Matthew
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Posted - 2006.02.28 12:53:00 -
[1]
 Originally by: Oveur
One thing I have noticed though, is that my nvidia card doesn't like having the clients on the extended desktops. It just bogs down horribly so I always run my client on the primary desktop.
That's why I tend to operate in the "horizonal span" mode using windowed clients, rather than the true second desktop mode. In that config, it doesn't seem to care which monitor either client is on. Doesn't even care if you have it bridged half-and-half across both. The only downside is that it sends the resolution options in eve's settings a bit horrible - it only gives you resolution options to match the full spanned width of the screen (2560 x 1024, for example). The workaround is to set up the graphics options while running single-monitor, then the client will remember the sensible setting you left it on. This makes it very easy to shuffle several clients, spreadsheets and web browsers around the screen as needed.
One setting I've found very helpful in making 2 clients play nicely with each other, and with any other apps you have open, is to force vsync on (put advancedDevice=1 in your prefs.ini, then select the "Interval One" option from the graphics settings). This has the effect of applying a frame-rate limit other than your CPU being maxed out, which helps to calm the client's greediness in trying to hog as much CPU as it can get. It does hurt your framerate slightly, but not enough to be noticably detrimental to play, and will help you keep a more balanced framerate between the active and background client.
With vsync on, running 2 clients, I find I tend to operate at around 80% CPU load with both in-space, and less on char selection and in-station. It very rarely spikes to 100%, even when jumping or docking. I haven't tested with more than about a dozen other people in the same grid though.
The only real lag problem I've enountered with dual accounts is around running out of RAM. Once you run out of physical RAM (either through the memory leak, other open applications or more clients than you have RAM to feasibly run - 3 clients with 1Gb is really pushing your luck) and start hitting the swapfile, you're basically dead as far as client performance goes. It seems to be pretty much a step effect around that point, so even web browsing in the background can tip you over if you're sailing close to the wind memory-wise.
Spec: Athlon 64 3500+, 1Gb DDR RAM, Nvidia 6800GT, Windows XP
Clients: Both set to 1280x1024 windowed, max on the other settings, vsync forced on, sound disabled.
Typical stable running activities (yes, all at the same time): 2 eve clients, outlook, firefox, trillian, several excel spreadsheets, mIRC, winamp.
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