Getting a new CPU wondering if it would be enough.

**admin89** · (This post was last modified: 11-30-2013, 11:26 AM by admin89.)

You will need insanely high Vcore to do that though . I wouldn't call it "stable"
Well , it can jump up to 3.6GHz+ . I guess this Xeon is not as bad as i thought

**NaturalViolence** · 11-30-2013, 04:08 PM **#12**

It's basically the xeon version of an i7 920. It should hit 4.0GHz no problem with sufficient cooling and power. It's still not going to be anywhere near as fast as a haswell cpu running at stock though. Trademarkgamer what games do you plan on running with dolphin?

trademarkgamer · 12-01-2013, 08:31 AM **#13**

Mostly gamecube titles like Wind Waker, the prime games, Mario games, and twilight princess. Maybe also Sonic colors and other M if they can run.

**AnyOldName3** · 12-01-2013, 09:53 AM **#14**

The metroid ones won't be any fun with the xeon.

**NaturalViolence** · 12-01-2013, 09:54 AM **#15**

Wind waker and twilight princess will run fine at stock (except hyrule field). Metroid prime games will require extensive OCing just to reach tolerable speeds. Sonic colors will also require OCing but should run at fullspeed at 4.0GHz. Other M I'm guessing will be about the same. "Mario games" is a big list, which ones specifically?

trademarkgamer · 12-01-2013, 01:55 PM **#16**

well most of the mario games, like sunshine and galaxy (I know that's going to be a hard one to run)

limith · (This post was last modified: 12-01-2013, 02:39 PM by limith.)

If you wanted to, you can maybe buy used parts for 4 year old top of the line CPU (that's not terrible, pretty much what my desktop specs are right now is 4 year old top of the line, it's aged rather well)...it'd be more expensive than $70 though. Would require a "new" motherboard and CPU, other than that, your existing power may be usable (depending on if it is proprietary or not and wattage, minimum 400W), you would probably need a new fan for OC, unless you already have one.

i5's are rather cheap on Ebay...2400S is selling for $7.50 right now, though the title says NO RESERVE whatever that means, another one 2400 is selling for $50. Or if you want, there are people selling 2500K which is also really good, you can OC them to 4.3 ish no problem usually and it should run everything great.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Core-i5-2500K-2nd-Gen-3-3-GHz-Quad-Core-BX80623I52500K-Processor-/200996754427?pt=CPUs&hash=item2ecc5713fb

Anyway, I recommend you get a 2nd generation i5/i7 that can overclock if you want a cheap CPU and can afford electricity. They overclock really well compared to 3rd/4th generations (more or less on par with the newer stuff in regards to gaming according to Tom's Hardware) with really cheap $30 after market coolers. They do use double the electricity of 3rd/4th generation i5/i7s, but it's not that big of a deal for desktop.

**AnyOldName3** · 12-02-2013, 09:07 AM **#18**

A reserve is where the lister specifies a price that they won't let it sell for less than that's higher than the starting bid. E.g. if I put something on with a starting bid of £1, and a reserve of £10, if someone bid £9 on it, even though they'd be higher than the starting bid, they'd not get it.

No reserve means that there's none of this stupid crap.

jbone1337 · (This post was last modified: 12-02-2013, 09:47 AM by jbone1337.)

(11-30-2013, 11:04 AM)trademarkgamer Wrote: Alright, thanks for all of your input on this. I got the Xeon at a steal of a price for 70$ since I'm rather on the poor side this year and I wanted something that would do multitasking a lot better than my dual core. Also I don't think this Xeon is bad at overclocking, looking around I found reports of it going to 4.0ghz stable.

is it new or used?
As it being used could lower ability of overclocking due to electromigration and/or degradation due to high voltages and/or heat.

Also what motherboard and psu and cooling do you have?

Overclocking, especially overclocking to that degree will require a good board with good VRM to handle increased voltages to the cpu and keep the system stable.

You will also need a decent PSU with enough spare amps to handle the increased power draw of the overclocked cpu (raising the voltage exponentially raises power draw). Id recommend definitly having one that is made with quality parts aswell as one that is 80+ bronze at the min.

Also i dont think getting 4.0ghz on that cpu is going to be possible w/o a custom water loop (around $200-300).
Reading around people usually do 3.6-3.8ghz on good air coolers or closed loop water coolers (the closed loop water coolers arnt really any better then a good air cooler tbh), and they are gettin temps of like 65-70C at 100% load which is on the higher side. (and most people who overclock their cpus usually have their AC on more often and keep their house at like 60-65F. so if you dont use AC in the summer and your house is getting like 90F, well....)

If you arnt going to be using a expensive custom water cooling loop, then you better have a good air cooler, with a good case that has plenty of cooling/ventilation. (if you atleast want something like 3.6ghz or so)

if you have some cheap low end motherboard, some cheap low end psu, aswell as some crappy oem case you wont be getting too far in overclocking. And if you planned to use the stock cooler on top of it, you are out of your mind lol

(actually surprised no one else brought this up yet XD)

**NaturalViolence** · 12-02-2013, 10:15 AM **#20**

jbone1337 Wrote:(actually surprised no one else brought this up yet XD)

Well considering the OP already has a significantly overclocked nehalem cpu in his system now and implied that he knows what he's doing I didn't feel the need to write out all the basics for him considering he probably already knows. Generally we only do that when they ask for help or it looks like they need it.

I also think it's pretty safe to assume that this isn't an OEM system.

jbone1337 Wrote:As it being used could lower ability of overclocking due to electromigration and/or degradation due to high voltages and/or heat.

I've never heard of either of those reducing long term overclocking potential to any significant or even measurable degree.

jbone1337 Wrote:Also i dont think getting 4.0ghz on that cpu is going to be possible w/o a custom water loop (around $200-300).
Reading around people usually do 3.6-3.8ghz on good air coolers or closed loop water coolers (the closed loop water coolers arnt really any better then a good air cooler tbh), and they are gettin temps of like 65-70C at 100% load which is on the higher side.

65C-70C is perfectly safe. 70-75C is "hot". I've read plenty of people getting to 4.0GHz just fine on air cooling with similar xeon and i5/i7 lyynfield cpus using high end air coolers. Not that 3.8GHz would be much slower than 4.0GHz anyways if worst comes to worst. Turning off HT makes it a lot easier to 4.0GHz and since dolphin doesn't utilize HT anyways he could easily do that. A $300 water cooling system is not necessary.

jbone1337 Wrote:(and most people who overclock their cpus usually have their AC on more often and keep their house at like 60-65F. so if you dont use AC in the summer and your house is getting like 90F, well....)

Do you have a survey or something that you based this off of? Because I really doubt this. In the US 70-80F is typical for home AC. Not a lot of people run their AC that cold and I would imagine that OCers would be the same.