Does EQ2 Support Dual-Core Processors?

Nadr wrote:

Not really. The post you're responding to is over 6 months old. Multi-core support has been added in the meantime. The option is listed in the performance options in-game. You should see a performance boost with multi-core CPUs at this point.
I just upgraded from a 2.8ghz P4 to a 2.4ghz quad core yesterday and I saw large performance gains. Even after switching from high performance to high quality I was getting more than double my previous frame rate.

That still doesnt explain why I run at 100% on core 2, and 5-15% ( i have shut off alot of background as I crash alot if i go above balanced) on core 1?

It is not sharing the load between the cores.

I am not a computer expert and I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that I get the outofmemeory errors every time I visit Neriak. The game trys to work it all on the one core and starts blowing thru my memory?
I have 2gb of memory and run Windows XP.

I have played almost every well knows MMO in the last 5 years and I have never had issues like these with anything other then EQ2. (Sorry thats a lie, I was there for AO's launch).

hi
lol i was there for the first few months of AO also. I still wake up screaming.
i run eq2 on 2 pc's 1 is a quad core intel 9650 and the other is an amd dual core 4600. other than that both are pretty much the same and i see no improvement on either if i switch from enabling multicore support to disabling it.
i do know that compared to wow, daoc, eq1, lotro, D&D Online, that eq2 is the touchiest game about my hardware setup.
======================================
from the evil overlords handbook......"when i see the hero across the field about to be attacked by my minions of evil, under no circumstances will i yell out......Leave him alone, he's mine!!!

To simplify things, unless the EQ2 engine gets a COMPLETE overhaul, it will NEVER have TRUE multi-core support. period.
when buying a new system with up-to-date hardware, you REALLY need to pay close attention to what the CPU speed is compared to what you have now.
in the TSR's example, he upgraded from a 2.8Ghz P4 single core processor, to a 2.4Ghz quad core. the ONLY reason he saw any performance gain at all, is likley a combination of having more system ram, and having at least 2 cores in the system with the recent addition of the process off-loading "feature". lets say for kicks and grins he started out with a 3.2Ghz single core P4... then went to that same 2.4Ghz quad core.... he wouldnt have noticed much of an improvement, and may even have noticed LESSER performance. why? because you are actually DOWNGRADING to a slower single core, even though ALL FOUR cores run at 2.4Ghz. the one that EQ2 uses is still significantly SLOWER than your original processor.
that said, assuming you go from a single core system to a multi-core system with a slower CPU clock-rate.... if you get a motherboard or system that supports OVERCLOCKING (or OCing for short), and you take that (assuming an intel CPU here) 2.4Ghz quad core up to around 3.16 Ghz or so (it should, given that you also bought an aftermarket heatsink and fan unit), you should see your performance at the very LEAST, even out again, if not, increase over what you had before you bought the new system.
OCing is NOT recommended for those not familiar around a system's bios settings. messing with these in the wrong manner can cause your system to be unbootable, and even fry some hardware itself.
that said, it can give you significant performance gains on slightly cheaper hardware.

I went from my 3.0 with a 8600GT AGP video card to the new system.... 2.66 duel core, Much better vid card (sorry cant recall exactly what).
I bought a new MB and upgraded the memory and the whole thing was built with the intention to overclock it.
I had it running about 3.2 until i started playing EQ2 again. EQ2 kills it tho and I have to put it back to about 2.8.
I used to run on Balanced with my old rig. This new one.. so head and shoulders above the old one.. runs on balanced and even there crashs all the time.
Hell, I am thinking about going to vista just to get more memory to see if it stops the crashing.

asmiro wrote:

I can point to several reasons why the performance increased, actually. The increased CPU cache plays a big role in it among other things. I didn't mean to imply that the multi-core support was the only reason for the gains, but they definitely played a part.
The multi-core support performance gains will help the most when at the higher quality settings in game. I would need to run some benchmarks with the feature turned on and then off to tell exactly how much the multiple cores are helping. I imagine I will try something like that soon.

I have run the game at every setting from balanced on up, trying to see what makes it crash.
I get 100% on Core 2 and minimal on Core 1 at any setting.
Zoning however spread it out nicely. So maybe the offloading to the second (first) core is happening... just not for me when I am running around the world.