Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

Sup guys,

I'm planning to build my own PC in a couple of weeks, my budget is around 550~ euro.

Currently planning to get a AMD FX-6100 @ 3.30ghz and a Radeon HD7770. I know quite a lot people here aren't very fond of AMD, but is a bulldozer processor really that bad? I've heard people saying good things about the AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE as well and it's considerably cheaper than the FX-6100.

I'm planning to OC the cpu to 3.80ghz.

The i5 2500k is a bit out of my price range and I heard overclocking can be a huge pain and you need good cooling, would mean more money spend.

I guess I could always use the integrated graphic card on it for a while and buy a decent video card after, but is it really worth it?

I'm using an old HD ready TV so I'll be locked at 720p anyway.

Thanks in advance.

(08-17-2012, 07:56 AM)Cruz Wrote: [ -> ]I know quite a lot people here aren't very fond of AMD, but is a bulldozer processor really that bad?.

YES

(08-17-2012, 07:56 AM)Cruz Wrote: [ -> ]I've heard people saying good things about the AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE as well and it's considerably cheaper than the FX-6100.

It is faster clock for clock

(08-17-2012, 07:59 AM)ExtremeDude2 Wrote: [ -> ]

(08-17-2012, 07:56 AM)Cruz Wrote: [ -> ]I know quite a lot people here aren't very fond of AMD, but is a bulldozer processor really that bad?.

YES

(08-17-2012, 07:56 AM)Cruz Wrote: [ -> ]I've heard people saying good things about the AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE as well and it's considerably cheaper than the FX-6100.

It is faster clock for clock

Is it easy to OC a Phenom II X4 965?

An Intel Core i3 2120 3.30GHz is also in my price range, though I'm not specifically building my desktop for Dolphin only, and afaik normal games and pcsx2, a dual core isn't optimal because it actually supports more than two cores, unlike Dolphin.

Quote: I know quite a lot people here aren't very fond of AMD, but is a bulldozer processor really that bad?

It's not that we don't like AMD. Their CPU's are just not fast enough for our needs.

The FX (Bulldozer) CPU's have very bad single threaded performance in comparison to Intel CPUs. (Important for Dolphin)
The 965 performs roughly the same as the 6100 in single threaded operations.
Personally, I wouldn't get either.

Check what the i3 2100 costs over there, that's a much better choice than the 6100.
The 2100 at stock beats the 6100 even at 4.8GHz, that's how bad they are.

Quote: The i5 2500k is a bit out of my price range and I heard overclocking can be a huge pain and you need good cooling, would mean more money spend. Dodgy

No, overclocking is extremely easy. You do want an aftermarket cooler though.
There are a few, cheap ones, which will get you to 4.5GHz easily.
These are the: Gelid Tranquillo Rev 2, 212+/EVO. These should be in the €20 - €30 pricerange.

Intel overclocks better, but generally a "K" CPU is used for that.

Quote:The FX (Bulldozer) CPU's have very bad single threaded performance in comparison to Intel CPUs. (Important for Dolphin)

How so? I thought Dolphin supported multiple cores. Shouldn't it be possible to run most games at a decent speed with some tweaking?

Obviously I care about the best perfomance for my money, do you perhaps know how a dual-core i3 compares to the FX-6100/Phenom II X4 965 for normal gaming and multi-tasking etc? There are still two less cores in the i3 cpu I'm looking at.

I'm not really THAT experienced with hardware so.

Quote:How so? I thought Dolphin supported multiple cores.

Dolphin usually utilizes two cores; three when you enable LLE on Thread.
LLE is not something that either of these CPU's can handle well. (with the exception of the 2100 ofcourse (i didn't say it will handle it at fullspeed either!))

Quote:Shouldn't it be possible to run most games at a decent speed with some tweaking?

Shouldn't what?
It would also help if you gave an overview of games you would like to play, so we can give you better advice as to which CPU would be the better choice.

Quote:do you perhaps know how a dual-core i3 compares to the FX-6100/Phenom II X4 965 for normal gaming and multi-tasking etc?

The 2100 destroys the 965 in most cases.
The 6100 is faster than the 2100 in multitasking, but the the 2100 should be faster for gaming.

Quote:It would also help if you gave an overview of games you would like to play, so we can give you better advice as to which CPU would be the better choice.

Honestly I'm not really that much into PC gaming, though I'm an avid WoW player for a couple of years now, but I'm fairly sure both of those three CPUs will be able to max it out.

Might also play the occasional multiplatform title on the PC because it's cheaper to get in many ways.

