Upgrade for F.E.A.R

[superkarts]

could u guys tell me what will be the performance difference between these two machines when playing F.E.A.R in 1440*900 resolution with max settings,will it be minimal or huge ?

system 1: (my current)
P4 HT 2.6Mhz 800mhz
1GB 400Mhz DDR RAM
Intel 865GBF board
6800GT AGP 256MB

system 2:
Intel dual core 805
1GB 533Mhz DDR2 RAM
mobo (havent decided one yet)
7600GT PCI-E 256MB

[illuminati]

I dont believe it will be a huge difference, i suggest you go for a Core 2 Duo though - big difference between them and the 805.

[superkarts]

isnt 2.6 ghz enough to play FEAR ?

[ctrlsteef]

The biggest bottleneck on both systems is the GPU. FEAR is really GPU intensive so I suggest you get a better videocard.
I think a Ati X1900XT or nVidia 7900GT are becoming more and more affordable these days.
Those should give you the FEAR performance you are looking for.

About the CPU, it really isn't necessary for games to have a top of the line CPU.
The power of a top spec CPU will only be utilized when you do heavy 3D rendering or a lot of multi tasking etc.

[Bluesilentpro]

Get the D 805 and clock it to 3,5-4GHz. This CPU is a OC-King. Although both processors are quite aged compared to X2 and of course Core 2 Duo.

[DasFox]

isnt 2.6 ghz enough to play FEAR ?

2.0Ghz is enough. ;)

GPU is more important then CPU.

[skeeder]

x1950 pros are about $200 I think. I read about it somewhere.

[blackssr]

could u guys tell me what will be the performance difference between these two machines when playing F.E.A.R in 1440*900 resolution with max settings,will it be minimal or huge ?

system 1: (my current)
P4 HT 2.6Mhz 800mhz
1GB 400Mhz DDR RAM
Intel 865GBF board
6800GT AGP 256MB

system 2:
Intel dual core 805
1GB 533Mhz DDR2 RAM
mobo (havent decided one yet)
7600GT PCI-E 256MB

The 7600 GT is not fast enough to play Fear. The 7900 GTX is required to play the game the way the designers meant it to look.

[Microtia]

The 7600 GT is not fast enough to play Fear. The 7900 GTX is required to play the game the way the designers meant it to look.

Hardly. Depending on the resolution you can easily get away with less than a 7900GTX.

[mengzor]

could u guys tell me what will be
The 7600 GT is not fast enough to play Fear. The 7900 GTX is required to play the game the way the designers meant it to look.

untrue , although you wont be able to crack full settings / AA

[boodikon]

Get a 8800GTX/GTS next week, there out on the 8th

[skipclarke]

X1950 PRO 256MB AGP Cards

[Blinky]

As others have stated, the gpu is MUCH more important than the cpu with FEAR. Firing squad did a comparison of different cpus and found little to no difference in frame rates ... until they tried an sli setup versus a single card setup. Huge increase in frame rates ... (they also tried going from one gigs to two gigs of memory - nothing. No increase).
I'm actually trying to improve FEAR frame rates on my own system - Athlon 64 3500 with an overclocked 7900 GT card ... I want to run it at 1680x1050, most settings maxed (no AA, no soft shadows, medium textures) and for the most part its playable, but in certain areas I can see the frame rate drop and it BUGS the hell out of me. Had to drop down to 1400x900. It still looks nice, but ... not as nice as 1680x1050! Man I wish I had an SLI board ... then all I'd have to do is save up for another video card ....

[neoWidescreen]

I'd agree with Blinky's assessment of FEAR being GPU dependant. Here's some quick benchies i did yesterday when testing O/C'ing my E6600:


FEAR XP
2.4GHz @ Max Settings
Min: 61
Av'ge: 136
Max: 338


FEAR XP
3.0GHz @ Max Settings
Min: 74
Av'ge: 158
Max: 389


Bear in mind that's a 25% CPU overclock; that's not a 25% performance boost.
My GPU is a 7950GX2 btw.

[Blinky]

I'd agree with Blinky's assessment of FEAR being GPU dependant. Here's some quick benchies i did yesterday when testing O/C'ing my E6600:


FEAR XP
2.4GHz @ Max Settings
Min: 61
Av'ge: 136
Max: 338


FEAR XP
3.0GHz @ Max Settings
Min: 74
Av'ge: 158
Max: 389


Bear in mind that's a 25% CPU overclock; that's not a 25% performance boost.
My GPU is a 7950GX2 btw.

Actually, Neo, unless I'm reading your numbers incorrectly, it does look like there might be a benefit to running the game with a faster cpu. Your average frame rate went from 136 to 158? I would see that as a big jump! You say max settings, so I assume that means 1680x1050 or higher? Wonder if I would see the same benefit if I upgraded my cpu ... I only have a 7900 gpu though, so that might negate any benefit ...

[Gilly]

what gpu res neo? 1024x768 numbers imo...

[Blinky]

what gpu res neo? 1024x768 numbers imo...

Yes, neo, I'd like to know this too.

[neoWidescreen]

yeah those are 1024x768 because the stupid fear benchmark sets to that by default. :?

Here are the same benchies: 3GHz, all maxed out settings at 1600x1200 (coz i'm too lazy to apply hack to 16:10... please dont ban me for posting 4:3 scores) :P
That means 4xAA, 16xAF and Soft Shadows ON... though i'd never play with these settings.


FEAR XP
3.0GHz @ Max Settings, 1600x1200
Min: 66
Av'ge: 110
Max: 253

[neoWidescreen]

ok ok... here's the 1920x1200 benchmarks for the sake of completion (and so nobody around here thinks i'm secretly a 4:3 nazi) :lol:

FEAR XP
3.0GHz @ Max Settings, 1920x1200
Min: 62
Av'ge: 95
Max: 227



For sake of completion, my current system settings:

Conroe E6600 @ 3GHz (FSB 333MHz)
2GB DDR2-800 @ 833MHz (mild OC from boosting FSB)
P5W DH Deluxe - 1503 BIOS
7950GX2 @ stock speeds

[Blinky]

ok ok... here's the 1920x1200 benchmarks for the sake of completion (and so nobody around here thinks i'm secretly a 4:3 nazi) :lol:

FEAR XP
3.0GHz @ Max Settings, 1920x1200
Min: 62
Av'ge: 95
Max: 227



For sake of completion, my current system settings:

Conroe E6600 @ 3GHz (FSB 333MHz)
2GB DDR2-800 @ 833MHz (mild OC from boosting FSB)
P5W DH Deluxe - 1503 BIOS
7950GX2 @ stock speeds

Neo - I appreciate your feedback, but don't we need the first set of figures to compare those to? Without the frame rates for the same FEAR settings at your default, non-overclocked cpu speed, we can't see if you get a frame rate increase at higher settings with a faster cpu ...