Thread: Can I play on the old Pentium 4 / Athlon 64, or need upgrade?

Introduction

Always fun to see how the latest and fast hardware, but not all gamers have the best computers or the means to carry out upgrade every time a new video card comes on the market. For this reason, many gamers are trying to learn how to make the most of available - or, at least, whether this is possible.

In today's market you can buy very affordable graphics card PCI Express, but how justified install them in the aging machine? Stop if this upgrade to play the latest popular games with high detail?Which processor needed? Will they single-core CPU? Enough of whether dual-core CPU, regardless of the clock?

We will try to answer all the questions. We have aging, albeit a very capable gaming platform, set it to turn a pair of available cards, and then tested the performance of a few modern games as a single, yet even with dual-core processors.

Today we will focus on systems based on AMD Athlon 64 processors that are built on motherboard Socket 754, Socket 939 or Socket AM2, but any user with a system of two years of age, which is already becoming obsolete, will be able to adapt our results to their car. We'll see whether or not to get rid of the once powerful gaming system, or upgrade the video card will extend its life even a little longer.

Upgradeability for gamers

Before we move on to performance tests, let me take a quick look at some of the components in a PC game, affecting performance. In this article we focus attention on systems that are equipped with a slot PCI Express, so there is a wide choice of available video cards. GPU is the most important and often underestimated component for games. This is especially important if you buy pre-assembled PC, which can generally contain an integrated graphics core, or "budget" video card, do not allow any serious play. Very often buyers of computers suddenly learn that a brand new car is ill-suited for gaming due to lack of graphics performance.

The GeForce 8800 GS, we choose to test, sold at very attractive prices, at least on the international market. She also went under another name 9600 GSO, and in recent years, these cards you can buy for about $ 90. Of course, this model is not as powerful as the 8800 GT, but it is much more powerful than the 8600 GT or Radeon HD 2600 XT, which fall under almost the same price range.Low prices and decent performance enabled call 8800 GS and 9600 GSO good candidates to upgrade the old system, which allows you to install a video card PCI Express 2.0. If you need more high performance GPU, we conducted tests with the most demanding settings on another video card, which delivers outstanding performance per dollar - AMD Radeon HD 4850.

However, the GPU is not exhaustive "piece of iron for high gaming performance. High-speed hard disk can significantly reduce the download time saved games and levels. More memory means less "brake" and "lag" due to paging to the hard disk. In addition, it is important to use a fast enough CPU, which will promptly implement the code of the game and send the video card flow of instructions. We were curious enough single-and dual-core Athlon 64 processors for modern games?

As for the hard disk, you hardly need to upgrade, unless you do not need more space for storage.But very good regular defragmentation (in Vista it runs in the background when the computer is idle). As for memory, 1 GB of RAM may be considered the minimum for games under Windows XP, although 2 GB, of course, better. Owners of Windows Vista is to acquire at least 2 GB of memory. Today DIMM modules are inexpensive, so if your system is 1 GB or less, it is better to increase the amount of RAM to get a smoother game.

CPU options depend on the compatibility of the system and the availability of processors. Many users have the possibility of upgrading small and they can use this article in order to assess what will it be good to install a new graphics card in your computer, ie, the time come to replace the entire platform? Other users can upgrade the processor, but is it worth to spend the money? Whether your system supports dual-core CPU? If yes, is there anything on the market available products at normal prices? And if they work quickly to justify the difference?

If you have a motherboard with Socket 754, you will have to be content with single-core processors, the fastest of which is slightly slower than the single-core Athlon 64, which we took for this article. Our single-core CPU is an example of best performance you can expect to squeeze out of your system. The owners of Socket 939 systems can be installed dual-core CPU, but they are no longer manufactured, so finding a suitable model on the market is problematic. If you still find the dual-core processor for Socket 939 at a reasonable price, then it is likely to be low-frequency model, which we have for our review. Owners of Socket AM2, on the other hand, often take advantage of a good range of Athlon 64 X2, which allows you to update your benefits or low-frequency single-core dual-core CPU.

From the owners of Intel Socket 478 single-core processors are limited, and such systems quickly leave strips below the minimum requirements of gaming PCs. LGA 775 owners should be careful, because the market quite a lot of different options for dual-core CPU, but the support depends on the motherboard and chipset. Regardless of the socket, if you select the upgrade CPU, make sure that the list of the manufacturer of the motherboard / computer, there is support for the new processor.

