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

no such thing...if theres a way a n00b will break it they will. stuff like spelling mistakes can still happen and what have you...

nice thread gophn...

 

Which benchmark are you running? From what I understand, 3DMark 2006 is a better test of multi-threading tasks and would utilize both cores more. 3DMark 2005 is just a basic 3D benchmark.

Oh, hey Albsterama, how about n00b resistant? Would that be more accurate?

 

too funny ninjazed....

i've had this patch for some months now, its not that much of a diff, imo. as much as Sager does not officially recognize it, theres no perceivable oddity or harm in implementing it based on my 9750 usage thus far.

 

Interesting turn of events.

I have just recently got some PMs about this Dual Core Hotfix for new Core 2 Duo (Merom) notebooks.

As far as I can gather, the messages that I got said that an OEM has already configured the registry for the Throttle.
The only thing missing was the BOOT.ini didnt have /usepmtimer added to it.

Are the OEMs actually catching some wind about why this Hotfix isnt just for "systems with performance problems" (quote from MS and their reps)???

About freakin time.

Game On People,
-Gophn

P.S. Im tryin to confirm which OEMs. Please post if your OEM is also configuring it for you.

 

I know my Sager had the /usepmtimer in the boot.ini but not the registry fix. also since i am running the AMD the optimizer were the old ones and not the 06 updates. interesting indeed, nice update gophn.

 

Evening all!

I have a Core 2 Duo (Merom)T7200 with windows XP media centre.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager with no Throttle subkey and further subkey of PerfEnablePackageIdle.

As already mentioned, the merom boot.ini

Thus missing /usepmtimer.

Are the meroms CPU's already configured or so i need to do this myself?

 

Lecter,

It is not the CPU (in this case.. the Merom) that configures itself for optimized use.

It is the software (such as the OS.. WinXP) that is required to support and and to be properly configured to take advantage of the dual cores.

So in other words, in order for you to get the most out of your dual core system, you must install the WinXP hotfix, add the Throttle and DWORD to your registry, and add the /usepmtimer to your boot.ini.

If you want to, you can ran some benchmarks and record your findings for BEFORE and AFTER the hotfix.

The main benchmarks used are:
- 3DMark06 (this is a multithread supported program & the cpu score is what your want to look at)
- PCMark05 (decent program for bechmarking, but needs to be updated)
- SuperPI (useful benchmark for the CPU processing speed and stability)

NOTE: I have just added these benchmarks to the original post. Enjoy.

Game On People,
-Gophn

 

first confirmed OEM notebook with Windows XP pre-configured for Multi Core support.

HP dv2000t with Core 2 Duo t7200

Hope that other OEMs will do the same.

-Gophn

 

next confirmed OEM notebook with Dual Core Optimization support:

Dell E1505 with Core 2 Duo

-Gophn

UPDATE: you need to add /usepmtimer to the BOOT.ini to get the optimization of your dual core CPU. It has been confirmed that /usepmtimer is not added to this Dell notebook.

 

I will give this a try Gophn,great post.

 

I just received my E1505 1 hour ago, and /usepmtimer is not included, so I dunno about that confirmation :S. It's a Core 2 duo as well

 

Super PI did not produce any different results, having followed your instructions. Still getting 24s on a 1M calculation task.

T7400/2GB RAM (533Mhz), running at full clock speed.

 

the /usepmtimer needs to be added for optimal dual core use.

sorry for the confirmation, i should have included the need to add the /usepmtimer into the BOOT.ini

enjoy your new notebook.

-Gophn

 

pretty nice score, you should try the 2M calculation too.

I would recommend you to use 3Dmark06... mainly the CPU Scores are what you want from it because this program has MultiThread support.

-Gophn

 

3DMark06 score did go up roughly by 100 points (4363 to 4459), and only 2 points in CPU (1830 to 1832). Although I bet that using different power saving settings/etc., I can get a bit more.

