Crysis Warhead
We measured Warhead performance using the FRAPS frame-rate recording tool and playing over the same 60-second section of the game five times on each processor. This method has the advantage of simulating real gameplay quite closely, but it comes at the expense of precise repeatability. We believe five sample sessions are sufficient to get reasonably consistent results. In addition to average frame rates, we've included the low frame rates, because those tend to reflect the user experience in performance-critical situations. In order to diminish the effect of outliers, we've reported the median of the five low frame rates we encountered.

We tested at relatively modest graphics settings, 1024x768 resolution with the game's "Mainstream" quality settings, because we didn't want our graphics card to be the performance-limiting factor. This is, after all, a CPU test.

A cursory look at the scatter plot and perf-per-dollar chart tells us the Core 2 Duo E8400 is among the better-placed solutions here. It performs almost as well as the Core i7-940 for considerably less dough, and getting much higher performance involves shelling out over $100 more. That only gets you a handful of extra frames per second, too.

With that said, we should take a step back and qualify these observations. As we've just noted, we tested in a non-GPU-limited scenario in order to highlight CPU performance. Should you run the game at a higher resolution or higher visual quality settings, the graphics processor(s) could easily become the primary bottleneck, somewhat mitigating the benefits of a faster CPU.

Then again, our results give a very clear idea of what you can buy today to avoid running into CPU bottlenecks, and you can see that the slower processors in the bunch do tend to struggle with this game. Pay special attention to the median low frame rates we reported when thinking about avoiding CPU-based slowdowns. Although we haven't graphed those results on a per-dollar basis, the CPUs whose frame rates bottom out in the teens and low twenties are questionable performers in Warhead, which is one of the most processor-intensive PC games today.

Far Cry 2
We decided to test Far Cry 2 by recording frame rates during the jeep ride sequence at the very beginning of the game. We found that frame rates during this sequence were generally similar to those when running around elsewhere in the game, and after all, playing Far Cry 2 involves quite a bit of driving around. Since this sequence was repeatable, we just captured results from three 90-second sessions.

Again, we didn't want the graphics card to be our primary performance constraint, so although we tested at fairly high visual quality levels, we used a relatively low 1024x768 display resolution and DirectX 9.

The Core 2 Duo E8400 does well here, too, but AMD's Phenom II X3 720 looks even better positioned.

Of course, even at this relatively low resolution, CPU performance doesn't seem to impact average frame rates quite as much as in Crysis Warhead. Even the Core i7-940 only leads the X3 720 by 2.8 FPS overall, although it does generate significantly higher "median low" frame rates.