Choosing The Best CPU For Half-Life 2

[KingFish]

Xbit Labs has reviewed 29 different processors and reports on their performance with Half Life 2.

One of the indisputable strengths of the world created in Half-Life 2 is definitely very strong artificial intelligence of all enemies and friends, and very realistic physics of the environment and characters, which very often makes you nearly believe that things are happening for real. To tell the truth, the physical model of half-Life 2 game is worth a separate detailed discussion. This game is based on the today’s most advanced Havok engine, which makes all the objects in the game obey the laws of physics. Despite the size and the importance of the given object for the story and the scene – no matter if this is a large truck or a small stone at the sea shore – all of them do obey fundamental laws of physics and are affected by forces of gravity, friction and flotation.

This way it is not only the powerful graphics card responsible for flawless display of the environment and characters on the screen that determines the number of fps you can get in Half-Life 2. When playing half-Life 2, the system CPU is also loaded to the full extent, as it is actively involved into the physical calculations and those dealing with the characters’ artificial intelligence models. That is why we decided to undertake an extensive testing of 29 contemporary platforms based on different processors, following our detailed investigation of the actual graphics cards performance.
Source: X-bit Labs (http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/29cpu-hl2.html)

[TheGr81]

My proc=bottom of the list :bawling:

Thanks KF, I was waiting on that article...

-Rick

[Thrax]

Looks like the top is a little green. Must be all that fresh air up in the winner's circle. :D

[shwaip]

I would have liked to see some benchmarks on even slower CPUs.

[primesuspect]

Gads, that list makes me have processor envy.....

I have a mobile barton 2600+ and the game runs fantastically. Phooey on that list.

[Komete]

I wonder what my mobile @ 2.5ghz would rate :) But the game runs and looks smooth on it :)

[Camman]

Seems like kind of a stupid comparison, the higher you go up the list for "Half Life 2 Performance", the faster the processor speeds, seems like a pretty obvious conclusion to me.

[Thrax]

That's inaccurate. You'll notice the 3.2GHz processors floating around the middle to bottom with the 2.4 and 2.6 AMDs at the top... With the 2.2GHz Athlon XPs almost at the bottom, yet nearly 40% slower. It's not stupid, nor is it apparently obvious.

[Camman]

Doesn't represent real-world performance, and, generalized, the list is ordered by processor speed. This "list" represents very little to me and is therefor stupid and drawing an obvious conclusion. That's my opinion, that cool with you Thrax? I don't want any trouble from the opinion police.

[Thrax]

WTF? I'm not being an opinion cop, Camman. I'm pointing out the facts of the chart, or I'm misinterpreting your statements. Lay off the accusative crap, dude. I'm not the fascist opinion police, nor am I going to be mistar "OMG LOCK MY THREAD WTF OPPRESSION" either..

You say it's ordered by processor speed.. When it clearly is not. First page, first set of benchmarks.

2.6GHz
2.4GHz
2.4GHz
3.46GHz
2.2GHz
2.2GHz
2.2GHz
2.0GHz
2.0GHz
3.8GHz
2.0GHz
3.6GHz
3.4GHz
1.8GHz
3.4GHz
3.4GHz
3.2GHz
3.2GHz
3.2GHz
2.2GHz
3.0GHz
3.0GHz
2GHz
2.8GHz
2.8GHz
2.8GHz

Clearly, not ordered by speed. Your claim of it not representing anything real world is questionable... I fail to see what's more "Real world" than playing a real game in multiple levels with multiple CPUs in multiple environments under the same engine. It shows where CPUs are the bottleneck, where video cards are the bottleneck.

You may think it's stupid.. THAT is your opinion. However the conclusions the benchmark draws aren't obvious, nor is the list ordered according to speed.. If that's your idea of a generalization, well. :wtf:

I mean, jesus christ.. I point out that I disagree with you, and suddenly I'm the opinion police? You're a sensitive one.

