"Upgrading" my CPU again..?

[Alec Shern]

In an earlier post I asked if a Core 2 Quad @2.66 would boost performance over a Core 2 Due @2.2 and it DID...Well mostly. Games like Skyrim and newer games ran on High setting just fine with over ~40 fps. What it did NOT excel in were CPU intensive games like RIFT, Planetside 2, and TERA. Those are all MMORPGs and use a lot of CPU.

Now I went off on a hunch and ordered the best Core 2 Duo processor @3.33Ghz for ~$25. Will this help my performance on CPU bound games? I heard that most or all of those games utilize no more than 2 cores, and that TERA was optimized for SINGLE core processors... Should I expect a gain going from 2.66Ghz to 3.33Ghz?

Specs:
Core 2 duo E8600 or Core 2 Quad Q8400
EVGA Gt 730 2GB GDDR5 64-bit Low Profile
4 Gigs of RAM (non upgrade-able with MOBO)

I ran Planetside 2 on High setting and the bottleneck was not my GPU but rather my CPU, turning all settings to Low made FPS WORSE. I had no parked cores on the quad.

Rift just got low FPS in general.

Tera had a barely playable 19-30 FPS and characters struggled to render at all, especially in big cities with lots of characters.

I can't overclock.

 

[delaro]

So you went from a Duo 3.3ghz to a Quad 2.6ghz and noticed not all games were better, that is to be expected if you don't overclock. I know for a fact that a Q9650 overclocked to 4.2ghz will play RIFT extremely well as it is CPU dependent and likes higher clocks. A Q6600 @4.4ghz also plays nearly every title out with good results. Most games now will work better on a Quad but they expect newer CPU's so you need to overclock. If you lack that ability then look for the highest MHZ chip you can find supported for your motherboard.

 

[Alec Shern]

So you went from a Duo 3.3ghz to a Quad 2.6ghz and noticed not all games were better, that is to be expected if you don't overclock. I know for a fact that a Q9650 overclocked to 4.2ghz will play RIFT extremely well as it is CPU dependent and likes higher clocks. A Q6600 @4.4ghz also plays nearly every title out with good results. Most games now will work better on a Quad but they expect newer CPU's so you need to overclock. If you lack that ability then look for the highest MHZ chip you can find supported for your motherboard.

The Core 2 duo I mentioned is the highest clocked dual core that will fit. I chose it because I could get it for cheap and am planning to build a new pc soon. It is clocked at 3.33Ghz. I can't overclock.

Edit: The TERA recommended specs are a Core 2 Duo @2.66 Ghz so I don't understand why my Quad at 2.66Ghz couldn't run it... That's with Recommended specs not minimum.... So 3.33 Ghz Duo should be good right?

 

[delaro]

LGA775 with no Overclock then don't expect much. That is the nice thing about LGA775 and LGA1156 nearly every chip overclocks unless you have a OEM or cheap budget board.

 

[Alec Shern]

LGA775 with no Overclock then don't expect much. That is the nice thing about LGA775 and LGA1156 nearly every chip overclocks unless you have a OEM or cheap budget board.

You're right, I have a very cheap OEM board, and I got the PC for free. Slapped in a $70 graphics card and $25 CPU and it was working very speedy for well optimized titles(Not latest but Skyrim like) EXCEPT MMORPGs.

Was wondering why I can run Skyrim on High and Shadows of Mordor on medium-high 30fps and not decade old mmorpgs??

 

[Iamsoda]

LGA775 with no Overclock then don't expect much. That is the nice thing about LGA775 and LGA1156 nearly every chip overclocks unless you have a OEM or cheap budget board.

You're right, I have a very cheap OEM board, and I got the PC for free. Slapped in a $70 graphics card and $25 CPU and it was working very speedy for well optimized titles(Not latest but Skyrim like) EXCEPT MMORPGs.

Was wondering why I can run Skyrim on High and Shadows of Mordor on medium-high 30fps and not decade old mmorpgs??

You answered your own question. Poor game code optimizing. That is why. My favorite game I struggle to keep a solid 100fps+ @1080p ultra with a GTX 980 and an i7 5820k (4.4ghertz). The hardware isn't being pushed over the edge, it just won't get any better because bad programming.

 

[Alec Shern]

LGA775 with no Overclock then don't expect much. That is the nice thing about LGA775 and LGA1156 nearly every chip overclocks unless you have a OEM or cheap budget board.

You're right, I have a very cheap OEM board, and I got the PC for free. Slapped in a $70 graphics card and $25 CPU and it was working very speedy for well optimized titles(Not latest but Skyrim like) EXCEPT MMORPGs.

Was wondering why I can run Skyrim on High and Shadows of Mordor on medium-high 30fps and not decade old mmorpgs??

