Dual Core Heaven

Well my desktop has served me well for the past 4 years, but the AMD64 3200 is starting to show its age. FM08 really highlighted this, but I pursued for a while, but never really got a serious game running. My old specs were the AMD 64 3200, 2gb Ram, 160Gb 7200rpm HDD and Win XP Pro.

This weekend my Dell XPS M1330 arrived, along with its T7500 2.2Ghz Dual Core 2 processor. The notebook also has 3gb RAM, 250Gb 5400rpm HD, dedicated graphics and Vista Home Premium.

After a clean install of Vista to remove the bloatware, I installed FM with no problems, although was ready and waiting with the Vista hints thread. As a test I loaded a game, Eng, Ita & Spa top leagues from all on medium detail. I went on holiday and after 30 mins the old desktop was on Oct 10th 2007. The notebook had already reached the new year, on Jan 9th 2008.

All of the above to say, threading on this game has made a huge difference and hopefully now I have a machine that runs with more than adequate pace I will enjoy this game a lot more. I feel back to the fun speeds of CM 01/02, which I never put down as I was always playing and not watching.

Well my desktop has served me well for the past 4 years, but the AMD64 3200 is starting to show its age. FM08 really highlighted this, but I pursued for a while, but never really got a serious game running. My old specs were the AMD 64 3200, 2gb Ram, 160Gb 7200rpm HDD and Win XP Pro.

This weekend my Dell XPS M1330 arrived, along with its T7500 2.2Ghz Dual Core 2 processor. The notebook also has 3gb RAM, 250Gb 5400rpm HD, dedicated graphics and Vista Home Premium.

After a clean install of Vista to remove the bloatware, I installed FM with no problems, although was ready and waiting with the Vista hints thread. As a test I loaded a game, Eng, Ita & Spa top leagues from all on medium detail. I went on holiday and after 30 mins the old desktop was on Oct 10th 2007. The notebook had already reached the new year, on Jan 9th 2008.

All of the above to say, threading on this game has made a huge difference and hopefully now I have a machine that runs with more than adequate pace I will enjoy this game a lot more. I feel back to the fun speeds of CM 01/02, which I never put down as I was always playing and not watching.

i have a dual core processor and 2gb of ram on my laptop and i play with every possible league playable on a large database and it runs fine for me so you should have no problem if ya fancy giving it a go.

so much more fun!!!!

Just finished building my new quad core (boasting ). FM will have to wait as I have Crysis sat next to me. BUT I'm glad to hear that it makes such a difference

Put my new mobo and 2.6ghz dual core in last week. It flys along, never seen an FM game run so smooth

My computer is blue!

out of interest how do you found out what your specs for your computer are. Im not really into computers (family computer) im just happy to play fm. cheers

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by DjScotProject:

out of interest how do you found out what your specs for your computer are. Im not really into computers (family computer) im just happy to play fm. cheers </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

If you are using XP, the easy (but not detailed way) is to click start / settings / control panel

When this wondow opens, double click the system icon. The screen that opens should give you your computer details.

If you want a more detailed spec, then download Cpu-z which you can get from here: Cpu-z

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Chris Waddle:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by DjScotProject:

out of interest how do you found out what your specs for your computer are. Im not really into computers (family computer) im just happy to play fm. cheers </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

If you are using XP, the easy (but not detailed way) is to click start / settings / control panel

When this wondow opens, double click the system icon. The screen that opens should give you your computer details.

If you want a more detailed spec, then download Cpu-z which you can get from here: Cpu-z </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

thanks for the info

I have an Inspiron 530s from Dell and my specs are:

Intel Viiv Core 2 Duo E6750

320 HDD

Windows Vista Premium.

I have to agree that dual core rocks. It only takes me a few minutes to 'holiday' a whole season with a shed-load of leagues running. Dunno what I would do without it really!

My computer is Guff.

I'd be embarrassed to reveal the specs.

