FPSLabs : CPL Computer Specifications

With the CPL in full swing, shoes takes a look at the computers behind the action, and predicts how they should perform in the games they’re meant to play.

The CPL Tournament computers. The world’s top gamers use them several times throughout the year during The CPL events where they square off in the most competitive gaming environment there is. During these events, where constant frame rates can be of paramount importance and mean the difference between victory or defeat, the tournament machines must provide flawless performance throughout every single match. The computers required to live up to these expectations must be packing some serious processing ability - So what exactly does The CPL have under the hood this year?

Official Tournament Standard PC (CPL)
Quake 4

Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 3.46GHz 1066FSB
2GB Dual Channel DDR2 533 RAM
Intel Desktop Board D925XECV2
NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT 256MB PCI-Express
2×80GB SATA RAID-0
Intel High Definition Audio
Microsoft Windows XP Professional

Counter-Strike 1.6

Intel Pentium D 840 3.2GHz 800FSB
2GB Dual Channel DDR2 533 RAM
Intel Desktop Board D925XECV2
NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT 256MB PCI-Express
2×80GB SATA RAID-0
Intel High Definition Audio
Microsoft Windows XP Professional

Analysis
Counter-Strike 1.6
Since Counter-Strike 1.6 is the older game, let’s start there. Most of us know that Counter-Strike 1.6 is not a very demanding game. The majority of the people that play it chug along at 100 frames per second (FPS) just fine. Well, if CS 1.6 is not a very demanding game, then these machines are overkill. The 3.2 GHz Intel Pentium D provides more than enough processing power for a simple FPS game like CS 1.6. The NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT is quite capable of handling anything this game can throw at it; even maintain maximum constant frame rates in the presence of multiple smoke grenades. The computer also sports a RAID-0 array for utilizing 2 already-fast 80GB SATA hard drives, which are bound to dramatically shrink load times. Add in 2GB of DDR2 533 RAM in a dual channel configuration on Intel’s 925XE chipset, and you have got yourself a capable performer through and through.

Problems
I see two problems with the Counter-Strike 1.6 computer specifications. The first problem is the Intel High Definition Audio. In the competitive FPS gaming scene, the ability to use all of your senses to detect the whereabouts of your enemies is crucial. This is why it surprises me that The CPL is only using the on-board audio from the 925XE chipset. Granted, it is no ordinary onboard sound, the HD Audio on Intel’s high end boards is actually pretty decent, but nowhere near the performance of a mid-range add-in card. Should The CPL have used a top of the line product like Creative’s new X-Fi line, I believe the players would notice a distinct and very positive difference in their ability to perceive positional audio, which is the most advantageous type of sound in games. The second problem is one that most observers would probably miss. The listed specifications state that the computer is using Intel’s 925XE (Version 2) motherboard with the new Intel Pentium D 840 processors. Pentium D processors are of the dual core variety, meaning they have two cores. Each of these cores run at 3.2 GHz on the 840, and because of this, dual core processors have an advantage over single core processors because they can run one intense application on one core, while running another on the other core. However, Counter-Strike 1.6 is an older generation game, and as such is not coded to utilize the power of dual core processing, so there is no need for such equipment on a machine intended only to run the game. In addition to this, the Pentium D processor, when it came out, was not compatible with the older Intel chipsets and could only run on the new 945 and 955 platforms. That being said, The CPL is using the 925XE chipset, which is NOT compatible with the Pentium-D line of processors. The Pentium-D, however, WILL run on the 925XE platform, but only on one of the cores. Either way CS 1.6 will run just fine, however we felt this incompatibility was worth mentioning.

Price
When the listed specifications of this machine are parted out on Newegg.com, the retail value comes out to be $1198.13. This is quite a lot of money for a Counter-Strike 1.6 computer, but it is of very high quality. A very important point to stress about this computer is that it WILL give every gamer 100 FPS all the time at any resolution. It is hard to construct a computer for less than $1200 that will provide you with this ability. Also keep in mind that there is no power supply listed on the system specs, nor is there a case, monitor, mouse, or keyboard. Adding these components would likely bring the system total to around $1500 (USD).

Quake 4
Moving on to the Quake 4 machines, we see pretty similar specs. All the specs are the same except for the processor, which has been upgraded to one of Intel’s famous “Extreme Edition” parts. At 3.46 GHz with HyperThreading on one core, this processor has substantially more power than the Pentium D in the Counter-Strike 1.6 machine. Also important to note in this instance is that this processor should complement the RAM very nicely. The Pentium 4 Extreme Edition CPU operates with a front side bus frequency of 1066MHz, which with Intel’s quad pumped bus speeds equates to an actual FSB speed of 266.5MHz. The reason this is important is because the RAM also operates at this frequency. DDR2 533 is called that because there are two transfers per clock cycle on double data rate RAM, meaning the actual clock speed is half of 533, which is 266.5MHz. As is related in our overclocking guides, having the RAM and CPU running at the same FSB speeds is a big factor in determining overall system performance, and this system has that quality. The Counter-Strike 1.6 machine also has the same FSB speeds between the processor and RAM, but the DDR2 533 automatically underclocks itself to DDR2 400 speeds, far below the realized potential, when being run in tandem with a 200MHz FSB processor. Also important to note is that Intel’s 925XE chipset supports FSB speeds of 1066MHz because it was specifically designed to support the Extreme Edition processors.

Problems
The only problem that I see with this system is the same use of Intel’s High Definition Audio. In a very new generation game like Quake 4, the kind of sound produced by the game engine is amazing. Every nuance of a characters movement can be heard if you listen close enough. Quake 4 options allow you to utilize both OpenAL and EAX Advanced HD 5.0 audio technologies when playing. The ability to run the game with this type of sound quality is only found on top of the line sound cards like Creative’s X-Fi series, which has audio processing power the likes of which is completely unrivaled. Another smaller issue is the video card, which isn’t powerful enough to keep Quake 4 at 63 frames per second constantly at maximum quality settings. On the other hand, Most Quake players use smoothed-out textures and other FPS boosting, competition-friendly features anyway, so this problem is as cosmetic as the previous point about the Pentium D processor.

Price
Because of the increased power of the processor, this system is going to cost quite a bit more than the Counter-Strike 1.6 machine. The total cost of this computer after parting it out on Newegg.com was $1635.88. After adding in the cost of the power supply, case, monitor, mouse, and keyboard like we did earlier; it is quite likely the final cost of this machine would be right around $2000. A behemoth price for a behemoth system. Quake 4 should be able to be played at constant playable frame rates on these computers, and if The CPL is utilizing the new 1.0.5 patch that was recently released by iD and Ravensoft, then they should have no trouble doing this at all. The 1.0.5 Quake 4 patch optimizes the engine for dual core and HyperThreading processors, offering up to an 85% increase in overall performance.

Final Thoughts
What it comes down to is this: Every machine at the tournament has identical specs. Aside from the preferred peripherals of each individual player, every single computer will be exactly the same. This is conducive to the tournament environment because it eliminates unfair advantages in the hardware department. Even if these machines were only capable of managing 30 FPS (which they aren’t), it would be less than desirable, but still totally fair. The CPL has used their sponsors admirably and put together some impressive machines for this event - the only thing left is to see who goes home with the prize.

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