Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

it's funny how people tend to think that higher clocking means that a processor is faster.

I'll be honest people. Clocking is not THAT important. For intance a processor of 2.6Ghz called 'A' can be faster and less power consumer than a 3.0Ghz processor called 'B', Why you may ask? the answer is: the pipelines. The pipelines are even more important. For example, the processor B can make a multiplication in 1 clock, however, processor A can do 2 multiplications in 1 clock. So whose faster, A or B? A, naturly, since it can do more operations than B in 1 clock. That's why there are people here with 3.8Ghz dual core processors that can't run faster than other prototypes of less clocking.

clock for clock efficiency, uarchs.

(07-26-2009, 04:44 PM)rene mauricio Wrote: [ -> ]

(07-26-2009, 08:47 AM)manaurys Wrote: [ -> ]i see that the Cogage TRUE Spirit product is for a i7 processors will it work on a Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 CPU Socket Type LGA 775

It will work, yes, but you will have to buy the mounting kit for socket 775. Both the TRUE 120 and H50 come with it standard however.

is theres a place where i can buy this full with the kit

what video card is best from this two

1- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161244

2- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150329

(07-26-2009, 07:55 PM)Klotzek Wrote: [ -> ]Stick to your phenom! I use this cpu since january and i'm very happy with it. Storys about phenoms beeing slow in dolphin are nonsense. Every game that is playable with fullspeed in dolphin runs great on my rig. Hell i get even 16 fps in hyrule field. I don't think there is a faster intel cpu beside i7 but it is also much more expensive.

The fact is I'm unhappy with it. I know they are slow because I have one. What have you clocked yours to and what is your cooling? Because in the games I've tested, I've had mixed results. Then again I've always been using 16x Anisotropic filter and 16xQ CSAA Antialiasing but I won't have it any other way.

killer7 was solid, Luigi's Mansion was half-speed, Madworld is inconsistent and its graphics don't look improved at all even with AA and AF,, Metroid Prime was terribly slow with lots to draw, Pokemon Colosseum was slow in busy places too, Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition was slow in general, Sonic Adventure 2 Battle wasn't full speed, Super Mario Galaxy was always slow, Super Mario Sunshine was OK, Super Smash Bros. Brawl was shocking, Zelda: Wind Waker was OK but slowed a lot on the island, Zelda: Twilight Princess was half-speed and Viewtiful Joe slipped from full-speed when enemies were on screen.

So, an intel CPU would be a big improvement from that...

(07-26-2009, 08:51 PM)Iulius Wrote: [ -> ]changing 3,6ghz phenom to i7 920 is a bad idea.

even if you get it up to 4ghz, which is not easy, it will not be that much faster.

in terms of playability : i doubt there is a game that would be playable that you cant play at the moment.

What makes you think that? It's been proven that the i7 is significantly faster than a Phenom II 940. And I returned it back to stock not long aftr overclocking because it was getting really hot.

(07-26-2009, 08:51 PM)Iulius Wrote: [ -> ]so that means : if a game is really using the full power of the wii, it is impossible to emulate it on todays x86 hardware with proper speed.

Ah, thanks for that. This is very enlightening.

(07-27-2009, 05:39 AM)rene mauricio Wrote: [ -> ]The 'facts' about a Phenom II being 'just as good' as an i7 for Dolphin purposes could only come from people who either have had a Phenom II ONLY or own neither. Again, I direct and invite anyone to see the comedy that is my signature.

No, I totally agree. I have no idea who came up with that, but I wasn't implying that at all.

(07-27-2009, 05:39 AM)rene mauricio Wrote: [ -> ]An E8400 is a fair bit faster than a similarly clocked Phenom II. Given that damn near all E8400s can hit 4GHz and Phenom IIs struggle to get that high under water, lets just say for the sake of argument that they are both operating at that speed. An E8400 is still going to play Dolphin noticeably faster due to it just being naturally faster on a clock by clock basis. An i7 in turn will be even faster since it is, on average, about ~%15 faster than its socket 775 brethren on a clock by clock comparison.

Hmm... While I understand it is a very compatible CPU for Dolphin and PCSX2, I don't only use my PC for these two emulators. I want my computer to run the latest games as well, so I bought the Phenom II 940, intending to be future-proofing my system So that was a big mistake. I don't want to buy a Intel Core 2 Duo because I know that if I do, that eventually that too will become insufficient quickly and I will have to make a third CPU change in a short timespan. So, yes, I am looking at the i7, however is it sensible to buy it now, buy it when there's a price cut, or buy a better intel when they are released in the future?

(07-27-2009, 05:39 AM)rene mauricio Wrote: [ -> ]Oh? You mean like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yiMZrAaWOw (Made on a Phenom II @ 4GHz)

Now check this out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ojrq5DgEZuQ (both used the same Dolphin build)

Yeah, I've been following your videos, rene. I really like them. And I know exactly what you mean with the Phenom II, because that's what I'm living with. Without FRAPS, I understand that you were getting full-speed at that clock. So, actually, would I be better to get a water cooling system and overclock, or should I just go ahead and buy an i7?

