6-core vs. quad-core for full group

[amanincast]

Has anyone tried a 6-core processor for running a full group on the same machine? My quad-core can run 4 instances fine, but I see a huge dip in FPS when I login a 5th/6th character. Trying to find out if it's worth getting for an upcoming birthday, since this is the primary reason I'd be ordering it

 

[Hendrix]

I would think Ram would be your biggest issue followed by video. If your quad core has hyper threading (certain intels do) you won't get very much increase in just a 6 core.

 

[Multicharacter]

Have you considered overclocking at all? When you load in the 5th/6th client look at the system RAM available display (CTRL+ALT+M) and see if you're running out of memory. You can also try running the bare minimum graphic settings on all but your main character.

Also, consider using a lower maxfps -bg -calculate setting. Not much reason to have a client rendering a ton of frames if it's not one you're currently focusing on. Scripts generally seem happy with a minimum 15 rate.

 

[wired203]

AllCPU gadget for vista/win7 will give you on the fly core and ram utilization. This would help you in determining the bottle neck. But to run 6 clients you would need one hell of a video card and would need above 8g of ram.

 

[quan]

i7 920 here with only 6 gigs of ram and a gtx 285. I run 6 fine 90% of the time on a reduced graphics mode. Certain large guildhalls etc are a big problem but instances/raiding are fine.

 

[amanincast]

Thanks for the replies all. I'll be giving your recommendations a shot tonight.

 

[amanincast]

I know this is a semi-older topic, but for those of you interested: I finally got the 6-core and it made a wolrd of difference for 5-6 characters on the same machine. I went from a 4 core at 3.2ghz to a 6 core at 3.2ghz.

Running 4 or less instances gives me the exact same frame rate it used to with the quad core, but when I login the 5th/6th I see basically no difference in FPS now. I used Mutlicharacter's tip with maxfps -bg calculation and run my main instance on Balanced.