X2, how I love you so!

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Retro_X

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This might be a lame thread, delete if so, but I thought maybe we all could post our experiences, loves and joy that comes from out Dual Core AMD CPUs.

I am technically in love with my X2 at the moment, I can now enjoy my CSS games at full 100+ FPS online. So now I can 'own' people without experiencing any lag. There are times when I work early in the morning, the time my anti-virus scan kicks in. Lo-an' behold I feel no performance hit, why? Because of dual core baby!!

I've gone through Task Manager and set each program to the core I wanted it to, most of my games will run on Core #2 and most windows apps will run on Core #1. I came from an AMD Athlon 64 3000+, it held on for a long time and I'm very proud of it. I am now the owner of a brand new AMD 64 X2 4200+ that's currently running at 2.4ghz :D

I would love to hear other people's experiences with their X2 CPUs. Especially you, MJCFromCT :p
 
Is assigning tasks to certain cores really neccessary or beneficial in any way?
 
My 3800+ x2 has been very nice to me. Photoshop rendering was the first thing that made my face go :eek: Followed by video encoding, I get a constant 160ish fps in CS:S which is always nice. They are nice cpu's no doubt.
 
Retro_X said:
There are times when I work early in the morning, the time my anti-virus scan kicks in.
Click to expand...

I still have my tuesday WoW sesions where I forget my my antivirus turns on, lagtacular, usually I dont even think of the antivirus and just write if off as wow being laggy, then when I close wow, I see that my comp did a scan.
 
joemama said:
Is assigning tasks to certain cores really neccessary or beneficial in any way?
Click to expand...

no. not unless your game has problems, in which case you can assign a core. otherwise its worthless.
 
Retro_X said:
I've gone through Task Manager and set each program to the core I wanted it to, most of my games will run on Core #2 and most windows apps will run on Core #1.
Click to expand...

This is a waste of your time.
 
Retro_X said:
This might be a lame thread, delete if so, but I thought maybe we all could post our experiences, loves and joy that comes from out Dual Core AMD CPUs.

I am technically in love with my X2 at the moment, I can now enjoy my CSS games at full 100+ FPS online. So now I can 'own' people without experiencing any lag. There are times when I work early in the morning, the time my anti-virus scan kicks in. Lo-an' behold I feel no performance hit, why? Because of dual core baby!!

I've gone through Task Manager and set each program to the core I wanted it to, most of my games will run on Core #2 and most windows apps will run on Core #1. I came from an AMD Athlon 64 3000+, it held on for a long time and I'm very proud of it. I am now the owner of a brand new AMD 64 X2 4200+ that's currently running at 2.4ghz :D

I would love to hear other people's experiences with their X2 CPUs. Especially you, MJCFromCT :p
Click to expand...

You sound like a rep from AMD lol. Anyways, I have an AM2 motherboard and I've been thinking about dropping in an X2 3800+ so this thread helps. Thx.
 
What this "fix" i hear about that you need to install for DC AMD's with XP running?
 
I have one sitting at home right now... in the box it came it... with all the rest of my stuff that i got with it (7900gt, m2n-e, 400gb of hd, etc)... but unfortunitly I am working 3 hours away and will not be home till sunday....
 
Retro_X said:
lol :p

Meh, I have time on my hands. ;)
Click to expand...

I dont think you get it. this is done automatically for you. You have absolutely no reason to do it. This would be akin to you setting the time on your clock every minute manually.
 
You guys that can run multiple things including encoding and games, etc. at the same time and having no slow downs are you using the nforce4 SW IDE drivers or no? Reason i ask is because i noticed that if i don't install it as i didn't on my latest Windows XP install that apps run faster including OS boot time BUT if anything uses the hard drive heavily my whole OS seems well not snappy at all. Even when i went to dual core i still have the same issue. And yes i installed the hotfix, dual core fixes, etc.
 
joemama said:
Is assigning tasks to certain cores really neccessary or beneficial in any way?
Click to expand...

Wow I didn't even know you could assign tasks. How is this done?

I currently have a X2 4400 OCed to 4800... had zero problems and multitask like a mofo on it.

I usually have the following running 24/7.

Vent
X-fire
Trillian Pro
HLSW
Firefox with several tabs open.
and when my screen saver is on i donate my CPU to SETI@home.
 
