CPU Affinity

[Mogley]

I'm looking into a dedicated server and I'm wondering what is the best configuration for game server cpu affinity? Is it best to uncheck them all or check just two? What does checking them all do?

 

I'll definitely be taking a better look at the companies with the best answer...

[DougK94]

For most games it is best to leave them all unchecked and to let windows balance the games among all the cores. When you check an affinity box, the server is bound to that core. If you check 2 affinity boxes or more, or all, then the server is bound to the 1st checked core thus in effect ignoring all the others that are checked. If you have one server that it a resource hog, it may help to bind it to one core so that it does not compete with other servers on the box.

 

Some people have better luck with game engines that are multi-threaded by selecting the box to "Always start on CPU 0".

 

I have had the best luck with letting windows manage the affinity. Some use the TCA affinity settings to try to balance out a box that is nearing it's capacity. With most of the newer boxes, you will run out of memory before you will max the CPU. But then anytime you make a generalization, it can jump up and bite you....