Intel Core i7 Extreme 980X and PwnBoxer

[catpaps]

I bought and installed yesterday, i 980x Extreme Edition processor
PwnBoxer does not seem to eight core. Is this correct?

[Tim]

Hey Cat,

I'm using that exact same processor and Pwnboxer is currently set to see up to 8 cores.

I do this:

First "main" WoW: CPU 1-4
All other WoWS: CPU 5-8

EDIT: Because the i7 980 does hyperthreading, Pwnboxer needs to have a small update to show 12 CPUs instead of 8. But still, I use the config above, and it runs flawlessly.

[catpaps]

Originally Posted by Tim

Hey Cat,

I'm using that exact same processor and Pwnboxer is currently set to see up to 8 cores.

I do this:

First "main" WoW: CPU 1-4
All other WoWS: CPU 5-8

EDIT: Because the i7 980 does hyperthreading, Pwnboxer needs to have a small update to show 12 CPUs instead of 8. But still, I use the config above, and it runs flawlessly.

Thank you Tim, I'll do the same changes. Can you say it is worth buying two graphics cards or buy one of the really powerful video card?
Price is not the main criterion for selection.

[burningforce]

Originally Posted by catpaps

Thank you Tim, I'll do the same changes. Can you say it is worth buying two graphics cards or buy one of the really powerful video card?
Price is not the main criterion for selection.

that depends on what you do with you're computer. if you just browse the web, play wow, listen to music, then no I would not recommend 2 gpu's unless you need a big multi-monitor setup, do competitive benching, or gaming at high resolutions (1920x1200+).

otherwise, WoW does not take advantage of multi-gpu setups correctly if I recall. there is a way to get wow to use all cards power, but I read it did not increase fps a whole lot or it lowered fps in some cases.

[catpaps]

Originally Posted by burningforce

that depends on what you do with you're computer. if you just browse the web, play wow, listen to music, then no I would not recommend 2 gpu's unless you need a big multi-monitor setup, do competitive benching, or gaming at high resolutions (1920x1200+).

otherwise, WoW does not take advantage of multi-gpu setups correctly if I recall. there is a way to get wow to use all cards power, but I read it did not increase fps a whole lot or it lowered fps in some cases.

I play five characters at the same time and I wish that this works as well.
Now, while I play fps changes to much, so I want a computer for more power.
I bought for a new processor, which works very effectively. It seems to me that the current gtx295 graphics could be better.
This does not support DirectX 11...

[Ualaa]

I would go with a single strong GPU.

If you plan on playing on multiple (3+) monitors, then multiple graphic cards (not SLI/Crossfire) get you more slots to plug monitors into.

Warcraft actually performs slightly worse (for most people) when in SLI/Crossfire mode.

[Tim]

Originally Posted by catpaps

Thank you Tim, I'll do the same changes. Can you say it is worth buying two graphics cards or buy one of the really powerful video card?
Price is not the main criterion for selection.

I've run 10x WoWs and still haven't used 100% CPU on 1 GTX 480 OC.

The reason I run SLI 2x GTX 480 isn't because of multiple WoWs, it is because I am broadcast 2 concurrent live video feeds, and this broadcasting consumes an immense amount of PCI-X bandwidth and resources, requiring me to have immensely powerful CPU and GPU.

So for example, I can peak over 2000FPS in a single WoW without broadcasting if I tweak things on my system. However, the moment I start up my 2x concurrent JTV live video capture streams, that FPS drops down to about 600, despite it using very little CPU/GPU overall.

So whereas my 5x WoWs normally operate around 300fps, when I stream it drops down to around 160fps.

If I have 1x GTX 480 that 160fps drops down to around 90.

[ollee]

o0o0o0o Big man on campus suffering from 90fps</sarcasm>

[Ualaa]

99.5% of the monitors used for gaming, have a 60 hertz refresh rate.
Which means, you won't get more then 60 FPS, even if your system reports a higher number.

[Tim]

True Ualaa, but realistically your system doesn't run at a fixed FPS rate. So for example, if you are sitting in town at 200fps, chances are when you are in a BG with a billion spell effects in your area, FPS will drop down to something like 60-80, if even for a split second.

Now imagine you idle at 120fps, when those same spell effects occur, your FPS is going to drop to 30-40, and even potentially cause screen tearing (vsync or not).

Also, FPS isn't actually monitor-wide. For example, it is very possible for one portion of your monitor, such as frame interweave on the top half, be operating at 200fps, while the bottom interweave operates at 160.

Plus having a high FPS space means you have a lot of PCI-x bandwidth available should something else decide to suddenly clutter your bridge bandwidth, such as what is heavily done by streaming as well as video capture.

So having a huge FPS gives you the ability to handle HUGE loads should the occur and have your system never even hit 60 fps even for a split second.