Interesting find with Celeron for Games

[pezonator]

Just thought I would post my findings as some sites suggest otherwise.

I bought a Celeron G520 @ 2.4Ghz which is a dual core back in January as I wait for Ivy Bridge to come out. See the rest of my system in my sig.

I wanted to play some Stronghold 2, so I started it up and the loading took forever. Once in the main menu, it was lagging like no tomorrow and it actually froze on the second load up. So I check my CPU usage on my logitech keyboard, well take a guess... 100%. Interesting.... This isn't even a new game.

So I load up Empire Earth 1 (2001-2002) and start a 4 player game. After a while I start noticing some lag, especially in battles and what do you know, the CPU is hitting 100% and constantly around 90 to 95%.

So, just thought I would post this and see if anyone has any thoughts / input. Even casual / old games seem not to like the bottom end dual core celeron

Pezzo

 

[sewalk]

What else is running in the background? Pull up Task Manager (Ctrl-Alt-Del), Go to Processes, Add the CPU Time column via the View menu and resort by this new column to see what processes have been using so much CPU time. If there's something unexpected, you have a culprit to further investigate.

 

[amuffin]

Your celeron is bottlenecking 2 560ti's.

 

[signor]

What else is running in the background? Pull up Task Manager (Ctrl-Alt-Del), Go to Processes, Add the CPU Time column via the View menu and resort by this new column to see what processes have been using so much CPU time. If there's something unexpected, you have a culprit to further investigate.

This.....however use Ctrl-Shift-ESC

 

[Raidur]

Of course it's bottlenecking, however that would not be causing performance drops like this in older games.

The G520 should surprisingly be no slouch for new games let alone old ones.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/celeron-g540-g440_6.html#sect0

How are the temps on your CPU/GPUs?

Have a OSD FPS monitor?

You could be at 100% because you're pushing so many frames with your GPUs.

 

[Cazalan]

It's basically an i3 without hyper-threading or turbo, so should be decent. Celerons aren't as crippled as they used to be with disabled caches.

Could try with 1 GPU removed or enabling frame sync.

Might have some drive errors or bad SSD.

In the task manager look show the kernel time. That usually indicates low level access like hard drives.

 

[wildside50]

This.....however use Ctrl-Shift-ESC

So I've been using PC's all of my life, and I would consider myself rather handy with them. I have a degree in computer science fer crying out loud. And I never knew this keyboard command. Like an idiot of I've been CTRL ALT DELETING every time. You sir, are my hero. I bow to you.

 

[Cazalan]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_keyboard_shortcuts

Good luck memorizing them all.

 

[sewalk]

Your celeron is bottlenecking 2 560ti's.

Bottlenecking occurs when a slow component keeps a faster one from operating at full potential. Fast GPUs don't suddenly bring an otherwise adequate CPU to a crawl.

 

[wildside50]

Bottlenecking occurs when a slow component keeps a faster one from operating at full potential. Fast GPUs don't suddenly bring an otherwise adequate CPU to a crawl.

He said "your celeron is bottlenecking 2 560ti's". You said "Bottlenecking occurs when a slow component keeps a faster one from operating at full potential."

Wouldn't a slow CPU "keep a faster one from operating at full potential" in this sittuation? I'm not sure I understand your point.

Celeron = bottleneck because it is slower than 2 GPU's

Never did he contend that the GPU's were slowing the CPU.

 

[sewalk]

The may have been no implicit contention in that post but in light of similar posts in other threads, it is not unreasonable to infer one. The idea that a fast GPU can actually slow down a CPU is remarkably widespread among some people who don't understand what reviewers mean when they talk about performance bottlenecking.

 

[wildside50]

The may have been no implicit contention in that post but in light of similar posts in other threads, it is not unreasonable to infer one. The idea that a fast GPU can actually slow down a CPU is remarkably widespread among some people who don't understand what reviewers mean when they talk about performance bottlenecking.

Wow. I won't argue with your anecdotal evidence. I'll just simply agree with you and say "WTF are they talking about?"

