*GUIDE* How to optimize your CPU to improve rendering

Hello there Filter Forgers! I'm new here and I would like to thank you all for all the lovely filters out there.
For this, I have made a guide how to improve the rendering times noticeably.

*If you notice the improvements as I do, please comment and let others know that it worked for you.*

I have been a programmer for optimizion softwares for about 15 years.
I couldn't stand how long the rendering took before 4k textures was rendered/saved.
So I took a closer look and discovered that the OS in this software is partially the devil here.


With all the steps I give you here, you can enjoy a new fast* PC that makes Filter Forge perform like smooth butter. This includes all other games/softwares AND your OS.





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Processor Optimization;


Your CPU/Processor(Central Processing Unit) has a great impact on the performance of Filter Forge and any other cpu based rendering softwares. It's good to optimize it for peak performance. This section will help you unpark your idle cores (multi-core processors only) and enable HPET. It will also show you a nifty tool for further increasing your processor timer speed. Again, none of this is overclocking. All methods here are tested, reversible and will not harm your computer. All of them could potentially increase stability and performance, not just in Filter Forge, but across the board!


Parked/Idle Processor Cores
Disable CPU Core Parking Utility:


As a power saving feature, Windows 7 and newer versions will "park" cores on multi-core processors. Mind you, they do un-park in certain situations. However, CPU intensive situations often occur over a few nanoseconds, which would be fine if Windows could un-park your cores instantaneously. Unparking your cores indefinitely will increase system stability across the board; it will also boost performance based upon the situation. However, know that by doing this; you are disabling a power saving feature. On a desktop this is no problem, however the extra cores may drain your laptop battery faster.

Link to unpark the cpu: http://www.coderbag.com/Uploads/Unpark-CPU-App.zip

How to use: Click on check status -> click on unpark all.


Power Saving Mode


Windows 7 is prepackaged with integrated power saving plans titled "Balanced" and "power Saver". This is an obvious one. You don't want to be on "Balanced" or "power Saver" while rendering. You want to be on "high performance" mode. To accomplish this,


This will deplete your laptop's batteries at an accelerated rate


Open the Start menu
Type in "Power Options" in the search bar, without the quotes
Hit Enter
Find the high performance plan. apply it.






CPU Timer Tweak
Timer Resolution: http://www.lucashale.com/timer-resolution/
(there is a box on the page detailing versions 1 and 2, below that there is a download link for 1.2 which is free and support windows 7 and windows 8(used on my windows .)


Now furthering upon the subject of processor performance. There is a nifty program that was brought to my attention called "Timer Resolution"; it continues on HPET's path in increasing processor's responsiveness via editing the timer. It is done in real time and lasts as long as the program is open. From my experience; it boosted my framerates by 3;. That's nothing to write home about really but, it requires no installation and it is lightweight. It's also simple to use; drag and drop, open the .exe and press a button and then open Filter Forge. Simple, free and a performance increase; why not?
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CPU registry tweaks:
Download this tweak to increase rendering and OS performance.


Make sure you have latest drivers.
Defragment your harddrives.
Filterforge to a SSD.
Make sure the temp files is on your SSD.
Make sure the virtual files is on your SSD.
Make sure that you save in uncompressed format for less saving time.
PNG-8bit uncompressed without alpha is a good choice.

Thats it. Restart your computer, start the CPU Timer, set on maximum, Start Filter forge, start rendering.