Quad vs Dual Optimizations

[speckedhoncho]

I vaguely remember HL2, BF2, and Oblivion having optimizations but I can't say for certain.

But is going quad right now worth it if games only take advantage of dual-core?

Considering the increasing amount of physics in games, it makes sense to independently process as much as energy transfers and motion projections as possible in order to ready future frame draw. But do games today take advantage of this?

 

[myocardia]

Games today only take advantage of two cores. Supreme Commander was hyped as being able to utilize quad cores, but it doesn't, really. It uses very little of the third core, and none of the fourth core. But, don't let that keep you from buying a quad core, especially seeing how long you go between new builds.

Plus, at least three new games coming out pretty soon are coded to fully utilize quads-- Crysis, Quake Wars, and Allan Wake, and more will follow in the future.

 

[SilentAssassin]

I think Lost Planet is actually one of the few games that has some really nice quad core optimizations. Check this out:
http://www.hardspell.com/engli...wcont.asp?news_id=1355

With a 8800GTX, 4ghz Duo = 80fps, 4Ghz Quad = 129fps. That's huge.
Even the non overclocked quad still beat the duo at 84fps.

I think the results speak for themselves. If the game is optimized for it, quad core has some nice performance improvements. With the current price of the Q6600 there's no reason not to get it over the duo. Orange Box, UT3, Crysis, ect are all going to see nice benefits from quad core vs dual core. Throw a nice third party cooler on the quad and overclock it and your ready to rock.

 

[speckedhoncho]

I think I'll miss out if I get the E6850 instead of the Q6xxx.

 

[George Powell]

Originally posted by: SilentAssassin
I think Lost Planet is actually one of the few games that has some really nice quad core optimizations. Check this out:
http://www.hardspell.com/engli...wcont.asp?news_id=1355

With a 8800GTX, 4ghz Duo = 80fps, 4Ghz Quad = 129fps. That's huge.
Even the non overclocked quad still beat the duo at 84fps.

I think the results speak for themselves. If the game is optimized for it, quad core has some nice performance improvements. With the current price of the Q6600 there's no reason not to get it over the duo. Orange Box, UT3, Crysis, ect are all going to see nice benefits from quad core vs dual core. Throw a nice third party cooler on the quad and overclock it and your ready to rock.

It also shows there is little point in a Quad for games unless you have a high end graphics card.

 

[Laminator]

Doesn't Microsoft's specifications call for new games to support a theoretically unlimited number of cores? I'm guessing quad-cores will become more and more utilized as time goes on. Plus, Intel just bought Havok. If you're debating whether to get a dual- or quad-core, get the quad-core.

 

[aka1nas]

Originally posted by: Laminator
Doesn't Microsoft's specifications call for new games to support a theoretically unlimited number of cores? I'm guessing quad-cores will become more and more utilized as time goes on. Plus, Intel just bought Havok. If you're debating whether to get a dual- or quad-core, get the quad-core.

I'm pretty sure Games For Windows doesn't specify anything about multi-core support.