My original topic on multithreading, where this tool was first introduced for testing, wasn't really supposed to be about the tool primarily, but it turned out to be. I wanted to make a seperate topic here for the tool, something I should have initially done.

What does it do?
The Core Maximizer improves the splitting of threads of SupCom across available CPU's for multi core or hyperthreaded processors. Normally with SupCom, the first CPU is oversaturated and their are multiple threads that fight for resources on that core. This causes performance limitations especially with rendering as well as choppy sound, etc. This is explained in detail in the multithreading topic I started.

What is it's effects and benefits?
Most benefits of the tool begin when normal SupCom would usually use all of a particular CPU core, reaching 100%.
The impact for skirmish play is always beneficial for any multi core or hyperthreaded CPU. Sometimes the benefit is huge, especially late game.
It will lengthen the time you can play before the game eventually slows down (every CPU has a limit).
It makes the game more fluid and responsive, especially when zoomed in.
Sound crackles that were caused by threading issues go away.
It also works around an issue where the game randomly starts up with unusually bad performance (likely due to threading issues).

There is a slight side effect where the sim runs a little slower. This is due to the nature of how GPG's two major threads work together in concert, Sim and Render. Unfortunately the game was not tuned with this kind of thread freedom expected on core 0 and when the render thread is allowed more freedom to the CPU time having huge benefits, the sim code slows down for internal reasons unknown. I only know it's code based. Obviously since most people plays at 0 speed, this slower sim will not show itself noticeable at all until the game is in negative sim numbers. It may reach negative sim numbers a 'little' sooner that is the crux of it. Obviously there is room for some beneficial retuning. Some folks may benefit by using the tool online so a check box option was added to enable while online, by default it won't run while online only because of the potential sim slow down. No definitive answer is given here for online because their are too many variables including hardware, settings, play style, etc. Judge for yourself depending on your settings, hardware and experiences.

Much more detail on it's effects and benefits can be seen in the Multithreading topic:
Topic Here: viewtopic.php?t=13032&start=0
Benchmarks here: viewtopic.php?p=173631#173631
(You will really want to look at these links to get an idea of what is happening and the performance benefits)

How do I use it?
Unzip the download.
Vista specific - (if you use UAC which is turned on by default in Vista, you must right click on Core Maximizer and choose "Run as Administrator" otherwise you will get an error stating elevation required.)
Double click Core Maximizer and you will see the icon in your task tray.
At this point there is nothing else you need to do.
It autostarts 20 seconds after a game is running
If you want to check options, right click on the icon to display options.



Choose the game for tool support.
You can disable it for online play or select which CPU's to use (optional).
It can always be left running without any concerns.
Settings will be remembered.

Suggestions, feedback and questions encouraged...
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Requirements:
Supreme Commander (tool only currently works for SupCom)
Windows XP or Vista, 32 bit and 64 bit(not native).
SupremeCommander.exe in it's original name, you can use 3GB workaround just keep it the same original name.

Here is a new version of Core maximizer.
Filefront - Core maximizer download Ver 1.03 (460k) 10-14-07
Rapidshare - Core maximizer download Ver 1.03 (460k) 10-14-07, click free button
Edit by _Remmy_: Added bulletmagnets mirror. Core Maximizer Download
Testing...
If you would like to test I have prepared a couple large saves(80k 8 player AI) so that you can try it with and without the tool:
Requires over 1GB RAM and latest version of SupCom.
temporarily removed (9MB) (for Pentium D to AMD X2 and low C2D)
temporarily removed (9.9MB) (for high end AMD, high end C2D and Quads, approaching 2GB ceiling)
unzip them to savegames(documents and settings\profile\local settings\application data\gas powered games\...)
Try them with and without the tool and see what you think. Try SallyShears in the console for extra stress (be aware 2380 may cross 2GB ceiling when Sally has her way).

Known Current Issues...
* It may take up to 10 seconds for Core Maximizer to reinitialize after you shut down SupCom. So after ending SupCom and if starting it back up 3 seconds later, it may not give sufficient time for Core Maximizer to reinitialize for the next SupCom run, so it won't do anything. This should be fixed in future versions.
* If it appears that the maximizer isn't doing anything or isn't beeping, make sure supremecommander.exe has the original name but also check for an errorlog.txt in the same place as the maximizer which should never show up unless their is an issue.
* Currently requires Terminal Server service running, otherwise it will silently fail with an errorlog.
* Periodically in XP you may see an automation error when opening options. This is likely due to the new manifest file which can be deleted for XP versions. Will correct this in later versions.

