Hello equest-users,
Does anyone out there know if the next release of eQuest (based on a new version of DOE 2 I believe) will be able to make use of processor multithreading?
We are running into problems modelling large buildings with eQuest 3.64. Files are taking upwards of 5 minutes to open and once they are open it takes about 8 seconds to modify any single field. If you want to change the flow rate of an AHU you enter your number and then wait for 8 seconds while the software thinks about it.
We have done some monitoring and found that the software is running on one processor core at 100% and that is the bottleneck.
Exhibit A: Loading the model
[cid:image001.png at 01CC162D.D7754CF0]
In this graph (taken while loading the model) you can see that eQUEST's CPU usage is constant. It is only using one of the available CPU cores and it is using that core to the max. Compare this to the Disk usage and you can see that the Disk usage spikes up several times but those spikes are relatively low.
Exhibit B: Changing values
[cid:image002.png at 01CC162D.D7754CF0]
In this graph you can see the CPU usage spike up when I made a change in eQUEST and then dip down several seconds after. The Disk usage is still sporadic and low.
We have concluded that adding RAM will not speed things up. The best solution is a faster processor.
Has anyone else done any similar benchmarking and want to share their findings?
Thanks,
Brian Tysoe M.A.Sc., P.Eng., LEED AP
I had the same problem and our IT guy did a similar analysis and came to the same conclusion. The CPU was the bottleneck. I upgraded to a Dell Precision T3500 and it reduced my open time on a large hospital project from 10 minutes to 1.5 minutes.
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Jeremy McClanathan, LEED(r) AP BD+C
I'm no software engineer but I thought that's how processors were supposed
to work (one application per thread). I've ran into the same problem on
larger complex projects. If that's true, a higher clock speed may be the
only solution.
Anthony Hardman, PE
I?m currently in an eQuest training class and the instructor said the next
version will not make use of multithreading. He said eQuest is probably
about a year away from that capability.
Hwakong,
That did it!
I set the compliance mode to none and the performance is much faster.
I was previously running in "LEED-NC - v3.0 (LEED.bin)" compliance mode. The compliance function was not working on this particular file anyway.
Thanks!
Brian Tysoe M.A.Sc., P.Eng., LEED AP