64 X2 4200 vs C2D or 64 X2 5600

[Ness]

Heya folks, at the moment I have a laptop that is almost on par with desktop PC;
On my laptop is a C2D T5270 clocked at 1.4ghz with a 2MB L2 cache, with 2gb of 667mhz ddr2 ram and an nVidia 256mb 8600M GT.
On my desktop is an Athlon 64 x2 4200 clocked at 2.3ghz, with what i think is a 1mb L2 cache, 4x 512mb of 667mhz ddr2 ram, and an nVidia 256mb 8600 GTS.

However, when playing WoW, Need for Speed Pro Street or Crysis, i've noticed a significant rise in FPS in all 3 games when playing them on my laptop, despite it having a slower cpu. Is it because of the cache? Or is it because it's a C2D? I was wondering what the performance increase would be on my desktop if i changed from a 64 X2 4200 1mb L2 cache, to a 64 x2 5600 with a 2MB L2 Cache, and how it would perform compared with a C2D equivalent?
Basically, i want to stick with my AMD CPUs rather than switch over to a 775 mobo, as I don't want to spend any benjamins on a new motherboard, seeing as my current motherboard is pretty kickass.

 

[Bane]

I'm consider a Black Edition 5000+ upgrade from my 4200+. And clocking it to 3GHz or more with the unlocked multiplier.

Don't know if you memory combination is an issue, as the memory controller is on the CPU. I'm running 2x1GB PC6400 memory instead of your 4x512MB PC5300.

 

[mame]

What resolutions are each PC running these games at? C2D is better than AM2 but to upgrade from 1 to the other just for games isn't worth it IMO although i'm sure people will disagree (i'm on C2D)

 

[Paracelsus]

I'd also consider the Black Edition, at 3ghz the Athlon X2 is still sufficient for any game.

 

[Talrinys]

C2D is 25% more efficient than AMD per clock ,it really is a fantastic CPU

 

[ninja2000]

an 8600gts is a lot faster than an 8600gt! Games are more often than not GPU limited so I am really surprised your laptop is faster.

As was mentioned earlier, it sounds like res/settings or maybe a driver issue.

Have you 3dmarked them both to give yourself an idea how each performs?

 

[Trunks9486]

If you want to upgrade go with the Black Edition 5000+ as others said...

Some low latency PC26400 RAM would be great too compared to your current set up (and they are cheap right now too!)

 

[Ness]

After reading reviews of the Black Edition and stuff, think i'm gonna upgrade to one after all.

Also gonna take advantage of OCUK's current Geil 2x1gb PC6400 ultra low latency 800mhz RAM offer.

Mame, I'm running WoW on my laptop at 1280x960 and on my PC at 1280x1024.
ProStreet on my laptop and PC at 1024x768
Crysis on both at 1024x768. And I didn't know these kinds of performance PCs had any other use except for for games

Ninja2000, im currently downloading 3dmark05, although i don't really understand the scores and stuff...

Trunks, yeah, may be so. I'm using 4 sticks of 512 geil ram because i started off with 2 sticks, then decided i wanted to up my system to 2gb of ram, and bought another 2 sticks of the same ram.

But yeah, gonna order the following tomorow after checking the 3dmark stuff

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-058-GL
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-198-AM
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-000-AR

 

[ninja2000]

ness - you dont need to understand the scores, just benchmark them both at the same res and post back the results. It will give us an indication if there is a problem with the machine.
I would expect the PC to be approx 25% better than the laptop if working correctly.

 

[Ness]

PC Score http://service.futuremark.com/home.action;jsessionid=CCF75C91EEA9C56608A7E5161155EEFD
Laptop Score http://service.futuremark.com/home.action;jsessionid=992B9F20B15619903EE7D32D426AC724

both with 3d mark 06.
What's causing the sluggishness on my PC then?
and on a further note, gonna love my RAM setup as it is, and just get the Black Edition 5000+ i think
on a second further note, my gpu on the laptop is 512mb, not 256

 

[ninja2000]

sorry mate, it doesnt give me the scores, what were they?

GPU ram wont make a big different to scores. It just gives better frames on games at higher res.

 

[Ness]

If i remember correctly, laptop score was about 2258 and my pc score was about 5370 or something. Either way the laptop score was considerably lower than my desktop score =/

 

[ninja2000]

As I would expect!

Therefore your games should be playing so much better on the PC!

 

[Bane]

I'd be tempted to get updated drivers and reformat and patched up after testing new CPU works fine.

I don't know how well the 8600GTS stands up against a 7900GTX, but from memory I was getting similar score with a 4200+ AM2. Not at home to run 3D Mark 06 to check, but will repost back when I can.


Edit:
For a comparison, Win XP Home with 162.18 (I think)
4200+ 65W Winchester core not overclocked
2GB Corsair PC6400 CAS5
7900GTX

Score 5849

 

[Bane]

Did you decided to get a new CPU? Just interested to know how, or if, it has improved your situation.