Is Dual Core Really Better?

[Sector95]

Hi everybody,

This Dual Core stuff (sorry about the previous word) is probably splattered all over the forum but I can't find anything specific. In some of my recent posts I have talked about the performance of MSTS and many people advised me to go Dual Core. I know MSTS doesn't take much advantage of Dual Core but I was told there is a slight improvement if it was running on a 1.8 Dual Core vs a 1.8 Single Core. I have listened to your advice and I have on order an AMD Athlone X2 245 2.9GHz Dual Core CPU, PC World said that it is the max my 6yr old PC can handle. It should be installed this weekend and I have big expectations for it but should I have big expectations for it? How much of an improvement would a 2.9 GHz Dual Core give to me compared to my original 1.8 Single Core? How many more fps? And how much of a speed boost to Windows 7 in general eg. startup, shutdown, multi-tasking?

I hope you can help, James.

[markh5682]

Hi James

I am not an expert on these things, but I'll give you the benefit of my experience with upgrading.

I have been running MSTS since it was first released, and for most of that time I was running it on a single core 1.6 GHz machine, it ran great until the longer and more complex high detail routes started being released, then framerates started suffering, and some modern releases were virtually unplayable.

I upgraded to a dual core 2.4 GHz machine and it was a vast improvement, framerates even on routes such as Dorset coast were good.

Although MSTS is now an old program and it probably doesn't make full use of dual/quad core technology, there are improvements in performance over their single core equivalents, Your PCs operating system will make more use of the dual core, and leave more resources for MSTS to run.

Another thing that is just as important is Memory and graphics, I would suggest at least 2 gig of memory, (few PCs come with less than that these days).

On board graphics are unlikely to be up to the job, so a good graphics card is a must, I am using an 8600gt 500mb card and that seems to be good enough for most things.

Hope that helps.

Mark

[Sector95]

Thank you for your insight Mark,

I'm getting excited by the minute! Yeah the only original components in my OEM PC is the HD and Motherboard, my RAM is 3GB and my Graphics Card is a 512MB Nvidia 210 (cheap but good).

James.

[engmod]

Hi James,

As MSTS was written before video cards got powerful, the CPU is doing all of the work.
As you are going from a 1.8 to a 2.9, I would expect your FPS to double.

Derek

[peterdore]

Hi James,
Go for it My new Acer Z series 23 inch touch screen is superb I get 60 FPS on Paddington to Penzance, with lots of AI traffic.
The thing with dual core is you can run programs and use the internet, and play dvd's at the same time in window mode!

System Manufacturer Acer
System Model Aspire Z5610
System Type x64-based PC
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E7500 @ 2.93GHz, 2926 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 2 Logical Processor(s)
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 4.00 GB
1 terrabyte of Hardrive

Good luck and enjoy your new system

Pete