AMD Threadripper Is Looking Good, At Least Under Windows

[soulsource]

My Ryzen 7 1700 is being RMAed, and a staff of an agency told me that the segfault problem is just a silicon manufacturing issue.

If that's true, then it'd be really great news, as all those who encounter the segfault issue might be able to get it resolved by getting a replacement CPU. Given the fact that some people already received replacement chips which didn't segfault, probably the explanation is somehow correct.

[GreatEmerald]

Graphics aren't the problem for UT99, modern CPUs are. For one, frequency scaling - so the game doesn't constantly go through speed up/slow down cycles, you need to use a fixed frequency CPU governor. The other problem is the game running super fast (like really super fast), this is hacked around by having the launch script stress the CPU 100% while the game launches. This is for the Linux version I have installed, no clue what's going on in the Windows world, though a quick googling shows me there's a D3D11 renderer for the game nowadays!

In the Windows world, you just set VSync on which limits the framerate to 60 FPS (you can also set an arbitrary framerate limit in the INI).

[Gimzo]

In the Windows world, you just set VSync on which limits the framerate to 60 FPS (you can also set an arbitrary framerate limit in the INI).

VSync is not a problem, the game uses cpu frequency as a time reference. What happens is game reads clock speed first thing when it boots, cpu is not much used at that point and is clocked down. Then the graphics starts and cpu ramps up, and game speed with it.

[curaga]

Could be a bit offtopic here, but I need to ask, which emulator are you using? When I tried pcsx2, I could never play GTA Vice City Stories or GTA Liberty City Stories. The framerate was below 20 FPS, and introduction cutscenes were slow down by a lot (including sound). This is on Core i5 6200U laptop, Linux (Intel HD 520), Windows (both Intel HD 520 and Radeon R7 M340). I'd be curious to try some sort of software rendering.

Pcsx2 is the only ps2 emulator, so that one indeed. You can select software mode in the graphics plugin settings. Though I doubt a 15W laptop cpu will be much better than the gpu modes, at least than the Radeon. I'm getting 60fps in most games, with some scenes dropping to 30-50fps.

Comfortably? It depends on the game. Try GH Metallica, you won't even hit 10 fps, not even with hardware acceleration.

Indeed, ones making a lot of use of shaders (/ps2 equivalents) will be slower. I play mainly RPGs, though I also went through Half-life and Dark Cloud. No interest in trying guitar hero though, I don't have the controller for it.

[GreatEmerald]

VSync is not a problem, the game uses cpu frequency as a time reference. What happens is game reads clock speed first thing when it boots, cpu is not much used at that point and is clocked down. Then the graphics starts and cpu ramps up, and game speed with it.

Hm, it's been a while since I played the Loki port, but on Windows a tick is one frame rendered, not a CPU cycle.

[linuxgeex]

I have to agree with you. Phoronix is not the site I go to for a hardware deep-dive. That's fine, I still visit the site most days for other things. Along with LWN, Phoronix is a good site for Linux news. Phoronix is also the best resource for knowing how changes in the software ecosystem affect performance: the benchmarking here has influenced my purchasing decisions. Phoronix is also a one man shop compared to the other sites, and it's impressive how much content Michael produces.

What I look forward to with Phoronix having Threadripper and Epyc is seeing performance changes as code continues to evolve. I don't need to see yet another C15 or WinZip benchmark on day one.

There's a lot of value here in the benchmarks themselves, if you have the patience to dig through it all. Phoromatic is cranking out reams of data, Openbenchmarking.org is collecting reams of data from that plus results from other users.

The greater value is found in the changes in the benchmarks over time, not in the sheer number of data points.

Michael is cranking out volumes and volumes of articles based on this, but there isn't value in volume, and it's a shame that he seems to think there is a value in volume, because I know he's killing himself writing 12-page articles detailing work he's done, and ranting about how unappreciated he feels and how he hasn't had a vacation in years. I get the feeling that he wants to make me feel responsible for the wisdom of how he chooses to invest his time, but my personal observation is that he's pissing his life away for little value, and that is a shame.

Michael needs an editor. Someone who will say, "Wait a minute, you just published the same results. What has changed? Why are my readers going to pay for more of the same? Good job, but find something I can sell!" Someone who will keep him honest about the value of the time he invests, so we the readers get better value, we feel more grateful and want to support him more, more of us want to return and refer the site to friends (TBH the incessant complaining is such a turn off I would never recommend the site to anyone, and an editor would never allow that on the site to begin with) and he can have time for a vacation too.

[linuxgeex]

Pcsx2 is the only ps2 emulator, so that one indeed.

There's also mednafen, epsxe and MESS, but by far PCXSR-PGXP has vastly improved graphics, night and day better.

See this for a comparison:

You'll need wine to run it but that's not such a terrible thing these days.

[torsionbar28]

VSync is not a problem, the game uses cpu frequency as a time reference. What happens is game reads clock speed first thing when it boots, cpu is not much used at that point and is clocked down. Then the graphics starts and cpu ramps up, and game speed with it.

I have cron jobs set that enable "latency-performance" profile during the hours when I typically use the computer, and "powersave" profile during off hours. This was for something totally unrelated, but sounds like it could be a workaround for this game.

[Michael_S]

Michael needs an editor. Someone who will say, "Wait a minute, you just published the same results. What has changed? Why are my readers going to pay for more of the same? Good job, but find something I can sell!" Someone who will keep him honest about the value of the time he invests, so we the readers get better value, we feel more grateful and want to support him more, more of us want to return and refer the site to friends (TBH the incessant complaining is such a turn off I would never recommend the site to anyone, and an editor would never allow that on the site to begin with) and he can have time for a vacation too.

And if he can't find more interesting topics to include, then what? Advertising revenue and memberships drive the site, and no matter how much we hate it, his habit of posting five or so articles a day does draw more page views than if he only put big news items up once in a while.

i.e. He makes mountains out of molehills and flirts with clickbait headlines because it pays the bills. If he had another ten thousand paying subscribers, that would change and the site could get more serious. But if that was going to happen, it would have happened already.

[bridgman]

Michael needs an editor. Someone who will say, "Wait a minute, you just published the same results.

I think that has been tried already:

http://dilbert.com/strip/1996-04-15