Conclusion

We can not give an explicit answer to the question, what CPU would be enough for games. Everything depends on the individual games and the required level of detail. Different games and even different levels of detail in one game load different components of the system, so it is important to collect a balanced computer if you plan to enjoy a wide variety of games. Buying too powerful GPU would be a waste of money if the performance will depend on CPU. Similarly, the weak GPU will limit the resolution, the level of detail and visual pleasure from the game.

If you play Crysis, Call of Duty 4 and Oblivion is clearly seen that the single-core CPU is already under strain and, at best, limit the level of detail at which you can play. The artificial intelligence of the enemies and impressive physics effects are too heavy for a single-core CPU, so he managed to cope with other tasks. In some games, demanding CPU, you do not get acceptable performance on single core processor. In addition, it should be remembered that the minimum frame rate in single-core CPU often falls far below, resulting in the game are obtained by leaps and slowdown. Owning Socket 754 and 939 single-cores CPU should understand that for future games of their system is poorly suited.

For modern games can certainly recommend dual-core processors. In tests, the most recent games from the test package can be seen that the dual-core processor X2 4200 + easily beats the single-core chip, even if the latter higher clock frequency. With higher average and more stable low frame rate, dual-core processor gives a much better dive into the game. Owning a Socket AM2 platform can be recommended to go to games on dual-core CPU.

What about the clock speeds? How are they important? To answer this question easily, if you look at the productivity of our X2 5600 +, which is constantly bypassed two other CPU with graphics cards 8800 GS or HD 4850. If the game does not rest on the GPU, the frequency of the CPU makes a significant difference. Low-frequency X2 4200 + is sometimes hard for in our tests, we sometimes difficult to get an average framerate of 30 fps even at low resolutions. If you buy a GPU medium or high class and do not want the performance rested against the CPU in the latest games like Crysis or Call of Duty 4, or even Oblivion, it is recommended to owners Socket AM2 Athlon 64 X2 processor at high clock frequencies. Frequencies of 2.4 GHz and below are not always enough and more clock speed, the better it will run the game. And the owners of Socket 939 systems can be recommended not to buy the low-frequency dual-core CPU at inflated prices.

If you want to install the system in high-end GPU or multiple GPU, it makes sense to upgrade to Intel Core 2 Duo or Quad processors with decent clock speeds as the default, and after the crackdown. But this does not mean that it is worth spending the money on the QX6850 or E8600. They CPUs are great, but gamers should pay attention to the graphics card, because the CPU performance, it becomes a limiting factor for the permits, the levels of detail and graphical beauty after you turn FSAA / AF, so the frame rate remained at an acceptable level.

Ate you have to be content with single-core CPU Athlon 64 without the possibility of modernization, and budget for the upgrade is not, then all is not lost. There are some new games, and a lot of old games that will work fine on single core CPU. A waste of $ 100 for low-priced video cards like the 8800 GS, 9600 GSO, HD 3850, HD 4670, 9600 GT, HD 3870, 8800 GT or 9800 GT allows you to make the most of older or single-threaded games, if your current GPU is too weak. The new games will have to lower the level of detail to remove the load on the CPU and make it available computing resources GPU. Furthermore, additional performance graphics card can be spent on higher resolutions and modes of FSAA / AF, make the game look even better.

Owning Athlon XP and Pentium 4 with frequency below 3.0 GHz will be even worse than the Athlon 64 owners, and such computers may be below the minimum requirements of the game. It should be remembered that even the best single-core CPU are often below the minimum requirements of many if not most of the last game, and the quality of the game they drop significantly. The addition of even the most powerful PCI Express graphics cards does not mean that you can play these games with all the details, to maximum. This trend will continue and the situation will become worse. So be prepared that a desirable future for the game you have to go to the upgrade.

Finally, before buying any new hardware for the game, which your current system deals poorly, look at the recommended configuration. If there is specified dual-core CPU, then the game is certainly multi-threaded, and the chances are that the single-core CPU will limit the frame rate below an acceptable level regardless of the video card. A new video card, of course, may be just what the game will get the best balance of performance and level of detail, but we want to warn you of frustration after buying a new graphics card when you learn that your processor can not achieve the desired level of performance.