I'll tell you that i'm well aware that no previous Phenom II's could even put a dent in some of the weaker Core 2 Duo's. I had asked to see if that advantage was gone with the x6's. Unfortunately, it would appear that the chip line is pretty new, enough so that no one actually has one to test it out.
I'm currently running on what you see in my sig. I'm sure a lot of my speed issues have to do with my horrendous GPU, but i'm lucky to get 30fps in Mario Galaxy 2. It often chugs downwards to 20 or even the teens. And i'm pretty sure that even if i got a better GPU, i still wouldn't even reach 60fps... Even games that go 70%-80% are kind of annoying. I have to say that having a smooth experience is more important than 1080p to me. Although i find half speed playable, it's very annoying and disorienting. At least in games like Mario Galaxy, the music always runs fullspeed giving the illusion of better performance. But that won't help much when the LLE sound plugin is finished, because it seems to force the music to sync with the onscreen graphics, so the sound will slow down with the game itself.
I'm going to bite the bullet soon and get the best i can for less than $1000. I think i can still get an i7 within that range, but the real problem there will definitely be the motherboard. I'm already inexperienced with mobo's, but intel even more so. I need an inexpensive one that will allow me to overclock the i7 to around 4ghz and of course one that won't die or whatever easily. From what i've seen, not only are i7's more expensive overall than AMD's, their motherboards are as well... I'd prefer to find one for no more than $150 there, which i'm not sure is doable to have a somewhat decent mobo.
And it doesn't help either that most AMD motherboards are compatible with all the AMD CPU's (AM2/3/whatever). But Intels are quite a mess to me... I would suspect upgrading would be an issue too. I have heard some fair rumors that the new Bulldozer chip will be back compatible with AM3 motherboards too, so there's another possibility if i want to wait until well into next year.
I do want to clarify that my goal is not to beat the i7, but to basically get fullspeed in Dolphin as much of the time as possible. Overclocking will be something i intend to do, as far as possible on air as i can. If the Thuban can manage fullspeed in every game the i7 can, it would be good enough for me. I think life would be much simpler with it too, with the motherboard mess. I'm not someone who needs to have like 120+ fps in every game, but i'd like to get 60 or the top of what any game would be. I don't need to have an EXCESS of power, just enough to run the games like they were meant to be running. If fullspeed is out of the question with overclocked Thubans though, i guess i will HAVE to go with an i7.
And lastly, on the other end of the spectrum, i guess i could go with an i5 quad. I'm not sure how accurate this statement is, but i've heard they're the same as i7's without hyperthreading. And i'm not sure if i'd even need hyperthreading either. If that's the only major difference, i could get an i7 at AMD prices and have another beast of an overclocker. Again, IF they're almost identical. At any rate, they break even in price with the Thubans. Decisions decisions...
I'm currently running on what you see in my sig. I'm sure a lot of my speed issues have to do with my horrendous GPU, but i'm lucky to get 30fps in Mario Galaxy 2. It often chugs downwards to 20 or even the teens. And i'm pretty sure that even if i got a better GPU, i still wouldn't even reach 60fps... Even games that go 70%-80% are kind of annoying. I have to say that having a smooth experience is more important than 1080p to me. Although i find half speed playable, it's very annoying and disorienting. At least in games like Mario Galaxy, the music always runs fullspeed giving the illusion of better performance. But that won't help much when the LLE sound plugin is finished, because it seems to force the music to sync with the onscreen graphics, so the sound will slow down with the game itself.
I'm going to bite the bullet soon and get the best i can for less than $1000. I think i can still get an i7 within that range, but the real problem there will definitely be the motherboard. I'm already inexperienced with mobo's, but intel even more so. I need an inexpensive one that will allow me to overclock the i7 to around 4ghz and of course one that won't die or whatever easily. From what i've seen, not only are i7's more expensive overall than AMD's, their motherboards are as well... I'd prefer to find one for no more than $150 there, which i'm not sure is doable to have a somewhat decent mobo.
And it doesn't help either that most AMD motherboards are compatible with all the AMD CPU's (AM2/3/whatever). But Intels are quite a mess to me... I would suspect upgrading would be an issue too. I have heard some fair rumors that the new Bulldozer chip will be back compatible with AM3 motherboards too, so there's another possibility if i want to wait until well into next year.
I do want to clarify that my goal is not to beat the i7, but to basically get fullspeed in Dolphin as much of the time as possible. Overclocking will be something i intend to do, as far as possible on air as i can. If the Thuban can manage fullspeed in every game the i7 can, it would be good enough for me. I think life would be much simpler with it too, with the motherboard mess. I'm not someone who needs to have like 120+ fps in every game, but i'd like to get 60 or the top of what any game would be. I don't need to have an EXCESS of power, just enough to run the games like they were meant to be running. If fullspeed is out of the question with overclocked Thubans though, i guess i will HAVE to go with an i7.
And lastly, on the other end of the spectrum, i guess i could go with an i5 quad. I'm not sure how accurate this statement is, but i've heard they're the same as i7's without hyperthreading. And i'm not sure if i'd even need hyperthreading either. If that's the only major difference, i could get an i7 at AMD prices and have another beast of an overclocker. Again, IF they're almost identical. At any rate, they break even in price with the Thubans. Decisions decisions...