Windows XP Multi Core config - Does your OEM do it for you?

Well if you want the most out of your dual core, then you would want to install the hotfix and registry add-on (thats all).

But with your gaming rig with SLI videocards, you might not notice the extra frames at all.

Well if you want the most out of your dual core (for gaming and heavy number crunching), then you would want to install the hotfix and registry add-on (thats all).

You should notice an increase in gaming (or media conversions). You should not really notice any differences for typical day to day uses (web browsing, music listening, movies, etc...).

I am not sure about that driver pack, but that would not include the hotfix.

Install the hotfix, and do the registry add-on. And you should be good to go.

 

Guys, I installed this hotfix and everything, but the games I play seem to lag alot more than it used to. Otherwise, performance is about the same, and nothing seems to have improved. My computer is a P4 Prescott 3.0Ghz HT desktop.

 

Well this hotfix shows more performance increases for true dual cores... from my previous tests (on the P4's w/ HT)

Another thing is to not use the boot.ini add-on for Intel CPU's.

In any case, games (up to now) have mainly been written for single core's... only within the last few year has multi-threaded games come out to take advantage of multi-core CPU's.

I would go into the Registry (where the PerfEnablePackageIdle is located) and change the value to 0. This will switch off the hotfix.

And see if your gaming is better.

I would strongly do some CPU benchmarks (like wPrime or SuperPI) to get some measurable results.

 

Is there a way to get this to work with x64 edition of Windows XP Pro? I set the HAL when I installed it to ACPI multiprocessor but it still isnt working corrently.

 

wait...

DO NOT use this on XP 64-bit edition, it is not required.

Only 32-bit XP can use this hotfix.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi, i just started reading this post, i have an acer 5102wlmi (turion64x2) so i did the hotfix, the strange thing is that even thou i "installed" the hotfix from microsoft (KB896256-v4) it doesnt appear on my updates on the "add-remove programs" list, ive tried executing several times the exe file, and downloading again and again and it "completes" installation, the throttle folder wasnt there...so i did every step on the post (skipping the fact that the KB update is not on my updates list) and created every file as listed here.....i wonder if it should be ok or if i need to do something else.....thank you very much in advance....

 

UPDATE: just did an intensive search thru the updates and noticed that the KB896256 is under Windows Update KB896256 and not Hotfix KB896256......so its still ok? or should i change something? did the steps exactly as described except for the boot.ini as im a WoWer.....

 

Yes thats fine.

If you have an AMD CPU, you might want to do the Boot.ini step.

 

Just saw this article and wondering about my custom desktop computer with Win Xp Sp2 Mce 2005-anyways it is got an amd 64 athlon x2 5000+ processor and I installed the lastest amd cpu driver and dual core optimizer already before. I do know in the dual core optimizer release notes that it says that having it and kb896256 winxp hotfix blue screens have been reported. I would like to know though if it is alright in my case to have the dual core optimizer and winxp hotfix kb896526 installed at the same time. Would you get better performance? Or should I just have one? What is the better one you think? Lastly if I have the amd dual core optimizer, do I need to do the registry editing?

 

Do not use the AMD optimizer and the XP hotfix at the same time.

Just use one or the other, there is no real difference in performances.

Did you read the Notes, I went over this issue if you use both.

No you do not need to do the registry add-in if you are using the Optimizer.

 

Thanks for replying alright I will just keep my current configuration as my computer performs great with games, video/audio conversion programs yeah. Yes I read the entire thread and the dual core optimizer release notes before posting, but wasn't totally sure when in general and for my desktop. Cool also don't need to do the registry add in. Hope this helps other people who have the same question.

 

is that a problem ?
i have a t7300 core 2 duo 2.00ghz 800fsb 4mb cache or something like that in a laptop and i was wondering if i need to fix that i have windows xp pro

 

that seems fine.

I would recommend using CPU-Z to check your computer's CPU stats.... its much more accurate than the Windows system properties.

 

aight i think i got it now
it both now shows 2ghz cause im doing something that is takeing up alot of proccesses so iguess it was just idleing or something like that

 

Yup, thats correct.

mobile CPU's do not run at full speed at all times... they will dynamically switch speeds when its needed... for batterylife and lower heat.

 

Hi, I've not managed to read the whole thread so I'm not sure if this has been mentioned before, but how do you know if you need to config win xp for multi-core utilisation if you have santa rosa (intel 965 chipset). I've read that with this chipset that in single thread apps only one core will be activated and will overclock naturally by 20-30% (I think). Since most apps are still single thread won't you mostly only see one core active? If this is true then won't a multi-core config actually lose this over clock for single thread apps.

Also this would beg the question if you overclock your dual cores then isn't it possible that in single thread apps the santa rosa clock boost might put your optimal clock rate(s) in the danger zone? not sure if it quite works like that though.

 

this XP hotfix does not overclock anything.

it just set the OS to utilize the multi-cores in a more efficient way when its needed. (rather than having the CPU load float from one core to the other... without the hotfix).

So if you are using XP SP2 (32-bit) and want the most out of your system, this would be recommended.

Like stated before....
- you will not notice any performance increase on day to day usage
- you will only notice better performance in games and heavy number crunching apps (like audio/video conversions)... which have multi-threaded coding.

 

Thanks for clearing that up for me!

 

okay i just took vista 64 off my comp and installed xp, i downloaded and installed the hotfix, but the throttle key is not in my registry what do i do?

 

you manually insert it yourself.

 

yes, the first time i've done this, surprised everything is working as well as it is.

 

i tried my best to make it fool proof.... with all the pics and stuff.

glad to hear that it was a breeze for you.

