Obrut - Bloatware Simulator

Obrut
Version 1.9
30 Oct 22

Program Info

We used to test our programs on an old P133 to ensure that they ran on older machines without trouble. However, this was not always a satisfactory solution as it still didn't test all high load situations. Furthermore, some of our programs (like JukeBx) would not run with all functions enabled due to the limited memory available. Thus we created Obrut to create high memory and/or processor loads and thus simulate a slow or overloaded computer. Obrut can simulate varying levels of single or dual CPU usage intensity at three levels of regularity, and both virtual and physical memory loads.

While Obrut is primarily designed to be a programmers tool, it can also be used to slow down old games that assume a certain CPU speed or to test how a computer handles under heavy load.

Contents

Installation
Use
Programmers Notes
System Impact Statement
History
Licence and Registration
Liability
Contact

Installation

Run "Setup.exe" and follow the instructions. To remove Obrut, use the "Add/Remove Programs" option in the Control Panel. Obrut stores all its data files in the designated application data area, often "C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Sinner\Obrut". If you would prefer that it saves in the same directory as Obrut either run the program from a removable drive, such as a floppy of a USB drive, or delete the "DefSet.txt" file from the Obrut directory.

Use

There are two ways that Obrut can bloat memory usage. The first function called "VMem" simply allocates the amount of entered virtual memory when you press the "Take" button, and releases it when you press "Stop". If Windows refused to allocate the virtual memory that you request then Obrut will half the amount until it is acceptable. When it is allocated the value requested is changed to what was received. "PMem" is much the same except it also uses the memory so Windows must actually give Obrut some physical memory as well the virtual memory. Obrut will not always be allocated all of the physical memory that you request, it depends on how much memory you have available and how fast your computer is. Both functions can be used at once, but in most cases the "PMem" function is more useful. Under each memory function is a display of the available and total Virtual/Physical memory. This display is updated every five seconds.

When bloating CPU usage there are two options, one that controls the load intensity and another that sets how much break there will be between each burst. The load intensity is not scaled to the CPU and simply indicates how many times the CPU bloat routine runs. The load time constant can be set to "Some", "More" or "Most" which give load breaks of approximately 900, 500 and 50 milliseconds respectively every minute. These load breaks give a more realistic load as most high CPU usage programs will have occasional breaks to, for example, read more data from the hard drive. There are individual controls for two separate loads, with each running in a separate thread. Depending on the current system load and the load intensity, the loads will often be allocated to different CPUs in a multi-CPU or dual core system. Similar results should also be seen in a "HyperThreaded" CPU. The load itself simply involves moving memory around in a 2MB area, thus this function may not be effective on newer processors with large amounts of L1 or L2 cache. If this is the case then try using both CPU bloat threads as this will double the memory used. Or, run multiple instances of Obrut.

Programmers Notes

The CPU bloating used to use 500KB to simulate a load, but while doing some quick tests for v1.9 on a current dev machine (12th Gen Intel i7 12700) it was having near zero effect. When last worked on it was predicted that machines with larger cache would possibly be able to opinise the work too much, and that might be what was happening. Not sure, we only did quick tests. This machine has a 1MB L1 cache, and a 12MB L2 cache so the entire load could be cached. Thus, even though these 1.9 versions are suppposed to be near zero changes aside from bug fixes, the program needs to do what it is designed to do. So the memory was quadrupled. When time permits we will do more tests and probably allow the work memory size to be modified. As an interesting side point, it was found that five Obruts doing 64000 units of work on "Most" setting was needed to get this CPU to 100%....

System Impact Statement

We go to great lengths to reduce system impact, but we feel that it is still important to explain here what our programs do to your system. If you feel we are missing something, or you need further clarification, please contact us.

History

Licence and Registration

This program is released as Guiltware. If you find it useful and wish to show appreciation then either simply tell us, donate, or consider registering another program. There is no requirement to do anything; the program will not nag, expire, nor is it missing any features. Permission is given for all forms of distribution, including CD compilations and Websites, providing the ZIP file is unaltered and it is made clear that Obrut is a Guiltware program and that any costs are for the distribution, not the program itself. For further details please refer to the payment page on our website.

Obrut is a copyrighted work and thus permission is not given for you to decompile, disassemble, modify, translate, enhance or create derivative works from this program. If you feel that you need to do any of those actions, and that those rules do not apply to you, contact us first.

Liability

Sinner Computing accepts no liability for this software to the maximum extent allowable by law. Installing this software is the decision of the installer, and signifies that you agree with this liability statement. Thus, any damage/loss caused by the use of this software is not in any way the responsibility of Sinner Computing. This includes, but is not limited to, physical damage and loss of income/time. In no event shall the maximum liability of Sinner Computing exceed the registration fee paid by the user, if any. Because some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, in such jurisdictions the liability of Sinner Computing shall be limited to the extent permitted by law. If at any time you do not find these conditions agreeable you are required to remove this software.

Contact

Advice/insults (on the subject of the program, not the programmer) are always welcome. To help users keep up to date we send out newsletters whenever there is a major new version of Obrut. To join this list simply send an EMail with "ObrutADD" in the subject. To be removed from this list, write an EMail with "ObrutREMOVE" in the subject. (SinnerComputing does not give out or sell your EMail address or any other personal information to anyone.) In addition, we have a RSS feed that is updated whenever there is a new version of any program.