Compensating for CPU

[WinTurkey]

Here are my specs
Geforce 470GTX
8gb DDR2 RAM
Quadcore Q6600 @ stock 2.4GHz (can't OC because of Dell mobo, although I think they did some black magic on the FSB as it shows a clock speed of 1400MHz which is unusually high)

CPU is the bottleneck in the setup, I'd like to know which settings are heavily dependant on CPU and which are GPU-only. Since this is a multiplayer-focused game I expect a lot of the calculations to be done server-side, nevertheless I'm sure the CPU does a lot. Right now I'm playing at 1920x1080 at max everything with no hardware physics or Vsync. Although I didn't check the numbers I seem to have a stable 30+ FPS in the game, which is perfectly comfortable for me as I enjoy my games having a cinematic feel to them by being around the 30FPS region rather than the ~60 that most people look for. The only time I've had an uncomfortable FPS drop was when scoped in with a sniper rifle, though I think that's a bug.

 

[Apparition]

Post Processing is CPU driven.
AA is combination of your CPU ability to feed the GPU and your GPU ability to process. Lowering this has an affect on both.
Sound, unless you have a dedicated sound card with a processor ie: X-Fi. Lowering the sound channels will lower cpu usage.

 

[SolitarioSoldat]

Here are my specs
Geforce 470GTX
8gb DDR2 RAM
Quadcore Q6600 @ stock 2.4GHz (can't OC because of Dell mobo, although I think they did some black magic on the FSB as it shows a clock speed of 1400MHz which is unusually high)

CPU is the bottleneck in the setup, I'd like to know which settings are heavily dependant on CPU and which are GPU-only. Since this is a multiplayer-focused game I expect a lot of the calculations to be done server-side, nevertheless I'm sure the CPU does a lot. Right now I'm playing at 1920x1080 at max everything with no hardware physics or Vsync. Although I didn't check the numbers I seem to have a stable 30+ FPS in the game, which is perfectly comfortable for me as I enjoy my games having a cinematic feel to them by being around the 30FPS region rather than the ~60 that most people look for. The only time I've had an uncomfortable FPS drop was when scoped in with a sniper rifle, though I think that's a bug.

dude your CPU isnt bottleneck......

 

[atomMan]

Of course it is.
Bottleneck as in his minimum fps won't be any higher if he OCs his gtx 470.

ps
i am rambling and need more info on how game performs on dual core CPUs

 

[iTzDusty]

dude your CPU isnt bottleneck......

Fairly certain it is. Core 2 Quads are aging. GTX 470 is pretty high end.

 

[Apparition]

Yes a Q6600 @ 2.4 at a resolution of 1920x1080 for a GTX 470 is bottlenecked. At a resolution of 1400x900 it is not.

GTX 470 can be fed a lot.

 

[atomMan]

Yes a Q6600 @ 2.4 at a resolution of 1920x1080 for a GTX 470 is bottlenecked. At a resolution of 1400x900 it is not.

GTX 470 can be fed a lot.

You probably meant the other way around

 

[Knil]

Yes a Q6600 @ 2.4 at a resolution of 1920x1080 for a GTX 470 is bottlenecked. At a resolution of 1400x900 it is not.

GTX 470 can be fed a lot.

Resolution is almost entirely GPU.

 

[Apparition]

You probably meant the other way around

What do you mean? 1400x900 is common highest resolution of 19inch widescreen monitors. A Q6600 is not a bottleneck at that resolution.

Resolution is almost entirely GPU.

The ability to feed the GPU data is where the CPU can be the proverbial bottleneck. The card itself can handle higher loads but if the CPU can't process fast enough having a better GPU does little.

 

[Maizel]

My i7 doesn't get taxed beyond 18%

 

[atomMan]

What do you mean? 1400x900 is common highest resolution of 19inch widescreen monitors. A Q6600 is not a bottleneck at that resolution.

I meant exactly what Knil said

For a bigger resolution you need faster GPU. Not CPU.

If OP is indeed limited with his CPU,
(not equal to having an inadequate CPU)

he won't raise his minimal FPS by lowering his resolution.

 

[Apparition]

Well OP I'll let you figure it out...

To see which is doing what. Open task manager and go to the performance monitor screen. This will graph what your CPU cores are doing, ie: the load.
Use a program like MSI Afterburner and use the onscreen display to show GPU % usage.

A basic understanding of the proverbial Bottleneck

Run the game and compare what % is the most.
If the CPU is showing ~%99 on all cores and the GPU is showing less than %70 that means your CPU is not fast enough to feed your GPU.

If the GPU is showing greater than %80 (normally will actually be at %98) and a low CPU % than your CPU is fine and you need a stronger GPU.

If both are showing %98 or very high usage (this is really good!) than your system is very efficient but you need an upgrade somewhere to see an improvement.

Allow a ~%10-20 error range for GPU usage for driver inefficiencies.

 

[sfx76]

Yes a Q6600 @ 2.4 at a resolution of 1920x1080 for a GTX 470 is bottlenecked. At a resolution of 1400x900 it is not.

GTX 470 can be fed a lot.

Hi,

High Resolution and high quality features (AA and AF): GPU limited

Low resolution and low quality features: CPU limited

There is a reason why Pro-PC gamers play in low resolution without any quality features turned on to get high fps...

Sure this is not 100% set in stone as it also depends on other things.