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Tex Murphy Overseer and dual processors

Posted By: oldman

Tex Murphy Overseer and dual processors - 12/27/13 12:36 AM

Happy Holidays everyone.

Overseer was freezing as soon as I started the game. The intro would play fine but as soon as I started out in Tex's office the game would freeze. I checked and found that one solution was to turn off dual processors so I went to Msconfig and checked the box for number of processors 1.

The game then started working fine. I then decided to go in and uncheck that box and assumed that the computer would default to the correct number of processors or whatever the correct terminology is. Now overseer is working with the box unchecked so I'm wondering if I turned off the dual processor permanantly and if so, what is it supposed to read.

I have Windows 8, 64 bit, with Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3770 CPU @ 3.40GHz (8 CPUs), ~3.4GHz and a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660.

When I go to MSconfig Boot Advanced options it shows number of processors unchecked with 1 on the drop down menu. If I check the processors I have an option of 1 thru 8.

I just don't want my more demanding games to suffer in the event that I accidently turned something off.
Posted By: Jenny100

Re: Tex Murphy Overseer and dual processors - 12/27/13 04:18 AM

From what I've read, unchecking the box in msconfig means the computer doesn't limit the number of processors, just as you assumed.

If you can get the performance tab in Task Manager to come up, it should show a graph for each active processor. Something like this
http://www.pcstats.com/articleimages/201110/AMDFX8150_Win8task.jpg

Maybe Windows 8 "learned" to run Overseer with a single processor.
Posted By: InlandAZ

Re: Tex Murphy Overseer and dual processors - 12/27/13 04:21 PM

Originally Posted By: oldman

I just don't want my more demanding games to suffer in the event that I accidently turned something off.


Generally it's best to limit the number of cores in the Windows Task Manager once a program is up and running. Press Ctlr+Shift+Esc to start it, locate the program on the Applications Tab, and right click it selecting Go To Processes. From there, right click the process and select Set Affinity (uncheck all be a single core).

This limits the selected task to a single core and allows all other processes to see the entire range.

Metzo has a nice write up on a utility (Imagecfg) that modifies the header information in an executable to limit the number of cores as well - I haven't used it on Windows 8, but I would imagine it would run just fine.

You can find his info below - (Search the page for Imagecfg)

Metzomagic
Posted By: Jenny100

Re: Tex Murphy Overseer and dual processors - 12/27/13 05:29 PM

As Inland said, it's possible (and advisable) to set your computer to use a single processor with a specific application (like a game) without being restricted to a single processor for everything else. The ***Legacy Games and Hyperthreading*** article by Inferno (which also applies to dual and multi-processors) describes two ways of doing this:
  • The imagecfg method (described by Inland)
  • The "set affinity in Task Manager" method

Setting a game to run in compatibility mode may also restrict it to a single processor, which seems to have been the case with the unpatched Syberia.
Posted By: oldman

Re: Tex Murphy Overseer and dual processors - 12/27/13 06:51 PM

Well I just heard back from gog.com and they said:
Quote:
I'm afraid that Windows 8 is not supported in this game. Windows 8 was released after the game's initial GOG release, and we weren't able to make the game work reliably on the new system. Because of this Windows 8 is not listed among the compatible systems. I apologize for the inconvenience.



I may try that imgconfig thing who knows. Another work around that people say worked was to set the game on software mode it gives the game the same quality of graphics as UAKM and Pandora and seems to work. Then again I may just chalk it down to experience and forget about it. Anyway my main concern was getting my computer back to where it was before I started messing with it and I'm hoping that just unchecking the processor box did that.

Thanks for the help folks.
Posted By: Jenny100

Re: Tex Murphy Overseer and dual processors - 12/27/13 09:30 PM

Originally Posted By: oldman
Anyway my main concern was getting my computer back to where it was before I started messing with it and I'm hoping that just unchecking the processor box did that.

Well, as I said, checking the Performance tab in Task Manager will let you know that. Each processor should have a graph.
Posted By: oldman

Re: Tex Murphy Overseer and dual processors - 12/28/13 12:58 AM

Actually, after checking on the sites you folks gave me it appears that the whole thing was a wasted effort on my part anyway. Since my computer was so new I just assumed that it was had dual processing but since the whole thing is like a foreign tongue to me anyway I'm kind of shooting in the dark.

Anyway I checked in device manager per instructions on the sites and my computer shows up as "ACPI x64-based PC" so I guess it is not a multiprocessor pc anyway.

I guess I'll just try the game on the software mode and hope that there are no freezes. It's probably like the difference between the DVD version and the CD version when they were played on disks.
Posted By: Draclvr

Re: Tex Murphy Overseer and dual processors - 12/28/13 06:30 AM

Your processor is actually a quad core processor. So it has four processor, not just two.

If you are looking in the right place in your Task Manager as Jenny mentioned, it should should show 4 processors. You said you checked in Device Manager... That won't show you what the Task Manager will.
Posted By: oldman

Re: Tex Murphy Overseer and dual processors - 12/28/13 07:54 PM

Originally Posted By: Draclvr
Your processor is actually a quad core processor. So it has four processor, not just two.

If you are looking in the right place in your Task Manager as Jenny mentioned, it should should show 4 processors. You said you checked in Device Manager... That won't show you what the Task Manager will.


Hmmm, here is what my task manager shows under the performance tab which looks a lot to me like only one. Should it look different and, if so, what do I need to do?



It looks nothing like the example Jenny posted.
Posted By: InlandAZ

Re: Tex Murphy Overseer and dual processors - 12/28/13 08:26 PM

I think you're just fine - Cores = 4, Logical Processors = 8 :)
Posted By: Draclvr

Re: Tex Murphy Overseer and dual processors - 12/28/13 08:36 PM

Yup! Just look under the graph on the right...
Posted By: oldman

Re: Tex Murphy Overseer and dual processors - 12/28/13 09:00 PM

OK thanks guys. I'll take your word for it as it is completely above my pay grade. insane
thanks
Posted By: Jenny100

Re: Tex Murphy Overseer and dual processors - 12/28/13 10:54 PM

To change from the "single processor view" to the view that shows all the cores,
  • Right-click that graph that looks like it's for a single processor,
  • In the context menu that appears, hover your cursor over "Change graph to" and move your cursor to the right
  • Select "Logical processors."
Sorry for the confusion.
I didn't realize it wouldn't be set that way by default.
Posted By: oldman

Re: Tex Murphy Overseer and dual processors - 12/29/13 07:44 AM

Thank you Jenny. I did that and see all my processors.

Also the game seems to work well for me with the hardware accelerator disabled and the graphics are not all that bad so maybe I'll be able to play thru the game this way.

Thank you all for the help.
Posted By: Draclvr

Re: Tex Murphy Overseer and dual processors - 12/29/13 08:29 AM

I always notice that we gamers are nothing, if not persistent in getting our games to run!
Posted By: InlandAZ

Re: Tex Murphy Overseer and dual processors - 12/29/13 05:03 PM

Originally Posted By: Draclvr
I always notice that we gamers are nothing, if not persistent in getting our games to run!


It's all part of the Adventure smile12
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