Hi all.
Seems to me that there was quite a change in today's beta update (although it was only a small download) for those with lowly CPUs.
Before today I was getting 60-70fps alone in a deserted outpost, but 1-20fps with loads of judder in any area with significant amounts of other players, with 100% maxed out CPU usage. Seeing as my GPU is above minimum spec (450 GTS) but my CPU is below (Athlon II X2 245), I was figuring that the CPU just couldn't handle all the calculations.
Playing today, I'm getting between 20 and 30fps in crowded areas, with no judder, and CPU usage consistently less than 100%. However, allies often glitch around when moving. I'm figuring that the change they made drops object updates when the CPU isn't coping, rather than freezing up the client momentarily.
As other players juddering is much more playable than client judder (with the extra FPS to boot) I say it's a positive change!
FYI: RAM's not an issue, I have 8GB, and yes I'm playing on low settings with minimum render quality, in 1024x768, plus RenderDistance=1000 and RenderFlora=Off in UserOptions.