Possible Way To Run EQ Better On Your Computer

[Fanra]

Most of us have multi-core CPUs (processors) on our computers. Almost all computers made after 2006 have at least two cores and more modern ones have two, three, or four, some very high end computers have six.

EQ only uses one core of your CPU. Someone on the EQ forum mentioned that there is a program that should allow it to use all the cores. Here is a link to the discussion: http://forums.station.sony.com/eq/in...client.200647/

The program is Bill2's Process Manager. I've tried it and it doesn't seem to hurt and might help make EQ run smoother. EQ uses your CPU much more than your video card, so this seems like a good idea.

You can get it here:


Mirror 1:
Download from partner site
Mirror 2:
Download from bill2-software.com

Installation Instructions:
Just install this version over the old one. All your settings will be recovered.

Zip Version / Mobile (1.94 MB)
This version comes without installer directly configured in "portable" mode.
Vista, do not use this version in the "Programs" directory (Program files), it will not work correctly.
For more information about the portable version, see the FAQ .




To use it:

1. Install it and run it.

2. Click "Options" in the bottom left hand corner. Change the flag at the bottom left of the just opened window from French to English (if desired). While you're there you can select the "Automatically start with Windows" box at the top (or just start it when you run EQ, whichever you prefer). Click the OK button to close the Options window.

3. Click "Manage rules and groups" button on the lower right of the main window (yellow gear), then "Add rule" in the bottom left corner.

4. Within the selection folder that appears, surf to your EQ install and find "eqgame.exe" in the folder. Select it and click "Open" at the bottom right corner of the folder window, or just double-click the file.

5. In the "Normal Window" tab, select the "Set affinity" box, and then select the darker colored CPU boxes.

Note: I do not recommend checking the "Distribute each instance on a different CPU", even if you multi-box. I think it is best to let Windows handle this. Creating too much "overhead" by overriding Windows core task assignments is likely to just slow down things and might even cause problems.

6. If you wish, you can select the "Set priority" box and change it to Above normal (I would not suggest any higher).

7. Also, if you wish, you can change "Set affinity" in the "Minimized window or hidden process" tab the same. This step is optional. I do not recommend changing the "Set priority" on the minimized window.

8. Click the various OK buttons to save and use the new rules.

9. If you multi-box with separate folders for each box, you may wish to make a rule for each eqgame.exe you run.



I'm still in the process of testing this out. So I can't say for sure if it helps or even if it causes problems. But I thought that people might want to try it out.

[Fanra]

It looks like this will be added to EQ in the next patch (or at least soon):

https://forums.station.sony.com/eq/i...-11-13.200777/

- Added the ability for EQ to set its affinity to all cores when starting up.

[Jook]

awesome.

[Clawinya]

It made it to the patch! I have not had a chance to test yet...
"Added the ability for EQ to set its affinity to all cores when starting up. This can be done by modifying the eqclient.ini value for the instance to -1. For example, to set your second instance of EQ to run on all cores add "CPUAffinity1=-1" to the [Defaults] section of eqclient.ini. Note: if this causes problems for you, please report the issue in /bug and change the CPUAffinity value back to the value it was before you changed it."

[Fanra]

It made it to the patch! I have not had a chance to test yet...

Yeah, I thought I had made a post about that and how to do it, but it got lost somehow. The forum software did save it somewhere and I just found it.

Here it is:



For those who wish to take advantage of the new way to use all cores outlined in today's patch message:

1. Go to your EverQuest folder (make sure EQ is not running when you do this).
2. Find the file "eqclient.ini" (note that depending on your Windows settings, it may be listed as just "eqclient").
3. Open the file by double clicking on it, that should open it in Notepad or WordPad.
4. Look for the line "CPUAffinity0=0".
5. Change it to "CPUAffinity0=-1".
6. Close Notepad / WordPad, choosing to save the file when asked.

If you multi box, you can also look for and change "CPUAffinity1=0" to "CPUAffinity1=-1". Also look for other CPUAffinityx lines and change them.

[Denlar]

Are people seeing an improvement with this change ?

[Malacath]

Are people seeing an improvement with this change ?

seeing as i used to manualy set the cores every time i started eq i'd say not me j/k
but yeah running it with all cores its alittle more stable for me atleast

[Clawinya]

Are people seeing an improvement with this change ?

Definitely! Zoning and loading times are night and day difference. Since I didn't make the changes for multi boxing (I assumed it was the same procedure, but Fanra has the fix) I can tell the difference from loading times for the primary box (with both cores active) and the second and/or third boxes (Just core 0 running) and its just under twice as fast. You can verify this yourself with a number of free programs. I used CoreTemp to monitor the load on each core while switching between the first instance of EQ vs. the second. Windows 8's task manager unfortunately merged the cpu performance graphs into one, making it difficult to see what each core is doing.

[Fanra]

I'm not noticing much difference, but then again I don't have much trouble running EQ in any case.

[Clawinya]

Fanra, my laptop is older, but has been upgrading along the years. It started as an Asus G51vx-rx05, but now sits with 8gbs ram, a t9600, and a 120gb SSD. It SHOULD have run EQ faster than it did prior to the patch, but it actually ran slower after I switched processors. At any rate, I am glad they pushed for the change, it has really made a noticeable difference.