Dual core - optimizing performance

Hi,

One of my frustrations with SL is switching back and forth between SL and, for example, the web. I have dual monitors and usually run SL in one and my browser in the other. My computer works pretty hard (mostly the hard drive) and it is usually painfully slow to swap between the two.

I have a P4 2.8 GHz, 1 GB Ram, eGeforce 7600GS (256MB) and a snappy internet connection.

Would it improve my performance significantly if I got a new machine with 2GB of memory and a dual core processor? Can you assign one core to SL and the second core to your browser?


Or, should I just increase the memory in my existing machine to 2 (or 4) GB?

Thanks,

Doug

I recently upgraded to a dual core CPU. Before the upgrade, my CPU was pretty much 100% all the time if SL was running and not minimized. Now, it uses maybe 50% or so of the total CPU. If you're going to multi-task on a machine running SL, I think dual-core would probably help you a lot.

1GB is a little low for running SL and other things at the same time, especially if the web pages you visit have a lot of Flash stuff or, dog forbid, java. Your best bet for a quick fix is probably to upgrade to 2GB now.

You might find it runs a bit more stable if you assign your SL viewer to one core usng something like WinlauncherXP. I found that the viewer had a tendency to crash on dual core systems but that was a while ago and I've since got in the habit of using it. Maybe it runs better on the Core Duo CPU's.

He's only got one core now..

The dual core stuff has been working very well for me. Haven't had to screw around with processor affinity or any of that carp.

I upgraded to a dual core recently and it is great. I started out with 1G of memery though and that was not enough. Upgraded to 2 and things are superb.

You said you run on two monitors. I word of caution (sorry if you already know this). I did that for a little while with no trouble and then one day my avatar turned black (no texture) and no texture would stick. No skin, no clothes, nothing. I had a head for awhile but eventually that disappeared too. After several hours with tech support somone realized I was running dual monitors and they told me that SL NEEDS to run on the first. I moved it back and several cache clearings later I finally got it all cleared up, though it took forever to get eyes to stay in again. (Eyeless avatars are a scary thing, trust me)

I run on 2 monitors as well and hand that happen even though I keep SL running on the 1st at all times, so it may have been buggy either way. It fixed the same way you did, with relogs, cache clearning, rebaking etc. Was also fixed if I put on a different skin, for a while. All seems well now at least, poor abused avies.

sl can run on any of your screens really excepted that like some other 3d apps it won't work properly if you drag it out of the display it started on.

sl can run on any of your screens really excepted that like some other 3d apps it won't work properly if you drag it out of the display it started on.

Also for SL 100% cpu is normal behavior, on dual cores it will be 50 ish because SL cannot split on both cores so it use one at 100%

You definatly need a CPU upgrade. a P4 2.8 is a very poor gaming CPU ( in hardware terms SL is a Game ) and the main reason for your system bottlenecking.

As such going dual core and 2 gig of ram will be a very good upgrade and worthwhile.

Nor me, I wonder if a lot of the problems where NF4 boards with X2 processors and NF4 isn't the best when it comes to dual core support.

Hmm actually I found starting it on the main digital monitor and then dragging it across to the other worked ok to clear the black texture problem
And funny enough I am having more problems now switching between the 2 monitors with the 8800GTS than the 7600 (which was fine other than cooking because it had no fan)

I run SL on a dual core pentium (forced to dual core, SL still prefers only one core, but with the forcing, neither core runs at more than 53%) with priority in the high end of the save range, and dual GPUs (force split screen rendering). I messed around with the settings until I found this combination produced the most stability and highest framerates. The result is infrequent crashes (about once a week, and usually because I'm doing something stupid like running blender at the same time), and framerates that average around 58fps with 260fps in a completely empty region and 22 fps in a full sim (40 avatars).

Needless to say, I'm hyped.

Kam

You don't need a new CPU; you need more memory. I use a P4 2.8 with 2G and the same video card you have and I can switch between SL, browsing and Photoshop no problem.

If you're happy with the performance of SL on your current machine just upgrade the memory. If you get a new machine, you'll still need 2G, dual core or not.

