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AMD Dual core Optimiser

MadMatty

MadMatty

MadMatty

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Not sure if its known already (havent seen it mentioned in any recent threads) but there appears to be a new AMD Cool&Qiuet driver 1.3.2 as well as a new file for an Athlon dc Optimiser that is an extra program which runs in the startup. It appears to be similar to the old X2 microsoft hotfix. Ive installed both amd updates but not really noticed any issues/changes.

http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/TechnicalResources/0,,30_182_871_9706,00.html
 
Nice find.

I was on that page yesterday to get the regular Driver, and never noticed the optimizer.

I was running the hotfix from MS with the Reg edit, but i did a reformat yesterday and didnt bother this time.

To be honest, when i tried gaming last night without the MS fix (BF2, Prey)
they both ran without any problems, so im not even sure if its nesassary.

Ive installed that optimizer anyway :p
 
Sorry for the Hijack;

If i got an X2, what things should i know/install software wise? Ive been told that there are a few things that i need to install.
What are these?

Thanks. :)
 
Using the URL above, get "AMD Athlon™ 64/FX Processor Driver for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 Version (x86 and x64 exe) 1.3.2" .

This will setup any processor specific settings in windows and also the cool&quiet driver.

Then theres the Optional Dual Core optimiser at the top of the page. Im not 100% certain , but i belive that it would be an official replacement for the Microsoft dual core hotfix that used to be downloadable (id not used it).

I find the "AMD Power Monitor Version 1.0.1" useful also for quick changing of power profiles. (Set Minimal power to enable cool&quiet). I often need to set "Always On" if i want to play planetside else game crashes.
 
Hmm, looks interesting. I haven't got any of the hotfixes or anything installed so I'm wondering if I should install the drivers, hotfix and optimiser, or just the drivers and optimiser. Anyone have any ideas?
 
Sort of. It doesn't actually "optimise" anything (i.e. performance). What it does is reroute the API calls of certain software (e.g. old games) so that they retrieve reliable timing information that is valid for both cores in the processor.

It's basically the /usepmtimer boot switch on steroids and has the potential to be much more powerful.

It will serve little purpose on XP SP3 or Vista machines however, so think of it as a temporary compatibility solution.
 
NathanE said:
Sort of. It doesn't actually "optimise" anything (i.e. performance). What it does is reroute the API calls of certain software (e.g. old games) so that they retrieve reliable timing information that is valid for both cores in the processor.
Click to expand...

Wonder how it decides which APIs to assign to a specific core, which is what you are saying it does?
 
No-no-no. Games and the like call certain APIs (like QueryPerformanceTimer & QueryPerformanceFrequency) to retrieve accurate timing information to base their physics and frame rendering timing on. Some games also bypass the Win32 API and go straight to the hardware by calling the RDTSC x86 instruction. Unfortunately both of these methods have the potential to go horribly wrong IF (if and only if) the game's developer did not properly account for the game's thread switching to another core. So this "optimiser" from AMD will listen for these calls and reroute them to a core-independent timing mechanism (i.e. the power management timer, /usepmtimer) and therefore the game is tricked into working correctly!
 
I get a BSOD (Driver_IRQL_...) on resuming from S3 standby with the Optimizer installed. System works fine with the 1.3.2 CPU driver and MS Hotfix though. Tried uninstalling the hotfix but still same problem, I thought this was a replacement for it but now I'm not certain.
 
If everything is working fine there really is no need to install the 'optimiser' or the hotfix/amd cpu driver.
 
I find the CPU drivers improves compatibility and performance in games. Without it a couple of games refuse to load, or have stuttery performance, afterwards they work and seems smoother. XP SP2 install.
 
If I had a dual-core processor, but i bet the gains will not be very huigh and only certain games will work for it.
 
had a crash to the desktop with bf2 last night after installing this , first time thats happend to me

edit

found out it was the new X-Fi Drivers
 
Last edited:
helped with a couple games already, Pirates of the carribean(was bored, got it, played it) ran like it was on steroids, same as farcry and lots of other games. though farcry you could alt-tab out and set affinity fine, potc would not go back into the game, this fixed that, farcry and other games i've had issues with. cod2(when i first got it, patch may have fixed it, dunno) had issues with dual cores, training would never finish(grenade bit would crash) unless you set affinity to one core. was gonna replay that now anyway so will see if that works. VERY useful so far, but afaik hasn't increased performance at all, but we'll see. also had things like, i'd play city of villians windowed (as it can get long winded and dull) so i could watch a film or something in background, on dual core systems this caused stuttering in the film playback, thats the kinda thing it should fix i hope.
 
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