Cheers.

Edit: 1M calculation was accomplished now in 23 seconds.

 

This is probably a dumb question, but in addition to the hotfix and the registry\boot.ini edits, am I supposed to install the AMD Dual-Core Optimizer, even on a Intel Core2 computer? Gophn's post just states that Core 2 don't require the AMD driver-not sure if that included the AMD Dual-Core Optimizer he linked to. Thanks in advance.

 

no don't install AMD Dual Core Optimizer if you dont have an AMD CPU.

 

Thanks. I honestly wasn't sure.

 

good post. i just did it for my w3j.. no improvements to my 3dMark05.. and i don't have 3dmark06.. so il just assume all worked

 

You should try SuperPI, it usually shows improvements in that.

 

i don't have results before that patch so i don't know the change will be :\

 

i wouldnt worry about it then.
If you really want to see before and after, you can just to the STEP 3 in the guide, and in the PerfEnablePackageIdle where there is a vaule of 1... if you change it to 0 it will disable the hotfix. Then you can do some benchmarks, and come back and turn it back to 1. Then you can compare.

But you dont have to as long as you did everything correct and dont have any issues.

 

Well I did everything listed here.
I ran 3DMark05 twice before I installed the hotfix and added the /usepmtimer in boot.ini

Before Tweaking:
Scores: 1354, 1357, Average: 1355.5
After Tweaking: 1356

So either the tweaking didn't do anything beneficial for me, or 3DMark05 1.2.0 was already maximized and configured for dual cores. Either way, no gain for me.

 

3DMark05 is almost useless in benchmarking multi cores because it does not truly have multithreading... it may say it support dual cores, but thats not the same, it supporting dual cores means more for it not crashing in a dual core system, while "multi threading" is within the programming to take advantage of multi-cores and utilize it during the benchmark (or game, applications, etc.)

You should use 3DMark06 (which supports multithreading) and SuperPI for a better look at the performance differences... especially the CPU score within 3DMark06.

Did your notebook already have the registry inputted into it? Just wondering, because some have told me that your model already has it.

-Gophn

 

great post dude ..

 

The good short answer would be that MCE is XP Pro plus some media features, minus domain related features (Since MCE2005).

From wikipedia.org:
"Media Center is based on Windows XP Professional, Microsoft has disabled its ability to join an Active Directory domain post install. This effectively precludes the use of Media Center in a corporate environment. Media Center still retains most other Windows XP Pro-specific features."

From Microsoft MCE faq:
"Windows XP Professional features, specifically Domain Join and Cached Credentials (Credentials Manager for logons) are not included."

 

If I restart from the installation screen (before going to the registry) and continue the fix from there, does it affect the effectiveness? I did that and I still have problems with my games (stutter/lag when some sounds come on). I posted a topic on the Compal board ( link) and they led me to this topic here, so I figured I might as well post here as well.

 

make sure that you disable "hardware sound" in any of your games, especially if you are using an on-board sound card.

note: this hotfix is for systems with a dual core CPU

no, it does not affect the effectiveness if you dont restart... trust me, i tried many ways to do it, and it all turns out the same. The way I posted is probably the most efficient (and easy) way of doing it.

If you are playing old games, sometimes you actually have to use "one core" while playing it, I remember I experience similar stutters while playing older games.

To change the Affinity for whatever program/game:
**Start your game or program
1) Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to bring up the Task Manager
2) go to the Processes tab
3) I recommend you to hit the User Name section to organize the processes, so that you can look the processes under your user name.
4) Look for the process name of the program/game
5) Highlight it and Right Click on it and choose Set Affinity...
6) Uncheck the processor (core) which should not run this application/game. (in you case, just uncheck any one)
7) hit OK, and close the Task Manager

Thats it.

Note: This is also a great for multitasking, like Set the Affinity for a DVD ripping program on CPU-0.... and Set the Affinity for a game on CPU-1.