Change log:
Version 1.03 (October-14-07)
* Added game choosing option. Added support for Forged Alliance. Will remember the game you chose last, so it only needs to be set when changing games that you want Core Maximizer to support.
Plans to add a checkbox to enable for all supported games, so changes between different games will not need to be made, all supported games will then be enabled when run.

Version 1.02 (September-6-07)
* Added a config.ini for persistent data from the options screen. Now you only need to set options once the way you like them, and they are remembered as to online play and initialization delay after game starts (now defaults to 30 seconds). You will only need to go into options if you want to change something after the first time. Custom CPU affinity is not remembered between application runs, will add it if there is enough desire/need.
* Previously initialization was 20 seconds after game start but was too fast, now it defaults to 30 seconds but it is also adjustable by dropdown box in options to 60 seconds if preferred (good idea for skirmish). Setting held and remembered in config.ini.

Version 1.01 (July-15-07)
* Added a manifest file that must remain with the executable. To overcome the Vista lack of administrative privileges while using UAC, it will now let you know you need to run with elevated privileges. So right click on the file, hit properties, choose 'always run as administrator'.

Fixed from testing version .8:
* fixed support for cores above 4. Now supports up to 32.
* fixed ability to choose which cores you want SupCom to run on.
* fixed input lag problem caused by keyboard hook (removed).
* fixed an issue where it sometimes wouldn't initialize.
* Removed hotkey functionality.[url][/url]

arent the most cores one computer can hold at any one time is 2 isnt it, so 8 cores (2xquad xeons) and wont it be like that for a long while to come? Or have i missed something basic?

but nice, will use in my next supcom match(es)

will this help out for the crazy people, like me, that will be getting an OctoCore system this year?

GH

To a point, the nature of SupCom may not be able to really utilize it.
I guess it will help if you have up to 17 cpu's for all 17 of it's threads, anything beyond that is overkill. LOL



Depends on what the motherboard can support and the OS, the tool supports 32. There are motherboards with 4 cpu slots, 4x8 = 32, but don't look for one at your local best buy.

downloaded, will test eventually(sometime today, maybe right now, it depends on how important sleep is)


so if a 17core chip comes out, sup com will be perfect for running on it, nice, though, 8.5 is probably sufficient

Well, if you want me to be serious, probably quad will max the engine, just maybe octo will have benefits on a 4000+ unit game.

lol i might try this on the mac pro at work

So if i comprehend correctly, this increases your FPS, but lowers your sim speed?

It's a complicated issue...

You have to remember all that the tool does is spread threads out across cores, so that cores are not saturated where threads are usually starving and colliding. There is no real world hardware penalty being incurred there as was once considered, infact, just the opposite. Now why would that be a bad thing? It shouldn't be! But the engine 'shows' something strange at times in a potentially lower sim number on the same point in a game. There's several possible reasons for this but none of them fixable by me AFAIK yet.

Some would quickly answer yes to your question. But I actually think it is more accurate to say it "may" hit negatives sooner. It's only until you hit negative -1 before there is any real world impact in gameplay with or without the tool. Without the tool CPU 0 is crushed at this point and a player is really feeling the impact on multiple levels. Also if he doesn't have a fast CPU, networking code maybe hampered with CPU 0 in feeding clients, I dunno either way on that. The point is by the time you are hitting negative sim, which is all that really matters in sim speed, then the rest of the engine is really hurting big time on CPU 0, so this tool takes the stress off which could be beneficial to all involved, but definitely the individual player notices benefits most.

For instance, a replay can be played back at +10 that screams far faster than regular supcom at +10 without the tool. Now that is not an indicator of lower or faster sim speed but it shows the whole game is much more fluid and responsive. Also, where a game is chugging at 8 - 10 fps which is really unplayable, the tool shoots it up to 30 fps on fast hardware with no perceivable slow down but a hugely better feel all around and smoother game. Also the game runs all tests faster with the tool in actual time, unless certain GPU settings are enabled like AA has a wierd effect at times on real world time it takes a simulation to run it's course.

I would really recommend this 100% and that isn't because I made it and have some ulterior motive in pushing my tools, but because I tested it.

But I am all for people making up their own mind. I would say test it by getting a huge skirmish game going until it starts slowing down your machine until you hit negative sim or the game really starts suffering, then save it. Start it with and without the tool and make up your own minds how it plays. Or see what it is like online for yourself.

