[Kopachris]

I'm building a new computer this weekend and wanted to know exactly how much power FS2 is able to take up.  If y'all could just post your hardware specs, the graphics configuration in the launcher (where it differs from default), the average framerate you get during battle (e.g. "The Place of Chariots" or "A Lion at the Door"), and maybe a screenshot if you feel so inclined.  Thank you! 

As for me, the specs of my new system will be:
AMD Athlon II X4 630, 2.8GHz processor
4GB DDR3 1333MHz memory
1GB nVidia GeForce 9400 GT video card
19" 1440x900 LCD screen

[Fury]

FS2_Open is limited by single-core performance, the rest as long as you've got DX9-capable video card and 2GB RAM doesn't matter. You can crank up insane AA from video card drivers (launcher AA settings do not work atm) just because GPU is not doing much at the moment.

[Herra Tohtori]

Well to be honest that's not an ideal system for FS2_Open, since the game is only able to utilize a single core on the CPU, so you're limited to the power of one core at 2.8 GHz. Similarly, the 9400 isn't exactly a powerhouse GPU, but you should be well able to play with all the enhancements nevertheless, especially if you get a recent 3.6.11 nightly build which have a bunch of optimizations.

Of course, I have Athlon 64 X2 6000+ at 3100 MHz, maximum amount of memory useable by Win32, and a GeForce 8800GT 512MB, and I'm able to get very much passable frame rates for almost all conditions ever (rarely under 30 FPS in main FS2 campaign with mediaVP's). My guess is that your build's performance on FS2_Open will be close to similar to mine, maybe slightly better in cases that require a lot of video memory (lots and lots of large textures used on-screen simultaneously), maybe slightly worse at times when CPU is the bottleneck of the system (lots and lots of particles and collision detection of multiple objects going on).

[Kopachris]

FS2_Open is limited by single-core performance, the rest as long as you've got DX9-capable video card and 2GB RAM doesn't matter. You can crank up insane AA from video card drivers (launcher AA settings do not work atm) just because GPU is not doing much at the moment.

Well, I guess that answers my question.  Whether FS2_Open can utilize the whole CPU or not, I can still use all four cores for rendering 3D animations (which I do quite a bit of).

Still might be interesting to see what other people are working with, though.

[Thaeris]

What exactly would need to be done to allow multi-threading on the FSO engine?

[The E]

A complete documentation of the engine, followed by a separation of its parts into bits that are thread-safe (That is, bits that can run in parallel without entering busy-wait states). Basically, a change in the engine's core architecture.

[Thaeris]

Sounds like FSO 9000... 

[Bob-san]

What exactly would need to be done to allow multi-threading on the FSO engine?

From my understanding, a near-total rewrite. If memory serves, sound was working on a second thread from my understanding.

[Klaustrophobia]

i am running
AMD 5600+ dual-core @3150 mhz
2 GB RAM
ati 4850 GPU

i run maxed graphics with 1400x1050 res (widescreen distortion bothers me), 4x AA and 8x AF via catalyst panel.  i've never clocked the framerate, but it has always been completely smooth, except for the last mission in Blue Planet when facing the two huge ships.  i find in most other games i can visually detect framerates dropping below about 30.

if FSO is all you are running, you'll be fine i think, but if you plan on playing other modern games, i'd find something other than the 9400.

[CP5670]

FS2_Open is limited by single-core performance, the rest as long as you've got DX9-capable video card and 2GB RAM doesn't matter. You can crank up insane AA from video card drivers (launcher AA settings do not work atm) just because GPU is not doing much at the moment.

FS2 is usually not that performance intensive and runs well most of the time, but the engine has some kind of internal bottleneck that causes framerate drops in large fights regardless of the hardware or game settings. I don't think there is any setup right now that can run the game at a maxed out framerate at all times. I can easily get framerate drops into the mid 40s in certain situations, even on my 4.1ghz i7 and with the resolution turned down a lot.

[The E]

One problem is that many tasks that modern engines offload to the GPU are handled by the CPU in FSO.

Also, the collision detection code is a shambling monstrosity of lovecraftian horrors; it will cause epic slowdowns when there are many objects moving around.

[SpardaSon21]

I have a 9400GT, and I can play ME2 without any issues.  Sure, I can't max it out or anything but the graphics are still good.