You can easily OC your 955 to 3.8 GHz - as every CPU is not like the others of the same kind, you can get to 3.8 without or with a slight increase of the vCore, or you are fine to run it with 1.45 V max to achieve 3.8 GHz. Be advised that if you turn the multiplier to reach that clockspeed, no more Cool'n'Quiet avaiable.
If you have a good aftermarket air-cooler you have no problems with the temperature. Core-Temp shouldn't exceed 65°C as AMD specifies the CPU to that temp. And don't push up the vCore over 1.5V as it will shorten the life of the CPU by a big amount. Even 1.5V is killer, but inside specifications. Disable Loadline Calibration (LLC or w/e - depends on what Mainboard you use, could be named different)! As you don't want voltage spikes above 1.5V if you set your vCore to 1.45V - that's probably why I have to set a vCore of 1.45V because on heavy-load the vCore of your CPU drops a bit below 1.45V, so you just set a higher vCore in your BIOS to keep it stable.
As I said: I don't know how lucky you are, and on what point you have to increase your vCore but always watch temperature and vCore under heavy-load (Prime95, Battlefield 3, Crysis, Benchmarks like 3DMark11 etc.) and test for 4-5 hours under heavy-load to be certain to achieve a stable state. If your PC freezes, set vCore higher for 0.25Volts. If you dont reach 3.8GHz with 1.5V you just have a bad chip and you have to give it a try with 3.7GHz or less.
I don't know if OC will bring you that a playable emulation, but you can try and you get a very good CPU for free.
E: If you don't know anything about CPU OC - don't mind and read some FAQs on different Hardware-sites and forums, and just don't overdo it with the voltage (not Higher than 1.5V and not hotter than 65°C core-temp!). nowadays CPUs are nearly undestroyable as they have build in safety-features. Don't be surprised if your PC freezes, reboots, blue-screens etc. just push voltage or lower the Multiplier.
(04-10-2012, 05:55 AM)eatmagnetic Wrote: [ -> ]You can easily OC your 955 to 3.8 GHz - as every CPU is not like the others of the same kind, you can get to 3.8 without or with a slight increase of the vCore, or you are fine to run it with 1.45 V max to achieve 3.8 GHz. Be advised that if you turn the multiplier to reach that clockspeed, no more Cool'n'Quiet avaiable.
If you have a good aftermarket air-cooler you have no problems with the temperature. Core-Temp shouldn't exceed 65°C as AMD specifies the CPU to that temp. And don't push up the vCore over 1.5V as it will shorten the life of the CPU by a big amount. Even 1.5V is killer, but inside specifications. Disable Loadline Calibration (LLC or w/e - depends on what Mainboard you use, could be named different)! As you don't want voltage spikes above 1.5V if you set your vCore to 1.45V - that's probably why I have to set a vCore of 1.45V because on heavy-load the vCore of your CPU drops a bit below 1.45V, so you just set a higher vCore in your BIOS to keep it stable.
As I said: I don't know how lucky you are, and on what point you have to increase your vCore but always watch temperature and vCore under heavy-load (Prime95, Battlefield 3, Crysis, Benchmarks like 3DMark11 etc.) and test for 4-5 hours under heavy-load to be certain to achieve a stable state. If your PC freezes, set vCore higher for 0.25Volts. If you dont reach 3.8GHz with 1.5V you just have a bad chip and you have to give it a try with 3.7GHz or less.
I don't know if OC will bring you that a playable emulation, but you can try and you get a very good CPU for free.
E: If you don't know anything about CPU OC - don't mind and read some FAQs on different Hardware-sites and forums, and just don't overdo it with the voltage (not Higher than 1.5V and not hotter than 65°C core-temp!). nowadays CPUs are nearly undestroyable as they have build in safety-features. Don't be surprised if your PC freezes, reboots, blue-screens etc. just push voltage or lower the Multiplier.
Ill try but my current temp when running crysis demo peaks at around 50 degrees. Is that too high?? Also to clarify, OC will constantly cAuse blue screens? Or just when forst setting it and finding a stable result??
The reason you're probably getting low FPS isn't because your CPU isn't fast enough -- the Phenom II's are rather peppy -- it's because your CPU has only 4 logical threads. Dolphin makes use of two cores, which makes Intel chips ideal; specifically the i7 because of the complex core technology. These chips (like a Sandy Bridge i7) have 2 logical threads per core, effectively allowing 4 core processing on the two core allowance from Dolphin. With what you have now, you'll have to buy an entire new Mobo and possibly RAM (if you have 1866 or better) just to change out your processor. Overclocking appears to be your only, repeating the previous posts, and best option. You'll need to just tinker with it and hope for the best. There are alternatives, but most are extremely dangerous and risky for just a small profit. Either way, your GPU is amazing, so keep your graphical settings about mid-range and enable all the speed enhancers you can to keep your frames up.
Good Luck!
Edit -- The i5 I have claims to be Hyperthreaded, but that fact has been thrown into question. Replaced i5 with Sandy Bridge i7.
(04-10-2012, 11:50 AM)Esteel Wrote: [ -> ]The reason you're probably getting low FPS isn't because your CPU isn't fast enough -- the Phenom II's are rather peppy -- it's because your CPU has only 4 logical threads. Dolphin makes use of two cores, which makes Intel chips ideal; specifically the i5 and i7 because of the complex core technology. These chips (like my own i5 2500k) have 2 logical threads per core, effectively allowing 4 core processing on the two core allowance from Dolphin.
Total bullshit!
I'm... sorry? What? If you're talking about the Hyper-threading, the older Lynnfield i5's may have had it disabled, but Hyperthreading is enabled on the Sandy Bridge models (at least on the i5-2500K).
Nope.
Dolphin only use 3 major threads or CORES.
Total Horseshit.
Isn't that what I said? o.O
"Dolphin makes use of two cores..." Is my exact quote.
I was saying that Dolphin may use 2 PHYSICAL threads (CORES), but there are two LOGICAL threads per CORE.
I'm not saying that Intel allows Dolphin the use of 4 cores, it allows the use of 2 complex, or the simulated likeness of 4 cores.
(04-10-2012, 12:08 PM)Esteel Wrote: [ -> ]I'm... sorry? What? If you're talking about the Hyper-threading, the older Lynnfield i5's may have had it disabled, but Hyperthreading is enabled on the Sandy Bridge models (at least on the i5-2500K).
Hyper-Threading? Nah, not really. Not for the 2500K.
Dolphin doesn't want to agree with you.
If I had a camera, I'd upload the box my 2500K came in. Says Hyperthreading Enabled right on it.
I don't mean to get hostile, just please accept my advice when I have it, and please send me a PM if you have a problem with something I say in the future so it can stay out of the forums, cool?
Yeah, I know, the yellow text, it appears on my screen too. I have no idea why it does that (or if the devs even know it does that) but it seems wrong. Intel says 2500Ks don't have Hyper-Threading. As much as I love the Dolphin dev team and all the work they do, I'm going to trust Intel, especially about hardware they made. Look at
Wikipedia, 2500Ks only give you 4 cores, 4 threads.