CPU bottleneck?

[marshal11]

when i play games like TF2, Counter Strike: Source, and just about any other not so graphically intensive games on my laptop, (core i3 370M, original intel HD grahphics which are absolute garbage) i can play them pretty smoothly, 30-60FPS on low settings.

i've got a pentium D extreme edition 3.2GHz (it's just a pentium D with HT.) and a GT520 on my desktop. when i play TF2 on it, i get a max of 5FPS on minimum settings. my GPU usage is at 5% max and 1 thread is at 100% all the time. on counter strike, when i play alone with bots i get about 5FPS until most of the bots are dead. that is because my CPU has to run all of those bots. online it isn't so bad. im usually at 20-30FPS, and gpu usage is at 20-30%. i play World of Tanks, and i get 10-25 FPS because it isn't that CPU intensive, its more GPU intensive. 1 thread is still always maxed but my GPU is in the 20-30s. my laptop gets a solid 4FPS on it, cpu chugs along with almost no effort. is this a normal CPU bottleneck? should my dual pentium 4s HT (thats all a pentium D is, 2 P4s.) really be bottlnecking my GPU 95% on a game like TF2??? does anyone else here have a pentium D?

yes, i know. you are going to say "upgrade to a core 2 duo/quad." i can't. my motherboard is waaaaay to old. it only supports 90NM CPUs or 65NM singlecores. in other words, Celeron Ds and pentium D/4s. another thing you are going to say is "overclock your CPU, it will help for the games you do play a bit better" my motherboard doesn't overclock. it's 7 years old. :lol: but i must admit, 7 years of hours of use a day is awesome for my ASUS P5RD2-VM.

here is my CPU: http://ark.intel.com/products/27613/Intel-Pentium-Processor-Extreme-Edition-840-(2M-Cache-3_20-GHz-800-MHz-FSB)

and heres my mobo for those who are curious: http://ca.asus.com/en/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_775/P5RD2VM/#MSL

 

[kajabla]

Check your temperatures, both CPU and GPU. If neither is crazy, it seems like we can't ignore your usage percent evidence and conclude that you're bottlenecking hard. It's too bad many games can't handle threading. You might want to do a little research and seek out multithreaded games that might bottleneck somewhat less. You could also try messing with graphics settings and turning down any physics settings that can go down any farther. Otherwise, sorry.

 

[ginghus_khan2000]

Good idea, check temperatures.

I was going to ask how many processes are running in the back ground (ctrl+alt+del, task manager)?

This still doesn't make sense. I've got an old P4 (630) with HT, 1900xtx and that thing plays CS like crazy.

How much memory is in the machine?

What resolution are you running?

I wonder if the game is trying to run in software mode (I'm sure you would have noticed)?

I'm also wondering how compatible are the PCIe slots are? Relatively new card in old slot. Just a thought.

Khan

 

[Console_Gamer]

when i play games like TF2, Counter Strike: Source, and just about any other not so graphically intensive games on my laptop, (core i3 370M, original intel HD grahphics which are absolute garbage) i can play them pretty smoothly, 30-60FPS on low settings.

i've got a pentium D extreme edition 3.2GHz (it's just a pentium D with HT.) and a GT520 on my desktop. when i play TF2 on it, i get a max of 5FPS on minimum settings. my GPU usage is at 5% max and 1 thread is at 100% all the time. on counter strike, when i play alone with bots i get about 5FPS until most of the bots are dead. that is because my CPU has to run all of those bots. online it isn't so bad. im usually at 20-30FPS, and gpu usage is at 20-30%. i play World of Tanks, and i get 10-25 FPS because it isn't that CPU intensive, its more GPU intensive. 1 thread is still always maxed but my GPU is in the 20-30s. my laptop gets a solid 4FPS on it, cpu chugs along with almost no effort. is this a normal CPU bottleneck? should my dual pentium 4s HT (thats all a pentium D is, 2 P4s.) really be bottlnecking my GPU 95% on a game like TF2??? does anyone else here have a pentium D?

yes, i know. you are going to say "upgrade to a core 2 duo/quad." i can't. my motherboard is waaaaay to old. it only supports 90NM CPUs or 65NM singlecores. in other words, Celeron Ds and pentium D/4s. another thing you are going to say is "overclock your CPU, it will help for the games you do play a bit better" my motherboard doesn't overclock. it's 7 years old. :lol: but i must admit, 7 years of hours of use a day is awesome for my ASUS P5RD2-VM.

here is my CPU: http://ark.intel.com/products/27613/Intel-Pentium-Processor-Extreme-Edition-840-(2M-Cache-3_20-GHz-800-MHz-FSB)

and heres my mobo for those who are curious: http://ca.asus.com/en/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_775/P5RD2VM/#MSL

okay, i got one of the Pentium D 830 (without HT) and it was watercooled (custom setup) and tried overclocking this sucker and got like 200 mhz more than stock only... damn, i remember this thing being a heater!!! i was furious cos i thought i did good thing going Intel over AMD back in the day, but to my regret i should've gone AMD.. i built that sucker back in 2005 and just two years ago decided on a whole new computer build... best decision ever btw . as much as you probably feel attached to that old thing as i did mine, this old junker give me more headaches than anything i've ever built. i remember having so much issues with voltages and stabilities... truly it's time to upgrade cos that CPU is definitely botlenecking your GPU (GT520)...

i remember running COD 2 and some AOE games and it ran pretty good but i remember the cores of those thing skyrocketting to 70 C at some points.. even on watercooling this CPU idles at 32 C.. this CPU was hot as hell. damn, it brings back memory but i remember spending about 320.00 USD on that chip when it first came out... i did have the Pentium 820 for 280.00 but it had capatibility issues with the motherboard so i just decided to get the 830 instead. time for a new build my friend. you'll have less headaches at the end of the day. even a 300 upgrade would outperform ur 7 yr old setup and you laptop... good luck!