 

never mind im retarded

 

I have a custom Clevo D900K with an AMD X2 4800 CPU. Following the directions, I downloaded the necessary files and started with installing the AMD Driver. However, I get the error message "Cannot complete the Device Driver Installation Wizard".

Why is this not working?

 

Here is a screenshot of the error message I get:

 

Do you already have the drivers installed? If so you do not need to do it again.


If not....
make sure you uninstall any AMD drivers & utilities.

then try again.

 

I may have had the driver installed before not anymore. but I will follow your direction and uninstall all AMD drivers & Utils. thanks for the advice, Gophn.
Here's another interesting piece of information: my clock speed always stays at the idle 1000MHz and never goes up, no matter what app I throw at it.

 

Gophn,

still no go on the AMD driver. I uninstalled the Optimizer (which I found from this thread caused all these BSOF) and all AMD utilities. I still get that error message. Is there some sweeper software that will make sure there aren't any leftovers from previous drivers?

 

your clock will stay at 1000mhz when it is idle and it will dynamically switch [if plugged into AC] the speed to max when you need it (for gaming and heavy number crunching)... thats normal for notebooks to preserve power and decrease heat.

 

that's what i'm saying: it does NOT speed up when i play a game for example; it always stays at 1000MHz.

 

interestingly, I just booted into my other partition which is running Windows XP x64 and the AMD driver installed fine. duh. what's more, here i have the AMD Optimizer installed, and it does not crash my Clevo, unlike the 32-bit partition.

 

fyi, I put the driver problem in a new thread; i don't want to convolute this excellent thread with something not really related.

thanks to all for contributing!

 

I've tried said methods by TC on my Sager notebook but I failed to see any impact on my 3dmark06 score with both throttle on and boot.ini. My score actually went down bit 3159 before modifying compare to 3151 after modifying but I believe it's just random.

 

if you have a Core 2 Duo, the BOOT.ini add-on is not required.

 

I tried again without boot.ini and the score just stay as 3159 as before modifying, but I guess I'll leave it as it is since it's not doing any harm right?

 

nope no harm, now its just optimized... for CPU intense work.

 

Is this issue a problem even if you purchase a new copy of Windows XP Home for a fresh install? I think the new copies of XP come with SP2 so I was just curious if I should be aware of this or not. Thanks.

 

You can check to see if the new XP Home that you bought has the hotfix included.

Look at the Add/Remove Programs, check the Show Updates box on top, and look for the hotfix.

If it does not have it, then you will need to do it yourself.

FYI: This hotfix is usually not included with newly purchased WinXP's... mainly because you should not have this hotfix unless if you have a multi-core system.... thats why it will not come up as an Windows Automatic Update.

 

But I need this in order to fully optimize my Intel E6850 CPU correct?

 

If you are using WinXP w/ SP2 (32-bit).... then Yes.

Just do the first 2 steps and you should be good to go.

should take less than a minute to do really.

 

This might be silly....but this hotfix only needed for XP rite????

no probs with Vist i am assuming...
i havnt worked on Vista so i dont know...they are for Dual core and stuff rite???

 

Vista (all versions) has fully multi-core support.

No need to do anything.

 

Thanks for the reply Gophn

 

Just a quick question does power consumption goes up if I did this Windows XP Multi Core config?

 

it still remains the same, the load of the CPU is just optimized to utilize both cores... rather than having the load float from one core to the other.

 

Well I completely formated my Hardrive last night and went from Vista Home Premium 64bit back to Windows XP Home 32bit and I noticed a pretty big slowdown on my loading times in my games. For example, in World of Warcraft I used to be able to load up in a high traffic area (Peak time in Orgrimmar, Iron Forge, etc.) in about 5 seconds and the many characters would load up almost instantly also after the area was loaded. Now after going back to XP, my load times have doubled and it takes a good bit for the characters on the sreen to load aswell. My FPS seem fine because i'm getting 90+ FPS in high traffic areas with everything maxed, it's just the load times are slower.

To install XP I used a new copy that I just received yesterday that already had SP2 on the install CD so I thought that it would also have this hotfix included. Well after looking at the updates I didn't see the KB896256 hotfix installed and also the registry didn't have the Throttle inputs either so I'm guessing that i'm not using both cores? However, when looking in the device manager under processors, it shows Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 @3.00Ghz, Core 2 Duo E6850 @3.00Ghz as if it sees both cores. It also shows 2x E6850 in System information aswell. Does that even matter? Is there another way I can check to see if i'm using both cores or not without downloading this hotfix?

The reason I ask this is because some people are saying that they didn't install this hotfix but are using both cores anyway in XP so if that's the case are only a handful of people having this issue? Here are my system specs if this might help any:

CPU: Intel E6850
Video: GeForce 8800GTX
Mobo: Asus P5K (Non deluxe)
Ram: 4GB Corsair XMS2 Xtreme 6400 @ 4-4-4-12 (XP only sees 3.25GB However)
Hardrive: 74GB Western Digital Raptor 10,000RPM

If this isn't the issue i'm having is there anything else I might check to see what is causing the slow load times in my games? Thanks in advance.

 

you can chk if you're using both cores by opening task manager and looking @ CPU Usage History, if it has 2 graphs you're using both cores.

 

Yes I have two graphs, but I don't have the hotfix or the registry settings. So do I need to install this hotfix anyway and setup the registry settings also?

 

XP will detect multi-cores, multi-cpus, etc... (with the charts)

The hotfix does NOT enable multi-core functionality... it is used to optimize the CPU load across the multi-cores.

 

So I should go ahead and download this update and adjust the registry settings correct?