Phenom II X4 980 vs intel core i5 2500

[coldnpale]

So, it's time for a pc upgrade, and I'm looking for a cpu to start building my new pc around. I am between AMD's Phenom II X4 980 and Intel's core i5 2500k. Both of them will be enough for my non-dolphin demands. But which one will do better for dolphin? Amd's 980 runs at 3.7ghz stock, which is a much higher frequency than intel's, however ofcourse intel's cpu has a lot better performance in all benchmarks. Anyone knows how these 2 will compete in dolphin? Keeping in mind the rest specs will be enough. Thanks in advance.

[Link_to_the_past]

(11-26-2011, 10:00 PM)coldnpale Wrote: So, it's time for a pc upgrade, and I'm looking for a cpu to start building my new pc around. I am between AMD's Phenom II X4 980 and Intel's core i5 2500k. Both of them will be enough for my non-dolphin demands. But which one will do better for dolphin? Amd's 980 runs at 3.7ghz stock, which is a much higher frequency than intel's, however ofcourse intel's cpu has a lot better performance in all benchmarks. Anyone knows how these 2 will compete in dolphin? Keeping in mind the rest specs will be enough. Thanks in advance.

Get I5 2500k with eyes closed. It turbo boosts at the same frequency and has much higher per core performance. And it overclocks higher, never mind the compatibility with future ivy bridge processors for motherboards that support sandy bridge, which will be a killer (bulldozer is disappointing on the other hand).

[dannzen]

ivy bridge support on sandy bridge socket?
jeah...
but
z77 h77...
nevermind

[coldnpale]

ok! Thanks for the response! I was kinda expecting to get this answer, but i'm kinda new to dolphin, so I thought i'd better ask around first And yeah, the amd's fx are really disappointing...

[eatmagnetic]

Sorry for the dig-up (it quite fits my questions ), but is the difference that big? In regards I just want to play the Zelda games?
I mean, I think my 965 at 3,7 GHz managed to play Skyward Sword quite smooth, allthough I don't know how it looks with an i5 :/ - if you never have seen it, you can't know how bad (or good) it may run, right?
Or that's what I think smooth is, since I haven't progressed that far into SS since I lack a real Motion+

That said, I just run at 1680x1050 without AA and 2xIR and the common settings posted in the wiki.

Before I give my father a head-ache, changeing the systems I just want your oppinion if I would notice a big difference...

[Dodge112]

(11-26-2011, 10:44 PM)coldnpale Wrote: ok! Thanks for the response! I was kinda expecting to get this answer, but i'm kinda new to dolphin, so I thought i'd better ask around first And yeah, the amd's fx are really disappointing...

Don't expect too much from Ivy Bridge, it's their Tick CPU, their Tock will make it (probably) allot better. The i5 2500K is A great CPU for gaming, and according to the forum also for Dolphin Emulator. The Ivy Bridge IS said to give atleast an 8% increase in most games though, which is always nice (I am speaking of the 3570K model vs the 2500K model).

Though to answer your question AMD 980 vs i5 2500k, the 980 will trade blows at some departments but only slightly. BUT the 2500K will knock the 980 out in things that it excels at. I think the choice should be obvious. If you care about SLI/Xfire I recommend you get the ASrock Extreme 3 Gen 3 motherboard, if not I recommend the ASrock pro3 gen3 motherboard.

Good luck!

[admin89]

Core 2 duo is a little faster than Phenom II clock for clock
Core i5 1st gen (Ex: i5 760) is faster than Core 2 duo
Core i5 2nd gen (Ex : i5 2500k) is much faster than Core i5 1st gen
Core i5 3rd gen (Ex: i5 3570k) is faster than Core i5 2nd gen
Dolphin only use 2 cores ...
i5 2500 (non k edition) is not able to overclock . Some game like Mario Galaxy require LLE back-end , you'll need i5 2500k @ 4.4Ghz
Phenom II is fine but it doesn't stand a chance against i5

[eatmagnetic]

Alright I got it

Thanks for the advice! I think as soon as I get my watercooler I will just change Motherboards. Hopefully to get a good experience with my GTX560 Ti - dunno why I build the i5 into my fathers rig anyway, since he only does music and video editing but the 965 has to be enough for him hahaha

[coldnpale]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I am thinking atm of the 3570 instead of the 2500k.