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Dual/Quad core advantage with games??

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I've seen from the benchmarking on Tom's that only certain applications recognise 'extra' cores and utilise them, such as Photoshop, and subsequently run faster than on a single core system.

I have a £1500 bonus coming and was thinking of upgrading my entire rig (just keeping the case and optical drives) to make an uber-gaming PC. But, I already have a 3.4Ghz P4 HT and 2GB of RAM. I only play BF2 online and would hate to shell out on a dual or quad core system and find that BF2 would only use one of the cores.

So, does anyone know if BF2 would utilise the extra horsepower?

Cheers

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Agreed. Dual-core processors are just starting to get utilized in games these days. Your P4 3.4 will take care of the task no problem.

Reply to enforcerfx

I'm now running an ATI X1950 Pro 256Mb AGP.

It replaced my old 9600XT and I'm very happy with it. As I said, I only play BF2 online and it handles that no problem at 1280 X 1024 with all settings maxed out.

I can't chuck in more RAM as my mobo only has 2 slots...I like RAM!

Cheers, you've answered my question!

And saved me money... :wink:

Reply to TheTranquilEye

What mobo are you running, you might want to consider upgrading to a PCI-Express motherboard, as it will provide you with Higher frame rates. I would keep the CPU is you can, though i dunno if its a Socket 775.

Reply to heruur

hmmh... the x1950 is a big investment for one to throw away after getting a new pcie mobo... because of that, i'd say that upgrading the current system would be the best way to go, because if you go straight to pcie (unless you pick an agp AND pcie board), then your nice new card is useless.

i don't really think that ram is your problem, or your processor... anyway, to answer your question, you won't necessarily see immediate benefits from upgrading to dual-core, but it will future proof the pants off your computer.

Reply to lordaardvark2

Most PC games are not coded to use more than one CPU. So you wont see any difference with dual cores in games unless the game is specifically coded to use more than one CPU.

You will still see benefits in everyday computing in Windows XP Pro or higher because the OS can use at least two cores.

And yes high end applications such as Photoshop and 3D Max have the ability to utilize multiple CPUs to speed things up.

It would be smart to get a dual/quad core cpu anyways though because games in the future will be coded to use more than one cpu.

Reply to kamkal

Quote :

Please check out my post here.

Other games with similar results -
Flight Simulator X SP1
Test Drive Unlimited
Supreme Commander (as mentioned before)
and many more are coming

Reply to miahallen

If your only playing BF2 you dont really need an upgrade

maybe just use some of it to get a better monitor or something, make BF2 bigger!

Reply to kamkal

generally spreading out bad images just makes said images look worse. like expanding things in paint, for example.

Reply to lordaardvark2

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