Changing CPU (pentium d 805 to e6600)

[Plissken 10]

Hi guys! I have troubles running arma2 with my old proccessor. FPS is going under 20 and even 11 (in the city areas). My specs are:

Mobo: P5l-1394

RAM: 3GB

Video: GT220

CPU: Pentium D 805@2.66 OC (3,10GHz)

The latest CPU that my motherboard supports is E6600. So the question is: would changing my cpu to e6600 increase perfomance so i can play ARM2 on normal (with 1280x1024) on my pc? Any help and advices much appreciated.

P.S.

Excuse my poor english :)

[kotov12345 10]

first you need use dual channel ram -

You need use 2x1gb or 2x2gb stciks of ram put them into yellow or black slots.

Using 4 sticks same time is not recomended.

second I suggest you buy better graphic card gt220 is one of the cheapest.

CPU is not very important in arma2

[ginger mcale 11]

Absolutely wrong. CPU is one of the important part for ArmA 2. After this comes the graphic card being the next most important part. You need a good combination of both or one part with be limiting the potential of the other. The dual channel ram thing shouldnt make a ultra big difference in the game. Compared to a new CPU and/or graphic card it would be peanuts.

A E6600 is 50% faster then your current CPU with its current clock.

But instead of buying a new but old CPU it makes more sense to overclock your current CPU. The CPU you got is very well known for its cheap price and very high overclock value. After a short google search it seems it gets to 4.1 ghz. Overclocked to only 3.6 ghz its already as fast as the E6600 with its stock clock.

You should google for "Pentium D 805 overclock". It will bring search results for your language. Thats why i dont give you my search result link, the results are in german. Read yourself into a few overclock threads from people that have this CPU and overclocked it. You will need propably a another CPU cooler but all of this will be explained in the threads and guides you will find.

If your graphics card will not limit the potential of the overclocked CPU to hard you should get a very noticeable FPS increase from the overclock. I got it always when i overclocked my CPU. Its a very big difference.

Link to CPU benchmark results list, your CPU is highlighted, you will see different overclock states for the Pentium D there too and the E6600:

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=Intel+Pentium+D+2.66GHz

[Tankbuster 1744]

CPU is not very important in arma2

Oh dear. This is really wrong.

The E6600 is a nice CPU for the OP. Given some tweaking it can potter along at 3.4 and it'll transform the game. That motherboard will probably need a BIOS update so I'd do that before taking out the old clunker pentium CPU. :)

[kotov12345 10]

Overclocking CPU not give any effect in arma2

I had Pentium D 940 and clocked it from 3.4 to 4.2ghz - not single more FPS.

Changed Graphic card from 7900GTX to 4870X2 got 250% speed (from 10 to 25 fps)

If you have limited cash buy ram + graphic - more cash - buy mobo - more cpu.

for last 5 years I changed

like 5 different cpus and 5 different graphic cards and 2 chipsets.

[Tankbuster 1744]

Whatever.

You overclocked a shit CPU to make it a marginally faster shit CPU. The E6600 is a world away from the Pentium D.

[ginger mcale 11]

But kotov it is still wrong what you are saying. Overclocking CPU gives a huge effect in ArmA 2. In your case, if your test were correct setup, then the logical conclusion is your graphics card were limiting your CPU. Simple as that.

What Tankbuster is saying is correct again. Plissken the E6600 will be as already mentioned at its stock speed as fast as your Pentium D overclocked to 3.6 ghz. But the E6600 will be when overclocked even faster then that. Iam just worried that your graphic cards could limit the FPS. You will find out i guess.

If you are low on cash or you just dont want to spend money for it at the moment i would say it would be best to overclock your current CPU. If you dont know how to overclock and you dont want to read how it works then buying the E6600 will be the next cost effective step. The step after this would be of course to buy a current motherboard, CPU, RAM and graphics card.

[Zipper5 74]

A strong CPU is nothing without a decent GPU to back it up, and vice versa. I wouldn't prioritize one over the other.

