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Intel Pentium G3258 vs. AMD FX-6300 for Arcade Emu / PC Gaming Machine
#329699 - 08/10/14 10:28 PM
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Hello, everyone.
I'm currently facing a hard decision as I consider upgrading the machine in my cab.
With currently available deals, I can upgrade to either an Intel Pentium G3258 with O/C available, or an AMD FX-6300, also with o/c, for a similar amount of money. Both setups are within what I'm willing to pay for the upgrade, with Intel's i3 family and above being outside of the budget so let's not consider those for this discussion.
Since I only want to go with stock voltages and cooling, I expect I can overclock either of the alternatives to around 4.0 GHz, perhaps 100-200 MHz more, so let's use this assumption. My graphics card is a GTS 250, so far capable of everything I have in there.
With so much information out there, I'm to the point where I'm no longer sure what is the best answer, in terms of current performance on the different types of applications I'll be using, future proofing in terms of software, etc. Hardware upgrade path is not a consideration as I will stick to this setup for years and when it's time to upgrade again I will not be able to reuse any of the hardware.
Here are the applications that are relevant to the discussion:
MAME: low importance as I already run everything I need at full speed, and I can't hope to run Naomi/Atomiswave at a playable speed with either
Demul: low importance, as either upgrade above should get me to full speed
PCSX2: somewhat important as I don't know if both up upgrades will allow me to achieve full speed, especially on Soul Calibur III which is one of the few PS2 games I'd like to play on my cab
Dolphin: same as above, except that Soul Calibur II and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom are the only games I have set up, although I'd be interested in checking out upscaled Wii games
PC Games: important as I occasionally add PC games over time and I don't know how multi-core performance will change in the future (also, I currently can't play MKKE or IGAUUE at full speed)
Can anyone voice their opinion on this choice?
Thanks!
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Re: Intel Pentium G3258 vs. AMD FX-6300 for Arcade Emu / PC Gaming Machine
[Re: "The Manuel"]
#329700 - 08/10/14 10:33 PM
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Re: Intel Pentium G3258 vs. AMD FX-6300 for Arcade Emu / PC Gaming Machine
[Re: "The Manuel"]
#329702 - 08/11/14 12:09 AM
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Intel architecture has been consistently faster than AMD for MAME (and likely other emulation as well) since the introduction of the Core architecture.
I would only choose Intel.
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| Sune |
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Re: Intel Core i3 4160 vs. AMD FX-6300 for Arcade Emu / PC Gaming Machine
[Re: "The Manuel"]
#329703 - 08/11/14 12:11 AM
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> Hello, everyone.
>
> I'm currently facing a hard decision as I consider upgrading the machine in my cab.
>
> With currently available deals, I can upgrade to either an Intel Pentium G3258 with
> O/C available, or an AMD FX-6300, also with o/c, for a similar amount of money. Both
> setups are within what I'm willing to pay for the upgrade, with Intel's i3 family and
> above being outside of the budget so let's not consider those for this discussion.
If the choice is between the two and only the two then, what Krick said.
But you could get a 3.6 GHz Haswell i3 for just 5 dollars more than your FX-6300:
http://www.cpu-world.com/Compare/354/AMD_FX-Series_FX-6300_vs_Intel_Core_i3_i3-4160.html
You'd quickly get those 5 dollars back with the i3 drawing almost half the power.
S
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Re: Intel Core i3 4160 vs. AMD FX-6300 for Arcade Emu / PC Gaming Machine
[Re: Sune]
#329704 - 08/11/14 12:53 AM
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Re: Intel Pentium G3258 vs. AMD FX-6300 for Arcade Emu / PC Gaming Machine
[Re: "The Manuel"]
#329716 - 08/11/14 05:11 AM
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Thanks for all the replies so far.
Actually, the combination I'm considering is a CPU/MB combo Newegg has for $105, with a board that reviewers say they have been able to use to o/c the G3258 with a recent BIOS update.
As for the FX-6300, Microcenter has at $110 with another MB combo.
These options are much cheaper than buying one of those core-locked i3's and, once overclocked, benchmarks show the G3258 is more than a match for most i3's.
The question really comes down whether I'm limiting myself on future PC games by staying with a 2-core processor, even if in the near term it matches or outperforms the FX-6300. Also, the upgrade path for Haswell is quite steep, but then again, it's probably null for AMD's AM3+ platform, as gains from something like an FX-8350 would not be substantial enough to warrant an upgrade.
That's the conondrum I face. I don't know if the FX-6300's 6 cores will offer any advantage in the future.
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| R. Belmont |
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Re: Intel Pentium G3258 vs. AMD FX-6300 for Arcade Emu / PC Gaming Machine
[Re: "The Manuel"]
#329749 - 08/11/14 10:55 PM
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> These options are much cheaper than buying one of those core-locked i3's and, once
> overclocked, benchmarks show the G3258 is more than a match for most i3's.
As noted, the i3 will beat any AMD even at a lower clock, so for the AMD to win you have to be generating more heat and drawing more power. Depending where you are that may be a bonus though ;-)
> That's the conondrum I face. I don't know if the FX-6300's 6 cores will offer any
> advantage in the future.
PC games in the near future will definitely prefer more cores than they have previously due to the architecture of the Xbone/PS4, but at the same time dual-core setups are still a thing in the Steam statistics so games will continue to run on them.
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Re: Intel Pentium G3258 vs. AMD FX-6300 for Arcade Emu / PC Gaming Machine
[Re: R. Belmont]
#329751 - 08/11/14 11:03 PM
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> PC games in the near future will definitely prefer more cores than they have
> previously due to the architecture of the Xbone/PS4, but at the same time dual-core
> setups are still a thing in the Steam statistics so games will continue to run on
> them.
Thanks, RB.
Given the two choices, which one would you take, assuming you play both emulators and PC games?
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| R. Belmont |
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Re: Intel Pentium G3258 vs. AMD FX-6300 for Arcade Emu / PC Gaming Machine
[Re: "The Manuel"]
#329796 - 08/12/14 05:46 PM
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> Given the two choices, which one would you take, assuming you play both emulators and
> PC games?
Depends how you weigh those things. If you want to play more Mario Galaxy (in Dolphin) and less Euro Trucking Simulator 2, go Intel. If you can't live without Mount Your Friends (a game that was probably secretly made by Traso, hehn hehn) the AMD will probably work out better.
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Re: Intel Pentium G3258 vs. AMD FX-6300 for Arcade Emu / PC Gaming Machine
[Re: R. Belmont]
#329797 - 08/12/14 05:55 PM
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> Depends how you weigh those things. If you want to play more Mario Galaxy (in
> Dolphin) and less Euro Trucking Simulator 2, go Intel. If you can't live without
> Mount Your Friends (a game that was probably secretly made by Traso, hehn hehn) the
> AMD will probably work out better.
Ha, ha! I think my friends wouldn't like that.
I'm almost about to get the G3258 since it now came up in another bundle with Z97 board for a similar price, and that is probably the best upgrade path available at the moment, in case I find the CPU lacking in the future.
Thanks everyone for the feedback.
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