core2 duo vs core2 quad.

At the moment I have a E8500 core 2 @3.16 ghz, 6mb cache. I'm looking at a core2 quad Q9650 @3 ghz 12 mb cache.
I know it's not the latest in cpu's.
The E8500 runs at about 55% usage and the GTX 560 Ti card 40-50%, RAM of 6gig runs at 40% max.
The question is what if any improvement do you think I will get in FPS.
O/S is win 7 64 bit.

fran1 said:

At the moment I have a E8500 core 2 @3.16 ghz, 6mb cache. I'm looking at a core2 quad Q9650 @3 ghz 12 mb cache.
I know it's not the latest in cpu's.
The E8500 runs at about 55% usage and the GTX 560 Ti card 40-50%, RAM of 6gig runs at 40% max.
The question is what if any improvement do you think I will get in FPS.
O/S is win 7 64 bit.

Click to expand...

I'm guessing at not much. TS2010 can only use two cores including the hyper ones.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-gaming-cpu-core-i3-2100-recommended-processor,2895-5.html

3.16 vs 3 well you can't run a quad quite as fast as a dual because of the heat but if its a later design it might have better caches etc so it run run faster. A lot depends on the drivers as well.

It's guess and only a guess though.

Oh cpu usage is a bit odd, TS2010 will try to run the cores at 100% no matter what the cpu is but the operating system will report the hyper ones as well to give a figure of about 50%, the odd 5% is probably the operating system and a bit of error measuring it.

Cheerio John

Thanks John,
I was hoping you'd read the post.
The 8500 is in the 4th group, the Q9650 is in the 2nd group with the I7 950. So I think i'll give it a go.
Your comments are allways appreciated.
Just checked cpu usage using msi dual core centre, cpu 2 98%, cpu 1 52%.

John,
Have just found a QX 9650 extreme quad (yorkfield XE) for less than the Q9650, the wife will have a epi fit but I'm very tempted.

fran1 said:

Thanks John,
I was hoping you'd read the post.
The 8500 is in the 4th group, the Q9650 is in the 2nd group with the I7 950. So I think i'll give it a go.
Your comments are allways appreciated.
Just checked cpu usage using msi dual core centre, cpu 2 98%, cpu 1 52%.

Click to expand...

Yes but what are they measuring? If its something that will use all four cores plus hyperthreading the quad will beat the dual but it won't make a difference to TS2010 since TS2010 only uses 2 cores in driver.

Are you experiencing frame rate problems at the moment or do you just fancy something new?

Cheerio John

johnwhelan said:

Yes but what are they measuring? If its something that will use all four cores plus hyperthreading the quad will beat the dual but it won't make a difference to TS2010 since TS2010 only uses 2 cores in driver.

Are you experiencing frame rate problems at the moment or do you just fancy something new?

Cheerio John

Click to expand...

Frame rates. I was hoping for better. ECML for eg, 17-28 fps. S+C 25-38 fps which is fine.
Would a DDR3 mobo and ram at 1066 or 1333mhz help ?

fran1 said:

Frame rates. I was hoping for better. ECML for eg, 17-28 fps. S+C 25-38 fps which is fine.
Would a DDR3 mobo and ram at 1066 or 1333mhz help ?

Click to expand...

Yuk, I'd try setting the performance settings back a little or perhaps someone who gets reasonable performance with ECML on their hardware might have some suggestions.

I assume you are using directx? If not try that first. Remind me is ECML a built in route or one from the DLS?

Have you tried looking for demanding assets in Surveyor and replacing them?

The reason I'm suggesting this first is no matter how much hardware you have a few demanding assets will kill the performance.

6 mb cache / 12 mb cache you don't get that much better performance when you double the cache. There is a caching algorithm that basically means 95% of the time you find what you are after in cache with 6 mb of memory, with 12 mb you might get to 97% its not double the performance.

Your video card is high end and TS2010 in native mode pushes a fair chunk of work off the cpu and down to the video card.

What sort of hard disk do you have? Moving Trainz to a raptor might get you another couple of frames per second.

Thanks John

Usually OG, but dx tends to improve things.
I've just re started trainz running a saved session on EK3 and changed to dx.
I'm now standing in the corner with a hat on with a very large D on it.
Frame rates mid 40's to lower 50's. More than double OG. Sometimes the solution stares at you, so simple.
Thanks again. (shame faced)

fran1 said:

Usually OG, but dx tends to improve things.
I've just re started trainz running a saved session on EK3 and changed to dx.
I'm now standing in the corner with a hat on with a very large D on it.
Frame rates mid 40's to lower 50's. More than double OG. Sometimes the solution stares at you, so simple.
Thanks again. (shame faced)

Click to expand...

OpenGL is an open standard from the UNIX world of workstations and as such it carries a lot of baggage on how things used to be done. The standards process means it takes years to get agreements fora new version. In contrast DirectX is a Microsoft standard designed for games and they can bring out a new version when they feel like it so it tends to be more efficient.

Glad we managed to sort you out at low cost.

Cheerio John

Makes you feel a bit daft especially when you've suggested the idea to people to help with their problems.
Funny thing is I found the cpu running 100% both cores this morning on EK3, I wonder if Og holds it back.
I might still get a QX9650 extreme, you never know what 2012 might want in cpu terms.