(03-01-2012, 10:51 AM)NaturalViolence Wrote: [ -> ]Quote:Why i5 and not i7? Price doesn't differ that much from a i5 2500K to a i7 2600K or i7 2700K
$100 more (50% more price) for no improvement in performance, that's why.
Well it makes you sleep better alright.
A 100$ more for an i7 is not much when you're in building a new rig and is well spent money and a good investment for some time to come.
I shouldn't even have to defend myself on this one. The i7 was well spent money in my case and the only thing I regret to this day is that I should have waited, then I could have got the 3820 instead and maybe a better card then the HD 6950.
40nm AMD 6950 ? You forgot about the new 28nm AMD 7000 series , didn't you
AMD 7000 has lower TDP -> Less heat -> overclock higher
Better wait till Q2 2012 then get AMD 7850
If one would have to wait all the time one would eventually be in the grave before one got out and actually bought anything.
With the key in hand the i7 2600K and the HD 6950 wasn't such a bad purchase after all last year although there is always a small portion of regret haunting you inside.
I took my chances with stuff that were out back then and have to wait and sit this round out.
OP,since you seem budget restricted ( you bough h61 and i3 ) I would suggest buying i5 2400 cpu. It would be decent upgrade for you ( since i5 is quad ) for not much money
As for your question about specific dolphin game and perfomance,you will only see huge perfomance increase in games in which you have to use LLE instead of HLE,because on i5 you can then enable "lle on thread" option. Otherwise,you wont see any perfomance increase in dolphin,because dolphin uses only 2 cores. But,you will see perfomance increases in pc games,if you are into that
Quote:Well it makes you sleep better alright.
Not really. $100 more (which is a lot of money unless you're rich) for a feature that I would end up turning off anyways (HT) and an extra 2MB of cache which benchmarks show doesn't change IPC by even 1%. The only reason you should ever recommend a 2600K over a 2500K to someone is if they do a lot of video encoding, software based 3d rendering, or one of the few other tasks which HT actually benefits.
Well I rather want the complete product then a incomplete one.
I gladly paid for it, and I will do it again.
Even if it's virtually nothing in the performance department, it's still psychological. Those 2MB in L3 cache made a difference to me, maybe not performance wise but in my mind.
And I still sleep better...
(03-02-2012, 07:46 AM)Gabriel Belmont Wrote: [ -> ]Well I rather want the complete product then a incomplete one.
I gladly paid for it, and I will do it again.
Even if it's virtually nothing in the performance department, it's still psychological. Those 2MB in L3 cache made a difference to me, maybe not performance wise but in my mind.
And I still sleep better...
Sounds like you have OCD.
Hey, I got it too.

Don't see me complaining about my clock-locked 2300.

(03-02-2012, 03:25 PM)werewolfyman Wrote: [ -> ] (03-02-2012, 07:46 AM)Gabriel Belmont Wrote: [ -> ]Well I rather want the complete product then a incomplete one.
I gladly paid for it, and I will do it again.
Even if it's virtually nothing in the performance department, it's still psychological. Those 2MB in L3 cache made a difference to me, maybe not performance wise but in my mind.
And I still sleep better...
Sounds like you have OCD.
Hey, I got it too.
Don't see me complaining about my clock-locked 2300.

Yeah I think you're right there, I do have OCD when it comes to certain things.
Believe me when I say when I got something made up in my mind nothing can change it.
I think I would have been pissed off if someone convinced me to get the i5 2500K instead last year, I would have regret it so much that in the end I would have been forced to sell it and get the better one.
Quote:I think I would have been pissed off if someone convinced me to get the i5 2500K instead last year, I would have regret it so much that in the end I would have been forced to sell it and get the better one.
Nah, you would've been satisfied. I tell you, the 2500K is definitely an amazing CPU. VERY easy to OC aswell.
Unless you render a lot, and even if you don't, there would be no reason to sell the 2500K and get a 2600K.
But I guess you like the i7 label, and seeing 8 'cores' in your taskmanager.
For the best bang for the buck and performance: 2500K.
@Motawa
I agree with NV
Quote:Just wait until haswell comes out in 1.5 years.
IMO, atleast from what I've seen, Ivy Bridge isn't much faster than a Sandy Bridge. So if you really need to build a PC now, a SB would be sufficient. (Unless you ofcourse want that latest that's available)
(03-02-2012, 08:30 PM)Garteal Wrote: [ -> ]Quote:I think I would have been pissed off if someone convinced me to get the i5 2500K instead last year, I would have regret it so much that in the end I would have been forced to sell it and get the better one.
Nah, you would've been satisfied. I tell you, the 2500K is definitely an amazing CPU. VERY easy to OC aswell.
Unless you render a lot, and even if you don't, there would be no reason to sell the 2500K and get a 2600K.
But I guess you like the i7 label, and seeing 8 'cores' in your taskmanager. 
For the best bang for the buck and performance: 2500K.
@Motawa
I agree with NV
Quote:Just wait until haswell comes out in 1.5 years.
IMO, atleast from what I've seen, Ivy Bridge isn't much faster than a Sandy Bridge. So if you really need to build a PC now, a SB would be sufficient. (Unless you ofcourse want that latest that's available)
I guess I am friend, I guess I am.
But I have told myself that never again shall I have inferior hardware.