 

[radnor]

Wow. I won't argue with your anecdotal evidence. I'll just simply agree with you and say "WTF are they talking about?"

Stranger than all that, why the hell is somebody running around with a 560 SLI and a celeron ? I understand money might be tight but.....

 

[pezonator]

Good to see all the replies and here's a few pointers...

I said the Celeron is temporary, it was $49 and it's until Ivy Bridge comes out in April hopefully. The system is a fresh install of windows 7 64 bit Pro with minimal programs.

Nothing is using the CPU, it's at 0% when on the desktop. I don't think Temps are a problem but I will check. I've been building my own and friends computers since 2000 and I read every review about everything pc related

It's funny, I tried loading up Dragon Age Origins and after a minute the pc froze and the cpu fan was going hardcore...

Also, I did tests on the SSD and it gets over 400MB read and writes and the Games raid gets 250MB read and 200MB writes (roughly, I can't remember, I'm at work) but I was blown away at the performance.

Just can't wait for a new CPU (i5 3550k?) and Battlefield 3. (and yes I am on a tight budget, I already had the video cards with a socket 775 and Q9450. The only things I bought were the mobo, ssd, cpu and case so I could do the re-install).

Thanks for the replies.

 

[randomkid]

I would have stayed at Q9450 & waited until I can afford the if 3550k. Going to Celeron G530 even on a temporary basis is just a waste of your good $49. Furthermore, the Q9450 is $300 cpu you ditch for a $49 one. Honestly, I can not even guess what you were thinking...

 

[radnor]

I would have stayed at Q9450 & waited until I can afford the if 3550k. Going to Celeron G530 even on a temporary basis is just a waste of your good $49. Furthermore, the Q9450 is $300 cpu you ditch for a $49 one. Honestly, I can not even guess what you were thinking...

The ways of the Lord...i mean...upgrade path are mysterious !! now where is my E-350 with VMware ESXI and 10 VMs running 24/7/365 ?

 

[pezonator]

I would have stayed at Q9450 & waited until I can afford the if 3550k. Going to Celeron G530 even on a temporary basis is just a waste of your good $49. Furthermore, the Q9450 is $300 cpu you ditch for a $49 one. Honestly, I can not even guess what you were thinking...

And you should know the Q9450 runs on a 5 year old socket 775 that has problems with SLI and using an X-Fi sound card. I could have waited but got sick of the slow load times and random freezing. Plus now I can slowly load on all my games and configure Windows so it's all ready when I upgrade.

The Q9450 now becomes my 2nd pc and 'll whack my old GTX 260 in there.

But back on topic.... I'll get CPU-Z and check out the cpu temps. The BIOS also has a setting saying the CPU something @ 50 degrees, I might change that to 65. I think it may be the threshold temperature.

I'm just confused why games take up 100% cpu when they load up, is that normal?

 

[randomkid]

And you should know the Q9450 runs on a 5 year old socket 775 that has problems with SLI and using an X-Fi sound card. I could have waited but got sick of the slow load times and random freezing. Plus now I can slowly load on all my games and configure Windows so it's all ready when I upgrade.

The Q9450 now becomes my 2nd pc and 'll whack my old GTX 260 in there.

Now that makes sense. I'd love to have that Q9450 for a 2nd Rig.

 

[radnor]

And you should know the Q9450 runs on a 5 year old socket 775 that has problems with SLI and using an X-Fi sound card. I could have waited but got sick of the slow load times and random freezing. Plus now I can slowly load on all my games and configure Windows so it's all ready when I upgrade.

Well, not too difernet from my X4 955. And it is still rocking !

The Q9450 now becomes my 2nd pc and 'll whack my old GTX 260 in there.

NIce 2nd pc, mine is an E350 loaded with VMs. Energy saver ofc.

But back on topic.... I'll get CPU-Z and check out the cpu temps. The BIOS also has a setting saying the CPU something @ 50 degrees, I might change that to 65. I think it may be the threshold temperature.

I'm just confused why games take up 100% cpu when they load up, is that normal?

[/quotemsg]

50º check. 100% CPU when loading check. CPU is fine.