Is my CPU the bottleneck?

[Father_Chaos]

Hey guys, well I bought TF2 yesterday and I seem to have some very big FPS drops sometimes... Here's my current (very old) rig:

2.6 GHz P4
Old AGP Gigabyte mobo
GeForce 7600 GT AGP
1.5 GB RAM
120 GB Maxtor

I think what makes me lag so badly is the CPU... am I right?

Though if I am it means I'll have to change the mobo, the GPU AND the CPU... and the RAM too... Maybe even the Hard Drive?

Thanks in advance for enlightening me on the subject!

 

[Concentric]

Depends what resolution (& settings) you're running at.

 

[digital_exhaust]

I think what makes me lag so badly is the CPU... am I right?

Maybe... can you run HL2 alright? Try lowering the settings and resolution and see if it improves...

EDIT... I just found this in the new MaxPC.. maybe it'll help..

Lombardi told us that gamers with DX10 video cards will see more sophisticated facial animation in TF2, but he also said that this advantage springs not from Valve using the DX10 API or Shader Model 4.0-it's not using either-but from the unified architecture that is unique to DX10 class GPUs.

So, I don't know if that really helps much, but it sounds to me like the game was really developed for DX10 compatible hardware, and perhaps your video card is the problem, not so much your CPU... Valve claims a 1.7g is adequate....

 

[engiNURD]

Its most likely your GPU, but as Concentric mentioned, what resolution/settings are you using?

 

[Father_Chaos]

I am using my native resolution of 1024x720, with stock settings (as recommended by the game):



I got around 20 FPS in relatively complex scene, but without other players. I believe the number would then drop drastically. I tried lowering my resolution to 800x600 and I put the settings to the minimum, but I hardly noticed a change...

 

[Abu Som3a]

Then it's the cpu.

 

[VanQuiShEr]

Oh yea it's definitely the CPU.
I think the better system spec for team fortress is
3.4 cpu (single core)
nvidia geforce 6800 (dunno ati equivalent)
1 gig ram

 

[Father_Chaos]

Do you guys think a cheap upgrade to a 3+ GHz P4 will do the trick for me?

This looks like a nice deal: http://cgi.ebay.ca/INTEL-PENTIUM-4-...ryZ14293QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[vocab]

Yes it is the bottleneck.

But you could do this:
Turn AA off
AF to at least 2x or none.
Water to simple reflections.
Get rid of HDR(it's pointless imo)
Turn shadows to low.

You should notice an fps increase. The game will look the same, unless you like the sun shining in your eyes or your water to look crystal clear, but other than that you will get an fps increase which is important during game play.

and perhaps your video card is the problem, not so much your CPU... Valve claims a 1.7g is adequate....

Nah. I play this game with a 6800 GT, with max people and it runs fine.

 

[digital_exhaust]

Nah. I play this game with a 6800 GT, with max people and it runs fine.

Experience speaks, I've never played the game... and to be honest, I had never heard of it until I read this thread

Just offering advice based on information from outside sources... that's all...

So, do you think a 3g plus maybe a mild oc would help the OP?

 

[Father_Chaos]

So, do you think a 3g plus maybe a mild oc would help the OP?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[nigerian_businessman]

I wouldn't 'upgrade' to a 3.0 prescott. Get a northwood and overclock that bitch if you're going to stay w/ socket 478.

 

[engiNURD]

A 3Ghz + mild OC would definately help, but I'm not sure its worth the cost. I think you should save some money and upgrade your whole system when you can afford it.