Hey all
Im in the process of building a new HTPC/Emulation box to replace my ageing Xbox1 and was looking for some input from other Dolphin users since I havent been able to find much info on this topic. I was originally planning on getting a Core i7 930 but Im starting to think that a Core i5 may be the better choice? I plan on overclocking either CPU and running other emulators such as PCSX2 and MAME. I know Dolphin only uses 2 cores, and will the fact that the Core i5 has only 2 cores help with overclocking (lower heat and power consumption)? Will the i7 acheive better performance than the i5 for apps that only use 2 cores?
Sorry if this has been covered elsewhere but I couldnt see, to find any comparisons regarding Dolphin, just wanting to see what people think...
Thanks
yes, a core i7 will achieve mre performance in programs that only uses 2 cores, too.
just because it has 8MB L3-Cache.
but you will have cooling issues with an overclocked i7 in a small case
(09-13-2010, 07:35 PM)FloW3184 Wrote: [ -> ]yes, a core i7 will achieve mre performance in programs that only uses 2 cores, too.
just because it has 8MB L3-Cache.
but you will have cooling issues with an overclocked i7 in a small case
i7 temperatures are a pain in the butt with stock cooler, if you go past the 4ghz mark. If you buy that and decide to OC,
it'd be best to buy a custom air cooler for about 30-50 bucks, or just buy a pump and water cool the system.
Then again, the performance is second to none, very few things if any can bottleneck them
Quote:yes, a core i7 will achieve mre performance in programs that only uses 2 cores, too.
just because it has 8MB L3-Cache.
Quad core i5s still have 8MB of L3 cache.
@teeedub
Get an i5 760. Only difference between 700 and 800 series i5/i7 cpus is HT. HT is disabled in 700 series cpus and enabled in 800 series cpus. At the moment no emulators receive any benefit from HT, in fact many emulators such as dolphin need it to be off to run properly. 900 series cpus have higher memory bandwidth due to triple channel memory, it is unlikely that any emulators would gain any benefit from this since 700/800 series cpus already have so much memory bandwidth to begin with. Since you're going to end up disabling HT anyways you might as well get a 760 and save some money.
Quote:and will the fact that the Core i5 has only 2 cores help with overclocking (lower heat and power consumption)?
Yes. A clarkdale based cpu can reach clock rates of 4.8GHz on air cooling.
Quote:Will the i7 acheive better performance than the i5 for apps that only use 2 cores?
Depends. Some applications will benefit from the extra cache. You will also get a small speedup from havign a quad core simply because background processes can run on seperate cores. In other words some 2/1 thread applications get slightly better performance per clock on an i7 but most will have less than a 5% difference. The other thing you must factor in is that you can achieve a higher clock rate on a clarkdale based cpu. I'de say with a 2 core application an i7 920 @ 3.2 GHz is equal to a clarkdale @ 3.4GHz. So obviously an overclocked clarkdale at 4.8GHz has better potential with most 2 thread applications than a bloomfiled/lyynfield at 4.0 or 4.2GHz. I would guess that a heavily overclocked i5 530/540/550 would be the best choice for dolphin performance wise (unless you can afford a 980X) but I don't have the data to prove this so it's just an opinion. I would still get an i5 760 since even though a heavily overclocked 530 might perform slightly better in dolphin and is cheaper at the same time an i5 760 is much better cpu for general system use. Also if you ever find yourself recording dolphin with fraps you will find it massively helpful to have a quad core.