I3 or stick with X4 AMD?

[Devin]

I have the chance to replace my amd setup (AMD Phenom II X4 960T) with a Z77 Mobo and I3 2100.
Should I do it? Would I get any performance increase since Intel has better single core performance?
With a Z77 mobo i could upgrade to an ivy bridge I5 later on but would it be worth for dolphin compared to an i3 or even my current cpu?
Games I would be playing are F-Zero GX, Mario Galaxy, Metroid, and maybe some xenoblade chronicles.
Also my graphics card is a GTX 760 so pretty much good on that side of things!
Any help is great, thank you!

[KHg8m3r]

Yes, you will see a speed up in CPU intensive games, of which all the games you listed are.

What are the circumstances surrounding you getting this upgrade? I ask because it would be better for you to go with a 4th gen Intel CPU because of the 40% speed boost it gives over second and third gen Intel CPUs.

[Devin]

Yes, you will see a speed up in CPU intensive games, of which all the games you listed are.

What are the circumstances surrounding you getting this upgrade? I ask because it would be better for you to go with a 4th gen Intel CPU because of the 40% speed boost it gives over second and third gen Intel CPUs.

I already have the mono and CPU from another computer. Its just a matter of replacing the parts. The I5 upgrade will probably happen near end of next year if at all, just thought to mention a possible upgrade in the future.

[Zee530]

By the end of next year you'll probably need another new motherboard for by then a new architecture, if the CPU market is still alive then

[Devin]

By the end of next year you'll probably need another new motherboard for by then a new architecture, if the CPU market is still alive then

Okay, maybe. But that doesnt help me with my question.
Would a I3 be an upgrade to what I have for the time being or not? 

[KHg8m3r]

The i3 will give you a speed up in CPU bound games, yes. And unless you get an i5-3570K and overclock, it wont be worth it to do the upgrade, as an i3-4330 at stock is faster than the i5-3570K at 4.5 Ghz

[Devin]

The i3 will give you a speed up in CPU bound games, yes. And unless you get an i5-3570K and overclock, it wont be worth it to do the upgrade, as an i3-4330 at stock is faster than the i5-3570K at 4.5 Ghz

Soooo should I just overclock my current cpu to 4ghz and just save up for a new mobo and cpu when new intel architecture comes out? Do you know if I would get a speed bump in games outside of dolphin? 

[KHg8m3r]

I think the i3 will still be faster. It can also use newer instruction sets with Dolphin for more speed.

The Z77 board is an over lockable board, so if you don't mind used parts, you can get a cheap 3570K on eBay.

The best course of action, in my eyes, would be to switch over to the i3 for now, and then save up (or get for Christmas) a new 4th gen series Intel overclock-able motherboard/CPU

[shreduhsoreus]

As an AMD fan who used to have the Phenom 2 x4 965, and a current Intel user, I would say the i3 will give you better performance, especially since Dolphin can't even use the extra cores that the Phenom has. Your AMD CPU is good considering it's age and what not, but Intel almost always has better performance when it comes to single(and even dual) threaded applications.

My current i7 even has occasional lag in some of the games you mentioned, so any performance gain you can get I would go for.

[Devin]

I think the i3 will still be faster. It can also use newer instruction sets with Dolphin for more speed.

The Z77 board is an over lockable board, so if you don't mind used parts, you can get a cheap 3570K on eBay.

The best course of action, in my eyes, would be to switch over to the i3 for now, and then save up (or get for Christmas) a new 4th gen series Intel overclock-able motherboard/CPU

Alright then I am going to go with the I3 and z77. 
Yeah I was thinking the same thing with the 3570k. Depends on how much money i have and the cost of it.
Thank you for helping me out!