[kotov12345 10]

But kotov it is still wrong what you are saying.

lol you don't know hat are you talking about m8.

Ghost from HOTSHOT overclock his cpu to 5 or 6ghz and not got any fps more in arma2 - I asked.

I currently use I7 930 and 100% sure if I overlock it I'm not will get any more fps at all.

Read more tests and reviews about effect different computer parts in 3d gaming.

[ginger mcale 11]

As already said. Then something was limiting the FPS already. It all depends on the settings, hardware and the test environment and correct measuring of course.

Which CPU does he have? What were the graphical settings ingame? What were the settings in the graphic card menu? Which map and mission has been tested whit which parameters. How has been measured and compared to earlier results. Were the test environment 100% identically? There are to many factors possible in ArmA 2 and CPU hardware and settings that can make the results not comparable. You have to make a identicall test environment before saying "this was faster or this was slower".

You can make scenarios where you would see xxx % increase in FPS of a CPU overclock and you can make a scenario with no increase at all. It depends on all settings, the scenario and of course the graphic card.

There is no simple black & white here.

That you are sure you will not get any FPS at all is your personal believe but not a fact. You will for 100% get a FPS increase if your graphic cards and settings are not limiting your FPS already.

I got a i5-2500k which is faster then your CPU. Overclocked it only a little bit yet since i didnt had interest yet to buy a stronger cooler for it (from 3.3 to 4.0 ghz) and had the expected FPS boost (measured correctly in a correct test environment).

The graphics card is a ATI 6950 2 GB flashed to 6970 bios and with 6970 clocks (performance identical to 6970).

Iam sorry to say this but you are the one who needs this reading.

By the way, remembered one CPU review from computerbase when writing this post, they had ArmA 2 in their test. Its a good addition here. Check it out.

640x480 at high details and maximum view distance (so the graphic cards is not limiting to much (not perfect test settings for this but useable) and you see only the difference between different CPU´s and clocks):

http://www.computerbase.de/artikel/prozessoren/2011/test-intel-sandy-bridge/31/#abschnitt_arma_2_operation_arrowhead

1680x1050 (everything high setting, including AF/AA, usual player settings with hardcore computer):

http://www.computerbase.de/artikel/prozessoren/2011/test-intel-sandy-bridge/39/#abschnitt_arma_2_operation_arrowhead

Edited March 11, 2011 by Ginger McAle

[Plissken 10]

Thank you for the answers! With my current PC it will take a lot of time and experiments to get this game playable. So i decided to wait for a while and get a brand new PC with i5-2500k with GTX460 and forget about old generation hardware. TY for your attention and time!

[Leon86 13]

Hi guys! I have troubles running arma2 with my old proccessor. FPS is going under 20 and even 11 (in the city areas). My specs are:

Mobo: P5l-1394

RAM: 3GB

Video: GT220

CPU: Pentium D 805@2.66 OC (3,10GHz)

The latest CPU that my motherboard supports is E6600. So the question is: would changing my cpu to e6600 increase perfomance so i can play ARM2 on normal (with 1280x1024) on my pc? Any help and advices much appreciated.

P.S.

Excuse my poor english :)

theres a seperate thread for these questions.

I dunno about just changing the cpu as the gpu is pretty slow as well. changing the cpu to e6600 and gpu to ati hd4850 (50eu secondhand) will help a lot.

---------- Post added at 02:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:01 PM ----------

Thank you for the answers! With my current PC it will take a lot of time and experiments to get this game playable. So i decided to wait for a while and get a brand new PC with i5-2500k with GTX460 and forget about old generation hardware. TY for your attention and time!

that's probably a good idea :D

[Primarch 10]

Can someone give an infraction to this kotov guy? He seems to be trolling.

[kotov12345 10]

I got a i5-2500k which is faster then your CPU.

you cant compare I7 930 and i5 2500k because they cant be installed in same mobo.