I have a 4400+ X2 as well and yes i love it as well. Can i just ask Dukefrukem something - do you use watercooling or normal fans? I want to overclock mine but not sure on how to go about it. I have the ai booster thing that tells you your temps and have played around with the overclocking settings which made my screen blue and restarted my comp but yeh has anyone really used ai booster before and could they tell me the best way to go about it (i use standard fans as well by the way) and currently its still at the stock rate of 2200mhz
 
AY786 said:
I have a 4400+ X2 as well and yes i love it as well. Can i just ask Dukefrukem something - do you use watercooling or normal fans? I want to overclock mine but not sure on how to go about it. I have the ai booster thing that tells you your temps and have played around with the overclocking settings which made my screen blue and restarted my comp but yeh has anyone really used ai booster before and could they tell me the best way to go about it (i use standard fans as well by the way) and currently its still at the stock rate of 2200mhz
Click to expand...

I have air cooled, but aftermarket Big Typhoon cooler...

I had a watercooler Koolance system but I sold it to buy my HD-TV.

It also depends on the mobo you have. I have the DFI Expert, and overlocking that sucker is really tricky. You need to keep adjusting voltages and values until it runs stable... but even when I OC im still Idling around 38-40C which is acceptable esp for air cooled.
 
When I had an Opty 165 I really enjoyed it. Running multiple virus scans and what not and still being able to surf and junk was great.
 
Dukefrukem said:
Wow I didn't even know you could assign tasks. How is this done?

I currently have a X2 4400 OCed to 4800... had zero problems and multitask like a mofo on it.

I usually have the following running 24/7.

Vent
X-fire
Trillian Pro
HLSW
Firefox with several tabs open.
and when my screen saver is on i donate my CPU to SETI@home.
Click to expand...


again; unless you are having problems running a game, there is absolutely no reason you should be assigning things yourself. Its a waste of time.
 
Tazman2 said:
You guys that can run multiple things including encoding and games, etc. at the same time and having no slow downs are you using the nforce4 SW IDE drivers or no? Reason i ask is because i noticed that if i don't install it as i didn't on my latest Windows XP install that apps run faster including OS boot time BUT if anything uses the hard drive heavily my whole OS seems well not snappy at all. Even when i went to dual core i still have the same issue. And yes i installed the hotfix, dual core fixes, etc.
Click to expand...

Get another hard drive and split the most commonly used apps between them. You might have 2 cores, but remember the hard drive can only do so much at once, that limitation cant be negated by adding cores, you must add drives. If you know you commonly do things like run photoshop while encoding video, put those programs on different drives.
 
Tutelary said:
no. not unless your game has problems, in which case you can assign a core. otherwise its worthless.
Click to expand...
I guess it depends on how you define worthless... I always understood - worthless meant to have no value what so ever.

setting affinity is useful if you want to run two folding clients on one system :cool:

you should never assign ANY Windows system processes a Core/CPU affinity, it can/will cause instability/lock ups/BSOD...not to mention gray and/or loss of hair, in addition to threats of bodily injury to MS employess and such which can and will be used against you in a court of law :p

You are absolutely correct Tutelary
Tutelary said:
Get another hard drive and split the most commonly used apps between them. You might have 2 cores, but remember the hard drive can only do so much at once, that limitation cant be negated by adding cores,
Click to expand...
you can take steps to alieviate any bottleneck and added waits while data is written/read or pagefile is accessed, it will not be entirely removed under current available storage devices and their controllers (not counting the many other issues that can and do cause a performance hit/slow down to occur). 2-cores means you can multi-task more smoothly, but also means you should re-examine your set up and how you will be using it.

I use 3 separtate HDD's

1 - C: which has my OS (thats it)
2 - D: Applications - Office/photoediting/games/burning software etc desktop apps generally
3 - E: Applications/Data - Video-audio encoding/multi-track recording -Pro-Tools, storage of my MP3's and video files.

and oh yeah... I Love My 4400
 
Dukefrukem said:
It also depends on the mobo you have. I have the DFI Expert, and overlocking that sucker is really tricky. You need to keep adjusting voltages and values until it runs stable...
Click to expand...

Umm what motherboard don't you have to adjust voltage and other settings? Its the same for EVERY motherboard but the DFI's just happen to have alot of other settings especially in the memory section that you can tweak even more BUT you can leave them on auto and it'd be like any other motherboard without them! :)
 
Its so nice to be encoding a DVD with DVD shrink or something, AND be able to open firefox or, dare I say it, change the song in winamp!!

Seems just as fast to me, but mult-cpu is a godsend.
 
HighwayAssassins said:
Its so nice to be encoding a DVD with DVD shrink or something, AND be able to open firefox or, dare I say it, change the song in winamp!!
Click to expand...

