Duo Core or Quad Core?

[Rougespear7mm]

Hello there folks,

I've decided I'm going to build a new PC, gear specifically towards running TRS2009 properly and efficiently! As for processors, I'm looking at these options at the moment and I'm wondering which will be better for trains:

1. E7300 Duo Core 2.66 Ghz
2. E7400 Duo Core 2.88 Ghz
3. E8400 Duo Core 3.00 Ghz
4. Q8200 Quad Core 2.33 Ghz

There is a big price difference between the E7300 and the E7400 - the two I was highly considering. Someone mentioned that Trainz could not make good use of the Quad Core, or not enough so as to justify the extra cost. I read somewhere that is was better to have a Duo Core processor running at a higher Ghz than a Quad Core running at a lower Ghz. What are people's opinions on this subject? Any thoughts one which processor I should put to work?

Another question: I'm running XP Pro 32-bit right now; will I see any benefits from upgrading to Vista? Will I see any benefits from upgrading to a 64-bit OS?

Thanks guys!

Brent

 

[johnwhelan]

I'm toying with the same ideas at the moment and I have a background in computer hardware and have traditionally preferred Intel.

Personally I'm after ecc memory which puts a few more restrictions on. Anyway www.newegg.ca is probably a fair place to look.

For normal memory, ddr2 for cheap, then have a look at the AMD Phenom II X4 920 2.8GHz

Tomshardware.com and anandtech.com both rate this cpu very highly and there is also a slightly faster version available.

TRS2009 is still a work in progress, there may or may not be a 64 bit version released that is really a 32 bit version that can access 4 gigs of memory but would need a 64 bit operating system to do this. If you were going i7 then definitely go 64 bit Vista and 6 gigs of ddr3 RAM to give the best memory performance for TRS2009. TRS2009 is threaded so is capable of using more than two cores. There is a heat trade off though so you can run a dual core faster than a quad core. TRS2009 will run the cpu heavily and generate a fair bit of heat so look for 45 nm technology on the cpu to keep the heat down. The older 65 nm cpus are still around but have a cheaper price, avoid them for TRS2009.

newegg is fun sometimes, one reasonable way to purchase is look for the number of reviews. Couple the AMD cpu with an ASUS motherboard, a 1 gig 4780 video card and you should have a very good system for TRS2009. With the texture compression you might get away with 512 Mb of memory on the card.

On balence accepting this system should last a few years I'd go with a motherboard that can accept 8 gigs of memory, and 64 bit Vista. Quad or Duo, today probably duo has a slight edge in price performance with TRS2009, but given that TRS2009 is a moving target and will undoubtedly be moving towards more cores where possible three months probably quad core will have the edge.

Memory I might go 4 gigs initially but ddr2 is very cheap these days so 8 gigs would not be out of the question, Vista can make use of it to cache the hard disk when running Trainz but the performance gain over 4 gigs would not be very much today.


Cheerio John

 

[aodgh0st]

i have the e8400 3.0 overclocked to 3.6 ghz. pretty good cpu(s)

 

[rjhowie]

I am no expert by any means but I was told that quad four makes no difference to Trainz??

 

[johnwhelan]

I am no expert by any means but I was told that quad four makes no difference to Trainz??

TRS2009 uses threads so can make use of quads.

Earlier versions are more limited, TC3 can make use of dual core.

If you dig in Trainzdev there are more details.

Cheerio John

 

[stroxel]

2009 Opinion

Maybe I just don't know enough, but I went out 5 months ago and bought a 64 bit quad and have run into nothing but problems. In trying to load most packages from Auran, the computer comes up with a 1045 error code immediately when trying to install. The download of ANY steam locomotive is colored red and is not usable, after about 45 minuted of running the computer burps, drops Trainz and displays the desktop. In short the entire operation of 2009 has been unacceptable, and has been removed. I don't now what's sold around the world, but in the US, if it doesn't run on Vista you might as well forget trying to sell it.

I've been addicted to Trainz for three years now, and am having to undo the addiction until they catch up with technology, I guess. I can load none of my older stuff, particularly the Complete Collection, and am drastically limited in what 2009 will do. To me, the computer industry passed them by while they were looking at game features instead of what operates it.

Sorry, but I don't think you should have to be a geek or spend months guessing what's wrong to play a game.

stroxel

 

[whitepass]

stroxel - a most of us can run 09 under Vista 64 with no problems.

 

[psycho_aussie]

stroxel, it seems as though you have a problem that isn't related to Trainz, but causes Trainz to "burp" more often than anything else. Not sure why you are getting a 1045 error code. As for the steam locomotives you are downloading, they may come up with errors as they were designed for previous versions of Trainz, and some changes were made in 09 that have essentially "broken" them. Give the creators time to fix them and that problem will be gone.

Personally, my next system will be a quad core, mainly because I can buy one. For Trainz, I would also recommend a dual core system at the moment. In the next year or two, quad core systems should start becoming the norm. Operating system wise, Vista would be the better option. The 3Gb limitation has been removed in 32-bit Windows 7 (my brothers system is running it with 4Gb of RAM, all of which can be seen), so that will make it better to run a 32-bit OS.

Chris

 

[robbiehanson]

Psycho_Aussie: 32 bit has always been able to READ whatever it wants; it still only uses 3gb. I've tried both in WinXP, Vista, and 7, and the same thing occurs.

The "3gb limitation" is caused by the inherent 32-bit limitation, not by a software "decision". You cannot use more than 3gb with 32-bit, plain and simple.

 

[johnwhelan]

Psycho_Aussie: 32 bit has always been able to READ whatever it wants; it still only uses 3gb. I've tried both in WinXP, Vista, and 7, and the same thing occurs.

The "3gb limitation" is caused by the inherent 32-bit limitation, not by a software "decision". You cannot use more than 3gb with 32-bit, plain and simple.

32 bit can address 4 gigs technically, its just most motherboard etc map about .6 - .8 of a gig for things like video cards and sound cards etc and thus are not available to programs. Under a 64 bit OS a 32 bit program can address 4 gigs of memory but you have to set a couple of parameters for it to do this.

Cheerio John

 

[Ferngren]

On my 32bit Vista machine I have 4GB memory. Usable was 3,3GB and after SP1 usable is 3,5GB which is about the best you can get, considering the maximum number of addresses in 32bit is around 4 billion.

Guess I was lucky with the combination of hardware...

 

[meatloaf747]

E8400, but you can't go wrong with either...

I don't really disagree with anything that has already been said in the above posts, but in my personal opinion after 18+ years of working at the Tec IT coal face, I personally would recommend any of these three CPU's.
Particularly if your main concern is to get the best CPU to run Trainz in the short to medium term, within a limited budget...
Either the E8400 Duo Core 3.00 Ghz, the E8500 or the E8600.
That's not to say that's there is anything wrong with the latest Quad Core Processors, but when you look at the core clock speeds between dual core's, & quad core's at the moment, well for my money something that's running at 3Ghz (plus) per core, compared to something that running at around 2.4Ghz (per core), well, it's a no contest...
The way I see it at the moment as far as Trainz fans are concerned, it's a one horse race.... (2 beats 4).
Hopefully that will change in the future.
Having run Trainz 2009 on BOTH a dual core processor & a quad core processor, my money is still on dual core processor at the moment......
Hopefully Auran will continue to re-write it's software to take advantage of both dual & quad core processors...
Happy Trainzing. -
Cheers, Mac...