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Computer (Home)Clusters for Next Generation Sims?


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If there is true multi-core use under XP10 (see the forum) and hopefully new FS-Flight: What about cluster computing to improve the performance of the system? I believe that many users have two or more computers available (e.g. desktop-pc and laptop).

We all know that FSX does only make very limited use of multiple cores in the PC. The upcoming XP10, however, seems to be more efficient with the available recourses. It makes use of all the cores and dedicates certain tasks to different cores. Hopefully new MS-Flight will also make such improved use of the hardware!

Wouldn’t it be nice to use all available rescources to run the sim? Is there a simple solution to use two computers (new desktop [quad-core] and old desktop [dual-core]) or even three (new one, old one and laptop [dual-core]) or four ... to enhance the performance of XP10 (and Flight)?

If the work load is divided to the different cores of one computer is it possible to use different cores on different computers? Wouldn’t it be a huge market to program a software that would enable the user to simply connect the available hardware to a network (Ethernet or USB or what else) detect/check the resources and run the sims in a totally new quality?

Even older (dual-core) systems could possibly improve the fps of the system. Slow computers could take easy calculations and faster ones the complicated tasks. One could also think (dream?) about how nice it would be to have one laptop as the panel in front of (one/two/three) monitors that display the environment while using another laptop for the moving terrain map!

Any thought?

Best regards,

Till

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No thoughts?

Because this is not possible?

Or because all are still dreaming about the possibilities?

Or didn’t I make myself clear? (Connect your notebook from the office, your wifes notebook, your childrens and your own desktops to a super-XP10/Flight-computer!)

Am I a dreamer?

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www.computerpilot.com, download the magazine find the prepar3d coupon, and start using the two channels of rendering, I haven't really tried that feature yet myself but apparently the bigger projector display systems require it already. What I have tried is the traditional way to add views and they work great, more stability overalll.
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Immediate problems I see with this multi-platform approach is that unless the game itself is designed from the outset for distributed computing you have issues with the `what goes where?` and also the licensing - most likely the game would not to be installed separately on each machine.

Most EULA specifically state `one user, one machine` and while I doubt there'd be much fuss over a seconf installation, if you took the logical step to pass out functionality to three, four or even five units, I can see flags going up at the software houses... :argue_s:

And then there are the practicalities: How would the hardware know which part of the software to run on which element? Would your scenery run better on a slower PC with Crossfire or SLI, or on a faster PC with single GPU, but a much faster bus? The software required to carry out the distribution wuol dprobably need to be at least as sophisticated as the game you were looking to run - and there go the CPU cycles you thought you'd optimised.

Many mockpit makers have multi-PC environments for their environments, and I've never heard a story of the ganging improving performance, only reducing the reduction, if you see what I mean. Just the act of getting those computers to talk to each other is a resource-hog, so having a 4 ghz cpu working with a 2 ghz cpu wouldn't ever give the equivalent of a 6 ghz machine.

What may work better would be to have games that are actually optimised for the hardware environments we now have today - SSD, crossfire/SLI, multi-core etc. etc. Effectively the modern system IS a multi-PC system already, so what you suggest might be regarded as redundant, unless you have a specific requirement. And I don't see the developers optimising packages for the few of the few of the few that have those kinds of setups.

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