Does my CPU suck as much as I think it does??

[sentry0]

Hi all, I need some sage advice regarding my CPU...but I think it's worthwhile to list my system specs first...

Mobo: Asus P5K se
Video: BFG Geforce 260 GTX (picked that up today)
CPU: Pentium D 925
RAM: 6 gigs of DDR2 5300
HD: 500GB Seagate Baracuda

My question is; how crappy is my CPU and is it hamstringing my gaming? My own research leads me to believe that it's a bottlneck for my system but I would appreciate comments from more hardware savvy people.

I'm thinking it's time for an upgrade and would welcome suggestions on a good replacement.

 

[jerreece]

Your CPU is definitely a bottle neck for the modern GTX 260 video card. You might also consider faster memory. Your PC5300 = 677Mhz. Most gaming systems run at 800Mhz, least that's what I'd recommend.

Ultimately though, your Pentium D is going to hold you back. To fully realize the potential of that card, I'd either look into a high clocked Quad core, or a Dual-Core like the E8400 if you can afford doing such.

EDIT: It's not that your Pentium D 925 sucks, it just isn't the latest and greatest anymore. With computers... well you either have the latest, or you're behind.

 

[NMDante]

Yes, your CPU is probably the "bottleneck" of your system.
Fortunately, your motherboard supports Core 2 Duo/Quad, and even 45nm CPUs. So that's a plus.

You can upgrade your CPU to just an E5200 ($82.99 @ newegg) and you would probably see a huge difference in your gaming and non-gaming apps.

Depending on your budget:
under $100 - E5200
$100 - 200 - E8400 or Q6600.
Over $200 - nah...not necessary. LOL.

Also, you might need higher DDR2 memory, over your DDR2 5300. At least DDR2 6400 (800) or DDR2 8500 (1066) would help with a CPU upgrade.

Just my $.02.

 

[jeteryankees22]

Yeah, upgrade the cpu...but remember, you may have to flash the bios prior to installing the new one(thats if you dont have the latest version)

 

[sentry0]

Alright, I'm thinking I may drop some cash for a E8400 and hopefully get some better performance. I'll look into buying RAM once I get out of the doghouse with the wife for all this money I'm spending

Thanks a lot for your input.

 

[customisbetter]

Truthfully, i think 667 is fine. A lot of the 667 sold as "valu" ram can easily overclock to 800. All four sticks of mine did. But that is never a guarentee. Mine actually pased 6 hours of memtest at around 850 but here is what im running now.

Benchmarks don't show a great difference in frame rates between 667 and 800. A new processor would be a great idea though.

 

[flyin15sec]

800mhz would not be a problem. But he'll have to push that 667mhz ram up 890mhz for a 4ghz OC, which DDR2 667mhz may not do.

 

[customisbetter]

IDK, i have booted at 900 before but i never Memtested it.

 

[macer1]

4ghz LOL he's coming from a d 925 to core cpu, just the upgrade will do him fine.

dont upgrade the ram, no point. overclock if you so wish, as you made a good purchase with your motherboard.

have fun and cheers.

 

[megamanx00]

You'll be fine just going with an E8400. Even an E5200 at stock speeds will be a noticeable improvement. P35 boards don't overclock as well as P45 boards, so you may not even be limited in an overclock by the RAM you have, but of course it all depends on how well your ram plays together with certain timings and what not .

 

[V3NOM]

I swear i saw this post somewhere else..

 

[skywalker9952]

You don't need faster RAM unless you OC. C2Ds are not sensitive to memory speeds so your 667 will serve you fine if you upgrade the processor.

 

[apache_lives]

Hi all, I need some sage advice regarding my CPU...but I think it's worthwhile to list my system specs first...

Mobo: Asus P5K se
Video: BFG Geforce 260 GTX (picked that up today)
CPU: Pentium D 925
RAM: 6 gigs of DDR2 5300
HD: 500GB Seagate Baracuda

My question is; how crappy is my CPU and is it hamstringing my gaming? My own research leads me to believe that it's a bottlneck for my system but I would appreciate comments from more hardware savvy people.

I'm thinking it's time for an upgrade and would welcome suggestions on a good replacement.

