CPU bound in FO4

Wilst · 29 Nov 2015 at 16:16

My trusty old rig is really starting to struggle with fallout 4 and is murdered by a lot of the outdoor sections. All the advice for turning down settings seems to be based around GPU bound systems. Any advice on which settings to change for my rig to get the prettiest consistent (min 25fps?) playable experience would be much appreciated.

Playing at 1080
e6400 at 3.2
4 Gig of ram
r9 290
Crucial M4 ssd

Thanks

breadturbo · 29 Nov 2015 at 16:21

The cheapest and easiest option would be to throw a used quadcore, a Q6600 or Q9650 in there (they are both listed in the cpu support of your motherboard but you may need to update the bios).

You will also find that the E6400 has been limiting your 290 on EVERY game not just FO4,
expect improvements across the board.

BaDBoY_uK · 29 Nov 2015 at 16:22

How much VRAM does your 290 have? I bet it's that

Also what res do you play at?

Antony101 · 29 Nov 2015 at 16:29

BaDBoY_uK said:
How much VRAM does your 290 have? I bet it's that

Also what res do you play at?

Aren't they a minimum of 4GB? It's much more likely to be the CPU. Even 2GB should be plenty at 1080p.

breadturbo · 29 Nov 2015 at 16:31

Antony101 said:
Aren't they a minimum of 4GB? It's much more likely to be the CPU.

They are, the OPs cpu is an old 775 dual core, with a Q9650 in there and a very easily (on that board) 3.6ghz OC, I don't see why he cant get 60fps stable on very high settings there? (although I don't play at 1080)

MooMoo444 · 29 Nov 2015 at 16:32

CPU is almost 10 years old, and at 3.2 it's quite low clocked for what is considered normal these days. It is definitely the weak link in that system.

Wilst · 29 Nov 2015 at 16:34

Thanks,

290 was a recent upgrade from a 4890 for fallout, I hadn't appreciated just how far behind the curve the e6400 is now even for gaming! I know one of the i5 4690k bundles is probably the answer tbh but just wondering what setting to drop to make the best of it now. I could go and find my old spreadsheet of settings and OC upto about 3.7ish but would rather not for the noise.

How well is fallout 4 optimised for quads?

I thought a 290 was about the sweetspot for 1080p gaming?

Thanks

Terminal_Boy · 29 Nov 2015 at 16:35

breadturbo said:
The cheapest and easiest option would be to throw a used quadcore, a Q6600 or Q9650 in there (they are both listed in the cpu support of your motherboard but you may need to update the bios).

You will also find that the E6400 has been limiting your 290 on EVERY game not just FO4,
expect improvements across the board.

This.

A Q6600 will make a huge change.

Your 290 is fine for FO4 at 1080p.

I had to cap FO4 to 60fps using Riva Tuner to avoid the "stuck Terminal" bug.

Wilst · 29 Nov 2015 at 16:41

Oh WOW q6600's go for £20ish now? Thats a no brainer then if it'll let me eak out a bit more time on this rig at 1080p for a bit. Is 4gig of ram likely to be limiting me for FO4?

breadturbo · 29 Nov 2015 at 16:43

Wilst said:
Thanks,

290 was a recent upgrade from a 4890 for fallout, I hadn't appreciated just how far behind the curve the e6400 is now even for gaming! I know one of the i5 4690k bundles is probably the answer tbh but just wondering what setting to drop to make the best of it now. I could go and find my old spreadsheet of settings and OC upto about 3.7ish but would rather not for the noise.

How well is fallout 4 optimised for quads?

I thought a 290 was about the sweetspot for 1080p gaming?

Thanks

It will make a laaaaarge difference, a Q6600 can be had for 20quid on a certain auction site, and the 290 is perfect for 1080p.

Although I can't guarantee it, I've had 5-6 Q6600's and not one has done less than 3.6ghz (all G0 SLACR's mind).

Tom|Nbk · 29 Nov 2015 at 16:46

guys what are you opinions on an Intel i5 750 at 4Ghz, just bought a 980ti to go with it but wondering if its become a weak link yet? definitely still feels quick.

chroniclard · 29 Nov 2015 at 17:50

4GB of Ram isnt helping either. Suspect that is also a weak link. Would be cheap enough to upgrade.

MooMoo444 · 29 Nov 2015 at 17:59

Can get 2x 4gb sticks of DDR2 for pennies these days, or 4x2gb for even cheaper.

Columbo · 29 Nov 2015 at 20:55

Tom|Nbk said:
guys what are you opinions on an Intel i5 750 at 4Ghz, just bought a 980ti to go with it but wondering if its become a weak link yet? definitely still feels quick.

Running 2x 780's in SLI on my 750 @ 4ghz.
Never missed a beat yet and certainly don't feel the need to upgrade.

Limpnoodle · 6 Dec 2015 at 22:28

Not to take away from the e6400, was a great chip, mine would run at 3.8ghz 24/7, but you really do need at least a quad core cpu nowadays (unless the newer intel cpu's with hyper threading?)

Dup · 6 Dec 2015 at 22:43

I'm running a Q9550 at 3.4GHz, 4Gb RAM with 2x 6970. I'm very CPU limited. Cards hardly go over 50% usage. First game in a long time that's been a struggle to run. The settings make little difference. I get stutters and it grinds down to a halt at times. But it is playable. I haven't visted any of the major locations mind you.

Tis 6 years old now sadly. Wish I could afford to bring my system upto date. Frustrating as I have an i7 MacBook but obviously no gfx grunt.

Limpnoodle · 6 Dec 2015 at 23:27

You need 2gb gpu ram atleast (maybe more)
1gb ram just wont work.
This is my experience from a 5850 1gb, it does work ok in the wilderness but it just isnt enough for the city area's and stuff

But peeps reckon the game is cpu bound not gpu
Just get a Q6600 or Q9650 and see how it goes

SonniLombardi · 6 Dec 2015 at 23:37

Q6600 won't be much better either to be honest, I had that back in the day (was a fantastic chip back then) with a 560Ti and it was bottlenecking it in a lot of games.

Time to upgrade and get a new mobo+cpu op

Limpnoodle · 6 Dec 2015 at 23:56

Something like
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/amd-...hz-socket-am3-processor-retail-cp-337-am.html
and
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...0a-socket-am3-ddr3-motherboard-mb-457-gi.html

But i'm sure other peeps will better give better offer, and you could go intell

Tom|Nbk · 7 Dec 2015 at 00:48

Columbo said:
Running 2x 780's in SLI on my 750 @ 4ghz.
Never missed a beat yet and certainly don't feel the need to upgrade.

Same thoughts, had mine since day one so its nearly 7 years old!!!!

Pushed it to 4.2Ghz recently