Difference between "Lock thread to cores" and "Dual core" in the Rom settings

Legend80 · 11-16-2009, 07:15 AM #1

Can someone tell me the difference and which one is preferred? Thanks!

Necorum · 11-16-2009, 07:28 AM #2

one wont work without the other Tongue

you wont have multiple threads without dualcore on. So you cant lock "threads" onto multiple cores because you dont have 2 threads without dual

11-16-2009, 09:16 AM #3

"dual core" does what you see, enables dolphin to use 2 cores or more (on cpus that have 2 or more cores Tongue

), and "lock threads to cores" just locks both threads of dolphin to 2 cores of the cpu (instead of letting the OS handle it, which could change the threads to whichever core it pleases Tongue

)

Legend80 · 01-19-2010, 07:35 AM #4

So is it better to let the OS handle this or Dolphin...cause it's off by default and no one seems to have it activated in their screenshots. Probably a small difference but I want to make sure I'm using the best setting here. Thanks!

**boogerlad** · (This post was last modified: 01-19-2010, 01:43 PM by boogerlad.)

4 threads used in dual core mode. One for jit, one for gpu, one for core/gui, and another which I forget.

01-19-2010, 02:10 PM #6

(01-19-2010, 07:35 AM)Legend80 Wrote: So is it better to let the OS handle this or Dolphin...cause it's off by default and no one seems to have it activated in their screenshots. Probably a small difference but I want to make sure I'm using the best setting here. Thanks!

I have a phenom quadcore with Win7 x64 and performance is overall better when not locking threads to cores. Just leave this task to windows kernel.
But check dual core to use dolphin optimized code for 2 or more cores.

I confess that I didn't test with dual core disabled.

**StripTheSoul** · 01-19-2010, 08:16 PM #7

in some games dual core mode makes problems...either they don't start at all or they run much slower (e.g. Bit.Trip.Beat)

kaicooper · 11-18-2011, 10:38 PM #8

ok i got i7 CPU..should i tick this option or untick?

**LordVador** · 11-19-2011, 12:12 AM #9

(11-18-2011, 10:38 PM)kaicooper Wrote: ok i got i7 CPU..should i tick this option or untick?

Dual Core? Yes (except in a few games that don't support it as StripTheSoul said).
Lock Threads to Cores? Don't tick it by default

**NaturalViolence** · 11-19-2011, 12:48 PM **#10**

Quote:4 threads used in dual core mode. One for jit, one for gpu, one for core/gui, and another which I forget.

It's a lot more than 4, more like 20+ threads. But nearly all of the threads do almost no work. Dual core separates the main thread into cpu and video/audio threads, so you end up with 2 main threads instead of 1.

As for whether it's faster to lock the thread affinity or not, that depends on the cpu. Test some games with the option on/off and see which one performs better for you, the difference will be small. People with cpus using turboboost or turbocore should usually turn the option on.