Dual core, so what uses it and how do you control yours?

[locutus12]

is there a definitive list of games and software that will utilise dual core capacity ?

also how do you guys go about assigning things to work on different cores permanently, other than the obvious task manager function.

cheers all.

 

[Minstadave]

I leave XP to sort out mine, never had any problems with it, saying that though, I've never really seen a benefit over single core.

 

[locutus12]

I leave XP to sort out mine, never had any problems with it, saying that though, I've never really seen a benefit over single core.

so i take it it was more of an incidental purchase ? i.e. you wanted a faster core, the fastest cores are on dual core, so thats what you bought... ?

 

[Minstadave]

so i take it it was more of an incidental purchase ? i.e. you wanted a faster core, the fastest cores are on dual core, so thats what you bought... ?

It was along the lines of "wow cheap dual core got to have it "

I changed a 3Ghz Opteron 146 for a 2.75Ghz 4200x2, pretty sure the Opteron was faster at almost everything I used it for, especially as it had the larger cache, so never really benefited much from the swap, it was only to tide me over until Conroe anyway, but at the moment I only have a shuttle system to try and stop me wasting money on upgrades I don't need.

 

[locutus12]

your not allowed to change to Intel... if you do, youl single handedly be responsible for every bad thing that happens in the universe both past and future

 

[Minstadave]

your not allowed to change to Intel... if you do, youl single handedly be responsible for every bad thing that happens in the universe both past and future

The dark side has won me over, AMD don't have anything very promising on the horizon so a cheapo C2D system will be in the pipeline in the new year.

 

[locutus12]

meh, a pointless extravagance, especially if youve got a 4200+ anyway,

 

[Minstadave]

meh, a pointless extravagance, especially if youve got a 4200+ anyway,

Yeah I keep telling myself that, but all the 3.2Ghz+ overclocks with a good boost in clock for clock performance really makes me want one.

 

[locutus12]

Yeah I keep telling myself that, but all the 3.2Ghz+ overclocks with a good boost in clock for clock performance really makes me want one.

well if your encoding video every day i can understand, other than that i dont see much point given your current system :/

 

[cooljimy84]

So normal XP can use both cores ?

hang on, i thought that 32-bit normal xp would only use one of the cores ??
i'm new to the dual core scence, just upgraded from a 3200+ on a nforce board, to a 5200 x2 thingy on a ASUS M2N32SLI Deluxe Board.

So windows kinda loads each core ??

so is there any reason to run 64-bit is she can do this ??

+ what to ppl advise for my system

AM2 ATHLON 64 5200 X2 CPU & ASUS M2N32SLI Deluxe Board
Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro Heatsink Fan
nVidia 7900GS 256mb x2 ( SLi )
THERMALTAKE TOUGHPOWER 750W PSU
CORSAIR 2GB (2X1GB) PC2-6400
+ might get a sata hard disk

Thanks Guy and Girls

 

[beast]

Ah who cares, it's kick ass at gaming, that's all I need to know

 

[NathanE]

hang on, i thought that 32-bit normal xp would only use one of the cores ??
i'm new to the dual core scence, just upgraded from a 3200+ on a nforce board, to a 5200 x2 thingy on a ASUS M2N32SLI Deluxe Board.

So windows kinda loads each core ??

so is there any reason to run 64-bit is she can do this ??

+ what to ppl advise for my system

AM2 ATHLON 64 5200 X2 CPU & ASUS M2N32SLI Deluxe Board
Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro Heatsink Fan
nVidia 7900GS 256mb x2 ( SLi )
THERMALTAKE TOUGHPOWER 750W PSU
CORSAIR 2GB (2X1GB) PC2-6400
+ might get a sata hard disk

Thanks Guy and Girls

Yes Windows, no matter what edition (as long as it's not 95/98/ME) will balance threads across all available cores. 64-bit has nothing to do with multi core or thread scheduling across multiple cores.

I'd recommend Windows XP 32-bit. Home or Pro, does not matter.

 

[Corasik]

Yep, XP home for dual core, XP Pro for Quad core. (Although as microsoft technically lisence per CPU, not per core they may even patch Quad Core support for XP home).

Im guessing the home versions of Vista will support quad core out of the box.

 

[ghgh]

One very old game I sometimes play, AOE2 LOL doesn't load unless I set the processor afinity to one core...it just crashes on load if its set to use both.

 

[Street]

I've not noticed any improvement in games from switching to dual core. There are a few promising games that are supposed to support dual core coming out soon though..

I switched mainly for willy waving purposes, but it has helped me out doing audio encoding etc.

 

[gurusan]

I noticed a significant difference going from a 3700+ to a 4400 x2 in Quake 4 ...I play the multiplayer a lot..which can load up the system from time to time when there are tons of players on the screen and all kinds of explosions.

 

[locutus12]

personally im going dual core for Supreme Commander, its such a processor hog its unbelievable.

 

[Street]

Thats the main dual core game I'm looking forward too. Hopefully it will be good as the beta ran like a dog on my old [email protected], haven't tried it on my C2d..

I'm also looking forward to the dual core patch for Source.. Should be good!

 

[locutus12]

Thats the main dual core game I'm looking forward too. Hopefully it will be good as the beta ran like a dog on my old [email protected], haven't tried it on my C2d..

I'm also looking forward to the dual core patch for Source.. Should be good!

were you playing the hacked beta or the official one, if so have you tried it recently as they made allot of updates, the early beta`s wouldn't use dual core.

 

[NathanE]

they may even patch Quad Core support for XP home

Nope it was intentionally limited to 2 logical CPUs. No chance of them patching it when they can just recommend them to upgrade to Pro or Vista.