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Time to upgrade my arcade PC...

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lilshawn:
you are mixing up 2 different terminologies.

cores and threads.

the i3 is a dual CORE CPU but also a multi THREAD cpu (giving the illusion of 4 processors)

the FX4150 is a quad core but a single THREAD cpu (has 4 actual processors)

A thread is a single line of commands that are getting processed, each application has at least one thread, most have multiples. A core is the physical hardware that works on the thread. In general a processor can only work on one thread per core, CPUs with hyper threading can typically work on up to two threads per core.

For processors with hyper threading, there are extra registers and execution units in the core so it can store the state of two threads and work on them both, normally to change threads you have to empty the registers into the cache, write that back to the main memory, then load up the cache with the new values and load up the registers, etc etc etc... these switches can hurt performance significantly. You can alleviate this issue by simply having more cores than your process requires. That way, each core works their own thread and there is no need to switch out the register data.

Hockeyboy:

--- Quote from: Haze on October 23, 2013, 01:23:39 pm ---
--- Quote from: MagicMan on October 23, 2013, 01:13:45 pm ---
--- Quote from: Fursphere on October 23, 2013, 10:37:23 am ---
--- Quote from: MagicMan on October 23, 2013, 08:41:59 am ---Any chance I can get by with an Intel Quad Core over the i3?

--- End quote ---

"Intel Quad Core" is pretty vague  (technically an i3 is a dual core chip btw...)

List out the model of the specific CPU you're looking at.

--- End quote ---

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Processor
--- End quote ---

it's only 2.4ghz which means it will be slower for 99% of MAME than a 3ghz Core 2 Duo, and probably not fast enough in single core performance for the games that benefit from more than 2 cores.

Generally not a good MAME choice.
--- End quote ---

Damn - I'm putting together a system from spare parts and I'm using a Core 2 Quad Q9450. According to the CPU Benchmark site, it runs at 2.66GHz, socket: LGA775, clockspeed: 2.7 GHz, # of Cores: 4, max TDP: 95 W.  I'm just going to run MAME and Daphne games (Dragon's Lair I & II, Space Ace, and Cliff Hanger). I think the video card is a nVidia 9800GT. I'm really hoping that will be good enough to play without any stutter or chop.

Haze:

--- Quote from: Hockeyboy on October 24, 2013, 07:13:51 am ---
--- Quote from: Haze on October 23, 2013, 01:23:39 pm ---
--- Quote from: MagicMan on October 23, 2013, 01:13:45 pm ---
--- Quote from: Fursphere on October 23, 2013, 10:37:23 am ---
--- Quote from: MagicMan on October 23, 2013, 08:41:59 am ---Any chance I can get by with an Intel Quad Core over the i3?

--- End quote ---

"Intel Quad Core" is pretty vague  (technically an i3 is a dual core chip btw...)

List out the model of the specific CPU you're looking at.

--- End quote ---

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Processor
--- End quote ---

it's only 2.4ghz which means it will be slower for 99% of MAME than a 3ghz Core 2 Duo, and probably not fast enough in single core performance for the games that benefit from more than 2 cores.

Generally not a good MAME choice.
--- End quote ---

Damn - I'm putting together a system from spare parts and I'm using a Core 2 Quad Q9450. According to the CPU Benchmark site, it runs at 2.66GHz, socket: LGA775, clockspeed: 2.7 GHz, # of Cores: 4, max TDP: 95 W.  I'm just going to run MAME and Daphne games (Dragon's Lair I & II, Space Ace, and Cliff Hanger). I think the video card is a nVidia 9800GT. I'm really hoping that will be good enough to play without any stutter or chop.

--- End quote ---

Well it's not a terrible CPU f if you're using spare parts, it's just not going to perform as well as a 3ghz Core 2 Duo for 99% of MAME and the things that actually use 4 cores generally need 3.5ghz+

4 cores is pretty good for development work because it reduces compile times.. but that probably isn't the main thing you had in mind ;-)

BadMouth:

--- Quote from: Hockeyboy on October 24, 2013, 07:13:51 am --- I'm really hoping that will be good enough to play without any stutter or chop.

--- End quote ---

Play what?  Different games have different requirements.
Even the fastest processors choke on some games.
The specs you mentioned would play pretty much all 2D stuff up through Killer Intinct, and maybe a little bit of the 3D stuff (Tekken).
Probably not going to play Gauntlet Legends.  Definitely won't run Ridge Racer.
It might choke a little on newer 2D shmups.

If you're not worried about any games newer than Mortal Kombat, it's probably overkill.

Hockeyboy:

--- Quote from: BadMouth on October 24, 2013, 09:49:55 am ---
--- Quote from: Hockeyboy on October 24, 2013, 07:13:51 am --- I'm really hoping that will be good enough to play without any stutter or chop.

--- End quote ---

Play what?  Different games have different requirements.
Even the fastest processors choke on some games.
The specs you mentioned would play pretty much all 2D stuff up through Killer Intinct, and maybe a little bit of the 3D stuff (Tekken).
Probably not going to play Gauntlet Legends.  Definitely won't run Ridge Racer.
It might choke a little on newer 2D shmups.

If you're not worried about any games newer than Mortal Kombat, it's probably overkill.

--- End quote ---

Bleh, I should have clarified that I wasn't looking (at least with this computer) to try to play "new" games. I definitely won't be trying Gauntlet Legends, or Mortal Kombat, or Ridge Racer. I'm mostly going to stick with the "old school" arcarde games: Pac-Man, DK, Mario Bros, Xevious, Xenophobe, maybe some Golden Tee, and a few spinner-controlled games.

Thanks for that info though - makes me feel a lot better.  ;)

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