Trying to upgrade CPU
#1
Hey all, first post here. First, my specs

Windows 7
i3 550 3.2ghz
6gb ddr3 2200mhz
ATI Radeon HD 6850

I am hoping to run games on max IR and max AA etc. These are the two CPU's I am looking at currently. Any thoughts on how well they would perform?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6819113285

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6819116782

Thanks for any replies and input,

Canders
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#2
The 8 threads on the Piledriver CPU would do well in many situations, but the Ivy Bridge would do better on PCSX2. Ultimately for PCSX2 you need good single thread performance, where Intel beats AMD. Two (with MTVU hack, three) cores are used only. The 8 core FX has excellent multithread performance but that's not useful for this emulator. Piledriver is, however, a big step ahead over Bulldozer.
Check out the benchmark thread.

http://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-CPU-Bench...d-on-FFX-2

Page 80 has my review of Trinity. Page 81 has a review of Vishera.
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#3
To begin with your post points your needs at max internal res and AA... That's not really cpu work, different cpu will not change your graphical limitations at all;] you would want a new gpu like an nvidia 670 or 680 for best results(single as pcsx2 will not get anything of sli, also no amd, couse althrough good, it's still a bit slower). Sure, get a new ivy bridge if you're cpu limited(the amd cpu you listed actually would be slower in pcsx2 from your current i3 xD, most cases even counting MTVU), but it'll give you no change at all for IR and AA;].

But what's the point in maxing those anyway? AA is mostly glitchy and have other problems(including crashes;]), also turning max internal res with max aa would probably be outside of currently existing gpu's for most games. Not to mention IR doesn't do anything to textures(except ocassionally breaking their alignment or causing other glitches), so doesn't matter how sharp edges you'll get on how big screen if all the filling and GUI will still be either pixelated or blurry 10yo graphics - that's pretty far from even "hd" quality;] - in other words there's absolutely no reason to go crazy over IR/AA/other graphic stuff at least not before anyone writes a plugin which has GSdx speed and in the same time allows for texture swap - which will most likely never happen.;3
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#4
(01-10-2013, 04:46 AM)miseru99 Wrote: To begin with your post points your needs at max internal res and AA... That's not really cpu work, different cpu will not change your graphical limitations at all;] you would want a new gpu like an nvidia 670 or 680 for best results(single as pcsx2 will not get anything of sli, also no amd, couse althrough good, it's still a bit slower). Sure, get a new ivy bridge if you're cpu limited(the amd cpu you listed actually would be slower in pcsx2 from your current i3 xD, most cases even counting MTVU), but it'll give you no change at all for IR and AA;].

He has a first generation i3...without the MTVU or when it doesn't work probably the performance of a 8320 are similar, but when is active there is no doubt that the AMD is way better.
Anyway that i3 can be OC at more than 4GHz, and at that frequency should be enough for the majority of the game.
And instead of the 8320, if it's just for PCSX2 an FX-6300 is a better choice: same performance, lower cost and lower power consumption.
Obviously an i5 both Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge are a better choice for gaming.

As you said for AA is the GPU that matters, but an AMD one is faster at the same price than an Nvidia one, anyway a 6850 is more than enough to play at high resolution, making the use of AA almost useless (if you use a resolution higher than your monitor).

So I do not suggest any upgrade: considering the cost of both CPU and Mobo I do not think it's worth to upgrade, at least if that i3 is OCed a bit...
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#5
(01-10-2013, 05:29 AM)||dav1de|| Wrote: He has a first generation i3...without the MTVU or when it doesn't work probably the performance of a 8320 are similar, but when is active there is no doubt that the AMD is way better.
Anyway that i3 can be OC at more than 4GHz, and at that frequency should be enough for the majority of the game.
And instead of the 8320, if it's just for PCSX2 an FX-6300 is a better choice: same performance, lower cost and lower power consumption.
Obviously an i5 both Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge are a better choice for gaming.

As you said for AA is the GPU that matters, but an AMD one is faster at the same price than an Nvidia one, anyway a 6850 is more than enough to play at high resolution, making the use of AA almost useless (if you use a resolution higher than your monitor).

So I do not suggest any upgrade: considering the cost of both CPU and Mobo I do not think it's worth to upgrade, at least if that i3 is OCed a bit...

