(10-19-2015, 12:09 AM)kirbypuff Wrote: Another thing you might want to do to improve the performance in Dolphin is change your GPU.
I recommend getting a *last-generation* AMD GPU with the TeraScale2 architecture (HD5000 or HD6000 Series).
The latest AMD GPUs with a GCN architecture (HD7000,HD8000,Rx and Fury Series) are still horribly unoptimized (the drivers have unusually high CPU overhead).
But last-gen GPUs are so optimized they perform even better than NVIDIA's GPUs, especially when using the Direct3D backend (e.g. 2100fps [HD6000 Series] vs. 1100fps [R9 Series] in text/logo screens at native res. That's a ~2x difference in driver overhead.)
Another advantage of getting an older generation AMD GPU is that it doesn't have any of those "smart" power-saving features which introduce a lot of performance-related / stuttering problems.
What's even funnier about these older cards is they end up being even more power-efficient than the current ones, despite lacking the smart power-saving "gimmicks" because they run the VRAM at 100 MHz when idle instead of 300 MHz.
FYI, Current NVIDIA GPUs have a VLIW5 architecture, just like last-gen (TeraScale2) AMD GPUs, which is extremely efficient.
I don't mean to offend, but why would I want to do that? Even if anything you're saying is remotely true, you're assuming that the main purpose of my computer system is to run Dolphin (which it's not). Why would I downgrade my PC for all my other applications and games even if it means better performance for Dolphin (which it won't). Furthermore, I was already thinking about upgrading to an i7...so why would purposefully downgrade? I don't have a phenom chip lying around to even test your proposal and I'm not going to go out of my way to procure one to just test your outlandish claims that it'll speed my system up.
Thanks for your suggestion....you're heart is in the right place, but your advice is not.