Dual CPU or 64 bit for gaming

[sswingle]

I don't know if this has been covered before or not, sorry if it has.

Basically, if you were going to build a high end gaming system today, would you make it dual CPU or would you make it 64 bit. I feel that the industry is going to move towards optimizations for 64 bit cpus than for dual cpu enviroments. What games out there currently even support dual CPU? Am I right in thinking its only a couple? What does everyone else think?

 

[Mingon]

Interesting question, I would personally say.....both but as Intel introduced HT it means more programs will potentially become smp aware, but whats to say intel havent already included 64bit instructions into their prescott design 'just in case'.

 

[daniel1113]

Originally posted by: pwddesign
I don't know if this has been covered before or not, sorry if it has.

Basically, if you were going to build a high end gaming system today, would you make it dual CPU or would you make it 64 bit. I feel that the industry is going to move towards optimizations for 64 bit cpus than for dual cpu enviroments. What games out there currently even support dual CPU? Am I right in thinking its only a couple? What does everyone else think?

I don't know of a single game the utilizes two processors, much less a 64-bit processor. I would purchase a somewhat fast processor (2.4 Ghz or so) and then get a Radeon 9800 XT.

 

[MrEgo]

Last year, I ignorantly purchased a dual Athlon MP 1900+ rig strictly for gaming. I found out the hard way, that a SINGLE Athlon XP 1900+ actually plays my games with a higher frame rate than the dual rig did. I think Unreal 2004 is it...that is going to be the first one to utilize 64-bit processing? So basically 64-bit RIGHT NOW will not help you out either. However, even in 32-bit mode, the Athlon 64 seems to have the highest framerates out of all CPUS, excluding the FX. So mainly, just get a single CPU....and whether or not you get an Athlon 64 is up to you. Other CPU's will do just fine.

 

[sswingle]

I realize there are no 64 bit games out there either. I guess I was also asking, what will developers start using more of first.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

As you indicate building it "today" an overclocked P4C or A64 3200+ would both be excellent CPU choices for a high end gaming system. Regardless of what features are supported faster or more extensively, the benefits are still relatively far off in technology terms, and thus irrelevant. HT is already very impressive for multitasking so if you need high productivity and have only 1 system a P4C is a great choice, if you can ante up for the 3200+64 system and simply desire the best overall gaming capabilties or other tasks that play to the A64's strengths then it's a great choice too.

 

[JammingJay]

Originally posted by: pwddesign
I realize there are no 64 bit games out there either. I guess I was also asking, what will developers start using more of first.

No way programmers will start developing games for true dual cpus anytime soon. The market is rediculously small for people who have dual cpu systems so likely they will develop first for 64bit gaming. If you're building a system right now, I agree with most people here. Just get a P4 2.4c or a Barton 2500+ with a fast gpu.

 

[chsh1ca]

Originally posted by: JammingJay
No way programmers will start developing games for true dual cpus anytime soon. The market is rediculously small for people who have dual cpu systems so likely they will develop first for 64bit gaming. If you're building a system right now, I agree with most people here. Just get a P4 2.4c or a Barton 2500+ with a fast gpu.

The market of HT processors is growing, which means that developers will take advantage of multithreading their games, as it will improve performance a lot, and give them more processing power to play with. DP systems will be really kickass in the coming years. The market of x86-64 processors is smaller than that of DP systems, but I think you'll find developers will move towards both types of processor since both offer performance advantages (Double registers on x86-64 on a 64-bit OS, and double procs on a P4 w/HT).

 

[JeremiahTheGreat]

Programming for multiple threads is a ... @##$@! Not many game developers would want to take 50% more time programming a game, when a single CPU would more than likely be able to handle the job.

 

[alexruiz]

Originally posted by: JeremiahTheGreat
Programming for multiple threads is a ... @##$@! Not many game developers would want to take 50% more time programming a game, when a single CPU would more than likely be able to handle the job.

Good point! The valve designers made that statement quite clear "coding for 64 bits is a straight shot, coding for HT requires alot of code maintenance...."

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: daniel1113

Originally posted by: pwddesign
I don't know if this has been covered before or not, sorry if it has.

Basically, if you were going to build a high end gaming system today, would you make it dual CPU or would you make it 64 bit. I feel that the industry is going to move towards optimizations for 64 bit cpus than for dual cpu enviroments. What games out there currently even support dual CPU? Am I right in thinking its only a couple? What does everyone else think?

I don't know of a single game the utilizes two processors, much less a 64-bit processor. I would purchase a somewhat fast processor (2.4 Ghz or so) and then get a Radeon 9800 XT.

Star Wars Galaxies, Planetside, and All games based on the DoomIII engine (in the future), and EQ2 are Multithread capable.

 

[Jeff7181]

I'd go with 64-bit because the cost of having dual processors would be too great. However... with HyperThreading, P4's can sorta act like dual processors...

 

[mrgoblin]

Id go with not bothering unless you want to encode videos while hl2 beta'ing.