What benefits DF the most?

[Terrahawk]

Processor speed or memory speed (latency / bandwidth)?

I have an Athlon XP 1600+ here that does 3.28 folds/sec on average, and an Athlon XP 1700+ that does 2.98 folds/sec on average. The 1600 is running on a Via KT333 chipset with CAS2 PC2100 DDR SDRAM, and the 1700 is running on an AMD 760 chipset with CAS2.5 PC2100 DDR.

So far, it would seem that DF likes RAM speed (probably latency) over raw CPU speed...

Anyone any ideas?

 

[Insidious]

In my (totally un scientific) experimentation, it seems like the CPU speed was having the biggest effect.

When I was on the Athys (factory unlocked) I got to mess with multiplier vs. FSB to arrive at the same final speed (1.567GHz)

The difference was negligible, DF seemed to be relying upon the FPU more than upon memory bandwidth.

I think that's why the AMD procs. are able to keep up with the P4s. (my present setup: AXP @ 1.775) out-crunches my buddies' P4 2.4 (@stock)

{nooooo, I didn't rub his nose in it MUHaHaHahahaha}

the 1700 is running on an AMD 760 chipset

I think you are seeing the mp effect here. While you can multi-thread for better overall results, each comp is a little slower than non-dual setups.
(This is why, for most gamers intent on the utter max FPS, the mp solution is not the best)

 

[Terrahawk]

Most interesting point, Sid... the FPU! That would certainly point to CPU speed being the main factor, as you say. I find it quite curious that you've managed to get same speeds and different multipliers to have negligible effects. I must have a play some time.

The AMD 760 chipset I have here is on a single processor motherboard, a Gigabyte GA-7DX+. Its raw bandwidth is less than that of the KT333 but I am not so sure on the memory latencies.

 

[Insidious]

I'm on ABit KG7-Raid here. It's the hybrid AMD761:Via 686 chipset.

Not the best overclocker, but it has been a pleasant board to work with.

 

[Terrahawk]

Ah yeah the KG7 - I've heard that it's a very convenient board to work with. I was going to get myself a 7DX+ (they're a 761 and Via 686 hybrid too) but they'd all sold out. The AMD chipset wasn't anywhere near the state of the art when I was going to get it but I was going for it because of the sheel lack of trouble most people have with it. But I ended up with a 7VRX instead.

Mind you, I don't think I have ever had a Via chipset board give me any real trouble either.

With regards to overclocking... my AXP 1600 will quite happily do 1.6 GHz but it's not unlocked yet. The RAM won't keep up

 

[Assimilator1]

I'm at the same position with my XP1600 ,though I did have it unlocked for a while (my bridges failed) & I managed to get it to 1.75Ghz without a voltage increase.I've yet to find its limit ! ,I'm gonna try unlocking it yet again after Xmas sometime.

Re AMD760 vs VIA ,I know when VIA released the KT266a Anandtech did a review comparing them the 266a chipset had much lower latency & higher bandwidth than the 760 ,so the KT333 will be better still.
I've no real idea how much DF is affected by memory performance (though I thought it was like SETI ,likes high bandwidth & low latency,I could be wrong).
What will really makes quite a big difference between the 2 rigs is that the AMD760 is running with the RAM at CAS2.5 ,running at CAS2 will boost memory performance by around 10%.

Won't that RAM run at CAS2?

 

[Terrahawk]

I'll try it out at CAS 2... don't give much hope for it though

 

[Assimilator1]

Good luck

 

[m0ti]

As far as I know RAM is more important though the CPU is also important. Don't know the relation between them.

Most of the code is 32bit pointer traversal so that's why bandwidth/latency is important.

According to Howard, Alphas do the best (by a wide margin) on DF.

 

[Robor]

Originally posted by: TerrahawkWhat benefits DF the most?

I think they run faster under my handle. Want to try that?

 

[Insidious]

Originally posted by: Robor

Originally posted by: TerrahawkWhat benefits DF the most?

I think they run faster under my handle. Want to try that?

ROFL

 

[Terrahawk]

Originally posted by: Robor

Originally posted by: TerrahawkWhat benefits DF the most?

I think they run faster under my handle. Want to try that?

Yeah, okay!

I've got this 80486 with 16,777,216 bytes of Fast Page memory (as opposed to that outdated slow page stuff). Its internal clock operates at a whopping 33,000 kilocycles per second. Should be good, aye? Beats a 386!