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Dual cores, quad cores and skyrim

Crumpetsandtea

Crumpetsandtea

Crumpetsandtea

Associate
Joined
16 Nov 2011
Posts
7
Hey all,

Just picked up a copy of skyrim and I'm wondering if my CPU is "bottlenecking" my GPU. Im not too familiar with what this actually means, but I have MSI afterburner runnning and it's telling me that my GPU is running at around 50% load, while my CPU is running at 100% all the time (I'm getting around 30fps on high settings.)

My cpu is the E5200 @2.7Ghz and my GPU is the GTX260

Also, if I buy an LGA775 quad core and switch it for my dual core, will that work ok? and will it make a difference to the game performance?

thanks
 
TBH mate, I would think that CPU will be a bottleneck. Skyrim is very CPU dependant and uses all 4 of my cores (Q9650).
I would think that a C2Quad would make a big difference.

What motherboard are you using?
 
SlugForAButt said:
TBH mate, I would think that CPU will be a bottleneck. Skyrim is very CPU dependant and uses all 4 of my cores (Q9650).
I would think that a C2Quad would make a big difference.

What motherboard are you using?
Click to expand...

this. tbh
if your mobo supports it, used Q6600's can be bought for around £50-£60.
Then sell your E5200 for £20, and you will have a decent upgrade for around £30.
(there is a members market here, but you have to have 250 posts and be here for 3 months, and sign up to the omerta code ;):p)
or try fleabay
 
SlugForAButt said:
TBH mate, I would think that CPU will be a bottleneck. Skyrim is very CPU dependant and uses all 4 of my cores (Q9650).
I would think that a C2Quad would make a big difference.

What motherboard are you using?
Click to expand...

I'm using the Asus P5KPL-AM motherboard at the moment and I'm looking at the Q9550 cpu just now as a potential upgrade, although I'm not sure exactly how to upgrade a CPU? is it just a case of removing the old one and slotting the new one in? no need for clean installs or anything?
 
j.col said:
this. tbh
if your mobo supports it, used Q6600's can be bought for around £50-£60.
Then sell your E5200 for £20, and you will have a decent upgrade for around £30.
(there is a members market here, but you have to have 250 posts and be here for 3 months, and sign up to the omerta code ;):p)
or try fleabay
Click to expand...

That sounds like a good idea, although I have no idea what fleabay is :p
 
Crumpetsandtea said:
I'm using the Asus P5KPL-AM motherboard at the moment and I'm looking at the Q9550 cpu just now as a potential upgrade, although I'm not sure exactly how to upgrade a CPU? is it just a case of removing the old one and slotting the new one in? no need for clean installs or anything?
Click to expand...

Sorry, I know nothing about that mobo with regards to overclocking.

Check out here and make sure you've got the BIOS you need for the CPU you want. If not, you can upgrade your BIOS from the same site.

http://uk.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_775/P5KPLAM_SE/#CPUS

But yes, it's just a simple CPU swap.
 
as SlugForAButt said, swapping cpu's is easy, just remove cpu cooler, remove cpu, place new cpu, put paste on cpu and then refit cooler. (this is a very simplified explanation, please do your homework first).
here is a guide http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2231

also looking here http://uk.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_775/P5KPLAM_SE/#CPUS
your mobo supports quads (since bios revision 309)

fleabay is the famous online auction site, :p we are not allowed to mention competitors ;)
 
There's no benefit going from a dual to quad core cpu for Skyrim. It only uses two cores.

CPU%20Core.png


/thread
 
j.col said:
as SlugForAButt said, swapping cpu's is easy, just remove cpu cooler, remove cpu, place new cpu, put paste on cpu and then refit cooler. (this is a very simplified explanation, please do your homework first).
here is a guide http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2231

also looking here http://uk.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_775/P5KPLAM_SE/#CPUS
your mobo supports quads (since bios revision 309)

fleabay is the famous online auction site, :p we are not allowed to mention competitors ;)
Click to expand...

I built the PC I'm using just now so I know how to install CPUs and such, I just wasn't sure as to how to upgrade a CPU as I've never done so until now :p

and I'll have a look at fleabay now, thanks!
 
McNutter said:
There's no benefit going from a dual to quad core cpu for Skyrim. It only uses two cores.

CPU%20Core.png


/thread
Click to expand...

Very nice, but why am I getting serious usage across all four cores then?
I would argue you are talking crap because I am using all 4 cores and you are just copying what you don't know to be true or false. :p
AFAIK, using all 4 cores ingame means that 4 cores are beneficial, no?

Crumpetsandtea I think you will find a nice boost with a Quad. Ignore the cut and pasted "Tom's", it uses all 4 of my cores. Also... strange why minimum required is a dual core, but recommended required is quad core if it only uses 2 cores? Nuff said.
 
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People have been saying the same crap since the q6600 launch...but in reality there's STILL no real need for quads in gaming.
 
gurusan said:
People have been saying the same crap since the q6600 launch...but in reality there's STILL no real need for quads in gaming.
Click to expand...

Unless the game takes advantage of quads...Its swings and roundabouts.

How much RAM do you have OP? If its 4GB, take a look at the mods for skyrim. Theres one available that takes away the games 2GB limit. Which is giving performance boosts for all that are using it.

As for that benchmark above. It's probably accurate, but it doesnt apply to the OP does it. Sandy/PhII will be murdering Skyrim via IPC, more so than cores, hense the negligible difference. Older processors will have more work to do, and so being able to spread the load over more cores when its available(As it is in Skyrim) will give performance boost.

Also OP, have you thought about overclocking further? My brothers E5200 before his upgrade was sat at 3.2ghz without much fuss to get it there. It could do higher, but he ran it 24/7 and my mother is insane when it comes to keeping the heating on. So we left it at a safe but decent clock.
 
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To the op. I had that motherboard in a basic htpc and you will find its overclocking abilities are poor, however you can clock on it, you just have to know what you are doing.

I ran many cpus on mine over the time I owned it e7200, q6600, q8400 and lastly my old q9650 which was 3ghz at stock and gave good performance on that board with 4gb ddr2 memory.

Getting hold of one of the higher end quads now will be expensive so my advice is to pick up a second hand q6600, you would easily get it to 3ghz on the board. Any higher would be difficut due to the lack of overclocking options but I think a 3ghz q6600 and 4gb ram for would do you just fine.
 
wannabedamned said:
Unless the game takes advantage of quads...Its swings and roundabouts.

How much RAM do you have OP? If its 4GB, take a look at the mods for skyrim. Theres one available that takes away the games 2GB limit. Which is giving performance boosts for all that are using it.

As for that benchmark above. It's probably accurate, but it doesnt apply to the OP does it. Sandy/PhII will be murdering Skyrim via IPC, more so than cores, hense the negligible difference. Older processors will have more work to do, and so being able to spread the load over more cores when its available(As it is in Skyrim) will give performance boost.

Also OP, have you thought about overclocking further? My brothers E5200 before his upgrade was sat at 3.2ghz without much fuss to get it there. It could do higher, but he ran it 24/7 and my mother is insane when it comes to keeping the heating on. So we left it at a safe but decent clock.
Click to expand...

I have 4 gigs of RAM running at the moment, so I'll have a look at this mod when I get back home.

On the topic of overclocking, I'm not too savvy with how this is done. I have a motherboard profile that does it all for me i.e I have it at 10% overclock profile just now. I had it on 20% for a while, then I bumped it up to 30% and I had to flash my BIOS :eek:
 
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