Choosing a Gaming CPU: Single + Multi-GPU at 1440p, April 2013
by Ian Cutress on May 8, 2013 10:00 AM ESTSleeping Dogs
While not necessarily a game on everybody’s lips, Sleeping Dogs is a strenuous game with a pretty hardcore benchmark that scales well with additional GPU power. The team over at Adrenaline.com.br are supreme for making an easy to use benchmark GUI, allowing a numpty like me to charge ahead with a set of four 1440p runs with maximum graphical settings.
One 7970
Sleeping Dogs seems to tax the CPU so little that the only CPU that falls behind by the smallest of margins is an E6400 (and the G465 which would not run the benchmark). Intel visually takes all the top spots, but AMD is all in the mix with less than 0.5 FPS splitting an X2-555 BE and an i7-3770K.
Two 7970s
A split starts to develop between Intel and AMD again, although you would be hard pressed to choose between the CPUs as everything above an i3-3225 scores 50-56 FPS. The X2-555 BE unfortunately drops off, suggesting that Sleeping Dogs is a fan of the cores and this little CPU is a lacking.
Three 7970s
At three GPUs the gap is there, with the best Intel processors over 10% ahead of the best AMD. Neither PCIe lane allocation or memory seems to be playing a part, just a case of threads then single thread performance.
Four 7970s
Despite our Beast machine having double the threads, an i7-3960X in PCIe 3.0 mode takes top spot.
It is worth noting the scaling in Sleeping Dogs. The i7-3960X moved from 28.2 -> 56.23 -> 80.85 -> 101.15 FPS, achieving +71% increase of a single card moving from 3 to 4. This speaks of a well written game more than anything.
One 580
There is almost nothing to separate every CPU when using a single GTX 580.
Two 580s
Same thing with two GTX 580s – even an X2-555 BE is within 1 FPS (3%) of an i7-3960X.
Sleeping Dogs Conclusion
Due to the successful scaling and GPU limited nature of Sleeping Dogs, almost any CPU you throw at it will get the same result. When you move into three GPUs or more territory, it seems that having the single thread CPU speed of an Intel processor gets a few more FPS at the end of the day.
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DigitalFreak - Thursday, May 9, 2013 - link
Do people not read the article? He works with what he has on hand and what he can get access to.tackle70 - Thursday, May 9, 2013 - link
Great article! The only gripe I would have (and yes I know the reasoning behind it is explained) is the decision not to include Crysis 3 in the testing.The reason I make that gripe is the even though it has no time demo functionality and adds more work is that it is the closest thing to a next-gen game we have right now, and it is also the *only* game I've seen that reliably eats up as much CPU power and as many cores as you give it. It would have been interesting to see it here.
SurrenderMonkey - Thursday, May 9, 2013 - link
Core i7 860 overclocked at 3.6Ghz, GTX580 sli Pci2 x8/x8 = min 44, average 49. Final scene destroy the Ceph Alpha. No overclock on GPUs but plenty of headroom. Not scientific but would be useful to see same scene if someone has a more up to date processor.SurrenderMonkey - Thursday, May 9, 2013 - link
REs 1920 x 1080DigitalFreak - Thursday, May 9, 2013 - link
Suckie suckie, two dolla?SurrenderMonkey - Thursday, May 9, 2013 - link
Great review, the CPU has definitely become less important. I used to change my CPU around every 18 months or my system would show signs of struggling. I bought my i860 in 2009 and it is sitting alongside two GTX 580s (SLI x8/x8). Nearly four years seems like an eternity, got my first GTX580 in early 2011 is the longest I have kept with the same GPU. Shows you that games developers don't challenge the hardware like they used too.SurrenderMonkey - Thursday, May 9, 2013 - link
People who make comments like this do not understand that it is about making a properly balanced system so that you get maximum bang for your bucks. This takes skill and a proper understanding of hardware capabilities and technology. On a gaming system you can trade down on a processor and buy a better GPU (or an SSD or both). When you get it right you get more FPS for the same or less money, faster loading times, and have overclocking headroom to use at a later date.oSHINSAo - Thursday, May 9, 2013 - link
Well i thought my 2600k was old... but im looking is too near to 3rd gen i7 3770k ... will stick with it, and focus on getting CrossfireX config...T1K0L P0G1 - Friday, May 10, 2013 - link
EXCELLENT WORK!!!gnasen - Friday, May 10, 2013 - link
Nice article. Still missing few of the legends: Q9550, i7-920, i5-750.