1. a Celeron Dual Core e1200 would blow that cpu, even a E2200 is a major upgrade, but while your at it GO QUAD CORE -> Q6600,Q8200,Q9450 etc
2. 667mhz ram is fine for all bar "extreme" series cpu
3. memtest checks ram health, NOT stability (even back in the SDRAM days memtest would pass PC66 running at 100mhz, but windows would not load correctly even)
4. make sure that 6gb is correctly setup for dual channel (MATCHING ram, etc)

 

[jitpublisher]

The Pentium D, even though they run at high clock speeds, are simply completely out classed by todays processor technology. A Core Duo at the same clock speed is over twice as fast, you will see a big, big difference in this upgrade. Your memory is fine.

 

[wh3resmycar]

i think it will be wiser to wait for the q9550 to hit ~$250 which im guessing it would considering the corei7-920 is a little close to that price point.

buy a cheap c2d (e5200) oc it to death and cash out once the q9550 is dirt cheap.

 

[radguy]

Your cpu is severly severly bottlenecking the card. Wouldn't be suprise if you saw 50% increases in framerates in some situtions. Probably average over 30%-40% overall. E8400 is a very good idea.

 

[sentry0]

Ok, so my E8400 arrived yesterday and I installed it and ran some benchmarks. This is what I got...

PcMark 05
Pentium D 925 - 5618
E8400 - 8250
Diff: 2632
% Diff: 46.85% increase

3DMark 06
Pentium D 925 - 7023
E8400 - 13824
Diff: 6801
% Diff: 96.84% increase!!!

All other hardware was the same, that was all strictly from the processor upgrade. All I can say is wow, what a difference swapping in that processor made! My games are running much better than they were now so thanks for all the great advice I got in this thread.

 

[werxen]

Ok, so my E8400 arrived yesterday and I installed it and ran some benchmarks. This is what I got...

PcMark 05
Pentium D 925 - 5618
E8400 - 8250
Diff: 2632
% Diff: 46.85% increase

3DMark 06
Pentium D 925 - 7023
E8400 - 13824
Diff: 6801
% Diff: 96.84% increase!!!

All other hardware was the same, that was all strictly from the processor upgrade. All I can say is wow, what a difference swapping in that processor made! My games are running much better than they were now so thanks for all the great advice I got in this thread.

good choice not wasting your money on a quad - good to wait another few months before investing. have fun with your processor man.

 

[NMDante]

Glad to hear that your purchase made your rig better for your needs.

I am with werxen, it's good that you didn't have to put too much $$$ to get the performance increase. That's always good.

 

[yipsl]

I notice that most people don't really give their monitor's resolution when they provide system specs. Though the OP needed to replace the Pentium D, he might still be overpowered in the GPU department if he's still gaming at 1280 x 1024 resolutions. Playing at higher resolutions can help alleviate CPU bottlenecks with newer GPU's.

 

[customisbetter]

^I think that CPU is still going to choke frames to nill when in a firefight. if he enjoyed watching graphics benchies all day, then i would agree with you.

 

[sentry0]

I notice that most people don't really give their monitor's resolution when they provide system specs. Though the OP needed to replace the Pentium D, he might still be overpowered in the GPU department if he's still gaming at 1280 x 1024 resolutions. Playing at higher resolutions can help alleviate CPU bottlenecks with newer GPU's.

That's very interesting point about screen resolution. I was always under the impression that a gpu had to work harder if it rendered a larger area. Again you'll have to forgive my ignorance in this area


I have an older model LCD that actually tops out at 1280x1024, perhaps another item to upgrade once I get some cash.

 

[customisbetter]

^Don't misunderstand his point though. You will NOT get higher frame rates if you get a larger monitor.

 

[carpenter20m]

^Yeah...that was always my puzzlement seeing it in forums. People say that the CPU is the bottleneck in lower resolutions and the GPU in higher ones. Well, yeah, but you still get better fps at the lower resolutions. It's just that you don't utilize the full potential of your graphics card. In big firefights, though, you WILL need that card, even while playing at lower resolutions, even if your CPU is not handling everything...

Of course, this is coming from a guy with a 4850 and an E6400 @ 1220x900...so...yeah...

 

[spathotan]

Good purchase, E8400 is a good chip and probably the best bang for the buck with no ocing.

Also as mentioned earlier, you cant run 6GB of RAM in dual channel, its obvious hes got mismatched RAM running of different sizes. Pretty sure you cant run different size sticks in dual channel. In this case he probably has two (2) sticks of 2GB and two (2) sticks of 1GB, or whatever combination.

Not positive about that though, ive never tried it. Ive also never seen it mentioned that its possible, or anybody doing it.