Gaming How Well Can This Play Games?

[[MLG]xX420NoScopeBlazeXx]

SOME people on this forum are saying I should "get a PC" because "all I care about are specs and graphics". This NOT true, but it made me want to give PC another try. I used to PC game in the early 2000s, but not so much afterwards. I'm not so familiar with recent hardware.

My cousin gave me his old desktop last year, so I'm wondering if it'll play current and upcoming games. I already ran Minecraft pretty well on it, but I don't think it's very demanding.

Here are the specs:

Intel Core2 Quad Q9650 3.0 GHz
4 GB Memory
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285
320 GB Hard Drive
Windows Vista

Looking inside the case I see an ASUS motherboard and a 750W Corsair power supply.

So what kind of gaming can I expect from this desktop? Will it run CoD: Advanced Warfare and Battlefield 4? What about upcoming games?

Will putting a new OS on it like Windows 8 help?

 

[DinohScene]

Seeing you wank over FPS and resolutions and graphics.
Not a lot.

You'll need the latest i7 along with 8/16 gigs and one of the latest GPU's to play everything at max.

This will let you play most games on medium quality.

 

[Duo8]

SOME people on this forum are saying I should "get a PC" because "all I care about are specs and graphics". This NOT true, but it made me want to give PC another try. I used to PC game in the early 2000s, but not so much afterwards. I'm not so familiar with recent hardware.

My cousin gave me his old desktop last year, so I'm wondering if it'll play current and upcoming games. I already ran Minecraft pretty well on it, but I don't think it's very demanding.

Here are the specs:

Intel Core2 Quad Q9650 3.0 GHz
4 GB Memory
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285
320 GB Hard Drive
Windows Vista

Looking inside the case I see an ASUS motherboard and a 750W Corsair power supply.

So what kind of gaming can I expect from this desktop? Will it run CoD: Advanced Warfare and Battlefield 4? What about upcoming games?

Will putting a new OS on it like Windows 8 help?

Hmm. It seems pretty outdated.
I say buy a new PC because you'd want a new GPU, more RAM, larger HDD and a new CPU, which in turn requires a new MB.
The PSU and case should be fine though.

 

[[MLG]xX420NoScopeBlazeXx]

Hmm. It seems pretty outdated.
I say buy a new PC because you'd want a new GPU, more RAM, larger HDD and a new CPU, which in turn requires a new MB.
The PSU and case should be fine though.

Probably have to build. Not buy. I'm not rich.

Seeing you wank over FPS and resolutions and graphics.
Not a lot.

You'll need the latest i7 along with 8/16 gigs and one of the latest GPU's to play everything at max.

This will let you play most games on medium quality.

I'm not up to date with PC, but you seem to be completely ignorant of it. PC gaming is GPU-bound, with CPU being a distant secondary, and with RAM being even less important.

Unless the way 3D game worked changed in one decade, I doubt I need a new CPU or RAM. I graphics card is the only thing I'm worried about.

 

[DinohScene]

I'm not up to date with PC, but you seem to be completely ignorant of it. PC gaming is GPU-bound, with CPU being a distant secondary, and with RAM being even less important.

Unless the way 3D game worked changed in one decade, I doubt I need a new CPU or RAM. I graphics card is the only thing I'm worried about.

Seeing you wank over FPS and resolutions and graphics.
Not a lot.

You'll need the latest i7 along with 8/16 gigs and one of the latest GPU's to play everything at max.

This will let you play most games on medium quality.

Either you're ignorant, or completely blind.

 

[[MLG]xX420NoScopeBlazeXx]

You'll need the latest i7 along with 8/16 gigs

So what was that about?

 

[Duo8]

Probably have to build. Not buy. I'm not rich.

The same thing really. Who buys premade PCs these days

I'm not up to date with PC, but you seem to be completely ignorant of it. PC gaming is GPU-bound, with CPU being a distant secondary, and with RAM being even less important.

Unless the way 3D game worked changed in one decade, I doubt I need a new CPU or RAM. I graphics card is the only thing I'm worried about.

Games are being more and more CPU intensive as AI and physics progress. Some neat games are actually mostly CPU (though you won't play them anyway). Emulators are also CPU intensive.
RAM is important. Watch Dogs for example stutters because I don't have enough RAM. Eventually some games will not even run with 4GB.
GPU eh? GTX 980 lol
But really. Look up this thing called "bottlenecking".

