Single Core Benchmarks with the 8800 Series

[Johnbear007]

I'm sure many of us still have single core processors. Just as indicated in another thread I personally have an a 64 @ 2.55ghz

Is there anyone benchmarking the 88oo series with single core CPU's?

This would be VERY helpful. I've searched high and low but have not yet foudn anything useful.

 

[LittleNemoNES]

Most likely there will be no difference unless the game takes advantage of 2 cores.

 

[lopri]

Which benchmarks do you want to see? I did a bit of benching with Opteron 146 @3.0GHz some time ago. @1600x1200/4AA, you won't lose anything in graphically heavy games. Surely there are CPU bound areas even in those GPU-heavy games (e.g. various cities in Oblivion), but in those circumstances FPS is high enough so it's basically a non-issue.

 

[firewolfsm]

How much are drivers dual core optimized?

 

[deadseasquirrel]

Since there are very few titles out that actually take advantage of using a second core, CPU speed can be used as a "close enough" estimate.

There have been plenty of benchmarks out there that show scaling across a range of CPU speeds with the 8800s. i.e. C2D at 1.8ghz to C2D at 3.3ghz. Dual-core or not, for gaming, your A64 at 2.55ghz fits in there somewhere. And those benchmarks show that, depending on the game and resolution settings, often times, there is no difference.

While I agree it shouldn't be too difficult for testers to run a few more benches with some single-core CPUs, these guys often get the latest and greatest hardware to play with. The older stuff often gets left aside and scrapped. Couple that with the fact that, with few exceptions, anyone building a new system today will be building with a dual-core, and maybe that has a bit to do with it as well.

I certainly wouldn't hold off buying an 8800 because I had an A64 single-core.

 

[Johnbear007]

Thanks for the replies, that is very helpful. With that in mind it seems I should expect to seem some very good performance with my setup which will be an 8800 GTS an a64 @ 2.55 and 2GB of RAM

 

[Johnbear007]

Oh, I also forgot to mention I'm running an Ultra 550 W PSU.. should that be able to handle a single 320mb GTS?

 

[BFG10K]

How much are drivers dual core optimized?

You'll see slight gains (usually 5%-10%) in CPU limited situations.