WoT versus multi-core CPUs

I heard and read quite a lot of "advises" when it comes down to how to run WoT on a multi-core CPU.
A lot of people suggest that running WoT on one core affinity is better. It's actually worse and I'll show the why.

For this benchmark I used a random replay downloaded from WoTReplays.com.

My system:
CPU: Intel Core2Quad Q9550 2.8Ghz
MEM: 8Gb DDR2
Video: ATi Radeon HD7870 2Gb GDDR5

WoT graphics settings I used:

I did not used any mods whatsoever.

Phase one: obtain a baseline benchmark as with no changes to affinity, I called it "default" (ran on all four cores)
Phase two: set affinity to two cores, called it "2 cores"
Phase three: set affinity to three cores , called it "3 cores"

And here are the results:

• default - Avg: 70.463 - Min: 39 - Max: 113
• 2 cores - Avg: 47.786 - Min: 23 - Max: 76
• 3 cores - Avg: 65.209 - Min: 37 - Max: 102

So, there you have it. I't absolutely not better to run WoT on one core affinity if your CPU is multicore.

Note: I skipped adding the one core affinity to the graph for the reason it's extremely similar to 2 cores affinity

What I suggest, if you are having issues with framerate stability running WoT, is that you set priority to Above Normal for WorldOfTanks.exe.

I did another test to show if there is any difference between running default versus running WoT with a higher priority:

a zoomed it section of the graph to show the minute differences:

• default - Avg: 70.463 - Min: 39 - Max: 113
• above normal - Avg: 71.352 - Min: 42 - Max: 108

So, is it better? well arguably .. yes. There is a smoother framerate and the a minute increase in the average framerate.

Note: I do not recommend running with a higher priority than Above Normal because that will interfere with Windows's own services and software components (drivers).