You answered your own question. Poor game code optimizing. That is why. My favorite game I struggle to keep a solid 100fps+ @1080p ultra with a GTX 980 and an i7 5820k (4.4ghertz). The hardware isn't being pushed over the edge, it just won't get any better because bad programming.

That's unfortunate. Despite bad programming it's possible to get better fps. All I need is a constant 30 fps that doesn't dip below that number for smooth gameplay. I know they are horribly optimized but oh well :| Have to compensate with raw power.

 

[Iamsoda]

LGA775 with no Overclock then don't expect much. That is the nice thing about LGA775 and LGA1156 nearly every chip overclocks unless you have a OEM or cheap budget board.

You're right, I have a very cheap OEM board, and I got the PC for free. Slapped in a $70 graphics card and $25 CPU and it was working very speedy for well optimized titles(Not latest but Skyrim like) EXCEPT MMORPGs.

Was wondering why I can run Skyrim on High and Shadows of Mordor on medium-high 30fps and not decade old mmorpgs??

You answered your own question. Poor game code optimizing. That is why. My favorite game I struggle to keep a solid 100fps+ @1080p ultra with a GTX 980 and an i7 5820k (4.4ghertz). The hardware isn't being pushed over the edge, it just won't get any better because bad programming.

That's unfortunate. Despite bad programming it's possible to get better fps. All I need is a constant 30 fps that doesn't dip below that number for smooth gameplay. I know they are horribly optimized but oh well :| Have to compensate with raw power.

Yes and that works to an extent, but eve that can hit a brick wall. Though upgrading your hardware will help a lot and get you what you want. I struggle to keep 100fps+ 1080p with hardware that should be able to murder that game and it isn't graphic intensity is just bad coding. Since you are just looking for a good 40fps I would say upgrade your hardware and you will have no problems. What games are you having trouble with?

 

[Alec Shern]

LGA775 with no Overclock then don't expect much. That is the nice thing about LGA775 and LGA1156 nearly every chip overclocks unless you have a OEM or cheap budget board.

You're right, I have a very cheap OEM board, and I got the PC for free. Slapped in a $70 graphics card and $25 CPU and it was working very speedy for well optimized titles(Not latest but Skyrim like) EXCEPT MMORPGs.

Was wondering why I can run Skyrim on High and Shadows of Mordor on medium-high 30fps and not decade old mmorpgs??

You answered your own question. Poor game code optimizing. That is why. My favorite game I struggle to keep a solid 100fps+ @1080p ultra with a GTX 980 and an i7 5820k (4.4ghertz). The hardware isn't being pushed over the edge, it just won't get any better because bad programming.

That's unfortunate. Despite bad programming it's possible to get better fps. All I need is a constant 30 fps that doesn't dip below that number for smooth gameplay. I know they are horribly optimized but oh well :| Have to compensate with raw power.

Yes and that works to an extent, but eve that can hit a brick wall. Though upgrading your hardware will help a lot and get you what you want. I struggle to keep 100fps+ 1080p with hardware that should be able to murder that game and it isn't graphic intensity is just bad coding. Since you are just looking for a good 40fps I would say upgrade your hardware and you will have no problems. What games are you having trouble with?

Like I said in my post it is CPU intensive MMORPGs like RIFT, TERA, Planetside 2.

 

[Iamsoda]

LGA775 with no Overclock then don't expect much. That is the nice thing about LGA775 and LGA1156 nearly every chip overclocks unless you have a OEM or cheap budget board.

You're right, I have a very cheap OEM board, and I got the PC for free. Slapped in a $70 graphics card and $25 CPU and it was working very speedy for well optimized titles(Not latest but Skyrim like) EXCEPT MMORPGs.

Was wondering why I can run Skyrim on High and Shadows of Mordor on medium-high 30fps and not decade old mmorpgs??

You answered your own question. Poor game code optimizing. That is why. My favorite game I struggle to keep a solid 100fps+ @1080p ultra with a GTX 980 and an i7 5820k (4.4ghertz). The hardware isn't being pushed over the edge, it just won't get any better because bad programming.

That's unfortunate. Despite bad programming it's possible to get better fps. All I need is a constant 30 fps that doesn't dip below that number for smooth gameplay. I know they are horribly optimized but oh well :| Have to compensate with raw power.

Yes and that works to an extent, but eve that can hit a brick wall. Though upgrading your hardware will help a lot and get you what you want. I struggle to keep 100fps+ 1080p with hardware that should be able to murder that game and it isn't graphic intensity is just bad coding. Since you are just looking for a good 40fps I would say upgrade your hardware and you will have no problems. What games are you having trouble with?

Like I said in my post it is CPU intensive MMORPGs like RIFT, TERA, Planetside 2.

Yeah raw CPU power and clock speed will help the most here.