processor question

[Snakeeyes]

Okay techies. I have always turned to you all for your excellent advice in the past and you have never let me down.

I’m playing ARMA 2 right now with low to mid settings and it’s time to get moving onto more power. I went to “can I run it” and had my system analyzed. The only thing that turned up low was my processor speed.

Current CPU is a simple duel core E6750 2.66GHZ. This is great for sims like DCS Black Shark but I need raw power with ARMA 2.

I have been doing some research and I was wondering what you would recommend. I am looking at the Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor. It has great reviews at new egg.com and a couple of awards. I have a motherboard ready for quad core but this thing looks to be just what the doctor ordered.

I’m asking for advice on my choice and on installation. I’ve installed CPUs before and did not find it very difficult.

Thanks for all of your help in advance.

[Arclight]

I guess that would work, but personally I moved from E6750 to Q9550 a while back.

Quad comes recommended for Arma 2 by the specifications; makes sense the game can use it effeciently, though I haven't played Arma 2 since that upgrade, so little hard to verify. :nope:

At any rate, imho a quad is more future-proof than a dual-core.

[Snakeeyes]

I guess that would work, but personally I moved from E6750 to Q9550 a while back.

Quad comes recommended for Arma 2 by the specifications; makes sense the game can use it effeciently, though I haven't played Arma 2 since that upgrade, so little hard to verify. :nope:

At any rate, imho a quad is more future-proof than a dual-core.

What settings are you running arma 2 on? Medium? High?

[Arclight]

Ugh, I don't know. Tried starting it just now, but asked for activation. Pasted my key, activated succesfully, but when I get BIS logo screen it closes claiming bad key. :-?

Either I need to actually install it on this OS (game is on separate drive), or some pirate-pantsy-boy got lucky with his keygen. :nope:

Let you know if I get it running.

[Arclight]

Alright, average of 30 FPS during campaign intro, 25 at speech on carrier, "high" preset, 1280*960.

50-60% CPU usage on average, spikes to over 80% (up to 85%). Distributed over all 4 cores, but 1 or 2 seem to be taxed slightly more.

Q9550 (E0) @2.8GHz
4GB DDR2-800 5-5-5-15
P35 board
8800GTS 512

Can run again with CPU @ 3GHz, but it seems clear Arma 2 really needs those cores. :hmmm:

*Maybe a more powerfull graphics card could take away some load from the CPU, but I can't say how much good it would do you.

[Snakeeyes]

Very helpful. Thanks man!

[Snakeeyes]

Alright, average of 30 FPS during campaign intro, 25 at speech on carrier, "high" preset, 1280*960.

50-60% CPU usage on average, spikes to over 80% (up to 85%). Distributed over all 4 cores, but 1 or 2 seem to be taxed slightly more.

Q9550 (E0) @2.8GHz
4GB DDR2-800 5-5-5-15
P35 board
8800GTS 512

Can run again with CPU @ 3GHz, but it seems clear Arma 2 really needs those cores. :hmmm:

*Maybe a more powerfull graphics card could take away some load from the CPU, but I can't say how much good it would do you.

I have a 9800GTS card right now and like it. I'm looking at the
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor right now but I'm worried about 2 things:


1. power supply- The chip draws 120 watts and graphics card has a hell of a fan. My current power supply is 500 watts. What do you think?

2. temperature monitoring- i'd like to know she's getting too hot before it's too late you know?

[Arclight]

I'm running that on a 520W PSU, CPU is supposed to draw 95W, but it's slightly underclocked (2.8 instead of 2.84GHz). Cranked up the FSB to 1600 instead of 1333, so that's technically overclocked. 1 DVD-RW, 4HDs, X-fi Platinum souncard, 5 fans (3 case + 2 CPU).

