Fritz 15 - Windows 7 SP1 32&64 bit Intel-i5 Quad Core

[Norbert Raimund Leisner]

Hello,

I have installed Fritz 15 32-/64 bit on different devices on my computer.

In both cases after a start of Fritz 15 GUI the application is opened with 3 CPU´s - not as assumed with 4 CPU´s!

CPU
Intel Core i5 3470
Cores 4
Threads 4
Name Intel Core i5 3470
Code Name Ivy Bridge
Package Socket 1155 LGA
Technology 22nm
Specification Intel Core i5-3470 CPU @ 3.20GHz
Family 6
Extended Family 6
Model A
Extended Model 3A
Stepping 9
Revision N0
Instructions MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, Intel 64, NX, VMX, AES, AVX
Virtualization Supported, Enabled
Hyperthreading Not supported
Fan Speed 1689 RPM
Stock Core Speed 3200 MHz
Stock Bus Speed 100 MHz
Average Temperature 37 °C
Caches
L1 Data Cache Size 4 x 32 KBytes
L1 Instructions Cache Size 4 x 32 KBytes
L2 Unified Cache Size 4 x 256 KBytes
L3 Unified Cache Size 6144 KBytes
Cores
Core Speed Multiplier Bus Speed Temperature Threads
Core 0 1596.2 MHz x 16.0 99.8 MHz 39 °C APIC ID: 0
Core 1 2593.8 MHz x 26.0 99.8 MHz 38 °C APIC ID: 2
Core 2 1596.2 MHz x 16.0 99.8 MHz 37 °C APIC ID: 4
Core 3 1596.2 MHz x 16.0 99.8 MHz 33 °C APIC ID: 6

RAM
Memory slots
Total memory slots 2
Used memory slots 2
Free memory slots 0
Memory
Type DDR3
Size 4096 MBytes
Channels # Dual
DRAM Frequency 798.1 MHz
CAS# Latency (CL) 11 clocks
RAS# to CAS# Delay (tRCD) 11 clocks
RAS# Precharge (tRP) 11 clocks
Cycle Time (tRAS) 28 clocks
Command Rate (CR) 2T
Physical Memory
Memory Usage 48 %
Total Physical 3.22 GB
Available Physical 1.66 GB
Total Virtual 6.43 GB
Available Virtual 4.76 GB
SPD
Number Of SPD Modules 2
Slot #1
Slot #2

The answer of ChessBase support in Germany is:
http://de.chessbase.com/support-kb/

"Ein geänderter Wert wurde noch nie und bei keiner Engine gespeichert. Die Engine beginnt immer mit dem Standardwert, der vom Rechner abhängt und sicherstellen soll, daß die Engine mit optimalen Einstellungen startet. Diese Einstellungen werden von der Engine nach einer Prüfung des Systemstatus selbständig festgelegt. Nach dieser Routine kann der Anwender dann für die laufende Sitzung die Einstellungen nach den eigenen Vorgaben ändern, aber nicht dauerhaft speichern."

For not German speakers here is the translation by myself:
http://en.chessbase.com/support-kb/
A changed value was never saved respectively no engine does it. The engine begins at each case with the default value that is depending from the computer; it must be ensured that the engine is launched with optimal adjustments. These settings are determined by the engine itself after a validation of the system status. After this routine the user may change the preferences for the current session, but he cannot retain (these data) permanently.

ChessBase Wiki
http://en.chessbase.com/support-kb/content/index
http://en.chessbase.com/support-kb/account/login

What are your experiences with Fritz 15 on your Windows operation systems?

Best wishes,
Norbert

[Hurnavich]

Have you unchecked the smart cpu usage box? if not it will drop a core.

[tpoppins]

What Ianski said. The "Smart CPU usage" setting can be accessed via Engine menu -> Change Main Engine -> Advanced. You can get to the same dialog box by clicking on the button with the engine name in the Main Engine window.

As for Chessbase's support's claim that an engine's settings cannot be saved - that's not correct (perhaps it is bad translation).

You can create a new instance of an engine in the engine list with the settings of your choice (Engine menu -> Create UCI Engine -> Parameter), just save it with a name different from the default (e.g. "Fritz 15 #2" - note that the new name must use the complete default name, you can only add stuff after it). I belive the online manual covers this method

Alternatively, you can edit (e.g. with Notepad) the engine's settings file directly. It is a text file with a UCI extension, normally stored in C:\Users\your_user_name\AppData\Roaming\ChessBase\Engines.UCI.

Another tip: the Nalimov tablebases support is broken in all GUI versions except the original F15. To fix the problem update the GUI to the latest version (currently v15.21 for F15 and v14.43 for DF14) then go to C:\Program Files\Common Files\ChessBase\Endgames (may want to change "Program Files" to "Program Files (x86)" for the 32-bit version, I don't know as I never used it) and rename file TBAccess.dll to something else (e.g. TBAccess.dl_).
Reload the Fritz 15 engine and go to the engine settings. Notice a change? The "Use TBAccess" checkbox is gone, there is now a "NalimovProbeFrequency" spin box in its place. You can change the value from 0 to 256 with it, the default is 36. You will also see that F15 reports tbhits again in its analysis.

BTW, some of the F15 UCI settings are explained in the online manual. Actually, the screenshots are from F15 while the text is a copy-and-paste from a Rybka 4 help file, so some of the info is wrong (e.g. the NalimovUsage setting - but see the previous paragraph).

HTH