Firing Squad have a performance review up showing the huge gains to be had in Quake 4 performance with the recently released 1.05 beta patch. When I first read the info about the release of this patch it was heavily slanted to indicate that it was for people using Intel base DC systems, so I pretty much disregarded it and then went on hols for a while.

Well, after reading this article and seeing that it does work for ANY dual core stup I installed it on my 4800+ rig and BAM and instant extra 40-60% perf increase. (SLI setup mind you)

Defineately worth a look, oh and apparently Intel HT based cpus are reported to get a boost from the Q4 patch as well.

Bring on the multi threaded games! promoted forum item

Don't know anything about the internals of this patch, but it stands to reason that any architecture that supports multiple thread execution (HT, dual-core, dual CPU) would give a boost to a multi threaded game engine.

w00t!

they've succeeded where Q3a failed with smp

How did q3 fail with SMP? I thought it had some SMP support (via r_smp 1 or something)? Would that work on a dual core cpu?

lol psycho

you and your skanky sli PC setups

not bad gains at all...

Mind you, there'll need to be a lot more game support and cheaper dual-core cpus before I make the switch from my 2.8GHz single-core Opteron (wjich is basically never cpu-limited anyway).

I havent got COD2 yet but I see over at Gamearena a similar dual core type patch for that title as well.

How did q3 fail with SMP? I thought it had some SMP support (via r_smp 1 or something)? Would that work on a dual core cpu?

That is the exact same command to enable it for this Q4 patch trog so my guess is yeh Q3 may well detect the DC's.

last edited by Psycho! at 12:09:16 03/Jan/06

How did q3 fail with SMP? I thought it had some SMP support (via r_smp 1 or something)? Would that work on a dual core cpu?

didn't the r_smp option in quake3 actually DECREASE performance? I was sure I read somewhere that enabled it made the game run even worse.

So it looks like buying that dual core cpu for my next computer won't be such a silly idea :)

So it looks like buying that dual core cpu for my next computer won't be such a silly idea :)

mate I am glad I did, as that article indicates because of the coding efforts being put into the multi threaded environments of the Ps3 and Xbox360, SMP for PC games will be sooner rather than later.

asif you wouldn't buy a new cpu every 6 months anyway :)

How did q3 fail with SMP?

JC had intended the q3a engine was to usher-in a whole new eneration of smp gaming goodness. I'm pretty sure you're the only person who posts Carmack's mamoth .plans here, so it prolly would've been you who lead me to read that Trog

hmm.. it could've been on Blues - but their good stuff always ended up here in Qgl anyways

didnt q3's command only specify which cpu/core to run it on, and not allow it to be threaded over 2 cpu's?. but meh 40-60% increase is incredible.

JC had intended the q3a engine was to usher-in a whole new eneration of smp gaming goodness.

Hmm, I don't recall that - I remembed it as just something else that he threw in there as a cool technology feature. There's a .plan file about some of it though.

But the question needs to be asked, does the patch make q4 any less gay? Will people actually play it now instead of just using it as a benchmark tool?

no, im guessing they wont

But the question needs to be asked, does the patch make q4 any less gay?

With the patch and especially the new version of Q4Max released since CPL I think Quake 4 is now up to the standard of OSP Q3 in almost every way. If you ask me now is the time to get in to it.
The laggy feel of the game is still there for the time being due to the 60fps cap and hardware limitations, although I've found it's something you adjust to after playing for a while.

didn't the r_smp option in quake3 actually DECREASE performance?

in Q3a? nope. 10-20% increase in performance on the old Asus CUV4x/D with 2 P3_933s. still - RA3 used to go downhill fast when using the built-in mp3 player :/

I couldn't get it to work via HT with my P4 :(

There's a .plan file about some of it though.

..and he's been saying words to the effect of smp not becoming standard ever since. still - if I'd been working on SMP for +5 years I wouldn't give the competition the heads up either

I got a good performance increase from my 4wd's turbo diesel by installing a dchip and a 3" exhaust - although nothing like 40-60%, admittedly

Are there alot of people playing Q4 multiplayer on the net? I never hear anything about it compared to CS and WoW.

When I read the thread title I thought "eh!? What, Quake 1!? We were already gettin 900+fps in it, wtf do we need better performance for".

Makes me wonder what would be possible though :D

i found my water setup accually decreased performance on my 4wd's inline 4

After reading Masters of Doom ... Carmack destroyed ID.