How does PA utilize system resources and is it constant across multiple architectures?

Just to put your post into further context, can you tell me what settings you are running the game at? and at what resolution your system runs at natively?

1920x1080
Virtual Texture High
Headlights Uber
Shadows Uber
HDR on
FXAA off
Resolution Scaling 1

11 Planets (scale 1-2) 8 player about 20-40 FPS


with this settings I get 30-60 FPS
1920x1080
Virtual Texture Medium
Headlights Medium
Shadows Low
HDR on
FXAA off
Resolution Scaling 1

PS: I know my i5-2500k even with 4,5Ghz is not a monster CPU
but it's far superior vs stock Phenoms/FX/i5/i7 (not i7 X9XX CPU's)

I can compare vs my other systems (Phenom X6 1100t and Q6600 OC @ 3,2Ghz too)
Also I can compare vs my friends Xeon haswell and i7 haswell

I thought of upgrading to an i7-4930K but the money is not worth it, so I am going to get a R9 290X and replace from my other PC it's GTX 560 with my old HD 7950. Then I am waiting for i7-5930K

I am looking at you X Rebirth and Star Citizen

Iam just waiting till 2014-2015 since star citizen wont be out till then anyway and i would be able to get more power for the same amount of money. Planetary annihilation being the only game i have problems playing with atm.

Till then i have to do it with my i5 760 and a new cooler iam getting tomorow.

That's probably not a bad way to go about it. I would wait as well, but my upgrade cycle seems to be coming to a head. Especially with Apple's keynote yesterday. the 6-core mac pro is looking mighty pretty right now!

As far as PA's performance issues are concerned. It's beta. so I am willing to wait and see what things change. Someways I get ~40 FPS while others I get 10 so I am trying to figure out why it appears to be so dynamic. I'm thinking server load and time of day, things like that.

Server load doesn't affect client FPS and client doesn't affect server at all.

So your trying to say that if the severs busy it takes the same amount of time.

What are you talking about?

If server where you game running overloaded server-side planet generation might take more time, but game on your client won't have less FPS. You actually can easily check actual server performance using Ctrl+P, there is server (should be 30FPS) and simulation FPS (should be 10FPS).

That's a good point. I have been watching those numbers and theya re almost always 30 and 10 like SXX says. just curious, When I read 30 FPS on server side, I thought immediately, why not 60 FPS? But I suppose like you said it should not matter, because as long as client side is at a decent FPS, that is what is being displayed on screen.

Both server and simulation FPS are locked, but they can be lower than 30 and 10 when server or simulation are overloaded.

In simple terms simulation FPS 10 mean game state changes every 10 seconds, so client need to get "updates" from server 10 times per second. Server FPS might indicate more general problem which is not related to game itself.

Nitpick, you mean "FPS 10 mean game state changes every 1/10 seconds" - or every 0.1 seconds. Since you wrote correct in next sentence, I guess a small brainfart?

Yes.

To error is to be human. This is actually a good thing SXX, as I was beginning to think you were a robot! You're always on this forum, you've got answers for everything, and you're pretty nice about how you deliver your information. Soo everybody! Rest assured, SXX is a real person! ( I know I couldn't have been the only one thinking that!)

hahaha,

after reading that i close my eyes and see SXX looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger from the terminator with one red robot eye.

SXX - A man on a mission!!
on a mission to make your game work (john conner is just a side mission)