INC -----> New hardware for 6 boxing. (OC progress update)

[moosejaw]

Just curious what stepping 920 you got from Tiger. On the CPU box there is a white sticker with a bunch of scan codes, prduct code, UPC, etc.

One number will be "S-spec: SLBXX

If it's SLBCH , it's a CO stepping
If it's SLBEJ, it's DO stepping


mine is a CO ;(

I'll check my box tonight. Crossing my fingers for the DO. I have been working on setting up the HTPC to get my tv recordings back up before I miss any favorite shows (read: Eliza Dushku).

I'm also upgrading to a new i7 soon, for those that haven't bought a 920 yet thought I'd reccomend trying to get a chip with D0 stepping as they supposably overclock to 4.0+ speeds even better and easier

http://www.anandtech.com/weblog/showpost.aspx?i=584

I'm currently able to run 6 with ok performance on a q9450 (oc to 3.2) w/8gigs ram, a GTX295, 30" dell and vista x64. I experimented alot and what I am doing to increase performance (using Innerspace) is to set all windows to 1024x768 resolution and I set the 5 slaves to render 512x384 windows with 100% zoom on rollover (this way they expand to 1024x768). After I launch I resize the main window to be much larger. I give up mouse repeating this way because the resolutions are different but I can play the main in a much larger window this way and I don't use window swapping but rather just mouse over slave windows (which expand to full size) when I need to.

I believe EQ2 uses alot of software rendering techniques (or just very bad code) and a move to a i7 cpu should provide a big boost. For those that have moved to i7, have you tried it with and without hyperthreading to see which gives better performance in this case?

Also I just saw this Asus board that can run 2x socket 1366 xeons http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...sus%20Z8NA-D6C which might be even better with 8 real cores vs 4 on the 920.

As I said above the Quad 6600 was a real dog with 6. I am hoping that I use the full features of windowsnapper and repeater with the I7.

I agree with the "bad code" analysis. I will do some testing with different configs to see what works best. I am thinking of locking instances to each core thread (except the main) for the full hyperthreading and assigning all cores to all instances with hyperthreading off. I know that core/thread priority was a little bit funky on the Q6600 and I am not sure if that was M$oft thread scheduler, IS or EQ acting up. Most likely it was thread scheduler due to the heavy load saturation. Either way I should have some testing numbers by this weekend.

And stop showing me gear I can't afford!! :P

[kazxex]

I did some further research and it appears that while there are several dual socket 1366 xeon motherboards, almost none of them have overclocking options and most have only 1 pci-e x16 slot so that setup is probably not going to perform better than a modestly overclocked 920 for 6 boxing. I live close to a Frys though so I may just have try building one and returning the parts just to find out.

[Herc130]

I doubt EQ2 makes good use of 2 cores, let alone 4. 8 cores? Save your money unless you use an application that actually makes use of it, because EQ2 will not. I think having a higher clock speed will help, but more cores, not so much.

Just got an email from technet. Looks like WIndows 7 RC (release candidate...generally what retail will be unless they get a surprise) is ready for download by technet subscribers. Also, looks like MS is feeling warmhearted...guilt? for releaseing so early and making vista have such a short life or so many early problems with vista, that in one month, Windows 7 RC will be open for all to download and use for free for a year. I had no plans to use Windows 7 beta, but an RC is just as good as retail really, so think I will be switching everything to windows 7. Hopefully technet users get indiffinet use of it.

[kazxex]

I doubt EQ2 makes good use of 2 cores, let alone 4. 8 cores? Save your money unless you use an application that actually makes use of it, because EQ2 will not. I think having a higher clock speed will help, but more cores, not so much.

Just got an email from technet. Looks like WIndows 7 RC (release candidate...generally what retail will be unless they get a surprise) is ready for download by technet subscribers. Also, looks like MS is feeling warmhearted...guilt? for releaseing so early and making vista have such a short life or so many early problems with vista, that in one month, Windows 7 RC will be open for all to download and use for free for a year. I had no plans to use Windows 7 beta, but an RC is just as good as retail really, so think I will be switching everything to windows 7. Hopefully technet users get indiffinet use of it.

