64-Bit Servers and Clients Arriving Soon!

Discussion in 'News and Announcements' started by Accendo, Nov 3, 2021.

  1. Cannikin Elder

    Based on CPU usage in task manager, when affinity is set to -1, a single instance of EQ uses 3 threads. 1 core is fully loaded, 2 are partially loaded, and the rest are idle/background.

    Verified these are the EQ tied, as zoning with that single instance immediately drops usage on those 3 cores.
    Xianzu_Monk_Tunare and Jumbur like this.
  2. Jumbur Improved Familiar

    Interesting... Maybe I was wrong about this...:)
    But it could also be the various secondary parts of Windows that controls the OS-subsystems that are used by EQ, that takes up the additional cores. For example the part of DirectX that communicates with the GPU-drivers or Windows systems that handles audio or memory allocation. "EQ tied" does not necessarily means that EQ is in control of those cores or is using them directly.

    Or it could be stuff like GINA that runs on a separate core(if that is running?).

    Maybe a dev can enlighten us. :cool:
  3. theonepercent Augur

    Setting the affinity to -1 isn't making eq run more threads. All it does is give Windows the option of putting different threads on less used cores.

    It looks like EQ uses 4 main threads + a few others for sound, input and graphics.

    With cpuaffinity set to 7 for example all of those threads will be shoved onto core 7 no matter how much stuff is already on it.
    With cpuaffinity set to -1 all the threads will end up on seemingly random cores (though its possible they all get put on the same core anyway.)

    Either way its the exact same number of threads. Without knowing the details of what each thread is actually doing it's hard to say how effective this is for performance if you're only running 1 instance of EQ but from my experience with only 1 EQ running it makes no difference. If you have a garbage CPU or are still running some ancient version of Windows that might be different.
    Keeden and Zanarnar like this.
  4. Wegerith Stonewall New Member

    Added the ability for EQ to set its affinity to all cores when starting up. This can be done by modifying the eqclient.ini value for the instance to -1.
    Xianzu_Monk_Tunare likes this.
  5. Nedrom Augur

    What are the chances this change will include a macOS or Linux client?
  6. theonepercent Augur

    0
  7. Zanarnar Augur

    -100 even. This is just updating the code and recompiling it. They aren't re-writing it.

    As for the threads and CPU affinity bit; its always best to leave it at -1; as the client does use a few threads and forcing them all onto one core, rather then letting windows divvy them up will reduce your performance.

    Just based on some standard practices at the time, I would guess the client has 5 threads.
    1) main (UI and player input)
    2) render (the graphics you see)
    3) netcode (client<=>server communications)
    4) audio (likely limited to 8 or 16 simultaneous sound effects)
    5) logging (player logs, debug logs, etc)

    Programs don't just magically make themselves threaded or not; its something you have to code carefully for. Newer games likely have rendering engines that themselves spawn multiple threads; which makes that smoother and more able to take advantage of todays multi-core cpu's. Back when they made EQ it was pretty rare for a PC to have more then 1 physical CPU, so it was less of a priority to thread everything then it is today.

    ALL that said, I still hope the next big project is replacing/improving the rendering engine, which will hopefully include it becoming more multi-core friendly :)
    Treage_Imminent and Skuz like this.
  8. Fenthen aka Rath

    Will 64-bit help with the constant daily crashes that aren't acknowledged? Asking for about 20,000 friends.
  9. Nennius Curmudgeon

    Your friends list is likely the cause then of the latest crashes. Much too large! Time for you to be:

    1. Ornery.
    2. Impatient.
    3. Tell really boring stories that take forever.
    4. Remind everyone of what they are doing wrong.

    And develop RBF as soon as possible. Training in RBF is available for krono from a dwarf near you.

    [IMG]
  10. lagkills Slain by Fippy while guards stood and watched.

    Those minimum specs are way too low, shoulda aim for low system made 10 years ago. You can't even buy the junk you listed anymore why set a limiter so low in the years ahead.
  11. Jumbur Improved Familiar

    So, anyone know when we get the 64bit upgrade? Are you guys shooting for the January update? are you still testing it on the beta server, is it "launch-ready" soon? :)
  12. Riou EQResource


    Probably around anniversary time
    Shindius, Jumbur and Metanis like this.
  13. Treage_Imminent Elder

    I like you Iven. Your whimsical style brings a smile to my face. Never change!
  14. Dogaeno New Member

    32bit software can still be used on 64bit computers... the majority of computers in the last 10 years have been 64 bit i find it a bit disturbing if someone is still using 32 bit intentionally. Everquest doesn't take much to run and 64 bit support will be a massive improvement as for not having a 64 bit PC in 2021 that is on the USER not on DBG The last Intel desktop CPUs that did not have 64-bit support were the Pentium 4 series.And AMD had 64bit before that With the Athlon 64.
  15. Svann2 The Magnificent

    My guess is it will go up on the test server for at least a month before we get it, and its not on there yet.
    Yinla likes this.
  16. jeskola pheerie

    Good guess?
    Svann2 likes this.
  17. Waring_McMarrin Augur

    It will be on test for at least a month according to what they have posted and I am guessing with the holiday break that nothing has really changed on it. I would think that it would go to test in February at the earliest and they could be planning it for anniversary time frame.


    Yes they did say it would be on test for at least a month as the 32 bit client will be retired at the same time.
  18. Korea numbah3 Elder

    How would that minimum system req compare to intel integrated graphics cards? Been trying to find more cheap laptops that will work, but can't find anything that would definitely meet the reqs.

    I'm looking at something with an Intel HD 620, but the benchmarks seem to put that under the 8800 as listed in the req, but way better than the 2600XT..
  19. NyteShayd Elder

    Benchmarks are better used as a guide than gospel, but PassMark has the Intel UHD 620 benchmarking at nearly twice the power of the laptop variant 8800, and about 70% more than the desktop card.

    Both the desktop and laptop versions of the 2600XT are at the bottom of the pile of the five I picked out to compare. You're looking at 10+ year old graphics cards; the 2600XT fits in an AGP slot.

    These are not hard requirements to meet. EverQuest will play on a potato.

    https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/...-GeForce-8800M-GTX/4102vs574vs479vs1279vs1285

    Korea numbah3 likes this.
  20. Jumbur Improved Familiar


    Buying a "potato" to play games, is probably a bad long term investment, as it increases the risk you may have to upgrade soon again.

    In my experience buying "mid-range" hardware or better, is a better investment in the long run. It will satisfy your gaming needs for many years.

    Daybreak never promised they wouldn't raise the systems-requirements again later.
    Korea numbah3 likes this.