[naive]

Your processor and ram are greater than cs recommended.

Its' not the frequency that the CPU operates on, it's the cache size that matters.

P.S: most game always lag online or offline if you have 3MB cache or less, 6MB or more = no lag at all.

This is essentially just wrong. Frequency doesn't mean everything, but cache size means even less. I look at benchmarks, actual processing power, not arbitrary ratings. Yes, cache size makes a slight difference, but his processor is already at least 2x the recommended requirements for cs in processing capability. My old laptop was a 2.53ghz dual core 3mb cache processor, with a nice video card and I could play crysis on high, cs wouldn't even make my fan come on on high.

CS:S is an old game, he is already using a processor that didn't even exist when the game was made. He is however using a crappy bottom end video card from the time frame cs was made. Dual core 2.7ghz > P4 3ghz, going from 2x the power you need to 4x the power you need in the proc isn't going to help. When I watch my processor's load while playing cs, it makes virtually no increase on load on my cpu. Not one of my cores spiked above 15% even. The bottleneck is the gpu here, it's the obvious weakness. The gpu he is using currently is inferior to even a modern onboard integrated intel gpu.

That fact that you slow down in smoke is pretty much enough for me to diagnose that it's your video card without even looking at your specs, things like that have almost nothing to do with your proc, it's offshored to the gpu for rendering, the increased render load is dropping your fps because your gpu can't handle it.


Your processor is most likely using a LGA775 socket. I dont think you need it, but something like this would be the upper end of compatibility and would be more than enough for cs if you get a better video card. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819116419

I would at least replace your video card first, it's simply not powerful enough for cs. I don't think you would benefit greatly from a risky proc swap (assuming you don't know what you're doing). Swapping your video card would be easier, and likely far more effective.