LOW FPS WITH HD 4670; CPU BOTTLENECK?

Also, I’ve just OC’ed the card by 5%, lets see if that helps any…

2GB, DDR1 400....

Well yeah, its a single core processor. Even a dual core Prescott would be struggling. Also most games run better with 4gb of ram.

Also, whoever told you a 4670 was that good, is crazy. Even a 4830 is only equivalent to a 8800GT, which is quite dated but a decent card.

I would seriously return the card and save up for a new system. Dual cores are outdated these days, let alone a single core Prescott. Sorry, it just wont cut it for any newer games. My aging 3.45ghz dual core and hd4850 struggles with some of the newer games. It blazes in COD4 but it crawls in STALKER clear sky unless I turn stuff way down.

Yeah, single core CPU's have been limiting performance for quite a while now. Look here: http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] 54-10.html

What motherboard do you have? Have you checked to see if it is compatible with a dual core CPU? If so, a relatively cheap upgrade could do wonders for your gaming experience.

edit: ouch PC 3200 huh. chances aren't good for you on a CPU upgrade.

Mys PC specs are:-

ASUS P5GV-MX Motherboard
Pentium 4 524 HT 3.06 Ghz, 1 MB Cache, 533 MT/s FSB, OC’ed to 3.34 Ghz
400 W PSU
ATI Radeon HD 4670 1 GB GDDR3
250 GB Maxtor Hard Drive
CPU Cooler – Intel Certified Core 2 Duo Cooler (old fan got messed up, replaced it with a core 2 duo fan).
2 x 1GB DDR-400, or PC3200

Tbh, im not sure if it is compatible with dual core processors… it is an LGA775 socket, but it doesn’t say anything about dual cores on its pages… maybe as it has an LGA775 socket, the motherboard can handle dual cores, although dual cores were made after it was manufactured?... im not sure… I’ll post links to the pages, you tell me:-

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131586
http://ae.asus.com/products.aspx?m [...] 3=237&l4=0

And I cant increase the RAM further because the system cant use it and its way too expensive. 32-bit OS, I already have 2 GB RAM and a 1 GB video card. Also, a 1 GB DDR ram stick costs USD $44, whereas a 2 GB DDR2 ram stick costs USD $27. It’s that old.

Exactly, a 4670 @ 1280x1024 on most games, especially the old ones I’m playing, should be just fine, definitely 30 FPS or above…

Unless the board is dual-core compatible, no point in upgrading. I’m graduating in one year, and as soon as I’d get a job and paychecks start coming in, I’m intending on getting the future equivalent of a current system such as this (I’ll be willing to spend between USD 2000 - 2500):-

Core i7 920
6 GB DDR3 1600
2 X 500 OR 750 GB Hard drives
GTX 275 – 285, maybe 2 of them…
Zalman CPU Cooler (something reputable that would be good for pushing the core i7 to 4 - 4.2 GHZ)
Asus P6T Deluxe V2
750 – 850 W PSU – Corsair

But that’s the future, sadly, gentlemen… I can’t wait for it to become the present…

Looks like your motherboard maxes out at a 3.8 GHz single core P4 CPU. If you get a model with EM64T and HT it would be an improvement. You would need a good cooler to overclock it though since those P4s make alot of heat. Even if you could overclock a P4 to 4.0 GHz, it would still only be about as good as a 2.4 C2D or Athlon X2 for single threaded apps, but the comparison worsens for modern apps optimized for dual and quad core CPUs.

If you just want your system to last for the year then get a good cooler and overclock it to hell. If you can get it to 3.75GHz that's a 25% OC and that can be the difference between 30fps and 24fps.

Yo guys, its DEFINITELY a CPU bottleneck, my friend was over with his laptop today, its only a few weeks old, our CPU and GPU specs are:-

MY DESKTOP
Pentium 4 HT 524 - 3066 MHz - 1MB - 533 MT/s - OC'ed to 3.34 Ghz
ATI Radeon HD 4670
Texture Fillrate 24 GTexel/s
Bandwidth 27.9 GB/s

HIS LAPTOP
Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 - 2400 MHz - 3 MB - 1066 MT/s
ATI MOBILITY Radeon HD 4650
Texture Fillrate 17.6 GTexel/s
Bandwidth 21.3 GB/s

I have a superior graphics card, he has a better CPU and he's getting over 20 FPS more than me in Left 4 Dead.
MY FPS ranges from 10 - 35, his never drops below 40 - 45.
We play it at 1280x1024 with 8xAA and 16xAF, EVERY SETTING MAXED OUT.

It is without a shadow of a doubt a CPU bottleneck. I need a Dual-Core.

Steam games? u mean the Source Game engine that Valve uses, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source_engine, or this - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam [...] elivery%29 ?

I play Left 4 Dead and its based on the Source engine... My FPS has a huge range due to the old CPU, when im just stading, its around 45, but if there's a few zombies running towards me, goes down to about 20 - 30, and a horde rapes performance, it goes down to 10 - 15 FPS...

u want me to test the graphics card or the CPU? becoz the card is magnificent at 1280x1024, runs games at max settings at around... 30 - 45 FPS, depending on the game...

The CPU is hopeless and unbelievably outdated... its useless...

id b able to give u a more accurate reading with a better CPU...

P.S - nice signature. "Men should be taught and won over by reason, not by blows, insults or corporal punishments." - Julian the Apostate.

peace.

doubt it coozie, i think its a universal truth they both recognized...

will do, thanks..

Catalyst 9.6...