Performance on dual-core X2 255?

[Dataflashsabot]

I have a 5770 and 4GB RAM, but my CPU is a dual-core X2 255. Since the recommended spec is a quad-core, how smoothly can I expect this to run?

 

EDIT: I should probably note that I'll be playing at 1280x1024.

[IronHide-AW]

Unfortunately you should expect to be CPU bound.

[Ron Taboga]

The Athlon II X2 CPUs have generally a good ground performance. If you manage to overlock it to 3.5 Ghz you should get a solid performance. But you still will be limited by its only 2 cores. Try to get a Athlon II X3 or X4 they are not expensive. You can sell your X2 on ebay.

[Dataflashsabot]

Unfortunately I'm not willing to risk overclocking, and I don't have enough spare cash at the moment for CPU upgrades (plus I haven't done it before and would be scared of screwing up). Given that, would it run smoothly with graphics settings equivalent to the console versions (but preferably with AA)?

[Chevyboy]

A good overclock goes a long way on anything lower than 3 cores for this game (heck it's great on every chip period). I can speak from experience that the jump from 3.16Ghz to 4Ghz was worth about 8 FPS *AVERAGE* on actual in game play (benchmark was about 14 FPS higher).

 

Keep in mind however not all chips will see benefit like this as not all chips can be overclocked so far beyond spec's on air cooling as well as the C2D series chips have huge amounts of memory cache.

 

Without an overclock the game will run "ok", playable for sure. Every extra ounce of speed you can milk from the chip will help in this game significantly. Or as others suggested upgrading to a "last gen" AMD quad core is a very cheap alternative.

 

*Overclocking is very easy these days and very hard to "screw up" as long as you find a good guide (many on the net) and take it slow. Only thing to really be worried about is temperatures and if you do take it slow as the guilds will suggest you should know long before your temperatures ever reach a dangerous level*

[IronHide-AW]

^ definitely. IV eats CPU like a fat-man with a bag of candy. Dual cores suffer greatly because IV wants more execution paths. Raw ghz helps offset it although it certainly depends on the chip too. Long time but I remember my AMD FX60 at 3+ghz was not sufficient and IV just crushed it under its thumb. Being CPU bound means regardless of display settings it's the CPU causing the bottleneck.

 

Being cautious goes a very long way. Take some deep breathes and research the procedures extensively. You will become more comfortable as you do that and realize it's not as bad as you think. As far as replacing the CPU, just make sure you are free of ESD when doing it, and carefully examine the socket and pin-1 / chip arrow / placement marker. The socket will only allow the chip to be inserted in the correct orientation. The only issue is if you do not pre-examine and know exactly the orientation it needs to be inserted you could bend the pins on the chip trying to put it in the wrong way. With the orientation correct the chip should litterally just "drop / plop" right into the socket. There are indeed abundant guides all over the net for all procedures, including applying thermal paste.

 

 

[Dataflashsabot]

Thanks for the advice guys, but I don't have the money to upgrade my CPU, and since this is my only decent rig, I don't want to run it outside the components' recommended settings.

 

Reckon I would get a frame rate of at least 30, with settings roughly equivalent to the console version?

[Ron Taboga]

 

Thanks for the advice guys, but I don't have the money to upgrade my CPU, and since this is my only decent rig, I don't want to run it outside the components' recommended settings.

 

Reckon I would get a frame rate of at least 30, with settings roughly equivalent to the console version?

On my last PC before my current one I ran GTA IV on a Athlon 64 X2 4200+ @2.55Ghz and it was a pain on the console settings i had 13-23 FPS all the time it was really bad.

 

Well the Athlon II X2 255 has 600 MHz more on stock and the faster K10 Phenom Architecture (without the L3 Cache) whichs makes it singinificantly faster. It should run about from 20 - 35 FPS on console settings depending on the situation and place where you are. Its possible that it can go below 20 FPS in hardcore situations when 10 cops are behind you.

 

But do yourself a favor and save up for a X3 or X4 Athlon II, you will have a much better gaming experience with GTA IV and much less stuttering.

Edited November 30, 2010 by Ron Taboga

[Dataflashsabot]

Huh. I knew the PC optimisation of IV was bad, but I didn't know it was THAT bad! I'll still get the game, I think. I intend to upgrade to a dual-core eventually, but not now. Thanks for the advice everyone!

[TheTomster]

Unfortunately I'm not willing to risk overclocking, and I don't have enough spare cash at the moment for CPU upgrades (plus I haven't done it before and would be scared of screwing up). Given that, would it run smoothly with graphics settings equivalent to the console versions (but preferably with AA)?

There is no AA in GTA IV, unless you use ENB series, in which case, you need a lot more than a new CPU to use that. You should however be able to run it equivalent to consoles with that setup.

[Dataflashsabot]

Unfortunately I'm not willing to risk overclocking, and I don't have enough spare cash at the moment for CPU upgrades (plus I haven't done it before and would be scared of screwing up). Given that, would it run smoothly with graphics settings equivalent to the console versions (but preferably with AA)?

There is no AA in GTA IV, unless you use ENB series, in which case, you need a lot more than a new CPU to use that. You should however be able to run it equivalent to consoles with that setup.

Okay, that's good to know, thanks

But I can force AA in Catalyst Control Centre, no?

