normally pretty quick. Unfortunately, Excel does not.

Some of the spreadsheets I work in are really large (40 MB or so), with lots
of array formulas. When one of these is recalculating, it takes a really
long time. If I start Task Manager and check the processor load, it tells
me that only 50% of the available duty cycle is being used -- all by Excel.
This leads me to believe that Excel is not using both processors.

Does anyone know if there's a way to force Excel to use all of the
processing capacity of this machine?

For what it's worth, I'm running Excel 2003 on a Win XP Home SP2 operating
system.

David

Hi!

Sorry, I don't have an answer for you but I am curious to
know just how long the calc time is?

Biff

-----Original Message-----
I have a Gateway PC that has a Pentium 4 processor that
uses
hyper-threading. The manufacturer advertised the machine
as operating at
2.8 GHz. What I think this really means is that there
are 2 1.4 GHz
processors.

Most applications seem to make appropriate use of the
hyper-threading, so
the PC is normally pretty quick. Unfortunately, Excel
does not.

Some of the spreadsheets I work in are really large (40
MB or so), with lots
of array formulas. When one of these is recalculating,
it takes a really
long time. If I start Task Manager and check the
processor load, it tells
me that only 50% of the available duty cycle is being
used -- all by Excel.
This leads me to believe that Excel is not using both
processors.

Does anyone know if there's a way to force Excel to use
all of the
processing capacity of this machine?

For what it's worth, I'm running Excel 2003 on a Win XP
Home SP2 operating
system.

David


.

Biff,

I clocked one particular set of workbooks at 8 minutes for a complete
recalculation. Obviously, with a timespan like that, I rarely do a complete
recalc -- I normally only recalc individual worksheets at a time.


David


"Biff" wrote in message
...
Hi!

Sorry, I don't have an answer for you but I am curious to
know just how long the calc time is?

Biff

-----Original Message-----
I have a Gateway PC that has a Pentium 4 processor that
uses
hyper-threading. The manufacturer advertised the machine
as operating at
2.8 GHz. What I think this really means is that there
are 2 1.4 GHz
processors.

Most applications seem to make appropriate use of the
hyper-threading, so
the PC is normally pretty quick. Unfortunately, Excel
does not.

Some of the spreadsheets I work in are really large (40
MB or so), with lots
of array formulas. When one of these is recalculating,
it takes a really
long time. If I start Task Manager and check the
processor load, it tells
me that only 50% of the available duty cycle is being
used -- all by Excel.
This leads me to believe that Excel is not using both
processors.

Does anyone know if there's a way to force Excel to use
all of the
processing capacity of this machine?

For what it's worth, I'm running Excel 2003 on a Win XP
Home SP2 operating
system.

David


.

Hi!

You might find something that helps at this site. It's all
about optimization!

http://www.decisionmodels.com/

Biff

-----Original Message-----
Biff,

I clocked one particular set of workbooks at 8 minutes
for a complete
recalculation. Obviously, with a timespan like that, I
rarely do a complete
recalc -- I normally only recalc individual worksheets at
a time.


David


"Biff" wrote in message
...
Hi!

Sorry, I don't have an answer for you but I am curious
to
know just how long the calc time is?

Biff

-----Original Message-----
I have a Gateway PC that has a Pentium 4 processor that
uses
hyper-threading. The manufacturer advertised the
machine
as operating at
2.8 GHz. What I think this really means is that there
are 2 1.4 GHz
processors.

Most applications seem to make appropriate use of the
hyper-threading, so
the PC is normally pretty quick. Unfortunately, Excel
does not.

Some of the spreadsheets I work in are really large (40
MB or so), with lots
of array formulas. When one of these is recalculating,
it takes a really
long time. If I start Task Manager and check the
processor load, it tells
me that only 50% of the available duty cycle is being
used -- all by Excel.
This leads me to believe that Excel is not using both
processors.

Does anyone know if there's a way to force Excel to use
all of the
processing capacity of this machine?

For what it's worth, I'm running Excel 2003 on a Win XP
Home SP2 operating
system.

David


.



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