Sorry for the delayed response. Thanks for all of the replies. When I run PCSX2, the EE is the high %, I was under the impression that that meant my CPU wasn't good enough? Mine is not overclocked as it was an OEM computer, I have bought a new case etc and am building it from scratch. As such, it is sitting at the standard 3.2ghz. I'm not doubting anyone here but, just to clarify, you believe that my performance or lacktherof is due to my graphics card? I have read up a bit, and have read that with emulation, the CPU is very important? I mean, it would be much simpler and easy to simply do the graphics card, but I have read that was not the problem so much as the CPU. Can anyone clarify? Thanks again,

Canders
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#6
The GPU is also quite important, but with most games not as important as the CPU, but the faster your GPU is the easier you're gonna make it for the CPU. Now I'm not 100% sure if this is the case with PCSX2, but I thought it was Smile
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#7
The 6850 is a very good graphics card. I would not let it go over this. Some cards can only upscale so high before they bottle neck. Depending on the game, resolution needs to be x3 or x4, max.

The EE% is most likely related to CPU but there is info missing. Games tried? Plugin settings? Speedhacks used?
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#8
(01-10-2013, 09:08 AM)canders1986 Wrote: Sorry for the delayed response. Thanks for all of the replies. When I run PCSX2, the EE is the high %, I was under the impression that that meant my CPU wasn't good enough? Mine is not overclocked as it was an OEM computer, I have bought a new case etc and am building it from scratch. As such, it is sitting at the standard 3.2ghz. I'm not doubting anyone here but, just to clarify, you believe that my performance or lacktherof is due to my graphics card? I have read up a bit, and have read that with emulation, the CPU is very important? I mean, it would be much simpler and easy to simply do the graphics card, but I have read that was not the problem so much as the CPU. Can anyone clarify? Thanks again,

Canders

You should check better: first of all update to a newer PCSX2 version (nothing less than the 1.0.0, but one of the latest SVN revision is better). Second, if you can't reach steady 60FPS you should try lowering the resolution, if the situation doesn't improve the CPU is the bottleneck, if it improves than the problem is the GPU, check your slowest games so you'll be sure where is the lack of power. Third, if the CPU is the problem try using speedhacks, sometimes they give no problem while improving nicely the performances, there's no need to upgrade and spend money if you can obtain good results just modifying the configuration.

If everything else fails, upgrade the component that gives you problems, anyway take in consideration that a CPU ugrade means also a motherboard upgrade, so you will spend no less than 250€ probably.
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#9
(01-10-2013, 04:36 PM)||dav1de|| Wrote: You should check better: first of all update to a newer PCSX2 version (nothing less than the 1.0.0, but one of the latest SVN revision is better). Second, if you can't reach steady 60FPS you should try lowering the resolution, if the situation doesn't improve the CPU is the bottleneck, if it improves than the problem is the GPU, check your slowest games so you'll be sure where is the lack of power. Third, if the CPU is the problem try using speedhacks, sometimes they give no problem while improving nicely the performances, there's no need to upgrade and spend money if you can obtain good results just modifying the configuration.

If everything else fails, upgrade the component that gives you problems, anyway take in consideration that a CPU ugrade means also a motherboard upgrade, so you will spend no less than 250€ probably.

Okay, I think you're missing the point of my post. I can play games fine by tweaking, however, I am willing to upgrade and I was hoping to get opinions and or suggestions as to what will be good for both pcsx2 and general gaming. I am not solely upgrading for pcsx2, but I though thtat if I was, I might as well hit two birds with one stone. To be honest, I max settings on skyrim and pretty high FPS on farcry, so I honestly thought my card wasn't too bad off. Also, speedhacks ruin some games and can create compatibility problems from my experience. I am trying to avoid this, and maximize my performance. Having said this, any suggestions? Thanks for the feedback as always,

Canders
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#10
Ok, if it's also for PC gaming a dual core CPU nowadays is not the best, so I would not buy anything lower than an FX-6300, with this kind of CPU you would have similar performances when using 2 threads, and obviously higher if you use at least 3 cores. If it's just for gaming I would avoid the 8320 that gives more or less the same performances while consuming more, an 8350 would be a better choice thanks to the higher frequency. Anyway these CPUs are decent for gaming and very good for multithreading (when you use all the cores an 8350 is similar or better than a 3770k that costs 50% more), if you're intrested only in gaming the best choice would be an i5: sandy bridge (i5-2xxx) and ivy bridge (i5-3xxx) are quite the same in terms of performances, so you should just check the price, if you find two models with the same frequency and the sandy bridge costs less than the ivy bridge go for the cheaper, otherwise buy the ivy bridge that consumes a bit less.

On the GPU side I would wait to upgrade, up to 1680*1050 should be enough to play well lots of games.
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