How to Temporarily or Permanently Enable Multicore Rendering (July 2016 Update)

As of the July 2016 Update (July 6th 2016), Multicore Rendering in Garry's Mod has long last been making a comeback and so far, it's doing great. It's not unstable or buggy (To the point of being unplayable) anymore and greatly helps improve framerates on multi-core CPU systems[wikipedia.org], however it's still not entirely finished, thus will still disable itself when quitting the game after playing with it enabled.

Remember that Multicore Rendering may still have some bugs, glitches and other issues when enabled! If you experience any issues, try re-disabling it and playing again with it kept off.

Server Owners: This does absolutely nothing on dedicated servers (SRCDS), so don't bother trying!

Video Option Clarification

The option "Multicore Rendering" found in "Main/Pause Menu > Options > Video > Advanced Settings" still has no effect and never has done since Garry's Mod 13. Enabling the option doesn't actually enable Multicore Rendering!



If you want to play Garry's Mod with Multicore Rendering enabled, you're going to have to do so via Console. If you want to enable Multicore Rendering without having to manually re-enable it every time you start the game, this guide will show you a quick and easy method on automating it, so it'll always stay enabled between game sessions.

Temporarily Enable

To temporarily enable Multicore Rendering, you need to set 3 Console Variables before starting a new game or joining a server, which can be done by the following:

1. Start Garry's Mod to the Main Menu.
   
   
2. Open Console (Press Shift + Esc keys together).
   
   
3. Enter the following into Console:
   

   gmod_mcore_test 1; mat_queue_mode -1; cl_threaded_bone_setup 1

   
   
   
   
4. Close Console and continue to a New Game or Join a Server.

Done! This will enable Multicore Rendering until the game closes by any means. Once it does and you next re-launch the game, Multicore Rendering will be disabled again.

Permanently Enable

To permanently enable Multicore Rendering, you need instruct the game to set the 3 needed Console Variables when the game launches, and this is an easy way to do so:

1. Navigate to your Garry's Mod File Directory:
   
   On 64-Bit Windows, it's usually located at:
   C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\GarrysMod\
   
   On 32-Bit WIndows, it's usually located at:
   C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\GarrysMod\
   
   On OSX, it's usually located at:
   ~/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/garrysmod/
   
   On Linux, it's usually located at:
   ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/garrysmod/
   
   
   
   
2. From your Garry's Mod File Directory, go to and open:
   garrysmod > cfg > autoexec.cfg
   
   
   
   Open the file with Notepad[wikipedia.org], Notepad++[wikipedia.org], Sublime Text[wikipedia.org], Atom[en.wikipedia.org] or any other simple text editor of your choice.
   
   
3. Add the following into the opened autoexec.cfg file:
   

   gmod_mcore_test 1
   mat_queue_mode -1
   cl_threaded_bone_setup 1

   
   
   
   
4. Save the file and close it.

Done! This file gets automatically executed when launching the game and will enable and keep Multicore Rendering enabled between game sessions, so you can open and close Garry's Mod without Multicore Rendering re-disabling itself.

This saves time and effort as you don't need to remember to re-enter the Console Variables to enable Multicore Rendering every time you start Garry's Mod, before starting a new game or joining a server.

Finishing Up

That's it! You can now enjoy playing Garry's Mod with double or more the framerate than you otherwise get with Multicore Rendering being disabled.

If you want to disable Multicore Rendering after deciding to permanently enable Multicore Rendering and would like it to default back to being disabled, simply remove the Console Variables you entered into your autoexec.cfg and re-save the file.

If you only temporarily enabled Multicore Rendering and would like to disable it again, simply quit the game and launch it again, or enter the following into Console:

gmod_mcore_test 0; mat_queue_mode -1; cl_threaded_bone_setup 0

Enjoy!

[ANIMAL CRACKERS]

help gmod keeps forcing it on yet it is not in my autoexec and i am not in a beta branch

[iced mcfurry]

crazy how this is still relevant, thanks btw this really helped my fps

[Spike Spiegel]

@The_Man check the finishing up part and put it in the autoexec

[The_Man]

How?

[Señor Gorb.]

the_man just undo what you just did brh

[The_Man]

How do i permenetly disable it.

[dsaS]

https://youtu.be/DdmNYNkcwKE

[Guavo]

i dont have this file C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\GarrysMod\ specifically the garrysmod folder at the end, and its not in the 32 bit version either. Im running the game on the 86 version so i am very confused

[jbjeeskee]

Thanks bro this is good as

[Mihacappy]

Thanks, my computer isn't suffering any more