Suggested CPU for emulation

hermanthecool · 08-12-2014, 10:59 AM #1

So I currently have a Intel Pentium Dual Core 3.00 GHz, is there a better I3/I5 cpu within the price range of 100-120 dollars?

**JMC47** · 08-12-2014, 11:09 AM #2

Haswell Pentium Anniversary for 70 - 75 dollars is the best bang for your buck for a processor. Will run almost anything full speed in Dolphin.

**admin89** · 08-12-2014, 06:28 PM #3

Quote:Will run almost anything full speed in Dolphin.

As long as he pair it with Z97 mobo (Asrock Z97 Anniversary for example) and overclock it
There is only 2 CPUs can beat it in Dolphin : i5 4690k and i7 4790k

hermanthecool · 08-13-2014, 10:05 AM #4

(08-12-2014, 06:28 PM)admin89 Wrote:
Quote:Will run almost anything full speed in Dolphin.
As long as he pair it with Z97 mobo (Asrock Z97 Anniversary for example) and overclock it
There is only 2 CPUs can beat it in Dolphin : i5 4690k and i7 4790k

Are there any I5's/I3 better than the Haswell he talked about that are around 100-150 dollars? or do i5's /i3's start getting around 200 dollars

**admin89** · 08-13-2014, 10:11 AM #5

Dude , G3258 ($74) @ 4.7GHz is stronger than most i5/i7 in Dolphin
See Dolphin Benchmark

BigT · (This post was last modified: 08-13-2014, 01:12 PM by BigT.)

Of course, there is no guarantee that you will hit 4.7 GHz with the G3258... but, even if you don't, it's still a good chip.

I bought one of these chips to play with. Mine will only do up to 4.2 GHz at reasonable voltages (1.28 V to be fully stable; it came running 1.1 V stock). After that, it hits a voltage wall and I need about 1.34 V to get up to 4.3 GHz fully stable... so I gave up going higher. This is using MSI's PCMate z97.

At 4.2 GHz, it still runs Dolphin very well and temps during CPU stress testing with Intel XTU and Prime95 hover in the low to mid 60 C range (using a Zalman cooler: cnps10x optima). The Dolphin Benchmark clocks in at 7 min 12 sec, which easily beats my i5-3570k.

Just for fun, I paired it with a Radeon 7950 Twin Frozr OC (960/1250 MHz) that I had lying around and it really doesn't seem to bottleneck it too much... can still pull off about 5900 3DMarks in Firestrike, though it does perform worse than the same card paired with even a stock i5 3570k (about 8-10% worse in benchmarks and a bit more noticeable fps drops in modern games - but I didn't really have time to benchmark those and they generally still play very well subjectively)... still works amazingly well for a chip I bought for $99 bundled with a motherboard.

hermanthecool · 08-13-2014, 04:37 PM #7

(08-13-2014, 01:10 PM)BigT Wrote: Of course, there is no guarantee that you will hit 4.7 GHz with the G3258... but, even if you don't, it's still a good chip.

I bought one of these chips to play with. Mine will only do up to 4.2 GHz at reasonable voltages (1.28 V to be fully stable; it came running 1.1 V stock). After that, it hits a voltage wall and I need about 1.34 V to get up to 4.3 GHz fully stable... so I gave up going higher. This is using MSI's PCMate z97.

At 4.2 GHz, it still runs Dolphin very well and temps during CPU stress testing with Intel XTU and Prime95 hover in the low to mid 60 C range (using a Zalman cooler: cnps10x optima). The Dolphin Benchmark clocks in at 7 min 12 sec, which easily beats my i5-3570k.

Just for fun, I paired it with a Radeon 7950 Twin Frozr OC (960/1250 MHz) that I had lying around and it really doesn't seem to bottleneck it too much... can still pull off about 5900 3DMarks in Firestrike, though it does perform worse than the same card paired with even a stock i5 3570k (about 8-10% worse in benchmarks and a bit more noticeable fps drops in modern games - but I didn't really have time to benchmark those and they generally still play very well subjectively)... still works amazingly well for a chip I bought for $99 bundled with a motherboard.

That's the thing, I've got a gtx 750 ti and I need a cpu that's going to be good for emulation and gaming.

**admin89** · (This post was last modified: 08-13-2014, 05:21 PM by admin89.)

Your budget is too low for anything better than that Pentium
Btw , your GPU isn't that strong either . An OCed Pentium Haswell is on par with an i3 Haswell in multi-threaded benchmark
If you pair a mid-range GPU with a high-end CPU , you will cause GPU bottleneck
In this case , performance level of an i3 is good enough for you
PC gaming is all about GPU horse power anyway

Quote: it does perform worse than the same card paired with even a stock i5 3570k (about 8-10% worse in benchmarks and a bit more noticeable fps drops in modern games

Quote:I've got a gtx 750 ti and I need a cpu that's going to be good for emulation and gaming.

7950 is high-end GPU while OCed Pentium is mid range CPU -> CPU bottleneck
But let do some math
i5 3570k cost $230 for CPU only
Anniversary Pentium + mobo bundle via Microcenter cost $100 !
10% difference in performance doesn't matter here . The i5 is 3 times more expensive
While it's true that OCed Pentium is on par with standard i3 Haswell , not all game support i3's Hyperthreading feature nor multi-core CPU . As a results , OCed Pentium can chop off some i5 , i7
See Benchmark for PC games
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2014/06/24/intel-pentium-g3258-review/5

BigT · 08-13-2014, 05:18 PM #9

(08-13-2014, 04:37 PM)hermanthecool Wrote: That's the thing, I've got a gtx 750 ti and I need a cpu that's going to be good for emulation and gaming.

The 750 ti is a very well designed card, but its main feature is that it has very low power consumption and increadible performance/watt. The Radeon 7950 is a power hungry beast in comparison - it gives 2x the performance of a 750 ti, but uses >3x the power, but. So, I think that a 750 ti may be relatively well matched with an OC'd G3258. In most cases, you'll probably be GPU limited (except certain games that rely on >2 cores... like Crysis 3 and some multiplayer games like BF4 where lots is going on). Here it is running head to head with a Core i7; you be the judge:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUlS5Q7tEJI

Though, as new games become more and more multithreaded, the tide may shift over time against the G3258.
If you want something better and more futureproof, steer clear of the i3 (they are still just 2 cores and are non-K versions, so they can't overclock; hyperthreading doesn't add much). An i5 is the sweet spot if you want to be future proof; get a K version, so you can OC if needed. For games, i7 doesn't really add much.

Again, if you have a Microcenter nearby, they tend to have the best deals on processors and bundles.

DatKid20 · (This post was last modified: 08-14-2014, 12:24 AM by DatKid20.)

The i5-4460 is most likely the best fit for you. It can play games well and will play most Wii games at 60fps.

EDIT: He most likely wants to play modern games which do indeed support Multi-Core CPUs. I would recommend saving for the i5-4690k but the i5-4460 is a close second stock clocked.