i5 vs Core2quad

[fezster]

generally with games, the speed which the game can run is determined by the speed of your GPU, ie how fast it can compute each frame.

when running at low res, then a good GPU will be able to compute the frame without using its full power, so its not being used to its full potential and has to wait for the CPU to finish each cycle.

so a better CPU means it can complete cycles quicker and get the GPU to render more often.

the less the GPU has to do, the more the CPU becomes the bottleneck.

Each frame as to be computed by the CPU, then rendered by the GPU, the faster of the 2 will be waiting for the other to finish before moving on.

this of course depends on the game.

I think the point PhoenixUK was making is that your post implied running a higher resolution would put more load on the GPU and less load on the CPU, thus giving increased performance.

Now unless I'm mistaken, what you meant was that a higher res would put more load on the GPU relative to the load on the CPU, thus using the GPU more effectively. But the actual load on the CPU would remain the same, so if it's a bottleneck at a low res, it will be a bottleneck at the higher res too. If Ive got that wrong, please explain.