930 for 55 chipset - i5 2500k for 67.

67 chipset will be faster than 55 no doubt - but

difference in games between 2100 2300 etc any sandy bridge will be less than 5 %

so if you got 100 fps - if you will buy fester cpu you will get 105 FPS which will be absolutely useless because you cant see the difference visually 100 and 105 fps and will be waste of money :)

and reading test I'm not found any difference in games between 55 and 67 chipsets.

In other words I put my graphic (4870x2) inside your pc you will get same fps as me :) or not more than 5-10% more which is not be visible.

[Primarch 10]

you cant compare I7 930 and i5 2500k because they cant be installed in same mobo.

930 for 55 chipset - i5 2500k for 67. 930 is LGA1366 chipset, 2500k is for LGA1155.

67 chipset will be faster than 55 no doubt - but

difference in games between 2100 2300 etc any sandy bridge will be less than 5 %

so if you got 100 fps - if you will buy fester cpu you will get 105 FPS which will be absolutely useless because you cant see the difference visually 100 and 105 fps and will be waste of money :)

and reading test I'm not found any difference in games between 55 and 67 chipsets.

In other words I put my graphic (4870x2) inside your pc you will get same fps as me :) or not more than 5-10% more which is not be visible.

I know I am getting trolled but the OP might not.

You will get much improved stability and texture loading if you get a newer, more powerful GPU as they have much improved bandwidth.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/47?vs=288 250€ i5 vs 300€ i7.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/287?vs=142 500€ i7 vs 800€ i7.

Will you go and do some research and stop trolling?

ArmA 2 is extremely CPU and HDD dependant. Once you start pushing the resolution and AA, you will notice a hit on your GPU performance, othewise you will just need a fast processor. FYI ArmA 2 makes the most of GHz, not cores. The new sandybridge models have vastly improved calculation power per cycle and watt when compared to the LGA 1366 chipset.

---------- Post added at 02:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:05 PM ----------

Thank you for the answers! With my current PC it will take a lot of time and experiments to get this game playable. So i decided to wait for a while and get a brand new PC with i5-2500k with GTX460 and forget about old generation hardware. TY for your attention and time!

Actually you should build it with a GTX 560Ti, caviar black HDD, SSD, 6gigs of triple channel RAM.

[kotov12345 10]

oh man :) LGA1366 is socket - it is not chipset :) as well as 1155

[Primarch 10]

oh man :) LGA1366 is socket - it is not chipset :) as well as 1155

Ah, my mistake.

Yet my point stands that you are a troll as you said ArmA 2 is GPU dependant.

[Tankbuster 1744]

It's a gross over simplification, but here's my rule of thumb, built from many thousands of pounds spent (and some wasted) on my and my clans machines.

In this game, the GPU makes for the pretties. Anti-aliasing, lovely shaders and sexeh shadows. The CPU makes for good drawdistance and framerate.

(Related) A good HDD will improve texture load times and IMO, stability.

[Leon86 13]

I know I am getting trolled but the OP might not.

You will get much improved stability and texture loading if you get a newer, more powerful GPU as they have much improved bandwidth.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/47?vs=288 250€ i5 vs 300€ i7.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/287?vs=142 500€ i7 vs 800€ i7.

Will you go and do some research and stop trolling?

ArmA 2 is extremely CPU and HDD dependant. Once you start pushing the resolution and AA, you will notice a hit on your GPU performance, othewise you will just need a fast processor. FYI ArmA 2 makes the most of GHz, not cores. The new sandybridge models have vastly improved calculation power per cycle and watt when compared to the LGA 1366 chipset.

---------- Post added at 02:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:05 PM ----------

Actually you should build it with a GTX 560Ti, caviar black HDD, SSD, 6gigs of triple channel RAM.

sandy bridge only does dualchannel.

[Zipper5 74]

(Related) A good HDD will improve texture load times and IMO, stability.

This, along with more and/or higher frequency RAM.