And to add another question on top of the rest, will a stock (non-overclocked) i7 920 run Dolphin fullspeed or can you only see that after overclocking?

Cheers, guys. I apologise about the text wall but I'd really like some more opinions and replies.

(07-27-2009, 05:39 AM)rene mauricio Wrote: [ -> ]The 'facts' about a Phenom II being 'just as good' as an i7 for Dolphin purposes could only come from people who either have had a Phenom II ONLY or own neither. Again, I direct and invite anyone to see the comedy that is my signature.

An E8400 is a fair bit faster than a similarly clocked Phenom II.

dont compare 2 different things. i7 is not wolfdale.

if he does not manage to get a 940 to 3,6ghz, what is the chance he gets a i7 920 to proper clocks ?

so he maybe get the same clock with the skill, if he is lucky, but more is unlikely.

so with same clock its maybe around 30% faster on average.
that means he gets around 30% for spending houndreds of dollars.


now what does that bring ?

30% sounds much but is not worth much.

example : game running half speed now(50/100%) -> so its 65/100% after upgrade -> still unplayable.

on most situations it would not make the difference from non-playable to playable, just improving the situation a bit.

30% may be a nice speedup if you get it for free, but spending houndreds of bucks for it ?

no way i could recommand that.

Quote:And to add another question on top of the rest, will a stock (non-overclocked) i7 920 run Dolphin fullspeed or can you only see that after overclocking?

dolphin is only the emu, you need to refer to different games.

some will run great with your phenom, some will not even run properly with i7 @ 4ghz.

(07-27-2009, 01:01 PM)manaurys Wrote: [ -> ]

(07-26-2009, 04:44 PM)rene mauricio Wrote: [ -> ]

(07-26-2009, 08:47 AM)manaurys Wrote: [ -> ]i see that the Cogage TRUE Spirit product is for a i7 processors will it work on a Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 CPU Socket Type LGA 775

It will work, yes, but you will have to buy the mounting kit for socket 775. Both the TRUE 120 and H50 come with it standard however.

is theres a place where i can buy this full with the kit

what video card is best from this two

1- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161244

2- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150329

260 is better than 4850. But 4870 is better than 260 and cheaper to boot. Therefore 4870 wins

(07-27-2009, 04:17 PM)Phenomenal Flea Wrote: [ -> ]I don't want to buy a Intel Core 2 Duo because I know that if I do, that eventually that too will become insufficient quickly and I will have to make a third CPU change in a short timespan. So, yes, I am looking at the i7, however is it sensible to buy it now, buy it when there's a price cut, or buy a better intel when they are released in the future?

I would appear you already made up your mind and you want something that is future proof. Asking if the i7 is the right choice today may not be something we can / should answer for you as you are the one who has to weigh the price to performance ratio and decide what it means to you.

For me I believe that if you are going i7, the 920 is the best way to go. I jumped on that train while I still could based on what I have seen in the past market trends. Confused? Let me explain.

A while ago Intel made a super awesome CPU named the Q6600. It was a very cheap, highly over clockable Quad Core that has become one of the most commonly used Processors in recent memory. Some time later Intel phased it out which only served to raise the MSRP as people rushed to buy a last minute 'cheap' Quad CPU.

It has been said that the i7 920 will be phased out soon in order to provide consumers more of an incentive to buy something in the new i5 line via a segregated market.

[color=#FF0000]Do not get it twisted![/color]

The i5s are not going to replace the i7 nor will they be faster. Simply put, at the current 'low end' i7 CPU prices, most people would rather go i7 than i5 - hence why the phase out before i5. [color=#FF0000]It seems to me[/color] that Intel is getting rid of these CPUs in order to drive people towards the i5. This will most likely drive up the prices of the i7s as that date approaches as well as demand.

Now back to your question; what to buy? As I said before, no one can or should answer that for you. If you want future proof-ability but are finding it hard to shell out the cash for an i7 then perhaps you might prefer an i5 instead? The performance is said to be between current gen 775s an i7s with a price to match.

Intel is not trying to drive ppl to buy the i7 920, it's the awesome high clocked i5 which outperforms that low freq i7 and that's why intel is trying to get rid of it.
I would do anything than recommend buying a shit expensive mobo for an i7 920.
That platform is going up to 6 cores, why do us simple mortals even need that?

Altough i am of the opinion that the intel processors are better at the moment - i recommend you not to change your system in the near future because you wouldn't get that much performance gain. your system is not bad - you should easily be able to play all current pcgames - don't know about playing Dolphin with AMD processors but i guess the performance boost wouldn't be that high - so don't think about buying a Corei7 - your system is good enough

Here is a deal some of you might like (while available)


Phenom II 945 CPU with Asus M4A78 Motherboard for $183.99!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.212718

Phenom II 955 CPU with Asus M4A79T Motherboard for $319!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.212581