SteamVR Performance Test: Change the Nº of CPU cores used

[Kyle]

Hi!

I'm willing to get the HTC Vive, and so I checked the latest SteamVR performance test.

The thing is, my CPU is an AMD Phenom XII 1100T which has 6 physical cores.

And what is the problem you say? The test used all of the 6 cores and said my computer was VR Ready.

The problem is, most games if not all will probably only use 1 or 2 cores at most, since games are not optimized to use more cores than that.

This means that the performance test was not very accurate for my computer.

Now for the question, is there some way to force the test to run with only 1 or 2 of my physical cores, so I can check what my real performance would be in an actual game?

I remember hearing microsoft and some other companies about finally getting drivers that use up to 6 physical cores (DirectX 12 for example) but I already asked someone to check it on Hover Junkers for instance and apparently it only used 1 core, which will probably kill my computer since it's slower with single threads.

So yeah, that is why I want to know that. Again, any way to do such thing?

Thanks!

[Fluffy]

The info you received was incorrect drivers to use 6 cores(direct x12?) has nothing to do with core utilization... i have a fx 8320 and older games use 2 ancient games use 1 most newer games use all 4cores and 4threads (no difference in terms of utilization for threads or cores) i get all core utilization with gtav,fallout 4, etc etc. it SOLELY depends on the games coding

[Alexalmighty502 Sup Acc]

i'm amazed that cpu passed its weaker than a fx 6300 i do not think you'll get a acceptable framerate with that cpu in vr due to the fact it's basically 1080p resolution on 2 screens

[Fluffy]

^^^i was thinking the same thing he must have a very good card

[Alexalmighty502 Sup Acc]

Originally posted by Fluffy:

^^^i was thinking the same thing he must have a very good card

if that's the case he should use that money for a better cpu and mobo

[Kyle]

Well I do have an AMD Radeon 390X 4GB, its pretty new and its higher than the recommended for VR.

Still, the CPU is a very important part for VR so I really need to know this.

Originally posted by Fluffy:

The info you received was incorrect drivers to use 6 cores(direct x12?) has nothing to do with core utilization... i have a fx 8320 and older games use 2 ancient games use 1 most newer games use all 4cores and 4threads (no difference in terms of utilization for threads or cores) i get all core utilization with gtav,fallout 4, etc etc. it SOLELY depends on the games coding

I know, some games like Dying Light use all cores, but to put it in some way, it's not really optimized well to do so. As far as I know, the devs had to struggle to get such thing working (As you said, they coded it) but on newer settings like the DX12 it comes integrated, or so they say.

AMD literally showed that their multi-core CPU's were ♥♥♥♥ compared to Intel's, even with more physical cores. Still they sold them to us like they were the best CPU's and now they are becoming good again because of games using all cores (Finally).

But on the other hand, games like Killing Floor 2 use only 2 cores at around 75% power, other 2 at 33% and the remaining 2 barely get to 10%. This means that I basically play with 2 cores to a game that was released not long ago.

With this I'm betting that the source 2 which is the motor that runs the test, has native support for multi-core CPU's.

But, this is useless for the test if VR games don't use all cores like the test does. So again, any way to run the test with less cores? I would like to see how well it performs with less cores to know what to expect.

Thanks for the answers.

[Fluffy]

yeah its the card thats pulling it... yes amd(high cores) were actually WORSE for gaming when they were first released they are still decent but intel is winning the race... they are marketed based on budget processors the intel upgrades are a higher chunk of change... you are correct some games (older) will not utilize very good but the older games generally require less hardware requirements the newer games do quite well like i said i can play gtav,fallout 4 very well with the amd i have... you can upgrade for less core games or keep what you have for games coded for multi cores

[Alexalmighty502 Sup Acc]

yeah cpus like the i3 6100 now beat the fx 8350 in gaming

[Kyle]

I managed to do the test with only 1 and 2 cores.

For some reason, it now blames my GPU instead of only blaming the CPU.

But yeah, with only 2 cores my PC is not quite VR ready, so hopefuly games will come well optimized for multi-core specs like mine.

I'll go and ask some devs about their game optimization, and see if they support multi-core CPU's.

If they do, then I should be alright. If they don't, I'll be forced to change CPU as well, which is sad because the CPU itself isn't that bad (when all cores are being used, obviously)

Thanks for your time! If someone wants more info about the result of my tests just let me know.

[Alexalmighty502 Sup Acc]

it's posted that you need a i5 4590 or better cpu that beats every single amd cpu right now gaming wise

[Spawn of Totoro]

VR will use those cores. Remember, it isn't just the game that will use it. There is added stress due to motion sensors on the two controllers as well as the two sensor boxes. A lot is going on in the background with your system when using VR.

I'm supprised my CPU was listed as ready, an i5-4570. My GPU on the other hand, is only capable, 7970 w/ 3GB of ram, but that part I expected.

[Kyle]

Originally posted by Alexalmighty502 Sup Acc:

it's posted that you need a i5 4590 or better cpu that beats every single amd cpu right now gaming wise

I know, and if i were to upgrade, it would be to an Intel, because I didn't get much usage to those extra cores anyways.

Still, it passed the test quite well (0 frames under 90fps and 0 frames slowed by CPU) so if I don't have to spend any money at all, then that is better.

Originally posted by Spawn of Totoro:

VR will use those cores. Remember, it isn't just the game that will use it. There is added stress due to motion sensors on the two controllers as well as the two sensor boxes. A lot is going on in the background with your system when using VR.

I'm supprised my CPU was listed as ready, an i5-4570. My GPU on the other hand, is only capable, 7970 w/ 3GB of ram, but that part I expected.

Yeah that is what I thought too, the tracking and there being 2 screens to render at 90 FPS each would give some use to those cores even if the games didn't. Since I'm guessing the CPU is used somehow to render those frames, and is absolutely used for the tracking.

Still, if the games did use them as well, that would be better.

When it gets launched maybe I can look up some kind of solution, like getting the 2 first cores for games and the other 4 focused on the HMD, this way the game atleast has 2 cores for itself.

Hopefuly they will add multi-core support and none of that will be needed. Hopefuly.

Thanks for your answers!