Phenom II X4 945 currently, what is the best video card upgrade for emulation? Do I need to upgrade chip?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
H

herc0923

Distinguished
Dec 19, 2013
34
0
18,530
My newly 12 year old (his birthday is today!) does a lot of emulation (Dolphin specifically). He got a Phenom II X4 945 last Christmas, with this motherboard-- GIGABYTE AM3+ AMD 760G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard and 8GB of RAM. At the time he was mostly surfing with occasional forays into Minecraft so he didn't need a lot of power. That has changed considerably this year, and he is having some issues with the system.

I have been looking at chip/motherboard combos, and video cards, and I may bite the bullet and order either this chip--
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8688689&sku=M69-00000

or

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8567495&sku=M69-0946

My first question is this---

1) Would we see considerable improvement over the Phenom with a FX-6350, or would we have to move to the FX-8350 to notice a big difference?

2) Is there a good video card in the 100-150 dollar that would work with the Phenom to boost performance now, and maybe we could upgrade the chip at a later date?

Thanks so much for your help!
Heather
 
Solution
Onus
The Rosewill is 80+ Gold, so it is more efficient. It also has two PCIe power cables for graphics cards, and more of its output on +12V so it could handle more powerful cards than the VP450 can.
Personally, I like efficiency and would most likely choose the Capstone, but you'd be getting a perfectly competent PSU if you choose the Antec. It has been used by some of the Tom's Hardware editors in SBM builds.
Sort by date Sort by votes
S

SonSon1

Honorable
Nov 29, 2013
134
1
10,710
1) Emulation doesn't really benefit from multi-threading, apart from very few exceptions, so in that regard you won't get any perceivable difference between the 6core and the 8core FX processors. That said, emulators benefit mostly from higher cpu clocks so you will get better performance from a 3.9ghz processor than a 3ghz one, unless the Phenom II is overclocked and if that is the case, you won't see that big of a difference.

2) You did not mention what kind of videocard do you have now but if you are running of the integrated radeon 3000 gpu, any card you can find on the $150 range will perform better than that. Look for the >7770<, or the 7850, again since emulators rely mostly on cpu speed you don't need anything fancy.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%204017%20600100181&IsNodeId=1&name=AMD
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
H

herc0923

Distinguished
Dec 19, 2013
34
0
18,530
I had been looking at the Sapphire raedon 7750 and 7770's that Tiger Direct has. I can build a basic machine, but I know very little about video cards, so I thought I might need a bit of assistance :)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Onus

Onus

Titan
Jan 27, 2006
37,037
12
89,965
The GTX650Ti is stronger than the HD7770 or HD7750.

HD7750 < HD7770 < GTX650Ti < HD7790 < HD7850 <= GTX650Ti Boost Edition.

Make sure his PSU is up to the job. Any of the cards I list there will run on a 380W Antec Earthwatts or Antec VP-450 or 450W Rosewill Capstone.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Onus

Onus

Titan
Jan 27, 2006
37,037
12
89,965
Yes, the Shellshocker card is stronger. You'll want to replace the PSU though. Coolmax is known for PSU-shaped objects that aren't good for anywhere near what's on their labels. Note how many of them appear here: http://www.johnnylucky.org/power-supplies/psu-lemon-list.html . Follow his links to his recommended list. Not there but also good would be the 380W Antec Earthwatts. On the list, you'll also find the Rosewill Capstone, which is more efficient and also not expensive.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
H

herc0923

Distinguished
Dec 19, 2013
34
0
18,530


Sorry that I have been replying to the thread and not directly to you :) I read the forums pretty often but haven't ever posted before!

We have this power supply-- http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3843505

And this case--
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4435046

Will the shell shocker card run well on the current system?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
H

herc0923

Distinguished
Dec 19, 2013
34
0
18,530


The antec is 29 after rebate-- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371045

The Rosewil is 59 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182066

Is there a difference in them? Both seem to be recomended-- is brand the only price difference?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Onus

Onus

Titan
Jan 27, 2006
37,037
12
89,965
The Rosewill is 80+ Gold, so it is more efficient. It also has two PCIe power cables for graphics cards, and more of its output on +12V so it could handle more powerful cards than the VP450 can.
Personally, I like efficiency and would most likely choose the Capstone, but you'd be getting a perfectly competent PSU if you choose the Antec. It has been used by some of the Tom's Hardware editors in SBM builds.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom