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Can an old CPU do better than a new one

mt004
Beginner
3,422 Views

Hello,

am posting here because am running out of ideas for a particular problem, granted a niche one. I'm playing a lot of Forgotten Hope 2 (FH2), a mod of Battlefield 2 which came out in 2005. I'm playing in a mode which is effectively singleplayer but it is called 'coop' mode and you are effectively hosting a server on your own computer, on which you and a number of ai players (bots) fight it out on wide plains or narrow streets. A few years ago I used an i7 4790 3.6ghz, with 16gb DDR3, no SSD, then the GPU was a Radeon R9 270 2GB. I played FH2 matches with about 60 bots but sometimes when doing tests would play with up to 90 bots. I would consistently enjoy 60fps. Now about a year ago I moved on to a new machine, i7 10700 2.9ghz 16gb DDR4, an SSD, then the GPU is GeForce GTX 1660 Ti. I play matches of FH2 with 60 bots and struggle to reach 60 fps - it does happen but only when there isn't much happening in the map area around me. Based on various tips online I upgraded to the i7 10700k 3.6ghz as that is regarded as important for BF2 given it is a single-threaded program and in this 'coop' scenario you are running a server and playing a game. Still, I am struggling with the fps. I cannot understand this but I'm trying to rule out which areas of hardware/software are not to blame here. The monitor settings haven't changed at all, the game settings haven't changed at all. So my question is, is it possible that an older CPU like the 4790 could have some sort of training in its brain which handles an odd game like BF2 better than the present-day 10700? Or is is the case that each CPU is obviously better than the previous ones at handling these things and that the problem is more likely with Windows or the GPU or... something else?

Just a little extra example of the difference here, which may be a red herring but here goes. When you start loading a map for FH2, a custom animated curser will start moving, in this case a 3D bear which spins round and round during the load action. With the old machine, that curser animation would begin as soon as you saw the load screen. With this current machine, there is maybe a 2 or 3 second delay before the curser animation begins, suggesting to me (I could be very wrong) that the current CPU is busy with the files load process, whilst with the previous CPU it could handle both the load process and the cursor animation.

Many thanks to any wizards who have ideas on this; I feel very foolish somehow sitting here with a powerful computer which handles software poorly when the weaker computer did great at it.

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AlHill
Super User
3,396 Views

Which OS?

HDD and/or SSD involved?

 

 

You left out some important pieces.

 

Doc (not an Intel employee or contractor)
[Maybe Windows 12 will be better]

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mt004
Beginner
3,393 Views

Sorry yes the OS for the old machine was Windows 8.1. The OS for the current machine is Windows 10. The old machine had no SSD, whilst the current one has a 512GB SSD and a 1TB HDD - I haven't used the HDD for anything so far.

Also in case it helps, the old machine was called 'HP Envy 700 311na', whilst the current one is a Dell XPS 8940.

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mt004
Beginner
3,336 Views

Sorry yes the OS for the old machine was Windows 8.1. The OS for the current machine is Windows 10. The old machine had no SSD, whilst the current one has a 512GB SSD and a 1TB HDD - I haven't used the HDD for anything so far.

Also in case it helps, the old machine was called 'HP Envy 700 311na', whilst the current one is a Dell XPS 8940. I don't know whether it's a case of the 8940 makers putting limits on the CPU's abilities to guarantee low operating temperatures / poewr consumption - that's just a guess.

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Steven_Intel
Moderator
3,316 Views

Hello mt004,


Thank you for posting on the Intel® communities.


I am sorry you are having issues reaching the desire FPS, I will be glad to assist you.


Please provide the following information:



As well, please perform these steps:



Best regards,


Steven G.

Intel Customer Support Technician.


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mt004
Beginner
3,298 Views

Thanks Steven; to confirm, the latest Windows 10 updates, Dell updates including BIOS and the Nvidia driver updates are all in place. The monitor is plugged into the 1660 DVI port so I assume that means I'm using dedicated graphics - I couldn't see an option to confirm this in the Nvidia Control Panel. I don't hear the graphics card fan whirring any louder when the game starts running but I assumed this was because it's an old game which only taxes the card a little - I could be wrong here though! Attached is the test result .txt for the CPU diagnostic tool you mentioned. Also attached are the Nvidia Control Panel settings for the BF2/FH2 program, which override some of the ingame graphics settings, though I've attached a screenshot of them too if that helps. Do let me know if you spot anything here which could solve the mystery. There is an FPS indicator that comes with FH2 but I'm pretty sure it's broken; it indicates 400fps when the combat hasn't started yet and when the fighting gets going it drops to around 55-58fps, but neither the high or the 'low' are correct - during combat there is clear lag compared to what I experienced on my old machine; even when the game first begins I can see a little sluggishness in the graphics. As I've mentioned before it's really odd that the custom animation cursor can't start moving for 2/3 seconds after the map load process begins, when on the old machine it could handle that extra task. Perhaps this has nothing to do with the CPUs' abilities and is in fact linked to safety features Dell has placed on my system which unnecessarily throttles it. But I'll wait for your comments on all this. Thanks again.

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mt004
Beginner
3,254 Views

Hi again, I did one more test today, using my backup computer to have an LAN game of FH2 against the main computer (backup PC specs are HP Pavillion i5 8400 2.8ghz, 8gb DDR4 RAM, 1TB HDD, Nvidia GTX 1050, Windows 10). I tried a few games, sometimes with the main PC as the host, sometimes with backup PC as the host. In all cases, the host PC had this same lag issue whilst the other machine didn't; granted the experience by the non-host PC wasn't perfect because for some reason the non-host LAN player sees some broken animations for weapons and other soldiers and some sounds don't play, but no lag.

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Steven_Intel
Moderator
3,222 Views

Thank you for all the information provided.


It is very likely you are using the dedicated graphics card to run the game, and it would totally make sense since you are using the monitor connected to it. In any case, I would ensure this information by contacting Dell support, and ask about the hybrid graphics configuration on the device.


If you are using the dedicated graphics card, our best recommendation is to contact Nvidia support for further assistance regarding the graphics configuration and the game lagging, as the processor seems to be working fine based on the test results.


Please let me know your thoughts about this, and I will be glad to assist you further.


Best regards,


Steven G.

Intel Customer Support Technician.


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mt004
Beginner
3,217 Views

Ok thanks for checking there Steven; I'll try the card route next.

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Steven_Intel
Moderator
3,196 Views

Thank you for your response.


For now, we will proceed to close this thread. If you need any additional information, please submit a new question, as this thread will no longer be monitored.


Best regards,


Steven G.

Intel Customer Support Technician


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