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CPUs Do Affect Gaming Performance, After All

Posted by timothy on from the that's-just-what-jesus-said dept.

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."

1 of 220 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Err by Ironhandx · · Score: 1, Redundant

    Um, it is true. Frame latency doesnt even matter. Its less than 1ms in ALL cases. IE: Its imperceptible.

    I just bought a FX4100 purely because it was cheap, had ENOUGH power, and with an excellent video card setup a better intel chip wouldn't provide any sort of noticeable performance increase. Current-Gen CPUs so far overpower current-gen game engines cpu requirements that this argument is just plain silly.

    I even see someone making the argument that AI is causing massive cpu load.... get fucking real, AI has improved, but the most CPU intensive AI in a main stream video game to date was in Sins of a Solar Empire, and even on low video settings with 8 AIs running(on hardest diff) and putting them on instant build to churn out units the video card was still the limiter for watching the most massive ridiculous battle.

    There are a few Game engines(like Eve Onlines game engine) that were coded mostly in CPU instruction and run mostly on the processor. CCP is in the process of fixing Eves engine and have made great strides but it still eats a lot of CPU time. Not many games exist in the same boat.