LOL a regular single core can open up firefox and run that big 3 meg winamp program ontop of using dvd shrink as i used to do all the time before i got my x2 recently! ;)
 
Tazman2 said:
LOL a regular single core can open up firefox and run that big 3 meg winamp program ontop of using dvd shrink as i used to do all the time before i got my x2 recently! ;)
Click to expand...
yea, but you had to wait about 2 minutes before that shit went through. (if you dont pause DVD shrink)
 
HighwayAssassins said:
yea, but you had to wait about 2 minutes before that shit went through. (if you dont pause DVD shrink)
Click to expand...

Really? I didn't. You sure you weren't running a 386 SX 16 when you tried this?! :p
 
Retro_X said:
This might be a lame thread, delete if so...
Click to expand...

Wow. It sounds awesome. I cant wait until I can upgrade my 64 3200+.

I should be able to get the cheapest X2 and still see a performance increase right?
 
Tutelary said:
I dont think you get it. this is done automatically for you. You have absolutely no reason to do it. This would be akin to you setting the time on your clock every minute manually.
Click to expand...
I don't think you get it. I want to be in control, I want to assign what program uses what core when I do something specific. Setting your clock every minute and changing Affinity are two totally different things. :)
 
HighwayAssassins said:
3000+ @ 2.2. Rest of system is in my sig.
Click to expand...

Then clearly something was wrong with your setup/settings because at most it'd take 10-15 seconds to load ie/firefox while running winamp which takes NO cpu time what so ever and dvd shrink in the background as well! :)
 
Retro_X said:
I don't think you get it. I want to be in control, I want to assign what program uses what core when I do something specific. Setting your clock every minute and changing Affinity are two totally different things. :)
Click to expand...

I was right, and you still dont get it.
 
AY786 said:
I have a 4400+ X2 as well and yes i love it as well. Can i just ask Dukefrukem something - do you use watercooling or normal fans? I want to overclock mine but not sure on how to go about it. I have the ai booster thing that tells you your temps and have played around with the overclocking settings which made my screen blue and restarted my comp but yeh has anyone really used ai booster before and could they tell me the best way to go about it (i use standard fans as well by the way) and currently its still at the stock rate of 2200mhz
Click to expand...
I found that AI booster only works well if you use the presets (up to %10) but for some reason if you try to up the HTT/v-core in windows using this thing it gets really unstable. I only use it to quickly check my temp/clockspeed and lock in oc settings in the bios.
 
Awsome to hear. I just order a 4200+ to replace my 3000+, so this weekend I'll be enjoying that.
 
Tazman2 said:
Umm what motherboard don't you have to adjust voltage and other settings? Its the same for EVERY motherboard but the DFI's just happen to have alot of other settings especially in the memory section that you can tweak even more BUT you can leave them on auto and it'd be like any other motherboard without them! :)
Click to expand...

My experience with the DFI nF4 board I'm using is that it's extremely picky about memory and everything has to be just right for it to be rock solid. I think I've had 3 different pairs of memory sticks in the board and each one was a tricky to get just right. I haven't had that experience with other boards.

Maybe it's just the OCZ RAM I've used, dunno.
 
My X2 3800+ continues to purr along at 2.61ghz and the improvement over my old 3200+ Winnie is definately noticeable. I love dual core... :D
 
Tutelary said:
I was right, and you still dont get it.
Click to expand...
What the fuck is your pproblem? Why do you care so much if I want to set which app uses which core? Get the hell out of my thread please.

You are not right, you were never right.
 
I'll just chime in with why not get a dual core? I have a x2 3800 & x2 4200, both folding 24/7 at 2.7ghz. The 3800 is also a htpc, family rig, some gaming, never a hiccup. With the price drops it's pretty easy to upgrade now.
 
Retro_X said:
You are not right, you were never right.
Click to expand...

the OS doesnt need you to part out cores to tasks, it will schedule threads more evenly itself, automatically, between cores. You're defeating optimization by being stupid. Have fun being dense.
 
brentsg said:
My experience with the DFI nF4 board I'm using is that it's extremely picky about memory and everything has to be just right for it to be rock solid. I think I've had 3 different pairs of memory sticks in the board and each one was a tricky to get just right. I haven't had that experience with other boards.

Maybe it's just the OCZ RAM I've used, dunno.
Click to expand...

Well i think the reason for that being as i explained in another thread with a user who upgraded their bios for SOME unknown reason and is having new issues with his ram is that DFI bioses come with a -1, -2, or -3 at the end of the bios filename because the bioses themselves are more specific for a certain type of ram. Then theires the different memory table versions, etc. In my case i poked around to find a test with my exact ram and i got almost perfect timing settings and exact bios version to get and have been very happy! Strangely i had a friend get a DFI board awhile ago and was afraid of this exact problem as he bought some OCZ ram but he has not had any issues but then again maybe the bios version that came with it was more or less for his type of ram.
 
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