As for Dolphin, I'm not quite sure what the more demanding games are, but some games I'm definitively gonna play are:

-Skies of Arcadia: Legends
-Paper Mario: TTYD
-Xenoblade Chronicles
-Tales of Symphonia/Dawn of the New World
-Mario Kart: DD
-Resident Evil Zero/REmake/4
-Kirby Air Ride
-ToZ: WW/TP
-Chibi Robo

Probably more Wii games, I mainly played on my PS3 this gen and I kinda got out of touch with the Wii exclusives like a year after the release.

Hehe, they will indeed be more than sufficient for WoW.

Quote: Might also play the occasional multiplatform title on the PC because it's cheaper to get in many ways.

Indeed. If you haven't already, you should check out Steam.
Although it's a digital service, the price makes up for it IMO.
A lot of games (yes, even new ones) go for ridiculously low prices.
And they're having midweek craziness at times where they sell whole franchises for cheap.
Not to mention, they have big sales over the summer and winter where many games get 75% off.

Quote: -Skies of Arcadia: Legends

According to the wiki, this game requires a fairly beefy CPU.
The 965 and 6100 won't cut it. The 2100 might get playable framerates though.

Quote: -Paper Mario: TTYD

According to the wiki, the 965 should be able to handle this game with occasional drops to 50FPS.
The 2100 should have a consistent 60FPS though.

Quote: -Xenoblade Chronicles

From what I remember, both the 965 and 6100 should give you playable speeds (15-30FPS, atleast in the beginning of the game), but you'll run into sound issues more often.

Quote: -Tales of Symphonia/Dawn of the New World

Tales of Symphonia requires the LLE backend for the audio to work correctly. (When you use HLE some instruments, sounds, etc won't play)
Therefore, you'll want a CPU comparable to mine, a 2500K for it to run at a perfect 60FPS throughout the whole game.
The 965 and 6100 are not up to this task. The 2100 might give you playable speeds though.
(The menu's will slow you down though, no matter what)

As for Dawn of the New World, the 965 and 6100 should give you playable speeds (just a guess). The 2100 will be more than enough for it.

Quote: -Resident Evil Zero/REmake/4

These games require a beefy CPU.
The 2100 should produce playable framerates.

Quote: -ToZ: WW/TP

Wind Waker shouldn't be a problem for any of those CPU's.
Twilight Princess requires a beefy CPU for Hyrule Field, and other big areas.
According to the wiki, the 2100 should be enough for the task with slowing down to the 25FPS range in Hyrule Field.

(08-17-2012, 09:10 AM)Garteal Wrote: [ -> ]Hehe, they will indeed be more than sufficient for WoW.

Quote: Might also play the occasional multiplatform title on the PC because it's cheaper to get in many ways.

Indeed. If you haven't already, you should check out Steam.
Although it's a digital service, the price makes up for it IMO.
A lot of games (yes, even new ones) go for ridiculously low prices.
And they're having midweek craziness at times where they sell whole franchises for cheap.
Not to mention, they have big sales over the summer and winter where many games get 75% off.

Quote: -Skies of Arcadia: Legends

According to the wiki, this game requires a fairly beefy CPU.
The 965 and 6100 won't cut it. The 2100 might get playable framerates though.

Quote: -Paper Mario: TTYD

According to the wiki, the 965 should be able to handle this game with occasional drops to 50FPS.
The 2100 should have a consistent 60FPS though.

Quote: -Xenoblade Chronicles

From what I remember, both the 965 and 6100 should give you playable speeds (15-30FPS, atleast in the beginning of the game), but you'll run into sound issues more often.

Quote: -Tales of Symphonia/Dawn of the New World

Tales of Symphonia requires the LLE backend for the audio to work correctly. (When you use HLE some instruments, sounds, etc won't play)
Therefore, you'll want a CPU comparable to mine, a 2500K for it to run at a perfect 60FPS throughout the whole game.
The 965 and 6100 are not up to this task. The 2100 might give you playable speeds though.
(The menu's will slow you down though, no matter what)

As for Dawn of the New World, the 965 and 6100 should give you playable speeds (just a guess). The 2100 will be more than enough for it.

Quote: -Resident Evil Zero/REmake/4

These games require a beefy CPU.
The 2100 should produce playable framerates.

Quote: -ToZ: WW/TP

Wind Waker shouldn't be a problem for any of those CPU's.
Twilight Princess requires a beefy CPU for Hyrule Field, and other big areas.
According to the wiki, the 2100 should be enough for the task with slowing down to the 25FPS range in Hyrule Field.

Thanks for your reply! I didn't know about this wiki but I'll definitively look around on it for a bit before asking further questions for now.