CPU - pinch

[Sadrian]

Hey there!



I started upgrading my rig some time ago, right now it looks like this:

(Athlon 2 X4@3,6), GTX 570, 4GB DDR3, AM3+ board.
Since the CPU is weak it is the next thing on my upgrade list, and, of course ( -.- ), i wanted to buy an FX - processor.

after reading a lot of reviews i knew i made a mistake with that am3+ board, but since i reached the point of no return, i have to stick with it.
yes, i know amd cpus suck compared to intel in most cases, but right now i have no other choice.
i searched alot but couldnt find anything about dolphin and amd fx cpus aside from the fact that they probably suck - but still no facts or benchmarks related to dolphin.

so what should i do?

i could buy one of those: FX 4170, FX 6200, FX 81x0.
all of them will perform good with normal PC games, but what about dolphin? which one would be the best? i know , dolphin only uses 2 cores, so it is probably the 4170, but who knows ?
Phenoms are hard to come by right now, i dont think id be able to get one. with some luck on my hands i maybe could get an ivy bridge setup but i shouldnt rely too much on it.

i planned on playing major nintendo games such as SMG, Metroid series, Zelda SS, some of the 'AAA' Square games - basically the demanding ones (yeah, i know...)
any chance to enjoy them at leats in 480p, perfectly playable of course?
any sugestions?

Regards

[NaturalViolence]

All bulldozer chips run dolphin poorly (along with most applications in general). The entire architecture is poorly designed for an application like dolphin that doesn't rely heavily on multithreading and/or vector arithmetic.

I'm not even sure if it will be any better than your current cpu at running dolphin (probably very slightly better). Phenom II chips outperform bulldozer in dolphin.

If you want my advice (which I assume you do since you posted here) either save up for ivy bridge or stick with what you have.

[admin89]

Do what you wanna do
I'm 100% sure you won't gain anything if you get Bulldozer
Phenom II beats Bulldozer anyway (Dolphin)
Dolphin : Athlon = Bulldozer << Phenom = Intel Dual Core < Intel Core 2 duo < Core i series 1st gen << Core i series 2nd gen < Core i series 3rd gen
You could wait for AMD Piledriver though i have no idea how it performs on dolphin
Check Single Threaded Benchmark when it comes to emulation . See Phenom II 4 cores rape Buldozer 8 cores

[dannzen]

^everything what admin89 said is true!

[AnyOldName3]

I think that was obvious as it was pretty much the same as what NaturalViolence had said. Bulldozer is useless except in rare circumstances, but even in those, anything Intel will destroy it.

[Sadrian]

Well, its nothing i hadnt expected, but what i am really curious about is how they actually do perform, what games could run perfectly - or better yet wich couldnt?

I mean we could argue all night long about how they suck but i think there are some people who can only bet on BD and are as well interested in this topic.

so any experiences with those cpus are highly welcome!

(as for me, ill try to get my hands on an 3570K and an p/z 77board, but as i said it may be futile)

[AnyOldName3]

With what you've already got you should at least be able to run non-demanding games (super mario bros wii or megaman) at full speed, and many others at something playable.

[Sadrian]

Well yea, sort of. i OCd that CPu up to 3,6 GHz, SS seems to work well, at least until now. SMG though was 70% at its best.

[AnyOldName3]

You won't do better than that.

[NaturalViolence]

Quote:Well, its nothing i hadnt expected, but what i am really curious about is how they actually do perform, what games could run perfectly - or better yet wich couldnt?

Well that's not a specific question but in general slightly faster than what you have now, maybe 5-10%.