I guess you are refferring to a single EQ2 process? I was referring to multiboxing 6 copies of EQ2 on one machine, each copy needs its own core for best performance, so 6 boxing = 6 cores ideally. 6 copies of EQ2 throttles a core 2 quad chip, I'm sure it performs much better on the i7 though.

[Frosty]

I guess you are refferring to a single EQ2 process? I was referring to multiboxing 6 copies of EQ2 on one machine, each copy needs its own core for best performance, so 6 boxing = 6 cores ideally. 6 copies of EQ2 throttles a core 2 quad chip, I'm sure it performs much better on the i7 though.

I'm 6 boxing all on one machine and I have them all set to use all 4 cores each. I tried seperating them out, but it didn't seem to make a difference. It ran fine either way with my master running at almost max graphic settings..usually 30-60fps.

That being said, I have a dual-core system that won't even run one copy of the game. But it's a laptop with a crappy video card too. :P

[kazxex]

Frosty, what screen resolution do you run the clones at? and the main?

[mesmerise]

intel I7 920 with 6 gigs ( will probably push to 12 soon )and some 4870 1gig with vista 64 with a 24" wide screen, 5 characters on this computer with innerspace/ISboxer toolkit

Main window is 1280x780

2 windows with 640x600, i have set spell icons size larger then i see what i hit ;p

the 2 last are 640x420 ( starting to be small ;o ), same icons size larger so i can see them

i need to test the rollover from innerspace ;o

and the last character is alone on another computer ( if i would 6 on the same screen i should buy some glasses too lol )

[Frosty]

Frosty, what screen resolution do you run the clones at? and the main?

I think they are all set to 1024x768 in the game options. BUT, my monitor is some crazy wide-screen format, so I'm not 100% sure what it's set to via WindowSnapper.
I've also got the symlink or whatever it's called in ISBoxer so each accounts can keep their own settings.
So even though the window is set to 1024x768, the follower windows are rendered at a much lower resolution, and almost everything turned off or down.

I'm also limiting the follower min-max FPS to something like 12-20.

[Frosty]

Did ya make it in game yet Moosejaw? I'm not sure I have your right toon /friended =P

I'm on Uhmono though..if ya see me....and I'm not afk.

[moosejaw]

I was on for a short time last night and the hardware improvements are amazing. I am not overclocking anything although I do have the new Zalman monster copper heatsink (the 9900) and it dwarfs my older 9500 heatsink (which is destined for an older P4). Processor temps were holding in the 40-50c range and there wasn't any stuttering or any funny business going on. Running the graphics settings up to balanced had minimal effect on fps.

I tried with hyperthreading enabled, and all instances over all cores, with good results except that the main will shift all its load to the last core. This is behavior I saw with the Q6600 also except that the last processor core was always maxed out on the Q6600. I tried to make the main only use the first 4 threads and the behavior stayed the same, the last core/thread assigned got all the load. I then disabled hyperthreading and released the main to use all cores again but the behavior remains. At least with hyperthreading disabled the overall load balance isn't too lopsided. Keeping a relative balance across all cores should help with processor life as I am sure a hight Delta T between cores can't be healthy in the long run.

Addressing the ram issue, I have 6gb installed and only had 4.5 gb commit in task manager with all 6 instances running. The slaves were turned down on everything and the main had solo type settings for sound/video/etc. I am using the Windows 7 beta and I will install the RC when it becomes available next week. Hopefully M$oft will allow RC direct upgrades to final release this time /crosses fingers.

Still having problems with the HTPC. My tuner cards (Hauppauge HVR-1600's) have Vista drivers and are recognized but my ATSC (ota digital) tuner refuses to function. The analog tuner works but I don't need that. I want my tv back!!!! ;(