More memory usually is more of a benefit then a faster cpu, so i'd recommend memory as well. This doesn't necessarily mean though that the memory you'd buy for your p4 computer would also work on a newer dual core machine!!!

On the other hand: a dual core cpu certainly will not hurt in terms of running multiple programs at the same time, but with too few memory, swapping will still be an issue (resulting in slower "changing" between the two programmes)

I have mixed feelings on this.

Senario:

My current XP Pro was running on 100% CPU. I was building a new system that came with XP pro, I had exchanged the harddisks to transfer some data from my current system to the new harddisk, when I noticed the new XP booted up. So I installed all my drivers and SL.

SL reported 50% usage on the same computer with this (SL non-minimized with only taskbar running in front, everything max) new XP install. I booted back to my old HD and 100% usage on SL.

So, I'm guessing some tweak or change I did to my old XP might be to blame for 100% usage on SL. Thought this did not change the frame rate at all.

Oh, I'm using an old single core processor so it can't be that. Same computer execpt for SL running on 3 year old XP vs 2 day old XP.

this new computer running at 50 % usage with sl didn't happen to have a cpu with hyperthreading? This would look like a dual core cpu for xp, with the difference that hyperthreading cpu's max out at 50 % (because it's only 1 real cpu but 2 virtual ones for xp), so this could explain the difference in cpu usage... As for framerate: this is usually more related to the graphics card then to the cpu...

it's a complex problem. I have a variety of machines, and my main SL workhorse is a four-core Xeon (Dell 470). I have seen the same problem as the OP mentions, that flipping between SL and a browser can take several seconds: yet, on some other machines with only 1 CPU, or even without hyperthreading, it doesn't take nearly as long.

I think it may be related to overheads with very large disks: my 470 has just on 500 gigs and the SL cache is on the bigger volume, whereas most of the other machines I use are somewhat smaller; my other suspicion is overlapping versions of Java. I've seen machines with three or four Java versions installed and until the older ones are taken off, they run like dogs when the Browser is active.

Never yet seen an XP machine that sits at 100% without having a virus, though!

Hi,

Thanks for all the helpful replies. This is such a great forum. One last question. Is there a significant advantage of 4GB vs 2GB RAM, at least with respect to SL?

I could upgrade my existing computer to 4GB, OR I can actually buy a new dual core box with 2GB (and a better SATA HD) for about the same price . I could then swap over my graphics card to the new box and still have my present machine for other stuff.

I'm pretty sure that a new machine with 2GB is a better move than simply upgrading this box to 4GB but I wasn't sure of the advantages of 4 vs 2 GB memory for SL.

Thanks again for all the wonderful help.

Doug

not much, most windows programs have a max memory allocation of 2Gb
(excepted some specialized 3D programs and video compositing softwares)
So over 3Gb won't give you so much gain unless you are heavily multitasking SL with some other ram gulping programs

I have a pc with the Athlon X2 processor (dual Core). I regularly experience full utilisation of one processor specially when I set the affinity to one cpu. I just thought that the SL client was processor intensive!

Is upgrading your current machine to 2G not an option?

Can you turn off Java in your browser to eliminate that as the culprit?

Hi Anna,

Yes it is, but I currently have all my memory slots filled (4 sticks of 256MB each). As such, I'd have to ditch or sell that and buy two 1GB memory sticks. Or I could remove 2 sticks and buy two 512 MB sticks for a total of 1.5 GB. From what I can tell, two 1 GB sticks will cost me around $200.

I can get a dual core P4 @2.8 GHz with 2GB RAM, an 80GB SATA HD, and a DVD burner for about ~$400, into which I could put my eGeForce 7600. Then I'd also have my existing computer as a backup or for e-mail, etc.

The one limiting feature of the new box is that it can only hold 2 GB max, however from earlier posts it doesn't seem that more than 2 GB is of much additional value for SL.


I'll fiddle around with the Java in Firefox to see if that speeds things up in the mean time.

Thanks for the suggestions,

Doug