Ive been getting mixed feeling about quad core in fsx, some people that really know computers and have worked with them all their lives tell me that using a quad core cpu will not help fsx at all. Is this true? According to phil it isnt, "Gary ( Reset MCP Alt ) at AVSim has an excellent FSX benchmark and from that has deduced some quite interesting bits about FSX perf on dual and quad cores. Basically if you dont use add-ons, a dual-core CPU is good enough. If you do use add-ons, then a quad-core CPU is likely what you want."I only use addons, I have never done a flight using a default airplane, so does that mean quad core will help me? Is it the way fsx is coded that allows this to help me, or is it the way developers code their software?

Edit -- sorry, I wasn't thinking. This should have been posted in Hardware forum, not here.I imagine if an addon runs within the FSX address space, such as via a dll, it might not help to have more cores, unless is starts a new thread, but if it runs as an exe, I think it could make a difference. But, processor speed seems to be much more important when comparing.scott s..

All I know is all 4 of my cores are working hard during the game when I check, so it's hard to see how having two less cores would help.

If you check the benchmarks, the performance gains are marginal at best.You already have a great system... why spend the money for a new processor?On the other hand, if you are starting from scratch, why not spend the minimal extra charge to get four cores instead of two..

Because at medium settings I cant hold 25 fps, it goes in an out sometimes its fine, but over a mountainous forest its just horrible, like 14-17 fps, geeze crysis looks tonnes better than fsx and I have no problem running it on high with my system, sometimes I just want to rip up fsx and forget it. Its fine over flat land, but over the mountains Its just a recipe for fustration. It also happens after I take off, on the ground the fps are much better.

>Because at medium settings I cant hold 25 fps, it goes in an>out sometimes its fine, but over a mountainous forest its just>horrible, like 14-17 fps, geeze crysis looks tonnes better>than fsx and I have no problem running it on high with my>system, sometimes I just want to rip up fsx and forget it. >Its fine over flat land, but over the mountains Its just a>recipe for fustration. It also happens after I take off, on>the ground the fps are much better.Well I went from a single core 3.6 GHz HT system to a quad core system (Q6600 2.4 Ghz). Using the addon Active Sky X with the in flight X gauge I can tell you there was a HUGE performance increase on that gauge from single core. With the single core the refresh of the gauge was terrible. I would pan out for example and the response would lag behind to the point I'd have to close the window. When I would open it later it MIGHT be in the refreshed state. With my quad core though, the refresh is almost instantaneous and it doesn't matter if I push the wind direction button, airports, view distance, etc. Now that doesn't answer specifically your question but it is at least clear the the extra cores do play a very important function when it comes to addons. And since I run both Active X and the AI addon MyTraffic 2008 I'm assuming the cores are being put to good use. So for addons maybe the more the merrier.

I think im goign to try a quad penryn when an affordable model comes out in jan hopefully. So just to clear it up, fsx or the addons arent "coded" for full support of quad cores or are they? Is the advantage more that you can set fs to core 0 and 1 and others to 2-3 or vice versa just so nothing bothers the fsx thread?

>>Because at medium settings I cant hold 25 fps, it goes in>an>>out sometimes its fine, but over a mountainous forest its>just>>horrible, like 14-17 fps, geeze crysis looks tonnes better>>than fsx and I have no problem running it on high with my>>system, sometimes I just want to rip up fsx and forget it. >>Its fine over flat land, but over the mountains Its just a>>recipe for fustration. It also happens after I take off, on>>the ground the fps are much better.>>Well I went from a single core 3.6 GHz HT system to a quad>core system (Q6600 2.4 Ghz). Using the addon Active Sky X with>the in flight X gauge I can tell you there was a HUGE>performance increase on that gauge from single core. With the>single core the refresh of the gauge was terrible. I would pan>out for example and the response would lag behind to the point>I'd have to close the window. When I would open it later it>MIGHT be in the refreshed state. With my quad core though, the>refresh is almost instantaneous and it doesn't matter if I>push the wind direction button, airports, view distance, etc.>Now that doesn't answer specifically your question but it is>at least clear the the extra cores do play a very important>function when it comes to addons. And since I run both Active>X and the AI addon MyTraffic 2008 I'm assuming the cores are>being put to good use. So for addons maybe the more the>merrier.>Ditto here. Huge difference in going from a single to a quad core for me. High settings with frames locked at 30fps. With the Nvidia 8800gts, I have not seen it go below 25fps. Remember though, with a quad, you need to set the affinity mask to ensure that the other cores are being used. I don't know for sure, but perhaps the earlier tests that indicated a marginal difference did not have the affinity mask set. I do know of one review where this was the case.

For what it is worth, I've got FSX set to use core 1,2,3 and leaving core 0 free for background work.

To Bert,In your post you said you had FSX set to use 1,2 and 3. The new puter I have coming is a quad core. Not being familiar with the new multiple core hardware, how do you go about setting various cores for FSX? I have read where others have also set their number of cores. I just need a little education on this. ThanksJim

In your fsx.cfg file, add:{JOBSCHEDULER} ....... square brackets !AffinityMask=1414 is binary code 1110, indicating the cores to be used.While FSX is running, start up task Manager, using CTL-ALT-DEL and you can watch the activity of all four cores in real time.

Bert,Thanks for the info.Jim

>To Bert,>>In your post you said you had FSX set to use 1,2 and 3. The>new puter I have coming is a quad core. Not being familiar>with the new multiple core hardware, how do you go about>setting various cores for FSX? I have read where others have>also set their number of cores. I just need a little>education on this. Thanks>>Jim I use a utility program called "SeeSaw Pro". Before starting FSX I set all running processes to use core 0. I then start FSX and assign it to cores 1-3. One can do this through the Task Manager however that program will NOT let you set the affinity on system taks. "SeeSaw pro" will allow you to change the affinity of ANY task. Paul

Anything new to add since the service pack came out? I don't think it addressed any of this but I've been researching myself and I'm just wondering. http://www.lemosnet.com/misc/gpilotsig.jpg

Just quoting Phil Taylor of Aces:"Don't bother with AffinityMask unless you are having problems..."I've stopped using this line altogether and FSX seems to works quite well without it on my Q6600 in WinXP. All cores are busy much of the time and the sim is very fluid.