My computer runs Crysis on high level details

My computer runs Crysis with 3d holographic imagery enabled

my computer is so awesome that it can go down the chippy and get me a fish supper!

My computer is really an Autobot in disguise

The great thing is being able to run a large number of leagues and play a less limited career game.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by dudubrdx:

My computer runs Crysis on high level details

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

'Very High' here.

I have had my computer for about 2 weeks. Its a:

2.4ghz quad cor Q6600 processor,

2gb ram,

1,000 gb hard drive,

8600gt graphics card,

It does 10 seasons holidaying in 4 hours (Spain, England and Italy), without any othr programs running. Still scared to attmpt all leagus though.

I put a new hamster in my computer recently (and even took the time to un-jam the old one and re-oil the dynamo-motor wheel).

It has 1mb RAM, a 7mhz Cyrix CPU and has DOS 6.1 as the OS.

How many leagues will I be able to run?

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by DJdeMarco:

I put a new hamster in my computer recently (and even took the time to un-jam the old one and re-oil the dynamo-motor wheel).

It has 1mb RAM, a 7mhz Cyrix CPU and has DOS 6.1 as the OS.

How many leagues will I be able to run? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Maybe you can run CM94.

It's funny how a thread becomes a "who's got the biggest one" competition!

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by RSCA4Ever:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by DJdeMarco:

I put a new hamster in my computer recently (and even took the time to un-jam the old one and re-oil the dynamo-motor wheel).

It has 1mb RAM, a 7mhz Cyrix CPU and has DOS 6.1 as the OS.

How many leagues will I be able to run? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Maybe you can run CM94.

It's funny how a thread becomes a "who's got the biggest one" competition! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

It's how these type of threads always go.

Looks like I'm going to have to finally set up that cluster system I keep toying with the idea of (3xDual-core, 4xSingle-core and my server which has twin quad-core processors). With my 18-core system there would be no competition. Mine would definitely be bigger.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by JWB935:

Still scared to attmpt all leagus though. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Don't be, I've had all leagues running at speed in full detail on an E6850 Core2Duo (3Ghz) with 4GB Corsair XMS2 Pro.

The Quad'll do fine, albeit not particularly faster since very little actually utilises the cores as yet anyway - FM included.

Good responses above, but there is no doubt as I started the thread mine is clearly the biggest and the best.

Its a shame my new toy is being held back by a user stumbling on a thumb pad and keyboard shortcuts! I'll get there one day..

Thought i'd play the other day and started new game in England 2007 as an unemployed ex-international (an Alan Shearer type - Newcastle had just been on the news), thought i'd try and get a job somewhere in the distant future after some time out. Went on holiday, left the laptop running, went out for a round of golf and a beer; about 4 and a half hours. Returning full of anticipation, I turned the screensaver off and found... it was 17th October 2007.

Much disappointment. It's a dual core next for certain!

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Neji:

'Very High' here. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Nothing runs Crysis on v.high. Not even a 4Ghz OC 9750, SLI 8800.

Unless you don't count a playable frame-rate in which case anything will run it on very high

I'm waiting for the day when you can spread the load over more than one PC.

bet you all have small penises

The XPS M1330 is indeed an awesome machine. I "only" have the 2ghz and 2gb ram, but it's the computer itself that I'm in love with. So light, so thin, so sexy, such high quality.

Blue Lou -

If you know what you're doing you can buy a relatively cheap set up and still get very favourable results.

I'm overclocking my Intel Core 2 Duo E2180 to 3.34GHz with 4GB RAM and 1.25TB at home and there isn't much difference between that and the Intel Core 2 6600 2.4Ghz I use at work.

Depending on what parts you're able to recycle from your existing set-up, you may only need to spend a few hundred pounds to get a really decent upgrade. It will also usually allow you the flexibility to upgrade later on down the line too.

What's better Intel core duo or AMD Athlon dual core processor. I'm looking into getting a new inspiron computer and weighing up whether to get one off Dell or go to PC World.

