STAAD Running Slow on Windows 8.1

[StruEngrRon]

I recently bought a new computer with Windows 8.1 Operating System and I'm finding the STAAD execution time on the new computer is much slower than before. The attached test file runs in 11 seconds on my old Windows XP machine and 26 seconds on the new 8.1 machine. It runs in 11-12 seconds on Windows 7 and Windows 8 systems but I don't have a benchmark for other Windows 8.1 systems. Can someone please run this on a Windows 8.1 system and report back the execution time?

Thanks.

 

[JoshPlumSE]

Is your new computer a quad core or something? Maybe it's only running off of one core rather than all 4.

 

[StruEngrRon]

JoshPlum, thanks for the response. It is a quad core (Intel Core i7-4790S). Using the task manager, my CPU usage stays below 10% during the STAAD execution. It goes up to about 60% on my old Windows XP machine when STAAD is executing. Would this be a hardware or software problem?

 

[JoshPlumSE]

If STAAD is a singly threaded application then it can only use a single core at one time. Maxing out at 25% of your processing power. I honestly don't know whether STAAD is like this or not, but it could explain the behavior you're seeing.

Note:
Programs that are multi-threaded can still be inefficient with quad core processors. It all depends on what the threads are and how they're processed.

 

[SteveGregory]

Sounds like a good question for tech support.

 

[Sye123]

When you are running the file in Windows 8.1 are you running the analysis with the model file on a network drive ? If so, try creating a folder in your local machine and reanalyzing.

What is the version number of STAAD.Pro ( 20.07.??. ?? )

Is it possible to disable any antivirus software that may be running in your 8.1 machine and see if the analysis time still remains high or not ?

Let us have the answers to these questions and then take it up from there.

Now coming to your model there are some improvements that I would suggest, which would further cut down your analysis time irrespective of the OS and would make the analysis more logical.

1. You do NOT need to use the PERFORM ANALYSIS and CHANGE after the MODAL CALCULATION REQUESTED command. So take it out.
2. You do NOT need to analyze load cases 2 to 13 for MEMBER TENSION as these are just your component cases and so you do not need to run an iterative analysis for these cases. You should rather have the MEMBER TENSION specification for the REPEAT LOAD cases, starting from 100.
3. Exactly same logic applies for PDELTA. No need to do a PDELTA ANALYSIS for cases 2 to 13 as Pdelta effect would only be seen when gravity and lateral loads act together on your structure. So the PERFORM ANALYSIS and CHANGE are shifted to after the load case 13.

A modified file is attached for your reference.

Another very important point. If you have the Advanced Analysis engine, try running the analysis using the advanced analysis engine and you will see a drastic improvement in analysis time. Here are some facts for your information

Original model when run with the basic analysis engine took 15 secs in my laptop - Windows 7 . STAAD.Pro 20.07.10.65 - See attached file Original_model_with_basic_engine.jpg )

Modified file ( with the changes suggested above ) run with the basic analysis engine took 11 secs in my laptop ( See attached file Modified_model_with_basic_engine.jpg )

Modified file ( with the changes suggested above ) run with the Advanced Analysis engine took 06 secs in my laptop (See attached file Modified_model_with_advanced_analysis_engine.jpg )

As you can see with the changes suggested in the modeling, there is about 25% savings in analysis time wrt. your original model. With the advanced analysis engine there is 73% reduction in analysis time wrt your original model.

This model may not be a very good test case but for really huge models, the advanced Analysis engine can really come in handy for you.