Here's my setup then..
Gigabyte MOBO (nForce 4 sli, can't remember specifically which board model)
Pentium D 830
EVGA 7800gt 256mb (sli mode)
Gateway 19in 1440x900
PNY 1gb memories
550 watts (PSU, forgot the model but i think it was a Thermaltake)
Case (forgot)
HDD (74gb WD raptop), 250gb 7200rpm HDD (Seagate)
Cooling (custom setup w/ 1/2in tubes, danger den & swift tech pump) i forgot the rest.
Windows XP Pro 32bit
(i don't remember too much of the setup)

 

[phyco126]

Odd... My friend has a older Pentium 4 (non extreme) that runs better than that in modern games. He has a 8800GT in that sucker. And by running better, I mean he used to get 40 FPS in modern games (aside probably Crysis, lol). So its odd that you aren't getting the full benefit of the 520 GT.

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

Odd... My friend has a older Pentium 4 (non extreme) that runs better than that in modern games. He has a 8800GT in that sucker. And by running better, I mean he used to get 40 FPS in modern games (aside probably Crysis, lol). So its odd that you aren't getting the full benefit of the 520 GT.

Well, a GT 520 is terrible, actually (by today's standards), but that doesn't appear to be the bottleneck here.

 

[Console_Gamer]

hey u might wanna check your nvidia drivers or update them... that can be an issue for some games running slower. but i do remember my Pentium D 830 being the bottleneck of my 7800gt SLI.

 

[marshal11]

il try to answer everyones questions.

my other threads are at 0-3% usage.

2GB of ram in windows XP. CS never uses more than 600MB when playing CSS.

software mode? what is that???

res is 1440:900

GT520 is in a PCI-e 1.1 16X. no bottleneck there.

i always play at dead minimum spec besides resolution because it just looks plain retarded and i read somewhere online that lower res can actually use more CPU. hard to believe and doesn't really make much sense but lowering my res doesn't seem to change the FPS at all, just make it look even worse.

and yes, i wish the games i play were multithreaded. atleast use 2 of my cores!!! if a game used all 4 of my threads it would probably do so much better!

heat isn't a problem. my idles are very high because i dont have an exhaust fan because it broke last week (after 7 years, THATS AWESOME!) and my local tech store is closed until this saturday. don't wanna order one because it will double the price with 10$ because i live in canada. but my CPU and gpu never hit 80C when at 100% for 2 hours. my GPU is also OC'd. gaming my cpu and gpu hang around 65. i check with CPU-Z to make sure my CPU doesn't auto downclock due to heat or some other weird problem.

yes i know it's time for an upgrade. i'm building an IB set up, budget is 1500$. all i need is my 3770k, M4 128GB, WD caviar black 1tb and gtx 660 when it is released.

this actually isn't my computer, i built it for my dad when i was 14, 7 years ago. he almost never uses it though so i call it mine :lol: it originally had a pentium 4 HT 3.06GHz but i used an aweful onboard 7y/o GPU so i can't compare. but i still do have that CPU. maybe i should try throwing it in and see if anything changes.

sorry for all that reading. i want to get rid of every last possibility.

 

[kajabla]

Unfortunately, as far as I know there actually aren't any games out there that use more than two or, in rare cases, three cores. That'd still be better than maxing one, though.

 

[marshal11]

damn. pentium Ds suck. good thing netburst is in the trash. i can't wait to finish my new computer. when this thing's mobo dies because its got to soon, il get a core 2 compatible motherboard for my dad and get a core 2 duo or even a quad if i get a good deal. hope that gtx 660 comes out soon too.

 

[Console_Gamer]

damn. pentium Ds suck. good thing netburst is in the trash. i can't wait to finish my new computer. when this thing's mobo dies because its got to soon, il get a core 2 compatible motherboard for my dad and get a core 2 duo or even a quad if i get a good deal. hope that gtx 660 comes out soon too.

Well, Core 2's are good, but i think it's better to go Phenom II's, plus u might be able to find them fairly cheap with CPU/MOBO combos. Core 2's are harder to find now than Phenom II's but even the Phenom's are beginning to become scarce because everyone's trying to unload them. If you want, u can go for an APU, since all it seems like you're trying to do is gaming. I don't do much gaming anymore, and my 1055t + 5770 still runs games like Diablo at low-med settings.

 

[marshal11]

actually what i'l do is get a sandy bridge based pentium/celeron G for around 75$ and a cheap H61 mobo or something. all the core 2s i found are $150+ which is rediculous if i can get a CPU that kicks its @$$ for at least 3x less money. i could get a celeron g530 for 50$, or an A4 3300 for 50$. the pentium wins in CPU power, but the APU's IGP wins. i have a gt520 that beats them all, so i will be sticking to the forever superior intel CPUs. AMD needs to stop producing CPUs with so many damn cores that can't be used with billions of software and instead focus on increason their clock performance. like cmon. intels quadcores destroy AMDs octo cores. that means 2X the speed at the same clock. but i must admit, AMDs got some very attractive pricing.

 

[marshal11]

Best answer selected by marshal11.