Stevenage Gunner -

Both are good CPUs but Intel are leading the market in terms of performance with their dual and quad core CPUs, but if price is an issue then you may find AMDs are more affordable.

My personal preference at this time is with Intel. They've come a long way since their Pentium/Prescott days when AMD had the performance and value for money advantage.

i remember cm 01-02 took about 5% each bit when processing saturday fixtres on my comp, when i got laptop, it took 11% each time, such a big difference a comp makes (noone will probs understand what i mean but o well"!)

Thanks Neil for your opinion. I'm looking at getting a new computer, but there's quite a few things to think about. I'm not quite sure what RAM to get and I don't know whether to wait a while because some think Vista isn't good enough yet. At the end of the day money talks so i'll try and get the best I can for the budget I have.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Stevenage Gunner:

Thanks Neil for your opinion. I'm looking at getting a new computer, but there's quite a few things to think about. I'm not quite sure what RAM to get and I don't know whether to wait a while because some think Vista isn't good enough yet. At the end of the day money talks so i'll try and get the best I can for the budget I have. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

SG, I had 512 MB of RAM in my old comp and FM 2008 would freeze. Got 3 GB of RAM in my new one now (Intel Core Duo) and it flies. My RAM usage (I check on Windows Task Manager often), has not yet climbed above 1.5 GB (maximum was 1.2 GB on Command & Conquer Tiberium Wars). Just to give you some idea of what might be a safe target for you to aim at.

And if I'm not mistaken, the AMD Athlons are having some problems with threading for FM 2008. Have seen quite a few posts about it here and there.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Phil930:

Well my desktop has served me well for the past 4 years, but the AMD64 3200 is starting to show its age. FM08 really highlighted this, but I pursued for a while, but never really got a serious game running. My old specs were the AMD 64 3200, 2gb Ram, 160Gb 7200rpm HDD and Win XP Pro.

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Got a 3000+ and 1 GB ddr, no probs running it here...

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by VonBlade:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Neji:

'Very High' here. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Nothing runs Crysis on v.high. Not even a 4Ghz OC 9750, SLI 8800.

Unless you don't count a playable frame-rate in which case anything will run it on very high </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Very high is playable at 1024x768/1280x1024/1280/800 with 8800GT SLI & a C2D @ 3.6GHz.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Neil Dejyothin:

Blue Lou -

If you know what you're doing you can buy a relatively cheap set up and still get very favourable results.

I'm overclocking my Intel Core 2 Duo E2180 to 3.34GHz with 4GB RAM and 1.25TB at home and there isn't much difference between that and the Intel Core 2 6600 2.4Ghz I use at work.

Depending on what parts you're able to recycle from your existing set-up, you may only need to spend a few hundred pounds to get a really decent upgrade. It will also usually allow you the flexibility to upgrade later on down the line too. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

That'll be the Cache holding back the 2180 though (1MB hurts the E2xxx series pretty bad) as shown here: XbitLabs C2D Caches

There is no games that currently make any use of the Quad Core I have but there are a fair few that use 2 cores now. One consideration a lot of laptop users don't realise is the benefits of a 7,200 RPM Hard Drive for FM. It really does make a noticeable difference over 4,200 & 5,400 RPM drives.

Threads like this make me question my decision. I spent a couple of days mulling whether to get the 160gb 7200 vs 250gb 5400. Perhaps it would have made a nice difference, but I did so much research and came to the conclusion that the higher density of the data on the 250gb mitigates the higher rpm of the 7200 as less movement is required to access the data. So far this is proving true.

Ideally, I would have liked a SSD but at $500+ for a reasonable size its not worth it at this time. Perhaps it will be mainstream in a couple of years when I replace this notebook (love those 3 year warranties, when this accidentally breaks Dell will send out a new one).

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Phil930:

Threads like this make me question my decision. I spent a couple of days mulling whether to get the 160gb 7200 vs 250gb 5400. Perhaps it would have made a nice difference, but I did so much research and came to the conclusion that the higher density of the data on the 250gb mitigates the higher rpm of the 7200 as less movement is required to access the data. So far this is proving true.

