Fastest Single Core CPU?

[SUPERCHARGE]

Hey people, need to know, what is the fastest single core CPU. My mobo for my athlon 3700 died and got an I7. The problem I have now is that I was able to make any old program and game compatible with my 3700 using various programs like "microsoft program compatibility toolkit". We're talking about making games like every need for speed from the first one up work, any carmageddon, mech warriors, duke nukem, etc. But the problem now is that the I7 uses 4 cores and 4 logical cores.

No matter what I try, I can no longer make these old games function, no matter what compatibility program I use. Including reducing the number of cores used in bios "I can only reduce it to one core and one logical core, still creating that problem. And using one core is very ineffective, even for some older games. So now, i'm thinking about building a single core CPU.

From what I know, the AMD 3800 was the last single core CPU built along with the fx-57. Can anyone recommend a better sungle core CPU or are these two pretty much it?

Thanks in advance.

 

[shiftstealth]

im still not understanding why you want a single core cpu but the prescott was the fastest one. some have gotten clock speeds of up to 8.2ghz.

 

[SUPERCHARGE]

Single core CPU, to be able to play old games at maximum quality. The I7's multiple cores will not permit this to happen.

 

[shiftstealth]

interesting i didnt think that would cause a problem, but yeah the pentium 4 @ 3.0ghz is the fastest.

 

[SUPERCHARGE]

And, as much as the prescotts had a higher clock, didn't the AMD 64 line prove to be faster? And the precott does have a 3.4 ghz processor, do they not?

 

[shiftstealth]

To be honest, im only 20 and that was a bit before my time, but from what ive seen....you should be able to get it clocked fast enough to make it better. reguardless both of them should be able to do the job.

 

[SUPERCHARGE]

Yeah, not much older myself, anyone else with thoughts on this?

 

[jerry6]

i have an AMD 400 AROUND , NOT USING IT AND IT IS MUCH FASTER THAN MY 3.06 INTEL . YOU WANT IT I CAN SEND IT YOUR WAY . It has 1mb L2 cache It was the last single core amd

 

[sdf]

Hate to say it but it sounds like you're screwed. I heard rumors that i7 doesn't run older games especially quake 3 engine games, guess the rumors were true for others as well. You'd think the quad would just use one core but guess not.

The 939 dual cores will run any old game, just install the dual core optimizer and your fine so don't just limit yourself to single core. If the cpu is fine you could try looking for an old mobo on ebay for an old gaming rig.

I'm not sure how to do it but I wonder if you could go into the said games' files and try specifing a specific core. Not sure if it would work but you could give it a try and wait for others much more tech savy. Good luck.

 

[SUPERCHARGE]

to Jerry...sure if you no longer want it, that's be great! Would work for me!

To SDF. Even people with dual-cores had issues with SOME older games. Often, they have to shut down one core to make a game work. Example, need for speed 1 and 2se, porsche unleashed as well as carmageddon, god knows which others. This is an ok fix, but I dont believe dual core with a downed core out there can run as fast a single core.

I've always avoided needing 2 pc's, but I think i'm out of luck now. regardless, I know that my single core AMD architecture with 1 gig pf pc 3200 could run all old games. I did need a boost once in a while though. Thats why im looking for an upgrade on the processor.

 

[jerry6]

to Jerry...sure if you no longer want it, that's be great! Would work for me!

To SDF. Even people with dual-cores had issues with SOME older games. Often, they have to shut down one core to make a game work. Example, need for speed 1 and 2se, porsche unleashed as well as carmageddon, god knows which others. This is an ok fix, but I dont believe dual core with a downed core out there can run as fast a single core.

I've always avoided needing 2 pc's, but I think i'm out of luck now. regardless, I know that my single core AMD architecture with 1 gig pf pc 3200 could run all old games. I did need a boost once in a while though. Thats why im looking for an upgrade on the processor.

no problem . pm me Ill arange to send it to yiou. it was never used . hope you enjoy it .

 

[daskrabbe]

Is there some inside joke I'm missing here? Do you seriously think it is the cpu causing your problems?
You didn't happen to upgrade your OS while getting a new cpu?
Anyway. Try dosbox or try using a virtual machine.

 

[SUPERCHARGE]

Well, guess this discussion is pretty much done. This guy is generous enough to send me a processor which will work for me. I was quite surprised when he said he had a single core 4000+. Thought they stopped singles at 3800+. Oh well, now that i'll once again have a single core, all I need now is a mobo which will be easy and cheap to find. Have all the rest of the stuff I need.

This I7 is a double edged sword for sure. Great for new games, but you're also losing the ability to play your old ones.

 

[SUPERCHARGE]

Is there some inside joke I'm missing here? Do you seriously think it is the cpu causing your problems?
You didn't happen to upgrade your OS while getting a new cpu?
Anyway. Try dosbox or try using a virtual machine.

no dude... I had 5 os on my old rig, and 5 os now. On both, I had/have a couple pairs of windows xp's and windows vista. Dosbox only works for a small percentage of the games and does not have full graphic support. Trust me, i've worked hard to have each game compatible with my 3700+ using compatibility programs and playing in the bios. If you can play old games with full graphic support such as the early need for speeds, test drives, old shooters, etc using an I7, please let me know, because other people I've talked to in other forums are having the same issues.