520 gives me all the power I need, though I have some concerns about upgrading the graphics card to, say, GTX275/285 or the new GTX460/480 that are on the way. Would feel more comfortable with a 600W supply in that case (750-800 or more if you're interested in SLI/CrossFire or dual-GPU card). :hmmm:

For temp monitor, SpeedFan (http://www.almico.com/sfdownload.php) is a nice tool. Small, light, easy to place on 2nd monitor while playing and keep track of the temps. Might need to click "configure" and deselect some sensors that you don't need, to declutter the display; my 3rd and 4th core weren't visible (window doesn't resize), so I deselected the HD temps.

[Snakeeyes]

I'm running that on a 520W PSU, CPU is supposed to draw 95W, but it's slightly underclocked (2.8 instead of 2.84GHz). Cranked up the FSB to 1600 instead of 1333, so that's technically overclocked. 1 DVD-RW, 4HDs, X-fi Platinum souncard, 5 fans (3 case + 2 CPU).

520 gives me all the power I need, though I have some concerns about upgrading the graphics card to, say, GTX275/285 or the new GTX460/480 that are on the way. Would feel more comfortable with a 600W supply in that case (750-800 or more if you're interested in SLI/CrossFire or dual-GPU card). :hmmm:

For temp monitor, SpeedFan (http://www.almico.com/sfdownload.php) is a nice tool. Small, light, easy to place on 2nd monitor while playing and keep track of the temps. Might need to click "configure" and deselect some sensors that you don't need, to declutter the display; my 3rd and 4th core weren't visible (window doesn't resize), so I deselected the HD temps.

I'm not looking at upgrading the graphics card for the moment either. I'm satisfied with what I get out of it for the time being. This AMD chip I'm looking at gets nothing but positive reviews at the moment. :)

[Arclight]

Aye, nice chip. Affordable, good performer, though quite power-hungry.

You won't find anything that delivers noticeably more performance in the Core lineup, have to look to i5 and beyond for better performance. Although obviously the price goes up then as well. :)

[Snakeeyes]

Aye, nice chip. Affordable, good performer, though quite power-hungry.

You won't find anything that delivers noticeably more performance in the Core lineup, have to look to i5 and beyond for better performance. Although obviously the price goes up then as well. :)

You think 500 watts Power supply can handle it or should I upgrade to 600 watts?

[Arclight]

I think it can handle it, but for the sake of future-proofing, you could go for the 600, maybe even 620/650, depends on the price. If you ever decide to upgrade the card or do some overclocking, you don't have to worry about the PSU suffering a meltdown. ;)

Like I said, I run 520 and it's fine, your CPU would use about 30W more. I've pushed my CPU to 3.4GHz a few times and it still ran fine, voltages stable, though the PSU started putting out quite a bit more heat under load (hence my concern about upgrading).

[Snakeeyes]

I think it can handle it, but for the sake of future-proofing, you could go for the 600, maybe even 620/650, depends on the price. If you ever decide to upgrade the card or do some overclocking, you don't have to worry about the PSU suffering a meltdown. ;)

Like I said, I run 520 and it's fine, your CPU would use about 30W more. I've pushed my CPU to 3.4GHz a few times and it still ran fine, voltages stable, though the PSU started putting out quite a bit more heat under load (hence my concern about upgrading).

Thanks Arc. You've been a ton of help. I'll increase to 600 watts.

[CaptainHaplo]

The Phenom 2's are solid game chips - I am running a 955 black and haven't bottlenecked it yet.

However - you brought up HEAT - and its good you did. The stock fan that came with mine is NOT handling the heat well. May want to invest in a better cooler if you can afford it.

[Snakeeyes]

The Phenom 2's are solid game chips - I am running a 955 black and haven't bottlenecked it yet.

However - you brought up HEAT - and its good you did. The stock fan that came with mine is NOT handling the heat well. May want to invest in a better cooler if you can afford it.

Maybe rip the sides of the case off and put the thing next to the air conditioning vent!

[CaptainHaplo]

Since I have not yet ordered my new fan (weather, school and work, etc having kept me preoccupied), thats exactly what I have done - the cover is off and I pull the machine out of its cubby (one reason it builds up heat is the enclosed space it is supposed to sit in) and let it get full access to ambient air. However, even with it pulled out, if the cover is on, it overheats. Thats why the cover stays off. Running Dirt2 with the cover off and in ambient air (usually 73-75F) the chip will max at about 60C. At idle she sits around 36C.

