The importance of a CPU in gameplay?

[Xiggy]

ok guys i would like to know the importance of the processor in gameplay
such as how much of a load is put on it etc.

rigth now i play games like bf2...fear combat...and other stuff like that

ne ways im running this

(watch out its old)
pentium 4 1.8ghz 400mhz fsb
intel d845hv mobo
pc133 768mb ram
7600gs 256mb 128bit (bottlenecks like crazy with my processor lol)

so now if i were to say get a e6300...does processors like these just do their necesssary part in video games very easy without ne jitters etc?
also what all does the processor do ...i know it does physx ..but what else?...tells the computer when you click the mouse?

im very sure of upgrading my cpu/mobo/ram in the future with core 2 duo in mind i just really havent ever really found out this information and i would just like to learn lol plz help thx guys

 

[mammikoura]

the E6300 should be enough for any game. And it should last a while since games are starting to support dual cores. (well I'd imagine that they would since dual cores are so common now) It's mostly about the vid card, and ram also has a big effect.
I'm running a 3ghz p4, 2gb of ddr400 and a 6800GT and I can run most games on high settings. But I'm guessing it's mostly about the vid card, since only games I have problems with is stuff like oblivion.

 

[LambOfGod]

I second Mammi


I have gone through lots of testing.

and by terms of games i found the most improvement in this order

1. Video Card
2. RAM
3. CPU
4. HDD

 

[xtremezx2]

during game play your processor is doing mostly calculations for physics and reading and moving data in and out of the RAM.

 

[Xiggy]

ok so in my computer having 768 mb of ram and having it at the speed of pc133 is realllllly killing me right?....i am still going for a new mobo/cpu/ram...i just need to know how much my processor is killing my gameplay...like i can play games...they just dont reach over 40fps often because my card can only run at agp4x right now

so with say this

e6300
512x2 dual channel ddr2 533
7600gs 256mb 128bit running at agp8x
then could i run bf2 at all medium graphics around 60 fps? thx

and sry for this kind of getting OT

and my harddrive is like IDE or wutever the old one is..its on sata...so could that also be kind of a problem?

 

[LambOfGod]

ok so in my computer having 768 mb of ram and having it at the speed of pc133 is realllllly killing me right?....i am still going for a new mobo/cpu/ram...i just need to know how much my processor is killing my gameplay...like i can play games...they just dont reach over 40fps often because my card can only run at agp4x right now

so with say this

e6300
512x2 dual channel ddr2 533
7600gs 256mb 128bit running at agp8x
then could i run bf2 at all medium graphics around 60 fps? thx

and sry for this kind of getting OT

and my harddrive is like IDE or wutever the old one is..its on sata...so could that also be kind of a problem?

Most boards come with IDE connectors so you dont have to worry about your drive.

I would worry about the AGP slot, you may have trouble finding a board with that slot, also PCI-X took over AGP and if your going to upgrade i would ditch that vid card and AGP, and go with a new card and PCI-X. It will save you in the future.

 

[Xiggy]

Most boards come with IDE connectors so you dont have to worry about your drive.

I would worry about the AGP slot, you may have trouble finding a board with that slot, also PCI-X took over AGP and if your going to upgrade i would ditch that vid card and AGP, and go with a new card and PCI-X. It will save you in the future.

very true man..maybe i can find a mobo with agp and pcix!

ne ways i just enabled the l2 cache by using the guide in the forums

my l2 cache on my p4 1.8ghz 400mhz fsb is 256kb..and windows was detecting it at 0...so will this kinda speed up my computer?..also were games already using it or not?..so will it even barely help with my games? thx

 

[esa193]

pcix should be around for a long time to id say atlest 4 years before its completly replaced but every 4-6 years u should get a brand new computer if your a gamer cuz by then your ram slots will be full your hard drive maxed and your cpu overclocked to the limmet

 

[Xiggy]

thx man...i kinda knew that but it helped me understand it more

ne ways so with me enabling my l2 cache on windows xp from 0 to 256kb (which is what it really is) will my computer perform even slightly bettter in games..or did games always know the cache? thx!

 

[LambOfGod]

thx man...i kinda knew that but it helped me understand it more

ne ways so with me enabling my l2 cache on windows xp from 0 to 256kb (which is what it really is) will my computer perform even slightly bettter in games..or did games always know the cache? thx!

i'm sure it will help, but i doubt it will be a night and day difference.

but go in and give it a shot man, find out for yourself.

good luck