Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

For those of you who don’t know me, I’ve been working on GameCube emulation with another project. Being that GCN emulation is severely CPU-limited (and specifically the project I am working on, where I’m trying to achieve fullspeed with an interpreter), I’ve decided it’s about time to update my dated development rig to something that can scream.

So I’ve gotten most of my components decided, but I think my hardest decision is 3570k vs. 3770k. I’ll almost certainly be overclocking to try and achieve fullspeed, but probably not using HT for emulation. I’m wondering if any other slight advantage I would get with the i7 would be worth the $100 extra in price (that I would otherwise put to beefing up the video card).

Would any 3570k or 3770k owners give me feedback on performance results for Dolphin?

If you’re especially interested in helping me / my project out, I would MUCH appreciate 3570k/3770k owners benching my emulator which you can download here (4mb). A good benchmark game is Wind Waker. I’m looking specifically for FPS on the opening "Nintendo" logo, the opening sky, and the full island in view. If you don’t have time/care to do that for me, I’d also be interested in the same benchmark with Dolphin. Bonus points for stock benchmarks vs. overclocking.

I would say if I could get even 10% performance increase with 3770k over 3570k (with overclocking into consideration), I would justify the expense.

Cheers.

The 3570K and 3770K are nearly identical CPU's.
The 3770K has 2MB more cache, 100MHz higher stock clocks, and hyperthreading.

You will see no difference in performance when you run these two processors at the same clock speed.

Unless you really need the hyperthreading, you should get the 3570K and spend the $100 on a better GPU.

Thanks for the response. This is basically what I have often read online, but I would still like to see some hard evidence. Even minimal performance increases may be worth it to me, as what I am doing isn't super GPU-intensive. With overclocking, will I be able to push the 3770K further than I could the 3570K such that I would be able to see noticeable results?

Quote:With overclocking, will I be able to push the 3770K further than I could the 3570K such that I would be able to see noticeable results?

In reality, you don't know if your CPU will be a good or bad CPU. (Overclocks good or not)

Assuming they're both good chips, you'll most likely be able to push the 3570K further, unless you turn off the HT on the 3770K.
That's because having the HT on will run your CPU hotter than without it.
Turning it off renders the 100$ you spend on the 3770K for the HT a waste.

What would you like to overclock to?

The 5570 you have isn't exactly a decent GPU. You should really look into upgrading that.

If you spend on the decent cooling , you will be able to push it further
i5 3570k @ 4.5GHz should be doable
Edit : If you bought Asrock Z77 mobo , 4.5GHz would be max OC on it

Quote:but I would still like to see some hard evidence.

Look up reviews for both cpus. They will include application performance tests. Of course seeing the data is one thing, interpreting it is something else. As for dolphin, you'll just have to take our word for it because there is no widespread reliable cpu benchmark for dolphin out there that I know of. HT does not benefit dolphin at all.

There are applications out there that will produce significant performance gains from HT, mainly video encoders and other highly multithreaded multimedia related applications.

If you want to observe the performance impact of the extra cache and clock rate take a look at single threaded tests. The difference is pretty much always <=6%.

I'm looking to overclock to ~4-4.5GHz. Sounds like I want to go with the 3570K and spend the extra money on maximizing video. The system I'm currently looking at building would be:

GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 670 Superclocked - $450
CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K - $215
MOBO: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 - $115
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) - $45
HDD: Intel 330 Series Maple Crest 120GB SSD - $90

After all the other crap, I'm looking at about $1200 in the hole (which isn't really that bad..). If anyone has any suggestions on tweaking this, please let me know!

Have a case for it all? PSU powerful enough to take it?

Yeah, I neglected to include those:

Case: Antec 900 ($100)
Fan: Thermaltake Frio CLP0564 ($50)
PSU: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650M 650W ($100)

I don't see why you need a superclocked GTX 670, what PC games do you play?