CPUs Do Affect Gaming Performance, After All

crookedvulture writes "For years, PC hardware sites have maintained that CPUs have little impact on gaming performance; all you need is a decent graphics card. That position is largely supported by FPS averages, but the FPS metric doesn't tell the whole story. Examining individual frame latencies better exposes the brief moments of stuttering that can disrupt otherwise smooth gameplay. Those methods have now been used to quantify the gaming performance of 18 CPUs spanning three generations. The results illustrate a clear advantage for Intel, whose CPUs enjoy lower frame latencies than comparable offerings from AMD. While the newer Intel processors perform better than their predecessors, the opposite tends to be true for the latest AMD chips. Turns out AMD's Phenom II X4 980, which is over a year old, offers lower frame latencies than the most recent FX processors."

Comments

CPU still isn't a bottle neck.

[medv4380]

Yea if I'm trying to render 120fps then yes it's a bottleneck. Chances are you only have a 60Hz monitor so VSync will lock you at 60fps. Most of the tests ran above 60fps with some exceptions on the older CPUs. So you can spend your money on an expensive Intel i7 to render frames you cannot see, or you can buy a cheaper processor and spend the money on a beefy GPU or fix the real bottle neck is the HDD and switching to a SSD is a better improvement.