I'm not sure if this was asked,answered,or anything else,is it true that Oblivion only works one core and doesn't recognize multiple cores? And if so has anyone figured out how to make it use the extra cores?

It is, and i don't think it's possible to make it use other cores. Of course the other cores run the OS and background applications, so it isn't completely wasted with Oblivion.

Damn.I was hoping to squeeze a bit more out of this laptop.

Oblivion does make use of multithreading, but it does not contain true support for multi-core processors.

You will get some benefit from using a multi-core processor with this game, but not much. You'll want to look at clock speed and CPU model if you want to determine the best processor for this game.

I got a intel dual 2.20 GHz processor.As I've discovered,too much in way of scripts(MMM more wilderness life,BBC,and UL,etc.)chews up too much.Even with Streamline and OSR.So this install I had to cut back on some things and it plays smoother.I was hoping to get a bit more out of this computer.Oh well,when I can afford that mx15,I'll buy it.

Scripts do not eat up that much system resources, you can have as many as 100 run-per-frame scripts going in this game and not lose a frame over them. The mods you've listed do the following:

MMMMWL: Adds a whole bunch more spawn points for wilderness creatures, which because of inefficiencies with the AI and animations in this game, can slow you down a bit if there are more than five to eight NPCs/creatures on screen at once.

BBC and UL: Tend to add a fairly large amount of new clutter and eyecandy in their respective areas, requiring the game to munch more memory to load them all.

Scripts barely affect performance in this game.

Well I'm not sure which eats up the most to be honest,but taking BBC and UL out definately improved my exterior FPS.Will probably put UL and at least Anvil back in later on after I got it put back together.This is a reinstall with updated mods,been trying to figure out what eats up the most so I can get a smoother game.Have also been PyFFIing the hell out of everything.

Also what is it that causes enemies to stand around and stare at you while youre wrecking them?

I've seen first-hand evidence that Oblivion can fully utilise "one and a half cores" at once. So, one at ~100%, and one at ~50% load. Haven't seen any evidence of any kind that it can use more than that, in total.

edit: But I'm open to the idea, and will be interested indeed to hear about how that works...

I was gonna get the mx15 but decided on a dell xps 17 instead as it has 'for me' a better setup. As i need a bigger HDD, etc.

Dell does a good gaming laptop?!Wish I woulda known that when I bought this POS.

Unless you have thousands to spend, there is no such thing. :no:

Desktop ftw, if gaming (among other things) matters at all to you.

Yeah I know but right now for me a desktop is extremely impractical.Let's just say this economy svcks ass.

I′m using an Phenom II X4 945 CPU @ 4x3Ghz.
When TES IV is set to use one core, than this core is running with 100% workload. When it is set to use two cores both are running with ~60-70% workload, and the performance of Oblivion is much better.
Maybe it is because of the Multicore Optimizer i use, or Vista plays a part of it, or the Nehrim updater that asked to enable support for multiple cores?

Can you use the nehrim updater for just oblivion?If not where can I get a multicore optimizer?

The Nehrim Updater will not work without an Nehrim installation, the "Multicore Optimizer" download can found with the use of the might of google.

Btw.
I installed Win7 64 Bit yeterday, and Oblivion runs simply perfect with it.

What Multicore Optimizer do you use?

It`s http://www.chip.de/downloads/Multicore-Optimizer_31258288.html, but in german.

Ah yes but I can't use that one as it is for x86 OS's only.. I've installed ProLasso now and it seems to do the same thing. Don't know about the performance gain though.

I have not tried to run the tool on Win7 64 BIT, as i see no need for it.
Oblivion works like a charm on that OS, the only thing that bothers me is, even with the 4gb patch used, it still crashes at 1,7 GB RAM used by Oblivion. But it takes some time to reach that limit.

I have Prolasso now,so far all its done for Oblivion is speed up the loading considerably.I still get the lag but I haven't finished my install yet,and haven't put in all the utilities(Streamline,OSR,and the 4GB patch).As for the 4GB patch,look into the different ini settings for OSR.I didn't do it last install but this time I will.It is said that when you set a few things in the ini you WILL see the difference with the 4GB patch.Something to do with the heap mode.I'll look it up so I can get you a link.

If you have water reflections turned on, you will experience a large hit in FPS. Oblivion will render all water, even water that is not even visible, and there is a lot of it under the "ground".