CPU ranks- Athlon II X4 620, Phenom II X4 955, Core i5 750
#41
(10-17-2009, 03:57 PM)RPGWiZaRD Wrote: Cmon it's software render vs hardware render ffs. ^^ Well best way to compare would be with MTGS disabled and 2 vs 4 threads in GSdx. Well nvm.

Not really. Using MTGS is *much* faster than upscaling GSDX's software renderers. On a 4 core system your optimal setup is MTGS + 2 GSdx soft renderers (if you do 3 it will speed up some scenes but will slow down others because of aggressive spinwait contention in GSdx -- so if the scene is not GS limited it slows you down, but if it is heavily GS limited it can speed you up slightly).
Jake Stine (Air) - Programmer - PCSX2 Dev Team
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#42
Hey all.

I am also planning on building a new computer... But admittedly, I don't know much about computer components. But I am trying to learn!

1) I have read that quad-core processors are less practical than dual-core processors, unless one is coding or something like that. Especially for gaming purposes, I read that a dual core is the better choice... Which is why I was surprised to see so many people suggest the i5. Can someone please explain that to me?

2) I would like my newly built computer to be in the price range of about ~$500 or so- what are some suggestions from you guys? (Keeping in mind that at the present time, it appears that running PCSX2 would be the most intensive program it would be handling).

Thanks for the help!
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#43
I recommend the following:

Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition: A good compromise between cores and price. PCSX2 does only use 2 anyway. Easily overclockable. If you really need to watch your money go for a Phenom II X2 550 BE.

4GB of DDR3 RAM: Standard

AM3 Mobo with AMD chipset: Standard, good overclocking, possibility of unlocking 4th core! Example

ATi Radeon 4770 512MB: Low power consumption with a decent performance. More than enough for PCSX2 and runs newer games nicely too. If you are willing to spend a little more, go for a Radeon 5750. It's faster, has also a real low power consumption and has of course much newer technology like DX11.

PSU: 400-450W PSU from a good brand like Corsair, Seasonic, Enermax etc

Chassis: Your choice

HDD: Fit for your needs

Drives: See above

This is a medium end config, which should easily fit in your 500$.

Cooler: For moderate overclocking I recommend this. Not too oversized but still decent cooling.


i7/i5 is not an option with your budget. However PCSX2 will still run niceley, especially if you overclock that Phenom II. It's really easy with the Black Edition.
Intel i5 3450
AsRock B75-Pro3-M
Sapphire R9 290 Tri-X OC
8GB DDR3-1333 RAM
Sandisk Ultra Plus 256GB
Seagate 7200.14 1TB x2
Enermax Triathlor 450W PSU
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#44
Hey thanks for the reply! I really appreciate the input.

A few quick questions about the set up...:
1) I have read in this thread that Intel processors have better performance than AMD. Does a difference exist? And if so, is it so infinitesimal that it doesn't make a difference in practice?

2) Cases- Are there particular cases I have to use with this mobo? As I said, I know relatively little about what I should be looking for, so what is affordable/practical/nice to look at?

3) What the hell is this CrossFire business that I've been reading about? I have been Reading the reviews for the video card you suggested and a lot of them have mentioned this. From what I can gather, it combines the GPU power of multiple video cards. If that is indeed what it is, is the mobo you suggested capable of this? Processor? I currently have an 256 video card (can't remember what it is particularly)- so can I theoretically add the power of that to another card?

Once again thanks for the help.

(10-21-2009, 06:29 PM)SamSoNight Wrote: I recommend the following:

Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition: A good compromise between cores and price. PCSX2 does only use 2 anyway. Easily overclockable. If you really need to watch your money go for a Phenom II X2 550 BE.

4GB of DDR3 RAM: Standard

AM3 Mobo with AMD chipset: Standard, good overclocking, possibility of unlocking 4th core! Example

ATi Radeon 4770 512MB: Low power consumption with a decent performance. More than enough for PCSX2 and runs newer games nicely too. If you are willing to spend a little more, go for a Radeon 5750. It's faster, has also a real low power consumption and has of course much newer technology like DX11.

PSU: 400-450W PSU from a good brand like Corsair, Seasonic, Enermax etc

Chassis: Your choice

HDD: Fit for your needs

Drives: See above

This is a medium end config, which should easily fit in your 500$.

Cooler: For moderate overclocking I recommend this. Not too oversized but still decent cooling.


i7/i5 is not an option with your budget. However PCSX2 will still run niceley, especially if you overclock that Phenom II. It's really easy with the Black Edition.
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#45
Well, firstly, people suggested the i5 because in this thread, there were only 3 choices, and they were all quad cores anyway, and the i5 is the best choice.

Intel CPUs typically perform better clock for clock compared to AMD CPUs (ie. an Intel CPU will perform better than an AMD CPU of the same generation at the same frequency). The newer Intel CPUs also take advantage of the SSE4.1 instruction set, and older Intel CPUs take advantage of the SSSE3 instruction set, while AMD CPUs only use SSE2. So there would be a difference in performance, and it would be noticeable, especially if you overclock, since Intel CPUs tend to overclock better (although that gap is not as significant with the Phenom IIs). The thing is, AMD CPUs are usually cheaper, so there's a compromise.

Any ATX motherboard (which covers a majority of available motherboards) will fit in any ATX case (again, which covers a majority of cases, just avoid mATX or microATX cases). Looks are heavily opinionated; for example some people would want LED lights while others despise them.

Crossfire is the multi-GPU solution from AMD, where SLI is for Nvidia. You need a motherboard that has 2 PCI-E 16x slots (though in most cheaper motherboards, the 2 cards will run in 8x mode) and supports Crossfire, and 2 identical model cards with a Crossfire bridge between them. You can't presently Crossfire 2 different models (ie. a HD5870 with a HD 4870), but you can Crossfire 2 cards from different brands (ie. XFX, BFG, Gigabyte etc.).

Only some games will benefit from multi-GPU solutions, while others will not. Some games may even have problems running in Crossfire mode, and you would have to disable it, and run a single card. Generally, you would be better off running a single more powerful card, than two less powerful cards. It minimizes problems with drivers, micro-stuttering, compatibility and reduces power consumption.
PCSX2 doesn't benefit from multi-GPU solutions at all, and with your budget, you shouldn't bother anyway.
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#46
You can say that i7 and i5 perform better clock for clock than Phenom IIs. However, the i7/i5s generally come with lower clocks. Also Core2Duos or Core2Quads are not faster than Phenom II or Athlon II. The advantages of AMD CPUs is certainly the backwards compability and the price. They offer great performance for the price. i7 and i5 is for people who do not need to watch their budget that strictly.

Cases are mainly about personal taste. A good brand for not so expensive cases is Cooler Master. A nice case is this.. My case has a similiar interior and it has enough space for almost anything but the most high end hardware.

Crossfire was well explained above.
Intel i5 3450
AsRock B75-Pro3-M
Sapphire R9 290 Tri-X OC
8GB DDR3-1333 RAM
Sandisk Ultra Plus 256GB
Seagate 7200.14 1TB x2
Enermax Triathlor 450W PSU
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#47
while i7 is really expensive for guys with cash, socket 1156 is not that expensive and its becoming chepaer and cheaper.And right coolermaster is good way to go about cases.
Intel Dual Core E5200 @ 3,5ghz /gigabyte GF9500GT/2 GB RAM / ASRock P45XE/ Corsair CMPSU-400CXEU
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#48
just get a i7 920 from newegg.com, they send out the newer D0 steppings which can overclock EASY to 3.8 and can go to 4.0. Some even got theres to 4.5 and could have gone further if they had better cooling
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