This is going from what i know about srcds, though it should apply to hlds, a little:
On modern kernels, i saw nothing but highly increased overhead when using an RT kernel. This might be different for hlds (i'm on srcds) but i think that with RCU preemption and the highest preemption level, a stock kernel is plenty preemptable for RT scheduling, and the RT patchset is overkill. I would recommend trying SCHED_FIFO for the servers in question if this is a dedicated game server box. It gives them time slices before any other process on demand, and can make the very finicky linux frameloop more stable. # chrt -f -p 90 <hlds pid> I found that the latest .28 kernel, with preemption all the way up, preemptable RCU, tickless 300hz (using HPET means that the timer doesn't affect it, so reduce interrupts) gave me the smoothest performance, and chrt only made that better. I still have not been able to get "Perfect FPS" on any config however, once the server is full. But damn close. Also, my new PowerEdge Xeon 3360 performs *much* worse than my old SuperMicro Xeon 3220, despite the CPU difference. I think a lot of the stability can be traced to ram and hardware config (or i'm doing something way wrong) - Neph On Wed, Feb 18, 2009 at 10:41 PM, kERPLUNK <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi, i have a serious problem with my players ping/lag. > I think, that comes from my server-side fps fluctuation. > Is there some way to make it really really stable? > > I tried a lot of things, like: > > - Changing sys_ticrate to 0, 100, 120, 333, 500, 1000, etc. > > - Recompile kernel with/without: > Dynamic Ticks > 100/250/300/1000 HZ > Preemtible/No Forced Preemtion (Desktop/Server) > Machine Check Exeption > Microcode Patch > NUMA > MTRR > High Resolution Timer > Multi-core scheduler > hpet > real time clock > dma > (i think the problem comes from here.. kernel settings..) > > - Another kernel with rt patch (following this guide: > http://wiki.fragaholics.de/index.php/EN:Linux_Kernel_Optimization) > - Allocating process to specific core (taskset) > - Using nice/renice/chrt > - Booting kernel with noapic noapm > > My hardware is: > Mother Intel DQ45CB Executive Series > Micro Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 3.0ghz 1333 12MB 775 > RAM Kingston 8gb DDR2 800mhz (4 x 2gb) in Dual Channel Mode > Disk Seagate 7200.11 500gb 7200RPM 32mb Cache > Power Allied or CoolerMaster 460W > Case Rack 2U 6 coolers > > Nothing helps, when i start more than 3 hlds servers, the fps fluctuates > every time. > > Someone has this problem? Anyone can really fix this to make fps server side > stable? > > Here is an example with 120 sys_ticrate: > > 04:37:40 CPU In Out Uptime Users FPS Players > 2.80 1.94 3.54 1237 27495 108.47 1 > > 04:37:40 CPU In Out Uptime Users FPS Players > 3.00 1.94 3.53 1237 27495 21.01 1 > > 04:37:40 CPU In Out Uptime Users FPS Players > 3.00 1.89 3.25 1237 27495 108.11 1 > > Another example with 10000 sys_ticrate: > > 04:40:03 CPU In Out Uptime Users FPS Players > 3.50 0.00 0.00 1239 27496 963.39 0 > > 04:40:04 CPU In Out Uptime Users FPS Players > 3.50 0.00 0.00 1239 27496 95.96 0 > > 04:40:04 CPU In Out Uptime Users FPS Players > 3.50 0.00 0.00 1239 27496 945.18 0 > > 04:40:39 CPU In Out Uptime Users FPS Players > 3.75 0.00 0.00 1240 27496 50.26 0 > > Thanks for your time. > > Regards, > > krp > _______________________________________________ > To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please > visit: > http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux > _______________________________________________ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux
