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Low performance after dual core upgrade

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Lucifer1127   06-21-2009 at 10:36:11 AM

Hi, I recently upgraded my AMD athlon 64 3500+ processor to a AMD athlon x2 4200+ and have seen a drastic decrease in performance in games such as Call of Duty 4 and Left 4 Dead. With the single core processor, I was getting around 40 fps but with the new dual core processor I am getting something like 10 fps. I have the newest drivers and reinstalled Vista but the problem still exists. Any help with this issue would greatly be appreciated.

My system specs are:

Abit KN8 SLI
AMD 64 x2 4200+ 2.2Ghz
2gb of ram
Galaxy 8800gt 512mb
80GB SATA
Dynapower 500W PSU

Thank you in advance.

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ferdy   06-21-2009 at 10:53:00 AM
- 0 +

try to download the dualcore optimyzer from the amd site... it has made a difference for me a time ago when i had amd ..i'm on intel now..good luck mate

Reply to ferdy
zipzoomflyhigh   06-21-2009 at 02:31:09 PM
- 0 +

Well if the games dont utilize multi-core, then the faster single core will play better than a slow dual core.

For gaming, clock speed rules (with the exception of games that utilize multi-cores)

------------------------------ P965/Q6700@3.2 8MB HD4850 OC Edition
4GB Corsair XMS 800
Vista64/Win7
Fatality 550w/Antec 300
 Reply to zipzoomflyhigh
Lucifer1127   06-21-2009 at 07:34:08 PM
- 0 +

Thanks for the replies, I'll go try that AMD dual core optimizer. I was under the impression that Vista didn't need to use the optimizer but I'll try it anyways. My cousin have the exact same hardware except for a bigger hard drive and a different brand of video card and gets really good frame rates so I don't think it's the game not utilizing the dual core. After closer inspection of the dual core cpu, I did notice two pins slightly bent but I could still mount the cpu with no problems. Could this be the source of my poor performance?

Reply to Lucifer1127
Lucifer1127   06-21-2009 at 11:01:00 PM
- 0 +

So far, installing the AMD dual core optimizer didn't help. Any other ideas on how to fix this problem? Please help, playing at 8-10 fps is pure agony!

Reply to Lucifer1127
Mondoman   06-22-2009 at 12:20:36 AM
- 0 +

I would certainly upgrade to 3 or 4GB total RAM in any case.
Does your cousin maybe have a different BIOS version?
I would also try running some standard benchmarking programs such as those in Everest or PC Wizard, and comparing the results with the same benchmarks from your cousin's computer.

------------------------------ e2160@3GHz: OCing my way to Ubuntuland!
 Reply to Mondoman
Shadow703793   06-22-2009 at 12:55:07 AM
- 0 +

Quote :

Could this be the source of my poor performance?


May be. If those pins underclocked the CPU (extremely unlikely, and if it's the real cause, I'm a god :P).

Also OP, are you sure you are running at the same resolution as before?

------------------------------ http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2617/3815217176_0a5be7955d_o.gif
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3553/3818083596_1a772f7162_o.gif
 Reply to Shadow703793
hot74rod2003   06-22-2009 at 02:00:45 AM
- 0 +

yeah vista is great but it is a ram hog!!! go with 4. i dont know how good that cpu overclocks but i would deff do it!!!

Reply to hot74rod2003
Lucifer1127   06-22-2009 at 03:21:46 AM
- 0 +

I kept the resolutions all the same in the games when I upgraded the CPU's. I have same BIOS version as my cousin and the same amount of ram so I don't think its a ram issue since I can run the games fine with my old single core processor. It's either a hardware or software problem with the dual core CPU.

Reply to Lucifer1127
zipzoomflyhigh   06-22-2009 at 01:01:37 PM
- 0 +

Do you see 2 cpu graphs in your task manager??

------------------------------ P965/Q6700@3.2 8MB HD4850 OC Edition
4GB Corsair XMS 800
Vista64/Win7
Fatality 550w/Antec 300
 Reply to zipzoomflyhigh
Lucifer1127   06-24-2009 at 07:35:11 AM
- 0 +

Yep, one for each core. The device manager also shows two CPU's.

Reply to Lucifer1127
PsychoSaysDie   06-24-2009 at 10:46:46 AM
- 0 +

Overclock the processor

------------------------------ Core I7 920 D0 @ 4.2Ghz
MSI X58 Pro-E
32GB SSD, WD Blacks In R0
Sapphire HD 5870's In XFire
 Reply to PsychoSaysDie
zipzoomflyhigh   06-24-2009 at 01:51:05 PM
- 0 +

Like I said, for gaming, clockspeed rules. Your older processor has a faster clockspeed than your newer one.

------------------------------ P965/Q6700@3.2 8MB HD4850 OC Edition
4GB Corsair XMS 800
Vista64/Win7
Fatality 550w/Antec 300
 Reply to zipzoomflyhigh
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