[meson1]

Unfortunately I'm not willing to risk overclocking, and I don't have enough spare cash at the moment for CPU upgrades (plus I haven't done it before and would be scared of screwing up). Given that, would it run smoothly with graphics settings equivalent to the console versions (but preferably with AA)?

There is no AA in GTA IV, unless you use ENB series, in which case, you need a lot more than a new CPU to use that. You should however be able to run it equivalent to consoles with that setup.

Okay, that's good to know, thanks

But I can force AA in Catalyst Control Centre, no?

GTA:IV uses something called "deferred lighting." Under DirectX 9 you cannot use Anti-Aliasing when using deferred lighting. GTA:IV only uses DirectX 9. Therefore I'm afraid you can't force AA on from the graphics drivers.

 

So the only way to get AA for GTA:IV is to use the ENB Series mod.

[OverTheBelow]

Unfortunately I'm not willing to risk overclocking, and I don't have enough spare cash at the moment for CPU upgrades (plus I haven't done it before and would be scared of screwing up). Given that, would it run smoothly with graphics settings equivalent to the console versions (but preferably with AA)?

There is no AA in GTA IV, unless you use ENB series, in which case, you need a lot more than a new CPU to use that. You should however be able to run it equivalent to consoles with that setup.

Okay, that's good to know, thanks

But I can force AA in Catalyst Control Centre, no?

GTA:IV uses something called "deferred lighting." Under DirectX 9 you cannot use Anti-Aliasing when using deferred lighting. GTA:IV only uses DirectX 9. Therefore I'm afraid you can't force AA on from the graphics drivers.

 

So the only way to get AA for GTA:IV is to use the ENB Series mod.

This.

 

 

Unless you have an ATI 5000 or 6000 series card, in which case you can force Metamorphic Antialiasing.

[meson1]

GTA:IV uses something called "deferred lighting."  Under DirectX 9 you cannot use Anti-Aliasing when using deferred lighting.  GTA:IV only uses DirectX 9.  Therefore I'm afraid you can't force AA on from the graphics drivers.

 

So the only way to get AA for GTA:IV is to use the ENB Series mod.

This.

 

 

Unless you have an ATI 5000 or 6000 series card, in which case you can force Metamorphic Antialiasing.

Ooh. Fancy. I didn't know that. But then I've no experience of ATI cards.

I bow to your experience.

[Jigglyass]

GTA:IV uses something called "deferred lighting."  Under DirectX 9 you cannot use Anti-Aliasing when using deferred lighting.  GTA:IV only uses DirectX 9.  Therefore I'm afraid you can't force AA on from the graphics drivers.

 

So the only way to get AA for GTA:IV is to use the ENB Series mod.

This.

 

 

Unless you have an ATI 5000 or 6000 series card, in which case you can force Metamorphic Antialiasing.

Ooh. Fancy. I didn't know that. But then I've no experience of ATI cards.

I bow to your experience.

It kills the performance, i tried it on my 5870. I lose about 15FPs from just 2x.

[mkey82]

It kills the performance, i tried it on my 5870. I lose about 15FPs from just 2x.

It shouldn't actually do that, probably something about the drivers.

[Ron Taboga]

It kills the performance, i tried it on my 5870. I lose about 15FPs from just 2x.

It shouldn't actually do that, probably something about the drivers.

Its normal. You always loose performance with any kind of Anti Aliasing adding settings. My average FPS also drop from 60 to 45 FPS if i enable it.

[D5 Driver]

The Athlon II X2 CPUs have generally a good ground performance. If you manage to overlock it to 3.5 Ghz you should get a solid performance. But you still will be limited by its only 2 cores. Try to get a Athlon II X3 or X4 they are not expensive. You can sell your X2 on ebay.

Actually, they come pretty expensive, if they need a new graphics card (ex: Nvidia GTX470, lol), that thing I heard some1, from YouTube

[Dataflashsabot]

 

Unless you have an ATI 5000 or 6000 series card, in which case you can force Metamorphic Antialiasing.

Interesting, thanks! I do indeed have an ATI 5770, so I'll try it when I get the game.

[mkey82]

It kills the performance, i tried it on my 5870. I lose about 15FPs from just 2x.

It shouldn't actually do that, probably something about the drivers.

Its normal. You always loose performance with any kind of Anti Aliasing adding settings. My average FPS also drop from 60 to 45 FPS if i enable it.

I based my assumption on some Tom's hardware benchmarks, but obviously those were off. It does seem however MLAA performs a bit better then SSAA.

[unc13bud]

several things. did op say he/she was going to run gtaIV? or EFLC? and will it be patched or unpatched? GTAIV runs fine (38fps - autoconfigure settings) on windsor athlon x2 6000 with a discrete nvidia card. with EFLC, every single thing needs to be turned off just to get 27fps.

[Dataflashsabot]

Both, I kinda assumed they'd be the same. Patched, I guess? Is there a reason not to? I tend to patch all games before starting them. unc13bud, thanks for the report. From the PassMark it looks like the 255 is ~10% more powerful than the 6000, so hopefully I'll get at least 30FPS in EFLC. Can I ask what your video card is? GTAIV looks to be CPU-bound, but I'm guessing the GPU makes a good degree of difference too. It's strange, because I read that EFLC is better optimised than IV.