(10-19-2015, 01:54 AM)Anti-Ultimate Wrote:

(10-19-2015, 12:09 AM)kirbypuff Wrote: Another thing you might want to do to improve the performance in Dolphin is change your GPU.

I recommend getting a *last-generation* AMD GPU with the TeraScale2 architecture (HD5000 or HD6000 Series).

The latest AMD GPUs with a GCN architecture (HD7000,HD8000,Rx and Fury Series) are still horribly unoptimized (the drivers have unusually high CPU overhead).

But last-gen GPUs are so optimized they perform even better than NVIDIA's GPUs, especially when using the Direct3D backend (e.g. 2100fps [HD6000 Series] vs. 1100fps [R9 Series] in text/logo screens at native res. That's a ~2x difference in driver overhead.)

Another advantage of getting an older generation AMD GPU is that it doesn't have any of those "smart" power-saving features which introduce a lot of performance-related / stuttering problems.
What's even funnier about these older cards is they end up being even more power-efficient than the current ones, despite lacking the smart power-saving "gimmicks" because they run the VRAM at 100 MHz when idle instead of 300 MHz.

FYI, Current NVIDIA GPUs have a VLIW5 architecture, just like last-gen (TeraScale2) AMD GPUs, which is extremely efficient.

This is so wrong, I'm not even gonna bother to explain the issue because you just triggered NaturalViolence.

(10-19-2015, 12:09 AM)kirbypuff Wrote: Another thing you might want to do to improve the performance in Dolphin is change your GPU.

I recommend getting a *last-generation* AMD GPU with the TeraScale2 architecture (HD5000 or HD6000 Series).

The latest AMD GPUs with a GCN architecture (HD7000,HD8000,Rx and Fury Series) are still horribly unoptimized (the drivers have unusually high CPU overhead).

But last-gen GPUs are so optimized they perform even better than NVIDIA's GPUs, especially when using the Direct3D backend (e.g. 2100fps [HD6000 Series] vs. 1100fps [R9 Series] in text/logo screens at native res. That's a ~2x difference in driver overhead.)

Another advantage of getting an older generation AMD GPU is that it doesn't have any of those "smart" power-saving features which introduce a lot of performance-related / stuttering problems.
What's even funnier about these older cards is they end up being even more power-efficient than the current ones, despite lacking the smart power-saving "gimmicks" because they run the VRAM at 100 MHz when idle instead of 300 MHz.

FYI, Current NVIDIA GPUs have a VLIW5 architecture, just like last-gen (TeraScale2) AMD GPUs, which is extremely efficient.

(10-18-2015, 11:00 PM)kirbypuff Wrote: But how does that FX perform in Dolphin (using the latest dev. build)?


I see you have a decent AM3+ mainboard and some high-speed RAM. If you care about Dolphin performance, maybe you could try this just for fun:
Remove that FX CPU and replace it with a *dirt-cheap* Athlon II X2 280 or 270 (dual-core with 1MB L2 cache per core) and then overclock it to ~4.2 GHz (while still set to run at stock voltage!).

The Phenom II has higher IPC than any FX (Bulldozer/Piledriver), but it runs hot as ****, is hard to overclock without running into stability issues or losing the power-saving functionality and is far from being power-efficient.
But the Athlon II, when paired with high-speed (1866MHz+), low-latency RAM and overclocked to 4.1+ GHz has *the same IPC* as a Phenom II (with DDR3 RAM). Still better than any current FX CPU.
The increased memory speeds, doubled L2 cache and lower latency makes up for the loss of the L3 cache.
Even when heavily overclocked, it runs so cool and sucks so little power, it's unbelievable. And as a special bonus, you keep all the power-saving features.

I think you might get better performance in Dolphin by "downgrading" to the cheapest AMD CPU available today It's like AMD's version of the Pentium G Anniversary Edition.