Running Games on a Quad Core with Nvidia dedicated graghics card

[Twizard 1]

I have a HP Pavilion with a AMD A6-3620 Quad core, 8 GB DDR 3, AMD Radeon HD 65300 BUT with a Nvidia GeForce GT520 (2 GB of DDR3) as an add on Dedicated graghics card. Previously, I had a DeLL XPS 410 with a Geforce 8600 graghics card, which I somehow fried not only the card but the PCI graphics port. I am a little "gun shy" now. Even with the power of the new computer. My default graghics is to the GT520 but I am actually seeing a slight lag in IL-2 Sturmovic in three instances: with radio calls and text, explosions and clouds. Am I over stressing the Quadcore somehow or am I over stressing myself here. Please give me some insight on the matter. If not now, when should I be concerned.

 

P.S. I have done nothing crazy like changing clock speed or anything like that.

[Fubar512 1,350]

That processor isn't considered a high-end CPU, and IL-2 is certainly not optimized for multi-core processors (despite claims to the contrary). IL-2 responds best to brute processing power, anything over 3.0 gHz would be ideal, and more is better.

 

Your sound issue may be best addressed by adding a discrete audio card.

Edited August 19, 2012 by Fubar512

[Twizard 1]

Am I frying my processor though?

[Fubar512 1,350]

LOL, no at all.

[Twizard 1]

Thanks. You may laugh but I went through two graphics cards. The stock GeForce on the Dell and an upgraded one that I replaced it with and eventually transferred to this computer. I was getting glowing green vertical lines and blue screens in my sleep! Finally I upgraded further on this machine at the suggestion of the local Geek Squad and have had no problems except for the slight lag in IL-2 (small fraction of a second) that I did not get with my less powerful Dell. You ease this air combat addict's mind and conscience considerably :sohappy:

[JediMaster 451]

Do your video cards have a fan on them or are they just heat sinks? Cards without fans run hotter as they depend on case airflow and yours might be poor. CPUs almost ALL have fans now, aside from really slow ones for tablets and things, so it's not a problem.

 

You should be able to find a program that can read your CPU temp to you, http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/ I think does. AMD should then have a spec sheet telling you your CPU's acceptable temp limits, so you can see right away if it's ok or not yourself.

[Twizard 1]

My Nvidia (,which has been set as the default graphics card) has both. I'm not worried about the graphics. I wonder about whether or not the quad core or more specifically one of the core's is being over stressed by the game engine. My old Dell XPS 410 dual core ran fine with this game.

[JediMaster 451]

Modern CPUs have temp sensors, and I know of no quad core that isn't "modern". If it gets hot, it should start by throttling back. If that doesn't work, it will shut down.

So if it's running, it's not too hot.

[Twizard 1]

rgr. I think my old computer or graghics card may have had a fan issue. Just burned. I guess I am still suffering from "gamer's PTSD". As an aside, if you look at my specs in my first post, any reason i couldn't go on World of Tanks?

[JediMaster 451]

Not that I could see.

[+Brain32 265]

Which il-2? Because both the new IL-2: Cliffs of Dover and old IL-2: 1946 actually are - IL2...

 

Old il-2 that being il-2 1946(or Pacific Fighters or whatever version you have) will get no performance benefits from multiple cores(unlike il2 COD which really likes multiple cores) and that is a well known fact, what it can do however is to leave it to you to decide which core will you run it on enabling a bit smoother performance and by smoother I don't mean more FPS but less stutters and interference from other applications running on your computer while you are playing the game.

This is especially usefull for online play where you can have just the game on one core and system, teamspeak, trackIR, hyperlobby and other stuff on other cores, so if one of them hiccups it will not clog the game.

 

However overall CPU(as with contrary to popular belief) most if not all games is not as influential on performance as the gfx card, especially in old IL-2:1946 for which todays CPU's are more than enough.

Usually though effect of CPU is most noticeable when you have graphics card that exceeds CPU's power to feed it properly so gfx card can run to full potential, then one can get a noticeable performance improvement by installing a more powerfull CPU that will push the gfx card harder in all other cases biggest benefits come from a more powerfull GFX card...