 

I have tried setting games to one core, but I still get that stutter.

 

hmmm... so the games stutters with sound. and runs fine without sound?

as long as all your games have the lastest updates....

hopefully its not the sound card itself, i recently just ran into that with a new desktop that I built for a client (Asus M2N32 SLI Deluxe)... the on-board sound card on this highend AM2 motherboard crapped out and I replaced it with a basic Sound Blaster 24-bit PCI card, and it worked fine after that.

That or you can defrag, which I usually dont recommend because its time consuming, but sometimes fixes stuttering issues. If you are going to Defrag, use a 3rd party program to do it.. and to do it over night.

Lastly, I hate to recommend this, but a HDD wipe and a reinstall will determine if it is a soundcard problem or not.

 

Hmm, I just tried without sound and I still get stutters. I have done several defrags with the one in Windows. I'll look into a 3rd party program some time. A reinstallation probably wouldn't be much to me since this laptop is relatively new. Maybe I'll do it when I get a long vacation from college. Thanks for the help.

 

did you turn off the sound by:
1) going into the BIOS to disable it
2) -OR- by Disabling it in Device Manager
3) -OR- by removing the sound card physically (which is not practical for a notebook)

those are the best ways to really test the game w/o sound

 

Hi,

I just added the throttle to the registry and did the boot.ini thing.

My machine is a D820 with the T7200 cpu.

My superpi is the same now as it was before (1m 03s).

One thing I am noticing is that I hear my fan now. Up until this, I have NEVER heard my fan. I mean in a month, not one time. Now it is on constantly.

Is this normal? I never realized how much I liked my silent computer before it became loud.

I would also like to confim that I did not need to download the patch.

Thanks!

 

I did say that SuperPI is single-threaded, which wont give you a good and accurate measurement of your CPU speed. I recommend you to run 3DMark06 (even if you dont have a good videocard) because it is multi-threaded and has a very accurate CPU score within its tests.

As for your fans, I am not too sure, but I think you need to change or play around with your Power Schemes, because it should be on Portable/Laptop so that the full speed of the CPU is not running at all times. If your notebook's power scheme is set correctly, then your speed should be around 1000 mhz when its idle, and will switch to its full speed when you are running CPU demanding applications. Thats what I believe is happen since your literally optimized the dual core functionality within Windows XP.

I recommend you to use a program to monitor the speed of your CPU dynamically.

Read this for GPU and CPU monitoring (temps, fans, voltage, etc..):
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=81690

Within the Guide:
Notebook Hardware Control is for monitoring CPU temps, fans, voltage, etc..
RivaTuner is for monitoring GPU temps and fans

 

Would this registry fix, decrease battery, or would the battery remain the same.

 

the battery should remain the same, some have tried to test the batterylife before-after the hotfix, some fine that they lose 5-10 minutes.
Most dont even notice the difference.

 

dumb question sorry, but , is the Pentium 4 HT 3.4 ghz processor on AW m7700 a dual core ?

 

HT (Hyper-Threading) which is not physically 2 cores, but shows up in the Device Manager with 2 logical processors.

This hotfix was mainly created for CPUs with 2 physical cores.

However, Microsoft states this:
Windows XP SP2 is required on computers that have multiple CPUs that support ACPI processor performance states. This requirement includes computers that support the following items:
• Multiple physical sockets
• Multiple-core designs
• Multiple logical threads, such as Intel hyper-threading technology

Some have done this hotifx for the Pentium 4's with HT and saw some improvements, but its not too significantly compared doing the fix on a dual core....
The hotfix varies because Pentium 4s with HT has 3-4 versions over the years since the first P4 Northwood 3.06ghz 533mhz FSB (which was the first P4 with HT) came out.

Definitely won't hurt to try to get the most out of your system, and remember to benchmark before & after CPU scores (from 3DMark06 and/or Super PI)

-Gophn

 

I tried disabling it in the device manager, but I still got the stutters.

