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[BoogieMan]

I love this game. I always keep coming back. Now that I have upgraded my system to a Core i7 and doubled my RAM to 8GB I'm going to give it another go. I heard that the newer generations of CPUs can shut down extra cores that aren't being used and pump a bunch of power into one that is, letting it exceed it's standard speed. So I am hoping this will make a nice difference on larger embark sizes and more complex fortresses.

Three quick questions, if I may..

I'm going to start over using the Lazy Newb Pack 9.3 (awesome, btw) in a hostile dangerous area. But I was curious if there are any notable mods/applications/utilities that the community can suggest I use? I'm hoping for something that doesn't change the game far away from what it is, imbalance it (unless moderation can counter it), or just in general change the spirit of the game.

Can DF utilize multiple cores at all?

Is DF restricted to 32bit application RAM limitations?

[Putnam]

32-bit, one core only.

[Stargrasper]

Don't worry about mods for now.  For applications and utilities, the LNP will come with everything you want.  Particularly Dwarf Therapist; for managing assigned labors.  Nothing else is that necessary, though the LNP comes with quite a lot more.

As stated, DF is a 32-bit application that uses a single core.

For exceeding standard speed with the Core i7; I've not messed with the Core i* series, but if it does what you describe, it's basically overclocking itself.  You can make any processor do that at risk of destroying it.  I still don't think you should be expecting much, though.  CPU speeds haven't increased much with respect to individual cores in the past several years.  That's why they started making multi-core processors; they couldn't make single cores much faster without pumping in so much power (and generating so much heat) that they melted themselves, which is consequently how overclocking fries CPUs.

[BoogieMan]

During world gen, I am seeing activity on all cores but overall usage hasn't exceeded 15% and I am pretty sure it genned through the years quite a bit faster.

As far as for the overclocking deal, I hear it's automatic. And it shuts down the other cores to save energy and lower heat generation and increases it as much as is safe. I guess I'll see if I note any more performance over my previous CPU which was a Core2Duo @ 2.93Ghz. Right now I'm using a Core i7 860 which is four cores at 2.80Ghz w/multithreading. Even on my Core2Duo my performance monitors showed heavy activity on both cores while playing DF. But maybe that's just how it shows it's one CPU with multiple cores? No idea. Time will tell..

[No1]

Well if you bought the version of the i7 that has a "K" in the end of the number then you can and should overclock it. I've a 2500K i5 and i got it OCed to over 4GHz which will make a huge difference. If you look in the CPU testing thread and try it yourself you can see what you get without clocking and by looking at the others number you can see what you could get.

[Stargrasper]

Overclocking (probably) voids your warranty.  It can make a big difference if you're careful, though.

It's possible Toady has quietly added some threading...it's distinctly possible that graphics are a separate thread.  It's also possible, and probably more likely, that what's being observed is an anomaly.  Specifically, DF is hogging an entire core and everything else the OS is doing is getting pushed to the other core OR the OS is rapidly switching which core DF is running on.  This makes it appear to run on more than one core.

[No1]

Yes I'm aware that the warranty is voided if you overclock but to my knowledge the CPU is often not the first point of failure. One thing that I forgot to mention is that one should not do any or at least not much OCing if they are running the stock cooler. I'm using a noctua NH-U12 and even though it's a pretty good cooler the temperature goes up to about 70 c (~160 f) but the new processors are pretty durable to heat, they stand temperatures up to the boiling point without much damage.

[Kamamura]

Overclocking might void your warranty, but I cannot imagine how the retailer finds out (unless you raise voltage so high that you visibly fry the chip). If you are careful and raise the clock values by small steps, your system will lose stability far before your hardware is in danger. I recommend doing stability test after overclocking, though.

As for memory, a 32-bit application can theoretically allocate as much memory as necessary thanks to PAE (similar to paging technique used fore "expanded memory" under DOS).

[Kamamura]

...but the new processors are pretty durable to heat, they stand temperatures up to the boiling point without much damage.

They are "durable", because they lower clock frequencies whenever a defined temperature threshold is reached. So good cooling is imperative - otherwise you will lose CPU performance to this safety mechanism! It happened to my old workstation - I always thought the new KDE is damn slow, until I found out my board is overheating. After changing MB, the system with the same CPU suddenly ran like a breeze!