[Camman]

I mean, jesus christ.. I point out that I disagree with you, and suddenly I'm the opinion police? You're a sensitive one.

you never "point out that you disagree with" people, you always try to tell them that they're wrong, often when it was someone stating their opinion.

btw, the chart to which I was referring:

<img src="http://www.xbitlabs.com/images/cpu/29cpu-hl2/average.png">

shows some pretty obvious trends

Athlon 64 FX-55 2.6ghz
Athlon 64 4000+ 2.6ghz
Athlon 64 3800+ 2.4ghz
Athlon 64 3400+ 2.4ghz
Athlon 64 3500+ 2.2ghz
Pentium 4 XE 3.46ghz
Athlon 64 3200+ 2.2/2.0ghz
Pentium 4 570J 3.8ghz
Athlon 64 3000+ 2.0ghz
Pentium 4 560J 3.6ghz
Pentium 4 3.4ghz
Pentium 4 3.4ghz(E)
Pentium 4 550J 3.4ghz
Athlon 64 2800+ 1.6/1.8ghz
Pentium 4 3.2ghz
Pentium 4 3.2ghz(E)
Pentium 4 540J 3.2ghz
Athlon XP 3200+ 2.2ghz
Pentium 4 3.0ghz
Pentium 4 3.0ghz (E)
Sempron 3100 1.8ghz
Pentium 4 530J 3.0ghz
Pentium 4 2.8ghz
AthlonXP 3000+ 2.1ghz
Pentium 4 2.8ghz (E)
Pentium 4 530J 2.8ghz

Now, lets break it down by manufacturer (in order of appearance on above chart)

AMD
Athlon 64 FX-55 2.6ghz
Athlon 64 4000+ 2.6ghz
Athlon 64 3800+ 2.4ghz
Athlon 64 3400+ 2.4ghz
Athlon 64 3500+ 2.2ghz
Athlon 64 3200+ 2.2/2.0ghz
Athlon 64 3000+ 2.0ghz
Athlon 64 2800+ 1.6/1.8ghz
Athlon XP 3200+ 2.2ghz <- irregularity with new processor set
Sempron 3100 1.8ghz
AthlonXP 3000+ 2.1ghz


Intel
Pentium 4 XE 3.46ghz
Pentium 4 570J 3.8ghz
Pentium 4 560J 3.6ghz
Pentium 4 3.4ghz
Pentium 4 3.4ghz(E)
Pentium 4 550J 3.4ghz
Pentium 4 3.2ghz
Pentium 4 3.2ghz(E)
Pentium 4 540J 3.2ghz
Pentium 4 3.0ghz
Pentium 4 3.0ghz (E)
Pentium 4 530J 3.0ghz
Pentium 4 2.8ghz
Pentium 4 2.8ghz (E)
Pentium 4 530J 2.8ghz


Not seeing the trend??

The processor names did not all fit on the graph, however, each point is representative of the processor in decending order of the Xbit list (as listed above).

[Thrax]

Oh, you mean each BRAND is ranked by speed. I thought you meant the entire chart. You didn't indicate that you meant each brand scales linearly. You simply assumed I saw the pattern and got rude when I made comments contradictory to something you never detailed.

There's a very big difference between "The chart is ranked by speed" (Which is what I thought you meant, as is evidenced by my comments regarding large Intel CPU speeds being clumped towards the lower middle, and smaller AMD clockspeeds being lumped at the top) and "The chart roughly equals CPU speed when you separate the results by brand" (Which you were doing, and did not indicate).

You saw a pattern I did not. My apologies. Next time, try some polite clarification as opposed to knee-jerk rudeness, hey? Makes everyone a little happier.

[KingFish]

My athlon xp 2800+ isn't even good enough to make their A-list. Oh well, it's about time to upgrade anyway.
/me sighs

[EMT]

Camman, I think you're missing the point. It is intuitive that faster processors of the same line will perform better and that is not the conclusion of this roundup. What the roundup studies is (1) comparison between different lines of processors and (2) HL2's dependence on CPU speed. We see several conclusions under (1) - the most basic of which is the fact that the AMD high-end CPUs are always getting a better framerate than Intel's high-end CPUs. And as for (2), which I think is the key question here since we'd like to know if it'll be helpful to upgrade our CPUs, the roundup has shown that in some parts of HL2, even when pushing the video card very hard the CPU can make a quite significant difference.

