Help me find a new CPU to play The Old Republic

BusterK

Like a lot of Die-hard Star Wars fans I've been waiting to play The Old Republic
but when I finally got it yesterday it ran so slow and choppy it is pretty much unplayable for me
I tried this website http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/CYRI/analysis.aspx?name=Star-Wars:-The-Old-Republic&id=11174&session=0b865b7d-3a83-47ed-8dde-59624eadb8b9
and it says my processor is not up to snuff. This is severely depressing, a whole new computer is out of the question but after much researching I think I can put in a new CPU.
The trouble is the only thing I know about processors is GHz speed, which doesn't seem to be a factor here, so I need help finding a processor better than the one I have now
Here are the specs
The processor I have now is a Pentium Dual Core E5300 2.6GHz which has a 775 socket
It's in a Gateway sx2802 desktop computer
I'd like to find something less than $150 but I don't even now how to compare new processors at this point

Help Me H/A
You're my only hope

Donovan Puppyfucker

What we really need to know is what motherboard you have. Not all Socket 775 mobos are the same...

BusterK

I believe the Chipset is an Intel G43

Bethryn

You're limited to LGA775 socket processors, unless you want to also replace your motherboard, which would make keeping to the $150 limitation very difficult.

So your options here are really a Core 2 Duo, a Core 2 Quad or a Core 2 Extreme, I believe. The higher ends of these should give you some FPS boost, but I don't think you should be expecting a 60 fps constant, especially in crowded areas, if you get them.

TOR's basic system requirements list Core 2 Duo with 2.0 GHz or better as the minimum requirement; from MMO experience, I'd say that means bad FPS with lots of people on screen, ok FPS when there are only a few people and only a few spell effects.

zilo

That might be a lost cause. I've got an old laptop that barely meets the minimum requirements except for the video card, which is well above the minimum, and SW:TOR still runs like shit. Save your money until you can afford a proper gaming computer.

Donovan Puppyfucker

BusterK wrote: »

I believe the Chipset is an Intel G43

That helps a bit, but the mobo model number would really be the best. It may only be compatible with 65nm processors, you see. EDIT: Oh wait, what am I talking about. Your current processor is built on 45nm lithography...

Do you know what your mobo's fastest FSB option is?

Nathrak

The integrated Intel video card is what is killing him. A low profile card upgrade is the best bet.

BusterK

That'll be the number in BIOS right?
I've been having trouble finding it
I'll try one more time and then I'll open up the back and see if I can't find the model # on the motherboard

BusterK

Nathrak wrote:

The integrated Intel video card is what is killing him. A low profile card upgrade is the best bet.

I thought this too except I lowered every graphics setting and it didn't help at all

Donovan Puppyfucker

Your mobo should have a PCI-E 2.0 x 16 slot on it. You can put pretty much any graphics card you want into that. What's your PSU? What rated wattage? Does it have any PCI-E 6 or 8 pin connectors?

TychoCelchuuu

BusterK wrote:

Nathrak wrote:

The integrated Intel video card is what is killing him. A low profile card upgrade is the best bet.

I thought this too except I lowered every graphics setting and it didn't help at all

Neither your processor nor your graphics card are powerful enough.

Nathrak

That series of Gateway computers have the compact low profile case so he'd have to get a low profile card. Other problem is it seems to have a 220w power supply so can't get too fancy.

Edit: The cpu is fine, I run on an E7200 which is not lightyears ahead by any means and am really pleased with my performance combined with an ATI 5770.

Donovan Puppyfucker

In that case, my advice is give up.

Save for a few months, or however long it takes you to put together $800, and build a completely new system. Hell, even a $600 system would shit all over what you currently have...

BusterK

Nathrak wrote:

That series of Gateway computers have the compact low profile case so he'd have to get a low profile card. Other problem is it seems to have a 220w power supply so can't get too fancy.

Edit: The cpu is fine, I run on an E7200 which is not lightyears ahead by any means and am really pleased with my performance combined with an ATI 5770.

Isn't the E7200 still a Core 2 Duo?
So isn't still better than what I have?
I really don't mind if it looks like shit, I just want to be able to play it

Nathrak

The E7200 is a little better but nothing that would make the game unplayable on an E5300.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/62?vs=66 Comparison between an E7200 and E5200(Tiny bit below yours).

Pic of game on my E7200, FPS in lower left. Not a lot going on but runs good.

I really think a low profile low power draw card like this card here would be the biggest boost. One review even says it works on his 220w power supply like you have and fits in his HP slimline. Of course that doesn't mean it would work in yours but it is cheap and I feel it's the best bet for making The Old Republic playable.

BusterK

Okay, thank you Nathrack, that was exactly the advise I was looking for.
I can just head to Fry's tomorrow and see what they have.
I will probably still get a new processor soon but this gives me an easier place to start

Elimination

BusterK wrote:

Nathrak wrote:

The integrated Intel video card is what is killing him. A low profile card upgrade is the best bet.

I thought this too except I lowered every graphics setting and it didn't help at all

Running on integrated video and trying to play a game like TOR will murder your system. Integrated video is not good enough for basically anything but the most basic applications.

I could suggest something like this?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161386

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500224

either of these would do wonders over your onboard graphics and without a doubt improve your mileage on the game by a fair margin. A better video solution would also make a much larger difference than a new CPU in this particular case.

zepherin

chrishallett83 wrote:

In that case, my advice is give up.

