I've been running Dolphin on an X3440 at 3.8GHz for a while now and I'm satisfied with the performance. Most of the games I want to play run at full speed. I just got a computer with a Q9450 in it and I'm wondering how it will measure up against the X3440. Both of these processors are plugged into overclockable boards, so I'm referring mostly to clock for clock performance. I think that the slightly newer X3440 would have the advantage, but I'm not sure if the difference between the two would be enough to notice. The X3440 could probably go to 4GHz with some tuning, but maybe the Q9450 will easily clock higher than that. I know i could just try it out and and see, but I'd like to hear the opinions of some Dolphin enthusiasts before I spend a few hours moving computer parts around and configuring things.
the Core2 Quad Q9450 has more single core performance and thats a good thing for dolphin though the X3440 is newer the Q9450 has much more l2 cache 12 MB vs 1 MB and more l2 cache per core 3 MB/core vs 0.25 MB/core so to me the Q9450 is the winner
The Q9450 uses a LGA775 socket, while the X3440 uses a LGA1156 socket. You would need a new motherboard.
Look for an i7-880 instead. It's faster than the Q9450 (singe-core and multi-core), and uses the same LGA1156 socket as the X3440.
It's nice to hear that the Q9450 could be faster than the X3440. Any ideas on how high it might clock?
The only i7-880 I could find for sale was over $300. If I was going to spend that kind of money, I'd go with Haswell. I will be on the lookout for a cheap one though.
I'll probably set up the Q9450 this weekend. Thanks for your thoughts.
I'm sorry to tell you this but yodenny doesn't know what he's talking about. A X3440 will destroy a Q9450 across the board. It clocks at least as high or higher depending on the chip and performs 20-40% better clock for clock than a core 2 quad.
The only cpus faster than what you have now for dolphin are sandy bridge, ivy bridge, and haswell. Do not bother with anything else. Haswell is strongly recommended at this point.
An i7 880 would not be a significant upgrade from an X3440.
yodenny Wrote:the Core2 Quad Q9450 has more single core performance and thats a good thing for dolphin though
On what data do you base this conclusion on? Every benchmark out there of the two architecture shows the exact opposite to be true. Including our very own WW benchmark.
yodenny Wrote:the X3440 is newer the Q9450 has much more l2 cache 12 MB vs 1 MB and more l2 cache per core 3 MB/core vs 0.25 MB/core so to me the Q9450 is the winner
Sure if you completely ignore the L3 cache which the X3440 has and the Q9450 doesn't have.
And why would you assume that IPC is based entirely on cache size?
Haha, wow, totally missed the part where you said you already had the computer with the Q9450
You can get a used i7-870 for between $115-150 on ebay, or you can get a cheaper alternative, the i5-670, for between $75-110.
But, used parts come with risks of not knowing how much they were stressed.
Good thing about first gen i3/i5/i7 = they all overclock like most old CPU's before the locked everything besides K chips in the 2nd gen.
Wow, 20-40% faster? I guess I'll have to stick with the X3440. I got the Q9450 mostly because it was in a really nice case, so I'll just swap cases this weekend. Thanks NaturalViolence.
Yeah, those kind of benchmarks are what made me ask here. I'm not sure what passmark's single core benchmark measures, but it doesn't pertain to Dolphin performance. I tried out the Q9450 and it seems about the same as the E8400 I used to have, except I can run other stuff in addition to Dolphin with the extra cores. Both processors will give me fullspeed Mario Kart, but only the X3440 will give me fullspeed in 2 player, so it's going to remain my main computer for now.
I don't know how you people even find these sites when googling gives so many relevant results. Most of those comparisons are downright retarded.
KHg8m3r Wrote:You can get a used i7-870 for between $115-150 on ebay, or you can get a cheaper alternative, the i5-670, for between $75-110.
His current cpu is just as fast as an i7-870 when overclocked. That would be a complete waste of $115-150.