Quads making a bigger impact in gaming as ATI & NVIDIA write multithreade drivers

[Tempered81]

Nvidia was first, and now ATi is catching up. You can see some major improvements in gaming framerates just by switching to a quad core cpu & using the newest drivers...

180xxx for Nvidia, and 9.xxx for ATi.

http://www.behardware.com/news...catalyst-9-1-quad.html

 

[stipalgl]

Very cool. I was reading about this the other day elsewhere. Surprised it's taking this long for the news to travel.

 

[imported_Scoop]

Too bad I don't game at 800x600 so I won't benefit.

 

[Grinja]

I read somewhere that DX11 will have better multi-threaded support, does that mean that a quad core may end up faster for DX11 titles?

 

[Idontcare]

Originally posted by: Scoop
Too bad I don't game at 800x600 so I won't benefit.

:laugh:

 

[sgrinavi]

Originally posted by: Scoop
Too bad I don't game at 800x600 so I won't benefit.

whatever

In both cases, the tests were carried out at a res of 800*600 so as to limit the impact of the graphics card and concentrate on processor limitation, at high settings however so as to maximise processor load.

 

[Assimilator1]

Cool news, although this will only benefit games where they are CPU limited even at high res.
Thanks for heads up anyway .

Originally posted by: Scoop
Too bad I don't game at 800x600 so I won't benefit.

They test at that resolution so the graphics card doesn't hold things back, giving the drivers the chance to show any improvments .

 

[soccerballtux]

Sounds good. When I upgrade to quad core I will have even LESS reason to move to a new architecture. Upgrade graphics card for life baby!

 

[ArchAngel777]

This is a good news, but I am not totally convinced of these results yet. They don't benchmark with the older drivers so the *only* thing I can conclude at face value is that that the Q9650 is faster than the E8400, which could be for a multiple of reasons

1) The Q9650 is faster clock for clock, core for core than E8400 (This isn't true, I know that, but the test would leave this open to debate).
2) The game engine could be the reason for this
3) The drivers could be the reason for this

So until someone tests with pre 180 drivers and compares the results, we have no way of knowing if the drivers are responsable for the performance increase and if so, then do they really only improve the scores on Quad Cores, or both dual core and quad alike.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Limited scope, false assumptions and poor conclusion .... see the previous article

According to Intel, 25 to 40% of the CPU load in a game is linked to Direct3D and the graphics driver.

At best, Vista/DX10 does a better job of 'load-balancing' - 25% of an e8400 is a lot less than 25% of a Q9650 - and better utilizes the 12MB of cache of the Q9650.

And check out Vista/DX9 results versus Vista/DX10 with NEW SUPER DUPER MULTITHREAD QUAD-CORE DRIVERS.

:laugh:

Sorry ... maybe I'm not seeing something but this is just garbage ...

 

[Tempered81]

Originally posted by: heyheybooboo
[bunch of garbage]
:laugh:

Sorry ... maybe I'm not seeing something but this is just garbage ...

Ah, well okay. Thanks for your opinion.

 

[Cabages]

So...if your gaming and dont want to spend ~$320 for a quad clocked to the same ghz as a ~$170 processor, go for the dual?

Are there supposed to be more improvements on the way for quads?

Actually pretty disappointed.

 

[tno]

I gotta side with booboo here. The article was hardly conclusive, largely because of the variables that were not tested. Like he said, what can be deduced from this article is that a quad core chip can produce better performance than a dual core ship. It doesn't prove that the reason for the improvement is the new drivers.

It's a given that, as quad cores become more prevalent, programmers will provide more threading for their products. An this will be true at the driver level and game level and OS level. Does this mean that we should all run out and buy a Q8200 because it has twice the cores as an E8500? No. The quad's slower clock rate and limited usefulness in the gaming arena will hamper it compared to the dual's clock rate. Does this mean that we should all expect to buy a quad the next big upgrade? Sure, so long as the price is right and the proc is the right fit.

tno

Originally posted by: jaredpace

Originally posted by: heyheybooboo
[bunch of garbage]
:laugh:

Sorry ... maybe I'm not seeing something but this is just garbage ...

Ah, well okay. Thanks for your opinion.

 

[chizow]

Certainly interesting, although I'd agree their results are far from conclusive. It would help to explain some of the advancements with recent driver releases and confirm some suspicions I had about the driver controlling/limiting FPS. Also, the latest 8.12 Catalyst Hot Fix specifically mentions improvements in performance in DX10 with multi-core CPU, so it looks as if there is some validity to this:

Catalyst 8.12 Hot Fix

• Improves DirectX10 performance in various applications in multi-core CPU systems
• Resolves BSOD issues using dual ATI Radeon HD 4850 in CrossFireX configurations.

 

[Assimilator1]

Originally posted by: tno
I gotta side with booboo here. The article was hardly conclusive, largely because of the variables that were not tested. Like he said, what can be deduced from this article is that a quad core chip can produce better performance than a dual core ship. It doesn't prove that the reason for the improvement is the new drivers.

It's a given that, as quad cores become more prevalent, programmers will provide more threading for their products. An this will be true at the driver level and game level and OS level. Does this mean that we should all run out and buy a Q8200 because it has twice the cores as an E8500? No. The quad's slower clock rate and limited usefulness in the gaming arena will hamper it compared to the dual's clock rate. Does this mean that we should all expect to buy a quad the next big upgrade? Sure, so long as the price is right and the proc is the right fit.

tno.

Hmm, I don't know, maybe I just didn't read it properly but don't those numbers show a bigger increase from dual to quad in the latter drivers?, in Crysis at least.

I agree though that it isn't a good reason to buy a qaud on those grounds, they need to test far more games & have many significant positive results for that.

Quads rule for DC though .