 

[DinohScene]

So what was that about?

Games are being more and more CPU intensive as AI and physics progress. Some neat games are actually mostly CPU (though you won't play them anyway).

Exactly this.

 

[[MLG]xX420NoScopeBlazeXx]

Exactly this.

The same thing really. Who buys premade PCs these days



Games are being more and more CPU intensive as AI and physics progress. Some neat games are actually mostly CPU (though you won't play them anyway). Emulators are also CPU intensive.
RAM is important. Watch Dogs for example stutters because I don't have enough RAM. Eventually some games will not even run with 4GB.
GPU eh? GTX 980 lol

But really. Look up this thing called "bottlenecking".

But not an i7. High-end CPU's like the i7 are more for processional work. I went to other sites and they all say an i5 is good enough for gaming.

A search of benchmarks show that the Core2 Quad I have is on-par with mid-end modern CPUs like the Core i5-3470T 2.9 GHz. Or do you see something wrong with my logic?

What game doesn't run with 4GB of RAM? And don't say CoD Ghosts cause that's the worst CoD and is the only game I know that needs more than 4GB.

 

[Duo8]

But not an i7. High-end CPU's like the i7 are more for processional work. I went to other sites and they all say an i5 is good enough for gaming.

A search of benchmarks show that the Core2 Quad I have is on-par with mid-end modern CPUs like the Core i5-3470T 2.9 GHz. Or do you see something wrong with my logic?

What game doesn't run with 4GB of RAM? And don't say CoD Ghosts cause that's the worst CoD and is the only game I know that needs more than 4GB.

That core i5 isn't new. It's 2 (and soon to be 3) generations behind. And isn't that C2Q high-end?
Your CPU scores 4238 while my mid-end i5 4570 scores 7069.
Some other things you may not care is that CPU design has changed. They now have better performance for less power (which means less heat, something you should also care about, especially if you want a nvidia card lol). They also supports newer technology (though games don't often use them).
And those old Core CPUs still use FSB right? Intel removed the FSB design because it was such a huge bottleneck.
But yeah a top-tier i7 isn't necessary if you're only playing those games.
You can try switching to AMD to save costs but I don't know about those.

Watch Dogs runs terribly with only 4GB. Most games recommend 8GB now. You might want more than 4GB for futureproofing purposes.

 

[[MLG]xX420NoScopeBlazeXx]

That core i5 isn't new. It's 2 (and soon to be 3) generations behind. And isn't that C2Q high-end?
Your CPU scores 4238 while my mid-end i5 4570 scores 7069.
Some other things you may not care is that CPU design has changed. They now have better performance for less power (which means less heat, something you should also care about, especially if you want a nvidia card lol). They also supports newer technology (though games don't often use them).
And those old Core CPUs still use FSB right? Intel removed the FSB design because it was such a huge bottleneck.
But yeah a top-tier i7 isn't necessary if you're only playing those games.
You can try switching to AMD to save costs but I don't know about those.

Watch Dogs runs terribly with only 4GB. Most games recommend 8GB now. You might want more than 4GB for futureproofing purposes.

I believe it's one of the highest-end C2Q's. But that's my exact point. Wouldn't it make more sense to only upgrade the GPU for now, and do a mobo/CPU upgrade later down the road? The GPU I believe is holding the PC back. It's not even capable of DX11.

But those numbers don't look *too* bad. 4238 vs 7069. At least it's in the same ballpark. It's still a quad-core CPU.

Watch Dogs is... meh. GTA with hacking. The thing is, there seem to be VERY few games that need a lot of RAM. It's pretty well know that Watch Dogs is poorly optimized, as is CoD Ghosts.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

Intel T processors are low-power CPUs, your current CPU reaches that performance because that particular i5 isn't performance heavy whereas the Core2 Quad were meant to be the powerhouses of it's day.

You're definitely going to need to upgrade the CPU and the GPU if you want to do modern gaming, and since the Quad Core line's socket isn't supported anymore you'll need to upgrade the mobo as well, and 4GB of RAM is pushing it these days, future games will require at least 6GB.

Mid-range Intel i5's should be good enough, the Intel i5-3570k should last a while. GPU-wise you have a couple choices, AMD if you're on a budget or Nvidia if you have cash to spend. The GTX 760 is nice, I think it retails for about $220 or so these days. If you've got $400 to waste on a GPU, Nvidia unveiled the new Maxwell GPUs so a GTX 970 would futureproof you for a while. If you have a bit of a budget, AMD's R9 270x is fairly nice for ~$200.


