I read that Oblivion doesn't *benefit* from more than one core, but is performance actually hurt by using a dual core processor? I tried googling it and got nothing.

For example, I have a Pentium 4 with 3.4 Ghz. If I upgrade to a Pentium D (dual-core) with *3.6 Ghz* what will happen? I would think, because each individual core is better/faster/whatever Ghz means, that performance would still go up. But I just want to check. You never know with computers.

Thanks.

Performance is generally hurt because multi-core CPUs generally have a lower clock speed per core than a single core for various reasons. For Oblivion, look at clock speed and not the cores.

I run a 2.13 GHz C2D and have no issues at all. My performance is just fine even when loaded down with >200 mods.

Your mileage may vary, of course.

Oh so with a 3.6 ghz Pentium d I'm good.

What about a x1900xtx video card? Will that be good with oblivion / be bottlenecked by my CPU?

Not sure on that card, really. I'm not too good with ATI/AMD cards, especially the older ones. I'm much better with the 4xxx series and up.

I'll see if I can get more info on it later, though. But for comparison's sake, a Nvidia 7600GT and up are good enough for Oblivion with some mods thrown in. Hope that helps somewhat.

The Radeon X1900 XTX was faster, stronger, than a Geforce 7800 GT, both of which would be bottlenecked by Pentiums any slower than about 3.0 GHz -- also, the speed of modern CPUs cannot be compared to any Netburst (antique, obsolete) processors.

Greetings hardware maestros.

Perhaps it is not too impolite to ask my question here.

Currently using an Athlon II x2 3GHz dual-core, but planning to go to 1440p with one single GPU
( GTX 680 or HD 7870 or HD 7970, without SLI / Xfrie for smooth usage).
Would my Athlon slow down such a fast video card very much, should I upgrade to quad-core?

(Possibly Must upgrade my GPU, as my current HD 5770 would possibly be insufficient for 1440p)

Thanx if you know sg on this....

It would likely run slower. cuz the D was a P4, No? just in dual core.

I'd bet good money it would run slower on MOST configs...

Doesn't mean there might not be some configuration that might not do better, but oblivion does have primitive multithreading abilities. and most certainly can make use of a 2nd processor. Out of 6 cores, my cpu usage is usually in the 20-30% range, so about 1.2-1.8 cpu's, I am not sure if it can use a full 2, and benefit from a 3rd or not -- but definitely can benefit from 2. My cpu is 3.333GH, (Xeon 256KB L2 cache/core, 12MB-L3-shared cache)...so oblivion can use over 20% of that... you know it's gonnna benefit from 2 processors.

Yes,that CPU would bottleneck those graphics cards big time.I recommend Intel Core I5 or I7 series CPU-s,or if you have to go with AMD, overclocked Phenom x4 series CPU will probably suffice.

A 5770 is fine with this game --- I have one and play at 1920x1080 and get FPS in the mid 40s minimum - just don't get crazy with the AA and High resolution Textures and it will be fine. (at 1440x900 you'll have no problems with a 5770 and it is a good match for that CPU you have )

I was under the impression the poster was talking about 1440p - that's 2640X1440, isn't it? It's outside my experience range with Oblivion; we have a 27" iMac here, which would never handle Oblivion at that resolution, but it has an older GPU.

Thanx for your pieces of info!

On 1440p I meant running Oblivion at the standard 2560x1440 (16:9) high resolution.
Hope it is supported by the game, - I heard Skyrim is.

If you get 40+ FPS at 1080p with a HD 5770, I am hopeful, although with my modded setup I get only 25-40 FPS at 1280x1024!!!
I wonder, How much slow down is to be estimated if I get to 1080p....? (for 1440p, I am sure this GPU is not sufficient)

Do you know sg on this matter?

Man, I'm jealous of you guys...after a LOT of tweaking, I can only get 15-25 FPS on my system, with a 2.26 GHz dual core processor and Nvidia GeForce 9600M GS, running at 1440x900.