use more than 2 cores?

[isomgmsghs]

I just upgraded from a 4 year old 4 core processor (phenom II 970) to a new 8 core processor (FX 9590) and to find out i still have to wait for the game to start up quite a while. Can you get it to use more than 2 cores? 2 core tech is getting old.

[Daffyflyer]

Multithreading isn't quite as simple as that, nor will it help load times a great deal

We will be changing some things to improve load times in future, as well as make things a little more multithreaded (once we're on a new engine).

[isomgmsghs]

Multithreading isn't quite as simple as that, nor will it help load times a great deal

We will be changing some things to improve load times in future, as well as make things a little more multithreaded (once we're on a new engine).

ok

[Drake]

Does any game really make use of multiple cores?.. Even from the mainstream I've never actually seen a game that benefits from multi-core processors..

Nowadays you can get what, 8 core processors? (its been a while since I looked) but what is the point really?.. Seems like its just a waste of money and electricity on processing power you cannot possibly use. I feel like software technology hasn't really kept pace with hardware technology when it comes to multi-threading..

[Daffyflyer]

Multiple cores are fantastic for game DEV work though. So nice being able to have Automation, 3ds Max, Photoshop etc. all open at once, all happily on their own cores. Good for rendering stuff too.

[WizzyThaMan]

Exactly my thought daffy.

I run an i7 processor with hyperthreading and man I can have photoshop dreamweaver illustrator and chrome with 20+ tabs open without my laptop(!) getting slow.
I think pretty soon quite some games will be using multiple cores. The only reason they aren't yet, is because it would up the minimum specs of computers the game could run on, possibly on the go reducing the amount of people being able to play the game on theirs. It just requires time before people upgrade their computer, or your game needs to be that awesome that people are willing to invest in a new PC or laptop just to play your game.

[BlastersPewPew]

Also with some games (KSP for instance) it is very difficult to spread some of the load around just because of the way some things need to be calculated (physics on ship parts for instance), you wouldnt want to split that process up between cores because the timings could drift and you could have glitches and bugs then. Some things are just better off on a single core than being split. Also take into account that loading times arent always about CPU speed, if you are running the game on a laptop with a traditional hard drive (5200 RPM is typical for laptops) then you will have much longer load times than a PC with an SSD, the slower the drive the slower the data transfer to RAM for the game to load. Also if you dont have enough RAM could slow things down as well since the HDD would need to be used for virtual memory.

TL;DR CPU speed/amount of cores is not as important as it was 10 years ago.

[Drake]

Indeed.. I wish KSP could make use of multiple cores and all of my Ram.. I built an insane Nuclear-Thermal Turbojet powered spaceplane(interstellar mod) capable of lifting something like 40-50,000kg into orbit however the game lags like crazy when trying to fly the thing. I think it was like 400-600 some parts or so and using FAR aerodynamics... I never managed to fully test it, but it could deliver its cargo to the Mun and back without needing orbital refueling. also according to my calculations it would have been able to fly to Eve without refueling, although just barely so I would likely have given it a light fuel load to make getting into orbit easier and then load it up in orbital and off to Eve. It was designed to be able to carry these cargo pods that would make the basis of a self sustaining colony.

Anywho, back on topic.. I can see the benefit of multi cores for those who use their computers with workstations with multiple programs running and such.