Save for a few months, or however long it takes you to put together $800, and build a completely new system. Hell, even a $600 system would shit all over what you currently have...

800 is unnecessary. Really so is 600.

What he needs is a mobo video card ram and power supply, and you can do that for $350 and get good gameplay from TOR. $150 isn't really gunnu cut it though.

Elimination

zepherin wrote:

chrishallett83 wrote:

In that case, my advice is give up.

Save for a few months, or however long it takes you to put together $800, and build a completely new system. Hell, even a $600 system would shit all over what you currently have...

800 is unnecessary. Really so is 600.

What he needs is a mobo video card ram and power supply, and you can do that for $350 and get good gameplay from TOR. $150 isn't really gunnu cut it though.

Yeah but getting a cheap video card will at least make the game playable till he can come up with the funds for a better PC.

Donovan Puppyfucker

zepherin wrote: »

chrishallett83 wrote:

In that case, my advice is give up.

Save for a few months, or however long it takes you to put together $800, and build a completely new system. Hell, even a $600 system would shit all over what you currently have...

800 is unnecessary. Really so is 600.

What he needs is a mobo video card ram and power supply, and you can do that for $350 and get good gameplay from TOR. $150 isn't really gunnu cut it though.

Putting a new mobo, CPU, RAM and video card in his current system at that budget level will alleviate his SW:TOR problem, but what happens when another game comes out that he wants to play?

The OP is better off building a beastly new system that will last for a couple of years, i.e. an $800 tower.

zepherin

Elimination: If he's going to start anywhere he might as well start there because he can move the video card from one machine to another, but he'll still probably need a new Power supply.

Chrishallet: true, but I would argue that his earning power in 2 years is likely going to be greater than it is right now and he could better afford the 600 or 800 hit, however I'm not trying to dissuade you and I agree that a 350 system is going to get about a year, maybe 2 of up to date gaming before your at a similar problem whereas a 600 system will likely go 2-3 and a 800 system you can do 3-4 years before hitting serious bottlenecks.

Essee

Personally, I think step one for him is to upgrade from an integrated graphics card. I can't guarantee it'll make the game play at great FPS, necessarily, but if he's on a budget right now getting a new video card is a great place to start. A) Integrated cards still are still not really up-to-snuff for playing many games nowadays, so sticking with his current card would be a bad idea if he wants to improve his performance, I think. Obviously he can use the new card in his future non-sucky new motherboard with the new CPU.

But yeah, he might want to get a better power supply as well, since 220w is pretty anemic for modern stuff. That's another thing you can carry over to a new machine, and they're usually not all THAT pricey.

zepherin

Essee wrote:

But yeah, he might want to get a better power supply as well, since 220w is pretty anemic for modern stuff. That's another thing you can carry over to a new machine, and they're usually not all THAT pricey.

I'm only saying a new Power Supply because the integrated cards are pretty low power and throwing in a new card may cause parts of his system to not boot.

Essee

zepherin wrote:

Essee wrote:

But yeah, he might want to get a better power supply as well, since 220w is pretty anemic for modern stuff. That's another thing you can carry over to a new machine, and they're usually not all THAT pricey.

I'm only saying a new Power Supply because the integrated cards are pretty low power and throwing in a new card may cause parts of his system to not boot.

That was actually what I was trying to say, that depending on the card he might need a new PSU as well to have enough power. Sorry, I guess I wasn't clear enough on that.

Donovan Puppyfucker

The problem is his low-profile case will restrict his choices for videocard and PSU pretty severely, and pretty much only to components that he probably wouldn't want to re-use in his next system.

Midshipman

I'd recommend a card like this one. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161390

It's vastly better than any on-board GPU, low profile, and has low power consumption.

I used an HIS Radeon HD 5570 instead of the 6572 linked above to upgrade a slim factor Dell XPS that came with an ancient Radeon X1300. Worked fine with my measly 275W power supply. The 5570 is good enough to let me play Skyrim on medium settings with a nice smooth frame-rate.

The only disadvantage to the HIS 5570 or 6570 series cards is that the passive heatsink is somewhat bulky for a low profile card. I ended up having to cut a hole in my case for the end of the sink to fit through, but after doing it I decided I like the look. If you do decide to go for this card, make sure you measure out all your clearances first. It is likely to block the neighboring PCI slot at well. You can find 5570s or 6570s with smaller active heatsinks, but I decided to go with the passive because to me, it suggests that the card is set-up to not generate as much heat as a similar active cooled card. Less heat generated tends to indicate less power draw as well, which is a major factor with you are stuck with a wimpy slim factor PSU.

Your other option is to get a bigger PSU with long cords and just set it next to your PC case. No aethestics with that route though.

Here's my little guy though...

zepherin

comment redacted midshipman had a better one than I could find with a quick glance.

BusterK

Nathrak wrote:

The E7200 is a little better but nothing that would make the game unplayable on an E5300.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/62?vs=66 Comparison between an E7200 and E5200(Tiny bit below yours).

Pic of game on my E7200, FPS in lower left. Not a lot going on but runs good.

I really think a low profile low power draw card like this card here would be the biggest boost. One review even says it works on his 220w power supply like you have and fits in his HP slimline. Of course that doesn't mean it would work in yours but it is cheap and I feel it's the best bet for making The Old Republic playable.

I just want to say I bought this very card and successfully installed it
And am now playing TOR like a mofo
Thank You Nathrack
Yours was exactly the right advice
Everything is Aces now