Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

Full Version: Thinking about upgrading my CPU, G3258 OC 4.1GHZ, to an I5.
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What is the best I5 CPU for $180? I originally got my g3258 to play dolphin but it cannot play some games very well like BF4 and far cry 4. I don't want to spend more than $180.
The minimum (Intel) CPU requirement for FarCry 4 is ~$220.
If you want to update from an overclocked G3258, you have about 4 choices:
haswell or later unlocked quadcore i5
haswell or later unlocked quadcore i7
haswell or later unlocked sixcore i7
haswell or later unlocked octacore i7

No seriously, if you want a true update to your cpu, you need one with the same single core performance or better, which is only another haswell(or later) cpu with the same Ghz or higher.

If you would upgrade to a 3 Ghz i5, i think you might get situations in Dolphin where the old cpu was faster. Having more cores than 2 does help Dolphin, but not that much.
I think we should start to extracate ourselves from the 'emulators are cpu only' idea. Although technically true, we have moved into an era where graphics cards are used for extensive post processing to produce the quality images todays gamers expect. Turn on cartoon, 8x DSR etc and you get something beyond belief.

480i at 30 fps just wont cut it anymore, emulation or no emulation.
Say what?

If your cpu is too slow, then the game will lag. If your gpu is too slow, you turn down some settings, until the game runs fine. You see the difference?
Ooh, I might be able to warm myself with these flames a-brewin'

I have to agree with Zooke. While CPU has and will most likely always be the driving factor in emulation, GPU is a major player if you want better-than-crap graphics going for you.
(04-16-2015, 02:28 AM)NKF98 Wrote: [ -> ]Ooh, I might be able to warm myself with these flames a-brewin'

I have to agree with Zooke. While CPU has and will most likely always be the driving factor in emulation, GPU is a major player if you want better-than-crap graphics going for you.

You can easily change a gpu though in a desktop pc, changing cpu usually means to change the motherboard and the rest of your pc. Anyone who has gotten an amd cpu for example will be stuck with them until they buy a whole new system if they want to switch to intel, with gpus that is not the case.