[Camman]

Well, my apologies for not clarifying my position, however, you are insanely hypocritical to be going around calling people rude and telling me to be polite, who the hell do you think you are? Get over yourself.

You never respond with "polite clarification" , it's always "Thrax is right" in the most condescending way possible, just like your faux 'apology' that you could not possibly make without insulting me several times by pointing out that you think you shouldn't even be the one apologizing because "i was not clear enough" and you had to come in and save me from myself by correcting my opinion, please, don't waste my time.

EMT, I don't think I was 'missing the point', I was pointing out that the list is basically sorted by processor speed when we seperate the brands, yes, I should've made that clearer in my first post, however, I incorrectly assumed that everyone knows lower clocked AMD processors perform strongly up against the highest clocked Intel products, the whole reason for AMD's "model number" naming scheme opposed to naming them by processor clock, as I said, I assumed people knew this infromation already. It could in fact be helpful for some people choosing a processor specficially to play Half Life 2, however, it was my opinion that it draws obvious conclusions that with any application, the lastest processors (and hence fastest and most expensive) will outperform their predeccessors.

[Thrax]

Jesus ****ing Christ. Why do I try? :rolleyes:

//EDIT:

Dropped the snide closure.

//EDIT 2:

Look, Camman, the apology was sincere. I don't know how many other ways I can try to explain it to you.. Or show you that I really did mean that apology. I'm slightly annoyed that I was berated for something you didn't clarify; I will earnestly admit that. However I do apologize for misinterpreting your statements. I wasn't trying to "Save you from yourself" or anything like that.. That's an impression you conceived. I just strive for accurate information.. Not to say that you were wrong (Because obviously you aren't). You saw a pattern I didn't, and therefore I went from a pattern that wasn't clarified. Granted, I could equally say your apology is faux because you took every opportunity to be scathing and sarcastic as well.. But at the same time, I take your apology earnestly, even if it is a diamond in the rough. I respect you enough to take your word for what it is. If you apologize, I assume it's a real apology. I'd ask you to do the same for me, and to take a damn good look around and realize that my attitude has evolved by leaps and bounds. Even if I'm not comfortable revealing why it's improved, it still goes to say that it has.. Ok? That's all I ask. Just look around.

I don't want a quarrel; I'm done right here, right now. I'm sorry any of this happened -- I mean that.

[Spinner]

The article is certainly an interesting read. I haven't had chance to play the game itself yet, I've got my retail copy sitting in my bag. (I haven't been home in like a month).

I'm looking forward to playing it on my 3200+ XP. :)

[floppybootstomp]

ooh ooh ooh - my XP3200 smokes a Pentium 3Ghz, according to that chart.

This brings untold amounts of pleasure into my life, at least for this evening :D

[Spinner]

ooh ooh ooh - my XP3200 smokes a Pentium 3Ghz, according to that chart.

This brings untold amounts of pleasure into my life, at least for this evening :DI've already had one party tonight over that. Care to join me for another? ;D

[floppybootstomp]

I've already had one party tonight over that. Care to join me for another? ;D

I shall raise a glass to you Squire :beer: :D

[KingFish]

Spinner, do yourself a favor and load your copy. I also bought a copy and had to wait over a week before I installed/played it. I spent most of the day enjoying it and feel that you will too. It played buttery smooth with great looking graphics on my xp2800+/1 gig ram/6800GT. The gameplay is excellent too. I can't wait to enjoy my next session.

[FAH_WW]

:D

[MachineGunKelly]

I'm wondering if it will even LOAD on my KG7 w/1600XP and a GeForce 2......

If not, well, it's been a year or so since I've built a new rig! :)

[JChretien]

excuse me, but i can i join the 3200+ party? ;p

[Spinner]

excuse me, but i can i join the 3200+ party? ;pSure thing buddy. Welcome!

/me opens the door. :celebrate

I just loaded it for the first time yesterday night. Wow! What a palaver. Talk about Valve not thoroughly testing the installer!! All that Steam stuff also made me pine a little, but I have to admit, all that mild hassle was worth it.

I've only played it up until just after reclaiming the good old trusty crowbar, but I'm completely taken in by it. Amazing game. It's like being back at Black Mesa, ah... the good old days.