About two posts ago, GTaudiophile brought to my attention a thread in the forums that talked about game stability and gameplay issues when using AMD's dual core processors. Honestly, I was a bit surprised as it is nothing I had encountered in my dual core testing, but admittedly I hadn't really done much personal gaming on the X2.
I had some other things to take care of earlier this week that prevented me from building a X2 game box and trying to duplicate some of the results mentioned in the thread, but now I'm ready to do just that.
I will work on getting to the bottom of it, but I do need something from you all. I want to know if any of you X2 owners are having any problems with games and, a few details about your configuration:
1) Have you installed AMD's processor driver?
2) Is your X2 machine running a clean install of Windows, or did you simply upgrade with your copy of Windows originally installed on a single-core CPU?
3) Have you tried using RunFirst, and what has its impact been?
Of course, do list whatever games you are having problems with and any more details about your system config. We'll see if we can't get to the bottom of this.
Take care.
I had some other things to take care of earlier this week that prevented me from building a X2 game box and trying to duplicate some of the results mentioned in the thread, but now I'm ready to do just that.
I will work on getting to the bottom of it, but I do need something from you all. I want to know if any of you X2 owners are having any problems with games and, a few details about your configuration:
1) Have you installed AMD's processor driver?
2) Is your X2 machine running a clean install of Windows, or did you simply upgrade with your copy of Windows originally installed on a single-core CPU?
3) Have you tried using RunFirst, and what has its impact been?
Of course, do list whatever games you are having problems with and any more details about your system config. We'll see if we can't get to the bottom of this.
Take care.
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GTaudiophile - Thursday, September 1, 2005 - link
Thanks for looking into this, Anand.http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid...">Here is the main thread in the CPU Forum.
freethrowtommy - Thursday, September 1, 2005 - link
Hey Anand,I have had this problem with both the X2 driver installed and not installed. I also have a 6800GT, Asus Premium, Crucial Value, etc all with latest drivers from nVidia.
The games I have issues with are GTA:SA, Madden 2005, and Madden 06.
I fixed the problem by setting the affinty to one of the two processors. It has worked flawlessly everytime, so I am guessing that RunFirst would work no problem.
Thomas
crimson117 - Thursday, September 1, 2005 - link
Marvell Yukon Integrated Gigabit Ethernet controllers, found in recent Asus 939 boards like the A8V Deluxe, will start locking up your system if you upgrade to the 8.35 drivers. The 8.32 drivers do not have this issue.I had built a new rig, Athlon x2 4400, 6800GT AGP, and Asus A8V Deulxe, then a month later it started locking up alll the time.
I blamed my sound blaster first, but eventually found it was a marvell yukon driver I had received from Windows Update.
Issues like these might lead people to think that it's the x2 causing the problem.
Markfw900 - Thursday, September 1, 2005 - link
Please read the two threads in cpu forums so we don't have to repeat it all. I can say there is no driver for win2k, and some work, and some don't, but set affinity allways works for me. (I don't use 2k hardly ever) Also, bottom line I have seen is that some work with no driver, and virtually all the rest work with the X2 drivers, and in one case only (not verified) you had to set affinity in XP. There is also some contention about XP home VS pro acting different.Anand Lal Shimpi - Thursday, September 1, 2005 - link
I've read the threads, I'm just looking to see if there are still unresolved issues after people have followed the instructions in those threads.Take care,
Anand
blckgrffn - Thursday, September 1, 2005 - link
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid...">Click.Targon - Monday, September 5, 2005 - link
I havn't had a chance to test my new X2 yet, but a thought on why it may work for some people and not for others may be related to the video card drivers. For those with and without problems, perhaps telling us what video card and drivers you are running will help isolate what's going on.The reason I suspect it may be video related is the "black screen" issues some have mentioned when trying to run games. Since games would naturally go through the DirectX API layer, if the DX layer is where the problems are comming from, that's a natural place to check.
Also, are you all running Windows XP home or pro 32 bit or the 64 bit version?