CPU being bottleneck at low res/old games explanation?

iminurstuff · Jun 17, 2010

i've made some suggestions for some people's computer builds on another forum, and i think i'll end up needing a proper explanation to link to for an explanation of how your CPU can bottleneck you at low resoltuions/old games.

if someone here can give a proper explanation, it would be very much appreciated. i *think* i understand it pretty well, but i probably can't explain it sufficiently to prove it to doubters. or if someone knows a link to an already existing explanation, that would be quite nice as well.

errrr, i put this in the video card forum...sorry if its the wrong one, but its video card related?...

CDdude55 · Jun 17, 2010

It's been said that the lower the resolution, the more CPU dependent, so if you have a crappy CPU, you'll have a crappy gaming experience at that low res. The higher the res the more pixels needed to be pushed, hence making it more of a task for the video card.

I don't have any links to though.

cadaveca · Jun 17, 2010

At lower resolutions, more data is transfered between the cpu and gpu(due to the higher framerate), as well as the driver(which runs off of cpu) has to work harder managing the higher framerates.

That's the short and long of it. Every time a frame is completed, new driver commands must be sent for each succesive frame, so the vga knows what it is doing. @ 60FPS, that happens 60 times per second, but @ 120FPS, that happens 120 times per second, so it's not really the lower res causing the need for more cpu...it's purely based on the number of frames rendered.

At higher resolutions, the same work is being done by the cpu per frame, so workload doesn't really change...it's all about the gpu's driver.

iminurstuff · Jun 17, 2010

oh well, i figured it would be understood lower res = higher framerate, apologies. (obviously if you can run a game at 1920 x1080 at 60 fps, you'll run it at 640x480 a lot faster)

thanks for the responses

Processor	core 2 e6400
Motherboard	ecs nforce 570
Cooling	titan water cooler
Memory	patriot 2gb
Video Card(s)	xfx 8600gt fatal1ty
Audio Device(s)	creative xfi

System Name	CDdude's Rig!
Processor	AMD Athlon II X4 620
Motherboard	Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3
Cooling	Corsair H70
Memory	8GB Corsair Vengence @1600mhz
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Processor	core 2 e6400
Motherboard	ecs nforce 570
Cooling	titan water cooler
Memory	patriot 2gb
Video Card(s)	xfx 8600gt fatal1ty
Audio Device(s)	creative xfi

CPU being bottleneck at low res/old games explanation?

iminurstuff

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CDdude55

Crazy 4 TPU!!!

cadaveca

My name is Dave

iminurstuff

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