Does ram speed matter in games with heavy cpu usage?

[biggles]

In Assassins Creed Syndicate I get hitching and pauses sometimes when driving the carriages. The hitching is a lot less when turning on xmp profiles with the ddr3 ram, increasing the ram speed from 1600 to 1866 mhz. So, I was wondering if ram speed really makes much difference in this type of game. I can see with MSI Afterburner that the cpu usage is often hitting 100% across all 4 cores. This is on the desktop PC (see specs in sig) running at 1440p.

Also, there was no noticeable hitching running on my laptop, which runs faster ddr4 and also has a 4 core, 8 thread cpu (6820hk). It only has a 970m, so I run the game at lower resolution (1080p) and slightly lower graphics settings here.

Another question, I am having trouble getting xmp profiles on the ram to run without crashing on the desktop. Would installing the game on an ssd rather than a traditional hard drive reduce or eliminate the hitching and pauses?

 

[noko]

In Assassins Creed Syndicate I get hitching and pauses sometimes when driving the carriages. The hitching is a lot less when turning on xmp profiles with the ddr3 ram, increasing the ram speed from 1600 to 1866 mhz. So, I was wondering if ram speed really makes much difference in this type of game. I can see with MSI Afterburner that the cpu usage is often hitting 100% across all 4 cores. This is on the desktop PC (see specs in sig) running at 1440p.

Also, there was no noticeable hitching running on my laptop, which runs faster ddr4 and also has a 4 core, 8 thread cpu (6820hk). It only has a 970m, so I run the game at lower resolution (1080p) and slightly lower graphics settings here.

Another question, I am having trouble getting xmp profiles on the ram to run without crashing on the desktop. Would installing the game on an ssd rather than a traditional hard drive reduce or eliminate the hitching and pauses?

4 core CPU's with 4 threads really do not cut it for the more recent intensive games. CPU at 100% really speaks loudly. Time to upgrade your desktop as in new CPU/Motherboard/DDR4 and anything else you can't carry over.

 

[biggles]

4 core CPU's with 4 threads really do not cut it for the more recent intensive games. CPU at 100% really speaks loudly. Time to upgrade your desktop as in new CPU/Motherboard/DDR4 and anything else you can't carry over.

You know I have been reading about quad cores being inadequate for years, and finally seem to have had that experience. Maybe a Ryzen 3600 system in the near future then.

 

[noko]

You know I have been reading about quad cores being inadequate for years, and finally seem to have had that experience. Maybe a Ryzen 3600 system in the near future then.

That would be a great start, very effective CPU for gaming and for the cost. The best motherboard for the cost I would say is the upcoming MSI Mag X570 Tomahawk, a later designed X570 (which should work out any kinks from the earlier X570 motherboards), extremely beefy board for the price that appear no others can match:
https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/MAG-X570-TOMAHAWK-WIFI/{product_full_support_link}

Review of the VRMs:

 

[biggles]

That would be a great start, very effective CPU for gaming and for the cost. The best motherboard for the cost I would say is the upcoming MSI Mag X570 Tomahawk, a later designed X570 (which should work out any kinks from the earlier X570 motherboards), extremely beefy board for the price that appear no others can match:
https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/MAG-X570-TOMAHAWK-WIFI/{product_full_support_link}

Review of the VRMs:

Yes, I saw a video on hardware unboxed that slammed the midrange MSI x570 boards for terrible thermals. So an x570 Tomahawk would be well received given the positive reviews on the b450 version. Any idea on the release date on the x570 Tomahawk? I am actually leaning towards the Asus x570 Prime. It has been a long time since I have run an Asus motherboard, fond memories of their rock solid stability in the distant past.

 

[ochadd]

Just to chime in the quad core situation... I've been starting to suspect chinks in the armor of my 7700k. The last few resource heavy games I've played seem to have the occasional stutter as well. I'm probably going to pull the trigger on a 12-16 core system once the Ryzen 4000 series chips come out. I was hoping to wait for DDR5/PCIe5 but not sure I've got the patience.

 

[defaultluser]

You can overclock that Devil's Canyon 4690k 25-30%. It's an easy performance bump if you're not looking to replace the system now.

Your liquid cooler should handle that with ease.

 

[noko]

Yes, I saw a video on hardware unboxed that slammed the midrange MSI x570 boards for terrible thermals. So an x570 Tomahawk would be well received given the positive reviews on the b450 version. Any idea on the release date on the x570 Tomahawk? I am actually leaning towards the Asus x570 Prime. It has been a long time since I have run an Asus motherboard, fond memories of their rock solid stability in the distant past.

They announced it in January at CES, it would probably have been out already if it wasn't for Covid 19 crap. I would expect it before June unless things take a turn for the worst.

I have a MSI B450I GAMING PLUS AC motherboard, great board, very good support and beefy VRMs for an iTX board. It even supports a Ryzen 9 3950x processor (I am just using a 2700). Zero issues.

 

[biggles]

Update: although I eventually did upgrade the 4690K to a Ryzen 5 3600, before doing so I managed to fix the performance hitching in AC Syndicate. Did so by overclocking the memory from 1600 to 1866 mhz. As a side note, XMP profiles did not work on the RAM for some unknown reason and so I had to do so manually. I also tested the game on a 6820hk laptop (quad core mobile cpu with hyperthreading). Although the average framerate was lower due to the less powerful 970M, no hitching there. And of course smooth sailing on the new Ryzen system. Anyway, MSI Afterburner showed all 4 cores at 100% on the 4690K during carriage riding. So it seems clear the game was pushing the cpu pretty hard.