Processor Bottleneck?

[singingigo]

I like to play Age of the Empires 3 at max settings and resolution turned up as high as possible. I'm wondering if I have a processor bottleneck. I just upgraded to a 7900GS-OC (Factory 560MHZ vs. stock 450MHZ). When I move resolutions above 1280x1024, my frames don't move much.

1280x1024=30+ avg fps
1600x1200=23-25 fps
1900x1200=20-22 fps

Here's my rig:

Pentium D 920 @ 2.8GHZ
1024MB Ram DDR2-533
256MB 7900GS-OC
SB Audigy
WD1600JS (7200 RPM, 8MB Cache, 160 GB)

Am I bottlenecked with that processor? Will upgrading to a Q6700 & 2GB DDR2-800 help me? Or is this completely dependant on my GPU?

Thanks!

 

[singingigo]

I can't get over 31 fps at 1280x1024. According to the guys at AoE3, the 7900GS is an "Ultra High End" card for this game. Does a gain of only 6-8 fps when dropping from 1900x1200 to 1280x1024 indicate a limitation?

 

[rgeist554]

It's the Pentium D, they are really terrible dual-cores. I was in the same situation as you and I upgraded to an Athalon x2 5000+ @ the same clock speed (2.66Ghz) and got a massive FPS boost. I suggest you go with something like an E6750 (~$189) if you can afford it though. Basically just stick to Core2Duo or Athalon X2

 

[singingigo]

I'm starting to put together my new rig tonight...

Q6700
2x1GB DDR2-800
The rest is the same as now...except I'm going to XP to Vista...I hope that won't hurt to much...

 

[rgeist554]

Vista is going to effect your load times most likely. You'll also want to read some tweak guides and disable a bunch of useless services that are enabled by default.

 

[singingigo]

Ah...will do. It will be a clean install, so it should be fairly clean. And SP1 is due in a month...they claim a 50% increase if file reads, so that should help.

 

[rgeist554]

Ah...will do. It will be a clean install, so it should be fairly clean. And SP1 is due in a month...they claim a 50% increase if file reads, so that should help.

Cool, I hope they deliver.

About Vista:

You may see lots of HDD usage for a few hours after installing Vista because of it's indexing service. Also, Vista has an automatic defrag feature that either runs weekly or bi-weekly (can be disabled). Just some things you may or may not be aware of, I figured you'd like to know if you didn't already.

 

[singingigo]

I know about the indexing...I'll just leave the machine on overnight. Didn't know about the defrag...thanks!

 

[singingigo]

Ah...most insightful. Thanks!