Performance Testing SSD

[NTJedi]

Has anyone done any performance testing with Dominions_3 on a system using a SSD harddrive? I'm well aware the primary bottleneck is high CPU usage, however I'd be interested to see if there was any increased speed for hosting a turn during late game of a very large map.

[Gandalf Parker]

I dont know if anyone has.
But even if they had, it might be worth trying again with the new patch when its released.
Im really looking forward to...
* Improved performance and window resposivness of the 'AI thinking' host stage.

[earwicker7]

I have an extremely fast RAID0 SSD setup(it gets the highest possible rating in Windows Experience tests); if you want to send me a turn file, I'd be happy to host it.

The only problem is that the PC only has SSDs, so I don't know how I would be able to compare the performance to a standard hard-drive.

[NTJedi]

Originally Posted by Gandalf Parker

I dont know if anyone has.
But even if they had, it might be worth trying again with the new patch when its released.
Im really looking forward to...
* Improved performance and window resposivness of the 'AI thinking' host stage.

This also would be worth testing... so I guess four different tests for comparing.
A) Current 3.24 version using standard harddrive on system_A
B) New 3.25 version using standard harddrive on system_A
C) Current 3.24 version using SSD harddrive on system_A
D) New 3.25 version using SSD harddrive on system_A

Originally Posted by earwicker7

I have an extremely fast RAID0 SSD setup(it gets the highest possible rating in Windows Experience tests); if you want to send me a turn file, I'd be happy to host it.

The only problem is that the PC only has SSDs, so I don't know how I would be able to compare the performance to a standard hard-drive.

If you have an external harddrive such as a USB harddrive the Dominions_3 can be installed to this location for testing. The testing would definitely have to use the same system since a different CPU or operating system might change the results.

The RAID0 SSD setup sounds awesome... I'll consider the design for my next system as well.

[Loren]

Originally Posted by NTJedi

The RAID0 SSD setup sounds awesome... I'll consider the design for my next system as well.

I wouldn't. You'll take a performance hit over time because the TRIM command won't work through the RAID.

[earwicker7]

Originally Posted by Loren

I wouldn't. You'll take a performance hit over time because the TRIM command won't work through the RAID.

Not if you buy proper equipment... SandForce controllers on OCZ drives do "TRIM-like" stuff. You just can't do it on the cheap, they're kind of expensive.

[Loren]

Originally Posted by earwicker7

Not if you buy proper equipment... SandForce controllers on OCZ drives do "TRIM-like" stuff. You just can't do it on the cheap, they're kind of expensive.

Huh? How do you emulate the TRIM command without knowing how the drive is laid out?

[earwicker7]

I do have a couple of thumbdrives, but those would also be considered SSD (although I'd think they would be much slower than the RAID0 drives). Or, if you have a spare USB HDD you want to let me borrow for a day (I'm pretty close to you, in California, so it should ship back and forth quickly) I could give you a direct comparison to what you are used to. Let me know.

And yes, for your next setup, SSD RAID0 is utterly sick! Being able to do a thorough virus check on 335GB in about a minute flat is soooooo cool. Do you build you own computers? This was my first personal build... I'll never buy a pre-built again; it's a lot of fun (though there were a few hair-pulling moments) and I saved thousands of dollars. My liquid cooling equipment should be here in a few days, so once I get that set up, there will be a serious overclock that should eat through any Dominions file thrown at it.

[Foodstamp]

I've played it on 6 solid state drives in a raid 0 configuration and just 1 solid state drive. I couldn't tell any difference with either set up over a mechanical drive.

Recently one of my drives failed, so I rebuilt with a 1TB drive. The 6 drives I used for the raid are still good, I just wanted more space.

From my testing, the speed of the processor makes the biggest difference. I've ran the game at 4.26 ghz and it did not make much difference over 3.86. but it still pegs out at 100% on one core.

So if your building a machine just to play dominions, by far the number one consideration is processor speed (not number of cores).

Hard drive speed will make more of a difference in games where you zone into other areas and maps with lots of information have to be loaded, FPSs, RPGs etc.

[NTJedi]

I will naturally discuss my next system build with online experts as well. Some of the members on hardforum spend all their time on building systems and researching.