The processor cores are most likely the issues because these games were built around single core and unlike other processors from today, the I7 makes no attempt to help older games run using any program, like "dual core optimizer". I don't deny though, that memory could also be an issue, but who knows. what i do know, is that it's not the software, but the hardware itself.

Perhaps there's different software out there that could help me out, but VERY unlikely, and if so, no one seems to know about it, yet alone use it.

 

[SUPERCHARGE]

Oh, and if anyone has an older game they'd like running with a single core CPU, pm me, I may be able to help once I have yet again a single core myself. Dos-based games all run properly in DosBox, but windows based games, I.E windows 95/98/me/2000 based games can be run in XP with some fine-tuning.

This site may also be a great help to those seeking to run those old games on a newer PC: http://vogons.zetafleet.com

 

[turboflame]

the prescott was the fastest one. some have gotten clock speeds of up to 8.2ghz.

On liquid nitrogen for 5-10 minutes. The Prescott was not the fastest by a long shot, it wasn't that great of an overclocker either because the power consumption and heat would quickly get out of control. Also, clock speeds are meaningless.

interesting i didnt think that would cause a problem, but yeah the pentium 4 @ 3.0ghz is the fastest.

The fastest Pentium 4 was clocked at 3.8Ghz, it could hardly compete with a 3700+.

@ OP: 4000+ is probably one of the fastest single cores, though it's only a 200mhz difference from your 3700+ so it's not much of an upgrade.

 

[badge]

Hey people, need to know, what is the fastest single core CPU.

You answewred your own question. The FX57.

 

[cjl]

to Jerry...sure if you no longer want it, that's be great! Would work for me!

To SDF. Even people with dual-cores had issues with SOME older games. Often, they have to shut down one core to make a game work. Example, need for speed 1 and 2se, porsche unleashed as well as carmageddon, god knows which others. This is an ok fix, but I dont believe dual core with a downed core out there can run as fast a single core.

I've always avoided needing 2 pc's, but I think i'm out of luck now. regardless, I know that my single core AMD architecture with 1 gig pf pc 3200 could run all old games. I did need a boost once in a while though. Thats why im looking for an upgrade on the processor.

Something like a Core 2 Duo E8500 FLATTENS any single core ever made in single threaded speed, so if you got a Core 2 Duo, and disabled one of the cores, it would be far faster than any true single you will ever lay your hands on.

 

[blackpanther26]

If you want the fastes single core CPU. I think you'll have to look at the Athlon 64 FX 57.

 

[pr2thej]

http://tokyo.cool.ne.jp/yasukazusimo/82201.jpg

pentium 4 clocked at 8220. Nice and stable, hence CPU screenie took with a camera

 

[SUPERCHARGE]

whoa... how the hell do you clock a 3.0 at 8.22???? thats nearly overclocked 3 times over... I'm assuming whoever did this used some sort of liquid nitrogen cooling.

 

[pr2thej]

lol yes you need LN2. Perhaps a better question would be "Best practical single-core CPU"

 

[GNR]

Core 2 Duo processors with lots of cache are the best atm for single core performance.

If you have problems playing old games with multicore systems just set the affinity from task manager to one processor. Or with Vista you can add a shortcut with "start /affinity 01 yourgame.exe" to have it on one core from the beginning.

If you still have problems then it is because all graphics card drivers (ati and nvidia) run always in threaded mode that create sync problems with old games. The only way to solve that is to try to disable vsync, first from in-game, else try to force it from drivers.

 

[SUPERCHARGE]

Core 2 Duo processors with lots of cache are the best atm for single core performance.

If you have problems playing old games with multicore systems just set the affinity from task manager to one processor. Or with Vista you can add a shortcut with "start /affinity 01 yourgame.exe" to have it on one core from the beginning.

If you still have problems then it is because all graphics card drivers (ati and nvidia) run always in threaded mode that create sync problems with old games. The only way to solve that is to try to disable vsync, first from in-game, else try to force it from drivers.

hm... ok this is interesting, never knew about affinity. I mainly use vista but use XP pro SP3 for games that do not benefit from directx 10 as it takes much less resources.

I read up on it, so the way this works is you select the program you're using and select which core to run it. It's interesting but still a downside. many of the old games won't run period. So they wont appear in task manager. But still, this is a possibility for those that will at least run.

 

[lee-gamer]

Even newer games don't run on dual core...
One example is Outrun 2006 coast2 Coast...
When you run it your PC restarted...
You have to use a single core....
It even work with a CPU with HT but no dual core...
Damn... I have to play the game at work...with older P4+HT....

How can this be actually...

Aren't the new CPU better even for new games....