st: Stata/MP really exploiting my processor's 4 cores?

[rraciborski@stata.com]

Patrik Morgetz <pmorgetz@gmail.com> wonders whether his Stata/MP is using all
the cores on his machine:

> These days I am running quite intensive processes in Stata (bootstrapping and
> multinomial probit, both on large datasets)....  I did not notice a dramatic
> improvement in the performance, so I am wondering whether it is really taking
> advantage of the parallel processing capabilities of my processor. To make
> sure about it, I closed every other program and put Stata to run the time
> consuming bootstrapping process, then I opened the Windows Task Manager to
> take a look to the performance tab where it shows the CPU usage (it shows 8
> slots, I guess, 2 threads per every core), and I expected to see a high CPU
> usage in every slot there, because it would suggest it is actually parallel
> processing. But it didn't, it just shows one of the CPU-8 slots at its maximum
> usage, and the others at very low usage levels. I then tried running other
> Stata commands and the result was the same (one CPU-slot at top usage and
> the others at very low levels).

Without knowing all the details, it is impossible to comment on Patrik's claim.
As discussed in the white paper (http://stata.com/statamp/statamp.pdf),
Stata/MP produces impressive speed ups for a wide variety of applications.
Patrik should contact Stata Technical support at tech-support@stata.com so that
they can help him with his specification.  Patrik should send in his do file and
an example of a large dataset that is causing the problem.

--Rafal
rraciborski@stata.com
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