Threading Basics for Games 1.3
Take advantage of Intel® dual-core processors in your game development and learn how Intel® Compilers can optimize your code.
Even with the benefits provided by Hyper-Threading Technology (HT Technology), threading game engines for performance reasons has usually been avoided due to its potential complexity. However, with the advent of the Intel® Pentium® D Processor with dual-core capabilities and the Intel® Pentium® 4 processor Extreme Edition with dual-core and HT Technology capabilities, for a total of four logical processors, the potential to nearly double the processing power of a game (or even more) is now at hand. However, in order to get this impressive speed increase, games need to be threaded for performance.
It is natural to feel wary of threading due to the potential complexities involved. This is especially true for those not familiar with programming for servers, since the desktop area has only recently seen a need to thread for performance. Games, particularly with their complex data structures and functional interdependence, seem almost impossible to thread. The reason games and other desktop applications seem difficult to thread, however, is that most weren't designed with threading in mind.
This paper is designed to inform and persuade game architects and developers to develop for threading. We hope you will start threading games currently under development to take advantage of the two and four processors currently available with Intel® products. Thinking ahead, future processor products with multiple available processors in one package will create an even greater demand for games to be threaded and provide a greater opportunity to do more with the available processing power.
Click here to read the complete article http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/threading-basics-for-games
Source: Intel® Software Network
Author: Jeff Andrews is an Application Engineer with Intel Corporation specializing in optimizing code for ISVs. He also researches software technologies that enhance the performance of applications on Intel® processors.
For more information on game development and optimizing code for better game experience visit www.intel.com/software/visualcomputing and www.intel.com/software/graphics
For futher details about the related courses and colleges please click below