Then, when click download now:

Pretty wierd works for me right now. I know they have down time periodically.
Anyway, I will look into another mirror in a few minutes.

I'm on a single core Intel P4 3201 MHz with Hyper Threading and 1 GB PC2-3200 DDR2 SDRAM (yeah, sux to be me ). Will this program help me at all? I'm trying everything I can find that will help my poor old rig keep up with this awesome game.

I thought my quote answers the question quite well. Also look at the link that mentions benchmarks and look at the section on Pentium 4 3GHZ hyperthreaded. Let me know your results.

Good Job, there's DEFINITELY improvement in simulation/render balance when testing it out in 10X speed. The only problem I've experienced was a weird issue with Supreme Commander's menu when I tried to paly campaign. CPU usage skyrocketted to 100% on my E6400 and it stalled my computer for a few minutes trying to figure it all out. Though, in all fairness it may have been something completely unrelated.

New mirror added...

Also includes some big game saves for testing. See below tool download section for explanation.

Yeah I would say unrelated. In all testing there has never been any strange negative behaviour reported. There was a couple bugs in the initial testing app, but as far as once the threading is done, SupCom hasn't shown any strange behaviours. But I like to hear all reports of anything that may be happening so I have them for the record incase patterns show up. Thx

I ran into some strange ground decal issues. Instead of footprints for the Galactic Collosus, I get green boxes. It was during replay. Its not really an issue, its just kinda weird and I've only experienced it with this app operational.

It is wierd. Thx again for your observations, as I said I like to hear all things so I can make a judgements when info comes in. I am going to have to lean again towards something on your end. There is nothing I can see related to extra CPU time for threads and graphical decals. Maybe ambient temperature in your PC is rising.
What hardware do you have GPU, CPU?

CPU: E6400
GPU: 8800 GTS 320MB A2 Sillicon Revision @ 612/892(Core/Memory)
OS: XP
Temp: GPU Core @ 65 C, Ambient Near GPU @ 54 C, CPU Core @ 41 C, Ambient Near CPU @ 35 C, NB @ 45 C.

I've never seen this happen before using this though even with the overclock. But it may be some sort of crazy one time thing. You may be right about the heat, when I pulled up my North Bridge heat monitor it gave a high heat warning. But that shouldn't be a problem. However, I've have Supreme Commander running for 3-5 hours before and haven't noticed any texture corruption before. I guess it may be something with the computer.

Also, I noticed about a 10% increase in speed on a 1 hour replay I ran, so yeah, I give this my thumbs up.

So the Alt+Shift+A hotkey isn't needed with this new version? Does it automatically rebalance occasionally?

Does this have any benefit for a Single Core Athlon XP user?

Some feedback here, I have been playing with your maximizer enabled online for a little while now. I haven't had any crashes or lag spikes since I started using it.


Occasionally in 6-8 player games though my ping will spike with all players to 2,000~ for a few seconds then settles back down. This process repeats until I am forced to leave the game, I'm pretty sure the maximizer is not the cause as it has happened before when I wasn't running it. I believe it is an issue with my old modem.


Any time I have enabled it I have gotten an increase in sim speed usually in the ballpark of 1-2, I have not experienced a decrease at all even in large games. Enabling it usually also increases FPS by about 20-30 which is very nice when the game gets slowed down to 15-30 fps without it.


My comp:
E6600 (OC 3.2 / 1600)
Gigabyte 965P DQ6 (rev 1.0)
2GB DDR2 800 Corsair Dominator C4D
8800 GTX
X-Fi XTreme Music



Thank you Madboris as this app has improved my online and offline gaming

Wow this program is amazing, my E4300 1800MHz @ 3200MHz with this program runs supreme commander fluidly, with 3, 3rd party enhanced AI's and my frame rates don't even drop below 30fps with about 3,000+ units and massive firefights raging all over the battlefield. So one things for sure dual cores benifit from it. Although my Average fps gone up only slightly the minuim frame rates where massivly improved. I guess i don't need a quad core CPU just yet

I just tested the core maximizer again on your 8 player savegame and the maximizer crashed.

e6600 3ghz
2gig ram
8800gts
X-Fi XTreme Music

newest driver and win xp prof 32bit

There are no hotkey available. It doesn't re-balance because I haven't seen a big enough reason to at the time being. Usually all major threads are in operation 20 seconds after game start, even if you are on the settings screen.

Let me know if anyone experienced otherwise when testing earlier. I may add auto rebalancing if I find it useful.