Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

Full Version: Video card upgrade
You're currently viewing a stripped down version of our content. View the full version with proper formatting.
So im thinking of replacing my geforce 9500 gt with a AMD R9 270x. Performance wise does anyone think this will be a decent jump up? Would love to get some feedback.
BTW I am running:
Windows 7 64-Bit
Intel® Core ™2 Quad CPU Q6700
Ram 6GB
HP m9340f
No, you won't see a significant speed up. Maybe an extra fps or two, but not worth it, as the 9500 gt already meets the minimum requirement for Dolphin.
You would be better off getting a CPU/motherboard upgrade
(12-15-2014, 06:51 AM)KHg8m3r Wrote: [ -> ]No, you won't see a significant speed up. Maybe an extra fps or two, but not worth it, as the 9500 gt already meets the minimum requirement for Dolphin.
You would be better off getting a CPU/motherboard upgrade

Really? I thought the graphics card was what primarily drove how well you fps is... Any suggestions then on upgrading the other board?
No, dolphin requires mostly CPU power. If you want a modern CPU you'll also need a brand new motherboard.
(12-16-2014, 02:36 AM)Zee530 Wrote: [ -> ]No, dolphin requires mostly CPU power. If you want a modern CPU you'll also need a brand new motherboard.
Ok what do you think of this one:
http://www.amazon.com/ASRock-EXTREME6-LG...ardware-20
If you live in US , you can pick up the latest Pentium 20th Aniversary Edition G3258 bundle with mobo for only 99$ or even less (89$)
http://www.microcenter.com/site/brands/G3258Bundle.aspx
G3258 is monster at overclocking (3.2GHz -> 4.8GHz )
Don't let the word "dual core" fool you . It's much faster than your current quad core
Since Dolphin is a dual core app , G3258 @ 4.8GHz = i7 4790k stock (4.4GHz with turbo boost)
Pair this CPU with AMD R7 265 then games will fly like the hawk
Keep in mind you will also need new ram if you decide to buy a new motherboard, right now you have ddr2, you need ddr3.

I recommend for motherboard something like the Asus z97a and with cpu you can go with the i5 4690k or if you don't care about overclocking you can go with the i5 4590, even without overclocking Haswell performs very well with Dolphin.

With RAM for something cheap and reliable you can go with Kingston HyperX fury.

I advise you however to do some research yourself first before upgrading your pc, i am just throwing out some personal recommendations.
(12-16-2014, 01:11 AM)thegoodstuff24 Wrote: [ -> ]Really? I thought the graphics card was what primarily drove how well you fps is... Any suggestions then on upgrading the other board?

In PC games, that would be correct. but emulators rely on the CPU for speed, and the GPU only needs to meet a minimum requirement where everything above that is just to add effects to make it look nicer.
GPU does matter for FPS quite a bit though; I checked upon my upgrade. even at 1x IR; it can make quite a big difference when going from an older GPU to a newer one. As well NVIDIA vs AMD has interesting implications.
That's why I specified that as long as it meets minimum requirements. Older GPUs may no longer meet the requirement.

And yes, AMD has better D3D, Nvidia has better OpenGL