Blood from a stone?

tomurban said:
Dave I was averaging 4-5 FPS in some sections of the route with just a single engine in DCC mode. My main problem was a long loading time and then having boards not showing or popping up at the last minute. My educated guess is insufficient memory for all the boards and assets. I only have 2 slots with 1GB in each slot. I am toying with the idea of installing 2GB in one of the slots (for a total of 3GB), but I am not sure that my MOB and CPU will utilize the extra memory. I have posed this question on some techie sites and the general response has been probably not. (My computer is an IBM SSF work station and was not designed for more than 2GB) It is rugged, heavy and bullet proof but it does have limitations. A route that I currently run a lot is Cattaraugus Creek & Lake Erie which is similar to yours but with fewer boards. This route gives me FPS in the 10 to 20 range but does drop to 4-5 FPS in a few spots. I can live with that. I think I will download your route again and give it another shot. I never did try it in native mode. Thanks for asking.

tomurban
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I have an answer to my question (above) regarding the addition of more RAM to my system. While in theory, the P4 CPU and 915(G) Intel chip set will support up to 4 GB of RAM in a 32 bit system (8 GB in a 64 bit system), there is a design limit of 1 GB per channel (slot). Since I only have two slots, I am limited to 2 GB of RAM total. This information may be useful to someone. We won't be getting any blood from this stone.

tomurban
 
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Approach_Medium said:
Asus P5AD2-E Premium mobo with Intel 925 XE chipset
P4 3.4Ghz single core (socket 775) 800Mhz FSB
Click to expand...
I am going with whitepass, your processor is holding you up. I do not know about the motherboard or what a 'mobo' is.

I run a system that most items are less than yours.
2GB memory.
a nVidia 8500 video card.
half your hard drive space.
smaller monitor size and resolution.
Vista.
probably less power though not overloaded.

For the processor, I had a Pentium D. I checked on a forum for my computer and found I could simply swap the CPU out for a dual-core processor. The new one looked to have some specs lower but being dual-core runs better and because it was lower end also runs cooler. Vista reported an increase in performance just from this change. I have been successfully running TS2009 with this, the only other changes I made were increased memory and video to what I listed.

Check with your computer/motherboard manufacturer about changing the CPU for a dual-core, should be all you need.
I notice you are in NJ but did not say where. I picked up my CPU and memory from this place in their Nothern NJ location.
http://www.microcenter.com/at_the_stores/index.html
You could ask thier advice too, they are usually pretty helpful. I have used their services for years both through mail order and at their store with no problems, I prefer going there and talking to a real person.;)
 
Approach_Medium said:
I found this at NewEgg.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.581363AMD 6 core? Seems like a much better price than the Intel. Am I missing something here?

FW
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Equivalent if you can actually say that now? Intel chips are faster, however a better rated AMD to give similar performance to a lower spec Intel chip would normally still be cheaper unless you are going to the top of the range in which currently Intel hold first place.
AMD is fine, I use nothing else as it's better value for money.
 
Thanks for the advice on AMD vs Intel. I had always thought Intel was better performance-wise, but considering my budget, I was thinking I might get more processor for my buck with AMD.

FW
 
Update, Feb 3, 2011

Well, I may have managed to get just a drop of blood from my stone. I was finally successful in overclocking the system. I may have gained only a few FPS, but anything is better than nothing. I may also have improved performance at slow frame rates by increasing max pre-rendered frames from 3 to 8 for the GeForce 9800 GTX+.

I am still looking at upgrading of course. I'm thinking that if I wait a few more months for the 6-core processors to come onto the market, I will be able to get the i7 4 core at a reduced cost.

FW
 
Approach_Medium said:
Update, Feb 3, 2011

I am still looking at upgrading of course. I'm thinking that if I wait a few more months for the 6-core processors to come onto the market, I will be able to get the i7 4 core at a reduced cost.

FW
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The hex core (6 core) processors have been out since late winter of last year.
 
djt said:
The hex core (6 core) processors have been out since late winter of last year.
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OK, so I'm still waiting for the i7 quad core to get down to about $200.
No way I would spend the $$ on a hex core. The only game I play that requires more than a single core is TS2010, and then, I've been told that Trainz won't use more than 2 cores, but I assume if I get a quad core, Windows 7 will use all 4 cores.

FW
 
Approach_Medium said:
OK, so I'm still waiting for the i7 quad core to get down to about $200.
No way I would spend the $$ on a hex core. The only game I play that requires more than a single core is TS2010, and then, I've been told that Trainz won't use more than 2 cores, but I assume if I get a quad core, Windows 7 will use all 4 cores.

FW
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Actually the official line is supports multiple cores, whatever if Trainz uses 2 cores if you have more than 2 cores then the OS and anything else can use them. I frequently have Trainz + Gmax + PSP and a few other graphics type things running while I'm working on stuff and on 6 cores with 8GB of ram it has no effect on Trainz performance. Had to shut most of it down on 2 cores.
I even managed, when not paying attention, to have 2 copies of Trainz running, 2009 in surveyor minimised and 2010 in driver............. never noticed until I came to shut down!
 
Approach_Medium said:
OK, so I'm still waiting for the i7 quad core to get down to about $200.
No way I would spend the $$ on a hex core. The only game I play that requires more than a single core is TS2010, and then, I've been told that Trainz won't use more than 2 cores, but I assume if I get a quad core, Windows 7 will use all 4 cores.

FW
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If you don't mind buying into an outdated platform you could always wait for the new 8 core CPU's to come out later in the year and see if that drives down the price on LGA 1366 processors.

The other thing to think about is what the future will bring for Trainz. I don't see a prosperous future for PC games that are still using archaic game engines in 2011 and beyond. Even “freebie” simulation games like OpenRails are being developed to utilize 4 cores.

Some of the upcoming flight sims are also going to make good use of multi-core CPU's. X-Plane 10 which is right around the corner will use up to 16 cores.
 
Nor do I, which is a large part why I don't even see much point in upgrading past a certain point. The asset optimization exercise currently underway - aka the DLS Cleanup - is an attempt to wring the last bit of performance out of the game engine.
 
It's just another case of throwing hardware at an inefficient/out dated program. Nothing new for CPU bound games.

Not to mention that there aren't too many out there who are going to put down money on decent hardware and be satisfied looking at something lifted from 2003. Especially after they see what else is available and what the new hardware is capable of.
 
FW,

If you're interested, check out NewEgg. Awesome hardware for sale there at decent prices. www.newegg.com

They have nice bundles all the time like Motherboard and CPU, video card and extra RAM, etc.

This is where I got my current components. Asus mobo, CPU and RAM for about $650.

John
 
JCitron said:
FW,

If you're interested, check out NewEgg. Awesome hardware for sale there at decent prices.
John
Click to expand...


I'll second that.

Over the past 10 years I've used Tiger Direct, ZipZoomFly, Newegg, Buy.com, Performance PC's and Frozen CPU among others and Newegg stands above them all as far as customer service is concerned in my experience.
 
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