EDIT: Oh and I deleted your extra post.

 

[Duo8]

I believe it's one of the highest-end C2Q's. But that's my exact point. Wouldn't it make more sense to only upgrade the GPU for now, and do a mobo/CPU upgrade later down the road? The GPU I believe is holding the PC back. It's not even capable of DX11.

But those numbers don't look *too* bad. 4238 vs 7069. At least it's in the same ballpark. It's still a quad-core CPU.

Watch Dogs is... meh. GTA with hacking. The thing is, there seem to be VERY few games that need a lot of RAM. It's pretty well know that Watch Dogs is poorly optimized, as is CoD Ghosts.

What? That's almost twice the score. Also the CPU you mentioned above is a low-energy faux quad core one.

About the optimization thing. Most AAA titles in the future will be like that. Not sure if "poorly optimized" is accurate but they'll be like that, at least until something like Source 2, UE4 or idTech 5 comes around.
And those games (CoD, BF, ubisoft games, ...) won't use those engines.

But you could try upgrading the GPU first to see if it works for you. Couldn't hurt. Just don't be surprised when you have to upgrade the rest next year.

Spoiler

As a reference, this is my PC:
i5 4570
4GB RAM
HD7750 (1GB GDDR5)

Here are the games I tried, all on 1080p except AC4:
Watch Dogs: 40FPS on low, with stutters.
AC4: 27 FPS on high 1080p, 40-60 FPS on high/mid 900p
Minecraft: 60 FPS (VSync) on Far. 11 FPS with SEUS on Medium.
DXHR: 60FPS, everything maxed out.
UE4 Room demo: 20FPS with all effects.
UE4 Effects cave: 8-10 FPS
Dolphin emu: 60 FPS 2xres + 2xAA, except SMG2 dips to 40 FPS.

 

[[MLG]xX420NoScopeBlazeXx]

Intel T processors are low-power CPUs, your current CPU reaches that performance because that particular i5 isn't performance heavy whereas the Core2 Quad were meant to be the powerhouses of it's day.

You're definitely going to need to upgrade the CPU and the GPU if you want to do modern gaming, and since the Quad Core line's socket isn't supported anymore you'll need to upgrade the mobo as well, and 4GB of RAM is pushing it these days, future games will require at least 6GB.

Mid-range Intel i5's should be good enough, the Intel i5-3570k should last a while. GPU-wise you have a couple choices, AMD if you're on a budget or Nvidia if you have cash to spend. The GTX 760 is nice, I think it retails for about $220 or so these days. If you've got $400 to waste on a GPU, Nvidia unveiled the new Maxwell GPUs so a GTX 970 would futureproof you for a while. If you have a bit of a budget, AMD's R9 270x is fairly nice for ~$200.


EDIT: Oh and I deleted your extra post.

My current setup should be able to play current and slightly older games though, correct? Battlefield 3 or something from the past couple years?

Game framerate benchmarks are hard to find for such an old GPU, but specs wise it's still about 4 times as powerful as the Xbawks360/PS3. I know that those consoles only ran at 720p, but having 4x power should in theory allow 1080p, but not max setting. Should be better than my 360, right?

As a reference, this is my PC:
i5 4570
4GB RAM
HD7750 (1GB GDDR5)

Here are the games I tried, all on 1080p except AC4:
Watch Dogs: 40FPS on low, with stutters.
AC4: 27 FPS on high 1080p, 40-60 FPS on high/mid 900p
Minecraft: 60 FPS (VSync) on Far. 11 FPS with SEUS on Medium.
DXHR: 60FPS, everything maxed out.
UE4 Room demo: 20FPS with all effects.
UE4 Effects cave: 8-10 FPS
Dolphin emu: 60 FPS 2xres + 2xAA, except SMG2 dips to 40 FPS.

Wait a minute... your GPU is barely more powerful than mine. And despite CPU being somewhat important, it's STILL mostly GPU. You sure you're not bottlenecking?

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

My current setup should be able to play current and slightly older games though, correct? Battlefield 3 or something from the past couple years?

Game framerate benchmarks are hard to find for such an old GPU, but specs wise it's still about 4 times as powerful as the Xbawks360/PS3. I know that those consoles only ran at 720p, but having 4x power should in theory allow 1080p, but not max setting. Should be better than my 360, right?