[Snakeeyes]

Since I have not yet ordered my new fan (weather, school and work, etc having kept me preoccupied), thats exactly what I have done - the cover is off and I pull the machine out of its cubby (one reason it builds up heat is the enclosed space it is supposed to sit in) and let it get full access to ambient air. However, even with it pulled out, if the cover is on, it overheats. Thats why the cover stays off. Running Dirt2 with the cover off and in ambient air (usually 73-75F) the chip will max at about 60C. At idle she sits around 36C.

I'm thinking I'll attach a large home air filter on one side of the case and a dormroom box fan on the other side for clean airflow over the entire unit.

I call it the ghetto heat dispersion system.

[Ships-R-Us]

I also leave the cover off the side of the tower and everything is running much cooler.

[Snakeeyes]

I also leave the cover off the side of the tower and everything is running much cooler.

It ain't pretty but it works.

[Arclight]

That's what she said. :haha:

Sorry, couldn't resist. :oops:

[Snakeeyes]

That's what she said. :haha:

Sorry, couldn't resist. :oops:

That's alright. It's the #1 response of my students in class to awkward questions.

[Arclight]

:rotfl2:

*cough*

Anyway, I agree with CH; get a custom cooler on there to deal with the heat. Always a good idea with the more high-performance chips, especially in a gaming rig. Started out with a E6750 on a stock cooler which tended to climb above 60C pretty quick, now on Q9550 and Ultima90 (http://www.anandtech.com/casecoolingpsus/showdoc.aspx?i=3068) with 2 fans on it; chip barely gets above 50C under load, even when overclocked. :yep:

[Snakeeyes]

:rotfl2:

*cough*

Anyway, I agree with CH; get a custom cooler on there to deal with the heat. Always a good idea with the more high-performance chips, especially in a gaming rig. Started out with a E6750 on a stock cooler which tended to climb above 60C pretty quick, now on Q9550 and Ultima90 (http://www.anandtech.com/casecoolingpsus/showdoc.aspx?i=3068) with 2 fans on it; chip barely gets above 50C under load, even when overclocked. :yep:

What's a decent temp I want to keep the chip at as a benchmark?

[Arclight]

Uhm, dunno what it's rated at, but I don't like it going above 60C. I'd stick to that for max temp on any CPU. :hmmm:

[CaptainHaplo]

Arclight is dead on - my Bios has a heat setting so that it will power off if the chip gets above a user set threshold. Mine is now at 61 - because I can run at 60 without an issue. As for "max" - here is the spec:

Max Temp: 62° Celsius (from extremeoverclocking website quoting AMD's docs)

[Snakeeyes]

Arclight is dead on - my Bios has a heat setting so that it will power off if the chip gets above a user set threshold. Mine is now at 61 - because I can run at 60 without an issue. As for "max" - here is the spec:

Max Temp: 62° Celsius (from extremeoverclocking website quoting AMD's docs)

Roger that

[Snakeeyes]

ARGH!!! cyberpowerpc.com lied to me when they built my rig.

Installed the new power supply.

I'm all ready to install my new super chip and......

I was promised a motherboard that was quad core ready... does this look quad core ready?!

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn174/cobrabase/0211001731.jpg

F NO!!!!!!!!!!!


GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[CaptainHaplo]

ACH that is NOT good. New MB time if you want to continue with the upgrade.

[JSLTIGER]

It is quad-core ready...but only for Core 2 Quads...you can't put an AMD chip into an Intel board...they have different sockets!

[Arclight]

Wait, you turn it on and it fries itself? :o

It is quad-core ready...but only for Core 2 Quads...you can't put an AMD chip into an Intel board...they have different sockets!
Ah yes, AM3 chip in LGA775 doesn't play nice. :doh:

[Snakeeyes]

Yeah... I had worn out my mic port anyway. One on the way designed to work with my Phenom 2.