 

sounds strange, to rule out that is NOT a hardware problem, a reinstall of Windows, drivers, and the games is the only way left I think. (could be done on a spare HDD)

I hate to suggest reinstallation, but it now seems to have a chance being hardware problems.

If your notebooks functions normally, then it was just software, if not.... then time to troubleshoot

 

Hello, Gophn. I hope that you don't mind me asking a few questions that are a little off-topic here. I am a desktop user, and I have been reading this thread for some time. I stumbled onto this thread using Google while doing some research in order to try to find out more details about Microsoft's 896256 hotfix for Windows XP for dual-core CPUs--the one you all have been discussing, and I have been reading this thread avidly with great interest. I learned a lot, but I still have some questions that I was hoping that you could answer for me that I could not find answers to in the thread, and that I hope you could help me with, and that you don't mind me asking.

If you have a desktop computer, and not a laptop computer, and you still wanted to install the hotfix in order to optimize Windows XP for your dual-core CPU, do you still have to do all of those steps that you mentioned in the beginning of the thread on the first page like using Regedit to edit your registry and adjusting the entries in your boot.ini file? Or is that only for laptop computers?

And didn't they already fix this issue when they released Service Pack 2 for Windows XP, or do you still have to install this hotfix in order to optimize Windows XP for dual-core CPUs?

Thanks in advance anybody for answering my questions.

Leroy

 

Service Pack 2 brought Windows XP to be ready for multi-core/processor support... it is not set for you though.

Windows Update wont ever have this automatically installed for good reason, if this hotfix is done on a single-core (w/o HT), then the performance & stability of that system will be problematic.

This hotfix applies to all systems (desktops and notebooks), with a CPU that has dual cores (or Hyper-Threading).

Like I stated in the Thread, this hotfix is for those that want the most out of their dual core system, and that casual PC users might not notice or care about the performance increase. As for gamers, multitaskers, and/or using professional applications that have multithreading support (audio editing, video editing, 3D rendering, etc.) the performance increase should be noticeable, but it varies depending on the programs/games you use.

This hotfix will not do any harm to your computer, it will optimize the performance of your system. To check the performance upgrade, you should use some benchmarks to see the differences... I recommend 3DMark06, since it is multi-threaded, and has a very accurate CPU benchmark score for dual core CPUs.

 

Thanks for responding, Gophn.

So, if I do choose to install this hotfix, then I do have to go into Regedit, and edit my registry manually, and tweak the settings in my boot.ini file, if I wanted maximum performance, right? I can't just install the hotfix, and leave it alone from there?

Leroy

 

yeah you are required to do all the steps to optimize the use of your dual core CPU within Windows XP.

The steps are pretty straight forward, takes like 2 minutes at most to do. Just make sure on the BOOT.ini section of the guide, that you just add the /usepmtimer ONLY... and not copy and paste the entire BOOT.ini and overwrite your own (I had a field day when thats what people were doing)

 

OK, got it. Appreciate the help.

Leroy

 

First of all, sorry for my poor english xD.

I have little dude, this patch and the registry modification is necessary too in Winxp64 bits and in Win Vista?

Thks! I hope recieve your ask quickly!

 

Sorry, but I am not aware about a hotfix that is needed for Windows x64 or Vista as for the moment. I have been using Vista Beta 2, but I will see if there is an optimization needed when Windows Vista gets released officially.

I will update or make a new guide when Vista is officially released... if needed.

I do not want to post hotfixes for software that is still in Beta stages.

 

Will the free version of 3DMark06 due to trick to see the differences, or do you have to have one of the paid versions?

 

I didn't know that the fix affects 10 seconds of cpu processing time! That's insane, really. That apparently converts over to approx ~15-20 FPS on some games, in the one review linked to this thread!

 

The Free 3DMark06 is perfectly fine to use, the Pro version is the same but with extra tests at the end... nothing really special.