Tom's Hardware > Forum > CPU & Components > CPUs > Dual CPU's over single for Gaming
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Anonymous   05-10-2002 at 01:47:45 AM

I am considering putting together a Dual CPU system for gaming and running XP Pro. I have been told by some that its worth it and some say dont bother. What I want to know is will the 2nd cpu help alot, a little or wont even matter for games and other apps. Thank you in advance

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by ctos on 05/09/02 07:49 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

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FatBurger   05-10-2002 at 01:52:54 AM
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There currently is no game that will take advantage of dual CPUs. Don't bother.

<font color=blue>Hi mom!</font color=blue>

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mbetea   05-10-2002 at 01:56:25 AM
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yeah, if you're worried about gaming performance, take the money you would spend on a dual board and a 2nd cpu and get the biggest, baddest video card.

[insert philosophical statement here]

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kief   05-10-2002 at 01:56:40 AM
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Not worth it for games. Get a faster CPU, more RAM, and a better video card with your extra cash instead.

Jesus saves, but Mario scores!!!

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Anonymous   05-10-2002 at 01:57:38 AM
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The 2 cpu wouldnt help the system perform tasks any faster? Say im playing a online game using a voice program in the back ground and also recording live video of the game? Would that be a reason to have the 2nd cpu? But if all that is going to be happening is the game and thats about it, its useless to have the 2nd cpu? Thanks again...
ALSO is there any harm in Buying a dual board, sticking a single CPU on it, and adding a 2nd cpu down the road if/when a game actually supported it? Does having a single cpu on a dual board hinder performance?

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by ctos on 05/09/02 08:01 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

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kief   05-10-2002 at 02:04:37 AM
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Well dual CPUs will help if you are using win2k or XP for the background processes, but unless they are taking up alot of resources it wont help much. A faster CPU/Video card and more RAM will help alot more. You can use a dual CPU board with only one chip in it and it will not hinder performance at all!

Jesus saves, but Mario scores!!!

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Anonymous   05-10-2002 at 02:06:57 AM
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Thank you Kief, I think I will point my money to the Ram and video. Thanks for your advice

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eden   05-10-2002 at 04:07:11 AM
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If you have the money, I think we'd all agree, a P4 2.53GHZ with PC1066RDRAM is perfect for gaming. OR, you can get a 1.8GHZA P4 and PC800 then overclock it to 2.53GHZ, you'll get high FSB and awesome performance.

--
I set my graphics aperture to 1024MB, why can't I open anything now? :mad:

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buddry   05-10-2002 at 04:10:26 AM
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You might also want to consider a raid setup for your harddrives as well.

<b><font color=green>Garbage Can?</font color=green></b>

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Matisaro   05-10-2002 at 05:20:15 AM
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Quote :

There currently is no game that will take advantage of dual CPUs. Don't bother.



Dosent quake 3 have a dual cpu version?

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JCLW   05-10-2002 at 05:41:38 AM
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Is it just me or does someone ask this question a least once a week?

- JW

[edit]
Yes, Quake 3 is multithreaded, and it's not the only one either. The number of multithreaded game engines is increasing.
[/edit]<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by JCLW on 05/09/02 11:44 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

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mbetea   05-10-2002 at 06:02:07 AM
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yes q3 is multithreaded. but, is any performance increase you get worth the extra cash? if gaming was my thing, i'd much rather spend money on a video card or ram before i thought about dual cpus for a game. but then again, running a p4 2ghz or amd xp1900 with a good graphics card can only push what 200+ fps? that's hardly enough.

[insert philosophical statement here]

Reply to mbetea
sjonnie   05-10-2002 at 09:30:43 PM
- 0 +

Quote :

The 2 cpu wouldnt help the system perform tasks any faster?


Only multithreaded tasks. You envisage a situation where you are running several tasks. In this situation you will be able to assign different CPUs to different tasks which will lead to better performance if CPU performance is what is holding you back. You will have to asses how CPU intensive your taks are and whether they are worth the extra CPU.
There is no harm in buying a Dual board and sticking 1 cpu in it. This is how most Dual boards end up.

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