PCem and FX-8350 / 8370

[tk421]

Good day,

I am getting closer (I hope) to buying a new PC, which I would use to run VMs and PCem without the limitations of my A8 laptop running at 2 Ghz. I am trying to retain the ability to run Windows XP and 7 as Windows 10 is limited in what it can do, especially for programs from the years 1997-2006. Otherwise, I would simply wait to buy a new i7.

After considerable research, I appear to have narrowed down my search to the AMD FX-8350 or the FX-8370. May I ask if there is any real difference between the two, and what kind of performance can I expect with PCem? Ideally I would like to run an emulated P-200 MMX, but I am not sure what I can expect with either of these CPUs.

My search is limited by the fact that the hardware for XP and even 7 is getting sold out very quickly these days. Apparently XP-compatible motherboards and video cards are still on sale, for now.

I know I would appreciate any advice you can provide.

Thank you for your time,

tk421

[tr.StEalTH]

My fx4.2ghz can push 240mhz fine But you still have some games can drag that down from 100% to 80% Then I'd just drop the mhz down till it holds 100% for those types of games. It's fine

[leilei]

The IPC of those aren't sufficient enough for 100%'ing P200MMX at this current state unfortunately.... unless it's one of those recompiles-well games like Quake anyway

[gen_angry]

Depending on what you need to do with it - if you must have full win7 support and are on a budget, why not go for a Haswell second hand i5/7? They are still very capable and the IPC on them will far exceed what an FX can do. There has to be a bunch of them around from people upgrading to 2017 machines.

It was only Skylake-era and newer when Microsoft started forcing Win 10 support, so anything Haswell and under should be supported.

The only time an FX would have a chance against an i3/i5 is if something can actually make use of all 8 of its cores constantly, and even then it's iffy. The i7 completely dominates them. They were just that terrible

[ecksemmess]

I am trying to retain the ability to run Windows XP and 7 as Windows 10 is limited in what it can do, especially for programs from the years 1997-2006.

Sorry if this is a bit of a derail, but can you elaborate a bit on what "limitations" of Windows 10 you're worried about? I'm going to be upgrading at some point myself and would like to know what to watch out for.

[tr.StEalTH]

No secdrv is a big W10 limitation for me..

[gen_angry]

No secdrv is a big W10 limitation for me..

Would windows xp/7 guest on something like VirtualBox (with vt-d enabled) suffice for this?

This was something used in the early 2000s so it can't possibly require the full power of a modern system.

[tr.StEalTH]

It's just a device driver that is part of Macrovision's Safe Disc copy protection scheme. It prevent the piracy of PC games, but has been controversial because of so called problems it causes on many computers. It poses a potential security risk because it grants ring 0 kernel access to the programs that works with. Terminating the process will cause CD games it was installed with to stop functioning ie Warcraft 2, Battlefield1942, cod, few other CD games. Most of you can buy on steam CD free. I don't know anything about VB, I tried VM with cooking package a few years ago and it was slower than I like. I may look into Virtual Box someday.

[tk421]

Good day,

Thank you for your feedback. I have found this helpful. I appreciate your willingness to assist me with this.

I have done as much research as possible. I have concluded that the risks involved in building such a system are too great for me to justify spending money that could in future months/years be spent on a new system, with new hardware. To build a new XP system around the 8350 or 8370 could result in system instability and OS driver compatibility problems. The FX-9590 has problems that preclude its effectiveness even with an XP/7 system. The motherboards I had in mind all require service pack 3 to run XP. From a financial perspective, this makes no sense.

As much as I would like a new XP pc, I will redirect my efforts to purchasing a new pc, either 7 or 10. Running PCem and VMware at best performance remain top priorities for a new pc, otherwise there is no point in buying a new pc. I will set up a new thread if that is ok.

Thank you,

tk421