CPU will bottle-neck Skyrim

[Kerghan]

Apparently if you've got a high end video card and the rest of your machine musters up, your CPU actually becomes the bottle-necking factor in Skyrim. At least according to Tom's Hardware.

 

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/skyrim-performance-benchmark,3074-6.html

 

It appears that this game is processor-limited, even at 1920x1080, and even with our powerful Core i5-2500K running at 4 GHz. Otherwise, we wouldn't expect two GeForce GTX 460s and a single GeForce GTX 570 to perform so similarly.

 

 

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/skyrim-performance-benchmark,3074-9.html

 

This game clearly relies on CPU power, and you need a Sandy Bridge-based Core i3 at 3 GHz or a Phenom II at 3.5 GHz to provide a minimum 30 FPS. Bear in mind that we're using the ultra detail setting here, and processing requirements drop significantly as you start stepping back. So, you can make due with a less potent chip when you dial in detail options appropriately.

 

There isn't any other game I know of that relies so heavily on CPU, but then again...

 

Skyrim doesn’t appear to be optimized for more than two threads.

 

In my case, my i7 920 teamed up with a GTX 580 has been able to handle everything from Crysis 2 to Battlefield 3 at 60-50 fps, but in performance heavy outdoor locations, Skyrim brings the 920 and its measly 2.66 Ghz clock rate to its knees. Of course this might not have been the case if the game had better multi-core optimization.

 

If you've got a mid-range cpu and video card, you don't need to worry about this.

[Tzz]

This whole test seems wrong (most probably they only tested it with a few computers).

 

I'm running it with a 560Ti and a Phenom II at 3.2 Ghz at Ultra (even modified the .ini for higher shadow and reflection resolutions) getting far more than 30 fps.

A friend of mine on the other hand uses a 6850 and an i7 running at 3.5Ghz and he has to run the game on High to get decent frames.

 

I think the problem lies in the fact that Skyrim seems to act up randomly, some people can run the game fine with the same hardware that other people can't.

[Ghogiel]

Beth games have always be cpu intensive.

lots of AI and lots of physics objects are the main factors in that.

 

Coupled with the idea that having a high end gpu would easily handle everything in Skyrim no prob, means that only leaves the cpu to bottleneck lol

 

Tzz- your friend should be running in ultra with a few tweaks according to what I am getting, his cpu is better than mine. :confused:

Edited November 13, 2011 by Ghogiel

[Wertoret]

Not for me, according to MSI afterburner, max CPU usage was 70%, while max GPU usage was 99%, this playing on ultra and running around on open world.

 

my processor: i7 2630QM 2.00 GHz and my GPU is Radeon HD 6770m (2GB)

 

 

[saldu]

According to several tests and user experience, my computer should not be able to run it at medium with acceptable fps. But skyrim defaulted to high and runs between 30-35 fps with all ingame sliders maxed.

Cpu: Core2Duo e8400 3.0ghz (not overclocked, but I read it's easily overclockable without any risk)

Gpu: Radeon Hd4870 pro 512mb with outdated drivers

rest is also from that time.

It's breaking all tests and all common sense.

[Tzz]

Not for me, according to MSI afterburner, max CPU usage was 70%, while max GPU usage was 99%, this playing on ultra and running around on open world.

 

my processor: i7 2630QM 2.00 GHz and my GPU is Radeon HD 6770m (2GB)

 

Mine is similar, my processor isn't being used to it's full extend. I think it also isn't making use of all four cores though I gotta doublecheck that sometime.

[Ghogiel]

Not for me, according to MSI afterburner, max CPU usage was 70%, while max GPU usage was 99%, this playing on ultra and running around on open world.

 

my processor: i7 2630QM 2.00 GHz and my GPU is Radeon HD 6770m (2GB)

You don't have a high end gpu silly. For a start it is a m and it's somewhere in the mid range.

 

Assume you have something like a 470s in sli, 580, or 6950/6970.

[Tzz]

Not for me, according to MSI afterburner, max CPU usage was 70%, while max GPU usage was 99%, this playing on ultra and running around on open world.

 

my processor: i7 2630QM 2.00 GHz and my GPU is Radeon HD 6770m (2GB)

You don't have a high end gpu silly. For a start it is a m and it's somewhere in the mid range.

 

Assume you have something like a 470s in sli, 580, or 6950/6970.

 

The point isn't that he doesn't have a high-end GPU. He's running the game on ultra and the processor usage is 70% which contradicts the statement that the processor is a major bottle-neck in Skyrim.

[4dvz]

I`m playing with ultra 1080p + lots of ini tweaks + forced ambient occlusion. With e6600 dual 2 core overclocked to 3ghz, and gtx 460 1gb. Outside fps generally +25, indoors +35. Hard to believe it`s that much about cpu, I mean mine is almost ancient. Edited November 13, 2011 by 4dvz

[thundermonk]

Not for me, according to MSI afterburner, max CPU usage was 70%, while max GPU usage was 99%, this playing on ultra and running around on open world.

 

my processor: i7 2630QM 2.00 GHz and my GPU is Radeon HD 6770m (2GB)

You don't have a high end gpu silly. For a start it is a m and it's somewhere in the mid range.

 

Assume you have something like a 470s in sli, 580, or 6950/6970.

 

The point isn't that he doesn't have a high-end GPU. He's running the game on ultra and the processor usage is 70% which contradicts the statement that the processor is a major bottle-neck in Skyrim.

 

You need to check the usage per core though. If only a couple of cores are stressed, you may very well have 70% CPU usage and still be CPU limited. If the Tom's benchmark is to be believed, higher clocked processors show a large improvement over stock clocks, indicating that the game is CPU limited.