Affinity - Core Selection??

[boleyd]

Is there a way to set Trainz 2012 to use a specific core? i2500K, 8gb, GTX550 1gb, Windows7-64

 

[itareus]

I have not tried this, never had a reason to, but for Vista 32 Bit:

Windows Task Manager > processes tab > right click on a process > Select "Set Affinity" and the window that comes up will allow you to set which CPU(s) the process will execute on.

You will of course need to know the windows process names and I have no idea if this would be persistant, or if there is another way to do this - you might be better off asking on a W7 tech forum.

 

[shaneturner12]

You are correct there Itareus, but I have a feeling that is not persistent.

A bit of advice though. Unless you are running Task Manager as administrator in Windows Vista/7 (which can be done by clicking the button at the bottom of the Processes tab), you will not be able to change the affinity.

Shane

 

[boleyd]

Agree not persistent. However, setting to only Core1 takes up most of its capabilities. Giving Trainz Core1 & 2 give about 60% in Core1 and 50% in Core2. Since Trainz is GPU bound on my system no use adding it to Core3. Now need to play around to see if it really matters.

i2500K 3.5ghz, 8gb memory, GTX550 1gb W7 64bit


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I ran the route I am working on - Picatinny by GFisher. Adding lots of new vegetation, hi-res textures, new buildings, etc... Makes it a hi-load route (CPU/GPU).
At certain points in the route I always experience bad stutters, maybe up to 4 in a sequence of about 1 second each. One spot is over a second. Having Trainz use 2 cores (according to Task manager) does not help. At least in my view my the problem (stuttering) is not a function of the CPU.

Having satisfied myself (could be wrong) that the GPU may be the issue I need to mess about there a bit.

Previously I have tried an endless number of program options settings and none eliminated the stuttering/pauses. If I run one of the visually simple desert routes there is no stuttering. I can see why such routes seem to hold some popularity despite being visually boring.

I know that my desire for the best visual appearance places some quite large objects (megabits) into the view of the train. But using the older blurred stuff (texture and assets) is not acceptable to me. However, if the only solution is a $500 video card forget that. I failed to note that I am getting 50FPS (FRAPS) at the time of the stutters. If a stutter turns into a pause I see the FPS drop.

RW3 is turning into a pure game. Trainz has a broad set of capabilities that should allow it to simulate almost any railroad function with a modern level of visual quality. However, if the penalty is stuttering, that can only be cured with money, I see no reason to use the product.

 

[tomurban]

Try setting your FPS limit in Trainzoptions.exe to 30 or 40 FPS. It is more than adequate and helps to stabilize matters. I have mine set to 40FPS in Trainz 12 with no stutters.

 

[boleyd]

I have seriousloy helped my stuttering problem. The quest began by giving TS12 Cores 1& 2 in my CPU. That showed a more distributed Trainz load leaving Cores 0 & 3 for W7-64bit. However, FPS performance was not materially altered and stutters remained. Considerable time was spent with Trainz and nVidia options. Nothing was accomplished. Limiting FPS to 30 had no impact. I had defragmented two days ago so I had set that aside. I decided to take a look and the Trainz data was significantly fragmented. Defragged twice and now TS2012 runs "mostly" without stutters. The few I see are at the expected locations but are very brief whereas before they lasted a second and sometimes more.

I used Defraggler since it allowed me to specifically defragment TS2012 files and not have to do the entire disk.

My video GPU and CPU loads are quite low. Both in the area of 50%. I wonder about TS2012 spending too much time on internal wait functions. It certainly is not working hard (CPU cycles). If N3V is only feeding data groups/sets to JET then JET needs attention. A better distribution of threads to more cores may also help. Certainly there is room for some more features.

 

[JCitron]

Try replacing any flipboard - alpha channel trees - with suitable Speed Treez. I did that with George's "The Loops" route and this made quite a difference in the performance.

John

 

[boleyd]

I think I have all of the old style trees replaced. But good idea to see if any hanging about in the areas of the slight remaining stutter areas. Thanks...