List of CPU speed sensitive games
From Vogons Wiki
This is a list of games that do not run properly in some ways on CPUs faster than what was common than at the game's release. 1990+ for the most part, since before that, this was more often the case than not: As a general rule, games for IBM XT computers require a 8088 4.77 MHz to play right.
Some CPUs, for example AMD K6-2 and earlier Pentium IIs have selectable multipliers, which may help with achieving the lower speeds recommended for some of the games in this article. Additionally, disabling L1/L2 caches will slow down the processor as well.
DOS
| Game title | Symptoms with faster CPUs | Recommended CPUs | Patch available? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Double Dragon (1988) | Locks up before final battle and player 2 will have fewer moves | 8088 4.77 MHz | |
| Wing Commander (1990) | Too fast? | max. 386DX-33 | |
| Test Drive III (1990) | Too fast | 386 | |
| The Secret of Monkey Island (1990) | Garbled MT-32 music with fast CPUs | ? | |
| Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and The Time Rippers (1991) | Bugs every time a sequel police is on the screen | 386? | |
| Ultima VII: The Black Gate (1992) | ? | ? | |
| Zool (1992) | ? | ? | |
| Star Control II (1992) | ? | ? | |
| Syndicate (1993) | Crashes at startup with glass breaking sound (5x86 133/P166 and Sound Blaster) | ? | |
| Day of the Tentacle (1993) | No sound with >P166MMX | ? | |
| Lemmings 2: The Tribes (1993) | Requires HDD smaller than 504 MB (CHS limit) or else the copy protection checksum calculated by the installer is wrong | ? | |
| SkyRoads (1993) | Too fast | ? | |
| Descent (1994) | Runs too fast with ~higher PIIs | Pentium 233 MMX | |
| Jazz Jackrabbit (1994) | Doesn't start (error message "Runtime error 200") with about PII 233 | plays fine with patch | TPPATCH (3rd party) |
| Theme Park (1994) | Runs too fast | 486 DX2/66? | |
| Warcraft: Orcs & Humans (1994) | Scrolls too fast, water animations cycle too fast, somewhat playable | 486 DX2/66? | |
| King's Quest VII: The Princeless Bride (1994) | Speed bug with one or two puzzles | ? | |
| Warlords II Deluxe (1995) | Crashes on startup with fast CPUs | 486DX2-66 | |
| Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness (1995) | Scrolls too fast with PIIs, but playable | Pentium 133? | |
| Descent II (1996) | Normal game speed, but mouse sensitivity drops down on high framerates | Pentium II 300? | |
| Toonstruck (1996) | Speed bug with one or two puzzles | ? | |
| Micro Machines 2: Turbo Tournament (1996) | may work fine? | ? | |
| Hi-Octane (1996) | Speed problems | Pentium 90 | |
| Lotus: The Ultimate Challenge | Crashes with invalid opcode error | Pentium II 350 or below |
Windows
| Game title | Symptoms with faster CPUs | Recommended CPUs | Patch available? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Master of Orion II (1996) | Battle screen scrolls too fast, still playable | Pentium 166? | |
| SimCopter (1996) | Runs too fast/glitchy on P4 3.2 GHz/98SE | K6-2 350 | |
| Streets of SimCity (1997) | " | " | |
| Wipeout 2097/Wipeout XL (1997) | Runs too fast | ? | supposedly available |
| Imperialism (1997) | World map scrolls too fast | plays fine with patch, slight scrolling delay added | Patch 1.1 |
| Sega Rally Championship (1997) | Direct3D version plays too fast | ? | |
| FIFA Football 2002 (2001) | Crashes to desktop with ~3 GHz | 1.5 GHz? |