Stop comparing PC hardware to Consoles. Just...stop. You look like a fucking moron.

Shit like Battlefield might run at medium settings on 1080p, you'd probably get an average FPS of 40 or so (though those benchmarks use CPUs with more power than yours, so it might be a bit less). The GTX 285 is old, it uses an old architecture, it uses old Memory configs, it uses a ton of power. It's just not going to cut it.

 

[[MLG]xX420NoScopeBlazeXx]

Stop comparing PC hardware to Consoles. Just...stop. You look like a fucking moron.

Shit like Battlefield might run at medium settings on 1080p, you'd probably get an average FPS of 40 or so (though those benchmarks use CPUs with more power than yours, so it might be a bit less). The GTX 285 is old, it uses an old architecture, it uses old Memory configs, it uses a ton of power. It's just not going to cut it.

Still better than the 7th gen consoles.

 

[DinohScene]

Still better than the 7th gen consoles.

Comparing 7th gen consoles to 2010's hardware.
You're dumber then a wheeliebin.

You can't even remotely compare console hardware to PC hardware.
Their two entirely different things.

 

[Duo8]

Wait a minute... your GPU is barely more powerful than mine. And despite CPU being somewhat important, it's STILL mostly GPU. You sure you're not bottlenecking?

Well that CPU is more powerful because I intend to emulate systems. So this is the expected performance.

You can see that I can do dolphin without any problem, something not an old CPU can do, not the latest i3 or lower i5 even.

Anyway I presume you won't be doing that, in which case I suggest upgrading the GPU then the whole system later when possible.
Not considering CPU and RAM, remember that there are two possible bottlenecks: FSB and (possibly) old PCIe interface.

Also upgrade your OS to something like 8.1, especially if you want DX12.

 

[Ericthegreat]

Its not that the console hardware is better, the console versions of games are specifcally tuned to work well on that system vs the generic pc version. (and even then somtimes the console versions are on very low settings)

 

[lismati]

I think that all of your C2Q praise is a rationalisation for "I don't want to believe that my PC is a bit on the shit side of the force"
If you want to enjoy modern games, you need to shell out some dollars here. Bitter pill to swallow, but Windows 8 mahjong is about as modern as you can go with your current setup. And if you're so against upgrades, just fuck it and buy a PS4.

 

[Originality]

These kinds of debates arise from not being clear in your needs. So for my own sake, I'll try and break it down and you can correct me if I'm wrong.

You got an old C2Q desktop with a GTX285 and want to play modern shooters on it. Your main question in this thread is "will it run?"

Fact is, it will run Battlefield 4. It's over the minimum specs and roughly on par with the recommended specs. I didn't check CoD: AW or any other shooters because BF4 should be enough for a comparison. This doesn't mean you can play maxed settings, but at least you'll get medium to high settings. This is about what you should expect with a high end system from around 5-6 years ago.

Edit: also, what size monitor you have will also have a big influence on how much power is required to output maximum framerates. The unspoken assumption everyone is making is that you have at least a 23" monitor with a native resolution of 1080p. If you're on something smaller, say a 19" monitor, then you prolly can run high/very high settings... But the first thing anybody will say is buy a bigger monitor.

In terms of power relative to current hardware... There was a massive jump in performance between the Core 2 series and the Core i series. On top of that, each step in the series has given a 5-15% boost too. Haswell Refresh/Devils Canyon currently gets the best performance in gaming (without spending silly amounts of money in the LGA2011 camp) thanks to using a better thermal compound that allows much higher stock clock speeds (up to 4.0Ghz, before TurboBoost, with the i7-4790K).
I don't need to mention why games use more CPU power, others have already covered that.

Now for the graphics side, there was a massive jump in performance between the GTX 2 series and GTX 4 series thanks to the new architecture. Everything from then until the GTX 7 series has largely been shrinking the die process to curb the massive power and heat requirements. Now that the GTX 9 series is out, it's supposed to change the game again with the new technologies incorporated, although early reviews aren't impressing me.
ATi in the other hand became AMD and their cards have focussed on higher framerates but their drivers are still notorious. If all you're doing is gaming, then they're actually better than nVidia each year. However if you've got interest in anything else, such as nVidia shield, ShadowPlay, or even modelling/animation/rendering work, nVidia cards are an obvious choice.