To upgrade or not to upgrade (CPU / GPU)

[Justin R32]

Current system:

SFF Desktop 240w PSU (low-profile pcie)
i5-2500 @ 3.30GHz
Radeon HD 6570 passive
10GB RAM
SSD HD
Win7 x64

I will be upgrading the GPU to a MSI GTX 750 Ti low-profile and upgrading to Win10 x64


My question is....
I have an opportunity to upgrade the entire system to an i5-4570 @3.20GHz
The other things I gain when moving to the new system is USB 3.0 and a 255w PSU.  

Is it worth moving from a 2500 to a 4570 or would the GTX 750 Ti be enough of an upgrade on the 2500 to play Mario Galaxy in 1080p?



PS: I have the 2500 not the 2500k

[kirbypuff]

???
A Radeon HD6570 *should* be capable of running Dolphin @ 1080p, especially with that CPU...

...but only if you:

- Use the latest version of Ishiiruka (works better on older hardware) instead of dev/master and enable the 'Fast EFB Access' option
- Use the Direct3D 11 backend
- Enable or disable the 'Borderless Fullscreen' option. See which one provides better performance for you
- Disable VSync
- Set the resolution to 'Auto (Window Size)' if 3xIR is too much for that GPU.
NOTE: Auto (Window Size) IR is *exactly* 1080p on a FullHD screen.

NOTE: Unofficial builds (including Ishiiruka) are not supported in these forums. Please use the '[Unofficial] Ishiiruka-Dolphin Custom Version' thread in the Development forum if you have any further questions about that build.

P.S. Do you have the GDDR5 or DDR3 version of the HD6570?

[admin89]

_255W PSU is not much different from 240W , it's hard for you to upgrade in the future . i5 4570 is about 30-40% faster than i5 2500 , this should be good enough for demanding games . But still AMD 6570 is only able to handle 720p . If you run Mario galaxy at 3xIR or full HD , your FPS will drop
USB 3.0 is a good option for transferring files , it doesn't have anything to do with Dolphin though
_GTX 750 Ti can handle 4xIR (2560x2112) which is much higher than 1080p . Dx12 is up to 50% faster than DX11 , you will have more FPS with GTX 750Ti
Do your math then
Btw , the i5 4570 is not future-proof CPU for the upcoming emulator : Cemu WiiU . As only i7 4790k @ 4.4GHz can run some WiiU games full speed with Cemu 1.4.0
If I was you I would choose to upgrade the GPU first then grab the CPU later . You may find some good deal in the future

[Justin R32]

???
A Radeon HD6570 *should* be capable of running Dolphin @ 1080p, especially with that CPU...

...but only if you:

- Use the latest version of Ishiiruka (works better on older hardware) instead of dev/master and enable the 'Fast EFB Access' option
- Enable the 'Borderless Fullscreen' option
- Disable VSync
- Set the resolution to Auto (Window Size) if 3xIR is too much for that GPU

NOTE: Unofficial builds (including Ishiiruka) are not supported in these forums. Please use the '[Unofficial] Ishiiruka-Dolphin Custom Version' thread in the Development forum if you have any further questions about that build.

P.S. Do you have the GDDR5 or DDR3 version of the HD6570?

Thanks for the tip.  I'll try the Ishiiruka build out and use the DEV forum for questions and see how my current setup fairs.

My HD6570 only has DDR3.  It's the low-profile passive one from MSI.  It was like $35 a year or 2 ago.   Originally was ONLY for a dedicated HTPC as it was just performing 1080p video tasks and did it just fine.  Dolphin is giving it a real test, hah!

[Justin R32]

Btw , the i5 4570 is not future-proof CPU for the upcoming emulator : Cemu WiiU . As only i7 4790k @ 4.4GHz can run some WiiU games full speed with Cemu 1.4.0
If I was  you I would choose to upgrade the GPU first then grab the CPU later . You may find some good deal in the future

ohhh...great point.  I did some minor CEMU research last night and I think my current setup will need either a big overhaul or flat out replacement to run CEMU WiiU emu.  Looking forward to that tho...

[kirbypuff]

LOL, you replied to the post just as I was updating it with even more tips.
So, you have the slow DDR3 version. Not really a problem, since even that one should be enough for 1080p if you follow the (updated) performance tips.
I remember an older and even weaker low-profile HTPC card (the HD5570 DDR3) was capable of slightly above 1080p (3x or even 4x IR in some cases).

It's also a good idea to try different versions of the AMD drivers (the older Catalyst "Omega" 14.12 and the latest "Crimson" 16.2.1 for legacy GPUs).

[admin89]

Even if he had the GDDR5 version that would not happen on Mario Galaxy which is a graphically demanding game . You don't know unless you try it
I have GTX 860M which is faster than GTX 750 , most game can run fine at 4xIR but for Mario Galaxy , I have to drop the IR down to 3xIR to keep it running full speed (DX11 only . With DX12 , 4x IR is not a problem but that does not count , his HD 6570 only supports DX11 anyway)
6570's memory bandwidth is too low to handle 1080p .You need at least 54GB/sec bandwidth , the 6570 has only 21GB/sec , and GTX 750 has 4 times as much

[Justin R32]

Even if he had the GDDR5 version that would not happen on Mario Galaxy which is a graphically demanding game . You don't know unless you try it
I have GTX 860M which is faster than GTX 750 , most game can run fine at 4xIR but for Mario Galaxy , I have to drop the IR down to 3xIR to keep it running full speed (DX11 only . With DX12 , 4x IR is not a problem but that does not count , his HD 6570 only supports DX11 anyway)
6570's memory bandwidth is too low to handle 1080p .You need at least 54GB/sec bandwidth , the 6570 has only 21GB/sec , and GTX 750 has 4 times as much

Even with my current setup, HD6570 and latest Dolphin official (Dolphin 4.0-9146) Mario Galaxy struggled at 1x IR.

[kirbypuff]

The problem is not really the memory bandwidth. It's the CPU->EFB Access performance.

If you use EFB2Texture only and disable CPU->EFB Access, the 28.8 GB/s of bandwidth DDR3 provides is more than enough for 1080p (Fractional Auto IR).
But once you turn on this option, the speed drops dramatically. Sure, getting a GPU with higher memory bandwidth and higher clockspeeds helps a lot. But that's only one way of improving performance.

Ishiiruka's 'Fast EFB Access' option is another one. It's like having CPU->EFB Access always ON, but with [almost] the same (super high) performance of the setting turned OFF.
It really helps in this case with higher IRs, but limited bandwidth and in similar situations where a title uses a lot of EFB peeks and pokes.

[Justin R32]

LOL, you replied to the post just as I was updating it with even more tips.
So, you have the slow DDR3 version. Not really a problem, since even that one should be enough for 1080p if you follow the (updated) performance tips.
I remember an older and even weaker low-profile HTPC card (the HD5570 DDR3) was capable of slightly above 1080p (3x or even 4x IR in some cases).

It's also a good idea to try different versions of the AMD drivers (the older Catalyst "Omega" 14.12 and the latest "Crimson" 16.2.1 for legacy GPUs).

Thanks again. I am new to Dolphin and emulating Wii games, so I appreciate the help. I already made these changes on my system at home. I'll report back when I get home tonight with the results. I bought a DolphinBar and installed it last night and it is amazing.

BTW:
I search the website and can't find any place to donate $$. I'd like to show my appreciation and help keep it alive. With as much as I'm going to use Dolphin I can't image not donating to the cause.