Ideally, I would have liked a SSD but at $500+ for a reasonable size its not worth it at this time. Perhaps it will be mainstream in a couple of years when I replace this notebook (love those 3 year warranties, when this accidentally breaks Dell will send out a new one). </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Personally i would go for the 160GB 7,200 rpm!

My former system had a 5,400 rpm drive and i was really disappointed with the performance.

The problem is mainly that you have to defrag almost on weekly basis otherwise the HD slows down the entire system.

Starting up your comp,loading/saving data is slower on a 5,400 rpm drive no doubt about that.

But if performance isn't your thing your better of with the 250GB.

The difference isn't that much, as long as you have a decent amount of RAM.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by cafe_latte:

I have an Inspiron 530s from Dell and my specs are:

Intel Viiv Core 2 Duo E6750

320 HDD

Windows Vista Premium.

I have to agree that dual core rocks. It only takes me a few minutes to 'holiday' a whole season with a shed-load of leagues running. Dunno what I would do without it really! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

ah you beat me by 50 whatever the 50 is or does

Core 2 Duo E6700 / 2.66 GHz

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by RSCA4Ever:

Personally i would go for the 160GB 7,200 rpm!

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Personally I'd go for a Solid State drive if speed is what you're really after

VB

My system is...

AMD Athlon 64 Processor

3500+

2.21 GHz, 1.00GB of RAM

Physical Address Extension

Not very good with computers so could someone tell me if thats good or not?

oh. And I thought my upgrade of RAM from 256MB to 768MB was ammazing. Puts that to shame really

Ash. It's a pretty reasonable single core processor. Dual core obviously would be better, and I'd assume you're on a 939 mobo with that processor so a 4400X2 is ludicrously cheap.

But an extra gig of RAM will make even more of a difference. Can never have too much RAM.

I just bought an Advent 8212 (I got mine from PCWorld for £550 last year) if you read the link you can see that for a laptop it's pretty sharp, it has a fast processor (for a Laptop) which is all FM realy needs, its also super super light, and its pretty cheap because the graphic's card is poor, but that doesn't matter for FM.

Infact you could say that this laptop was built for FM!

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Starr_Man5:

My computer is Guff.

I'd be embarrassed to reveal the specs. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

You cant be as embarrased as I am for my poor old dad, he has my VERY old computer which has...... wait for it......

A massive 32mb of ram

4x C.D. drive speed

and a huge 1 gb of memory!

I remember fondly playing CM96/97 on it, I thought my computer was sooo fast because in the CM96/97 manual it said that the game might take up tp 1 hour to load, and it only took a couple of minutes on that computer.

It was a beast!!

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by VonBlade:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by RSCA4Ever:

Personally i would go for the 160GB 7,200 rpm!

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Personally I'd go for a Solid State drive if speed is what you're really after

VB </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I would to, but my wallet doesn't!

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by VonBlade:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by RSCA4Ever:

Personally i would go for the 160GB 7,200 rpm!

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Personally I'd go for a Solid State drive if speed is what you're really after

VB </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Samsung 64GB SSD Review (geek.com)

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Samsung says its 64GB SSD is capable of sustained read/write speeds of 57/32 MB/sec with bursts up to 66MB/sec but real world results were, not surprisingly, lower than that. It’s worth noting that this test was conducted against a notebook drive, so don’t expect to throw a SSD into your desktop and have it compete against a 3.5″ disk- the performance is still behind those drives, especially from a “real world†or workstation standpoint. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

To get a SSD drive that will beat a Western Digital Raptor or Seagate 7200.11 you'll need 120MB/90MB+ Sustained Read/Write speeds. Currently they start at over £1000, for which you can buy 8+ 150GB Raptors, or a complete Dual/Quad Core tower.

Has anybody had any problems with FM08 on Windows Vista and/or a AMD Athlon Dual Core processor?