diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index a02b85da31..17a0a97616 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@ if(NOT EXISTS ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/.git/hooks/pre-commit)
 endif()
 
 if (NOT MSVC)
-    set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -std=c++11 -Wno-attributes -pthread")
-    set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS} -pthread")
+    set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -std=c++11 -Wno-attributes -pthread -msse4.2")
+    set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS} -pthread -msse4.2")
 else()
     # Silence "deprecation" warnings
     add_definitions(/D_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS /D_CRT_NONSTDC_NO_DEPRECATE)
@@ -51,6 +51,17 @@ else()
     set(CMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS_RELEASE "/DEBUG /INCREMENTAL:NO /OPT:REF,ICF" CACHE STRING "" FORCE)
 endif()
 
+# Platform-agnostic definition to check if we are on x86_64
+if(${CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR} MATCHES "^x86" OR
+   ${CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR} MATCHES "i.86" OR
+   ${CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR} MATCHES "[aA][mM][dD]64" OR
+   APPLE)
+    if(CMAKE_SIZEOF_VOID_P EQUAL 8)
+        set(ARCHITECTURE_X64 1)
+        add_definitions(-DARCHITECTURE_X64=1)
+    endif()
+endif()
+
 add_definitions(-DSINGLETHREADED)
 # CMake seems to only define _DEBUG on Windows
 set_property(DIRECTORY APPEND PROPERTY
diff --git a/src/common/CMakeLists.txt b/src/common/CMakeLists.txt
index 4c086cd2fb..cef5081c5a 100644
--- a/src/common/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/common/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -56,6 +56,14 @@ set(HEADERS
             vector_math.h
             )
 
+if(_M_X86)
+    set(SRCS ${SRCS}
+             cpu_detect_x86.cpp)
+else()
+    set(SRCS ${SRCS}
+             cpu_detect_generic.cpp)
+endif()
+
 create_directory_groups(${SRCS} ${HEADERS})
 
 add_library(common STATIC ${SRCS} ${HEADERS})
diff --git a/src/common/cpu_detect.h b/src/common/cpu_detect.h
index b585f9608b..19a2c25d63 100644
--- a/src/common/cpu_detect.h
+++ b/src/common/cpu_detect.h
@@ -3,11 +3,13 @@
 // Refer to the license.txt file included.
 
 
-// Detect the cpu, so we'll know which optimizations to use
+// Detect the CPU, so we'll know which optimizations to use
 #pragma once
 
 #include <string>
 
+namespace Common {
+
 enum CPUVendor
 {
     VENDOR_INTEL = 0,
@@ -40,29 +42,28 @@ struct CPUInfo
     bool bLZCNT;
     bool bSSE4A;
     bool bAVX;
+    bool bAVX2;
+    bool bBMI1;
+    bool bBMI2;
+    bool bFMA;
+    bool bFMA4;
     bool bAES;
+    // FXSAVE/FXRSTOR
+    bool bFXSR;
+    bool bMOVBE;
+    // This flag indicates that the hardware supports some mode
+    // in which denormal inputs _and_ outputs are automatically set to (signed) zero.
+    bool bFlushToZero;
     bool bLAHFSAHF64;
     bool bLongMode;
-
-    // ARM specific CPUInfo
-    bool bSwp;
-    bool bHalf;
-    bool bThumb;
-    bool bFastMult;
-    bool bVFP;
-    bool bEDSP;
-    bool bThumbEE;
-    bool bNEON;
-    bool bVFPv3;
-    bool bTLS;
-    bool bVFPv4;
-    bool bIDIVa;
-    bool bIDIVt;
-    bool bArmV7;  // enable MOVT, MOVW etc
+    bool bAtom;
 
     // ARMv8 specific
     bool bFP;
     bool bASIMD;
+    bool bCRC32;
+    bool bSHA1;
+    bool bSHA2;
 
     // Call Detect()
     explicit CPUInfo();
@@ -76,3 +77,5 @@ private:
 };
 
 extern CPUInfo cpu_info;
+
+} // namespace Common
diff --git a/src/common/cpu_detect_generic.cpp b/src/common/cpu_detect_generic.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b99c22af8d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/common/cpu_detect_generic.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+// Copyright 2014 Dolphin Emulator Project
+// Licensed under GPLv2+
+// Refer to the license.txt file included.
+
+#include "cpu_detect.h"
+
+namespace Common {
+
+CPUInfo cpu_info;
+
+CPUInfo::CPUInfo() { }
+
+std::string CPUInfo::Summarize() {
+    return "Generic";
+}
+
+} // namespace Common
diff --git a/src/common/cpu_detect_x86.cpp b/src/common/cpu_detect_x86.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2dff69b947
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/common/cpu_detect_x86.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,228 @@
+// Copyright 2008 Dolphin Emulator Project
+// Licensed under GPLv2+
+// Refer to the license.txt file included.
+
+#include <cstring>
+#include <string>
+
+#include "common_types.h"
+#include "cpu_detect.h"
+
+#ifndef _WIN32
+
+#ifdef __FreeBSD__
+#include <sys/types.h>
+#include <machine/cpufunc.h>
+#endif
+
+static inline void __cpuidex(int info[4], int function_id, int subfunction_id)
+{
+#ifdef __FreeBSD__
+    // Despite the name, this is just do_cpuid() with ECX as second input.
+    cpuid_count((u_int)function_id, (u_int)subfunction_id, (u_int*)info);
+#else
+    info[0] = function_id;    // eax
+    info[2] = subfunction_id; // ecx
+    __asm__(
+        "cpuid"
+        : "=a" (info[0]),
+        "=b" (info[1]),
+        "=c" (info[2]),
+        "=d" (info[3])
+        : "a" (function_id),
+        "c" (subfunction_id)
+        );
+#endif
+}
+
+static inline void __cpuid(int info[4], int function_id)
+{
+    return __cpuidex(info, function_id, 0);
+}
+
+#define _XCR_XFEATURE_ENABLED_MASK 0
+static u64 _xgetbv(u32 index)
+{
+    u32 eax, edx;
+    __asm__ __volatile__("xgetbv" : "=a"(eax), "=d"(edx) : "c"(index));
+    return ((u64)edx << 32) | eax;
+}
+
+#endif // ifndef _WIN32
+
+namespace Common {
+
+CPUInfo cpu_info;
+
+CPUInfo::CPUInfo() {
+    Detect();
+}
+
+// Detects the various CPU features
+void CPUInfo::Detect() {
+    memset(this, 0, sizeof(*this));
+#ifdef _M_X86_64
+    Mode64bit = true;
+    OS64bit = true;
+#endif
+    num_cores = 1;
+
+    // Set obvious defaults, for extra safety
+    if (Mode64bit) {
+        bSSE = true;
+        bSSE2 = true;
+        bLongMode = true;
+    }
+
+    // Assume CPU supports the CPUID instruction. Those that don't can barely
+    // boot modern OS:es anyway.
+    int cpu_id[4];
+    memset(brand_string, 0, sizeof(brand_string));
+
+    // Detect CPU's CPUID capabilities, and grab CPU string
+    __cpuid(cpu_id, 0x00000000);
+    u32 max_std_fn = cpu_id[0];  // EAX
+    *((int *)brand_string) = cpu_id[1];
+    *((int *)(brand_string + 4)) = cpu_id[3];
+    *((int *)(brand_string + 8)) = cpu_id[2];
+    __cpuid(cpu_id, 0x80000000);
+    u32 max_ex_fn = cpu_id[0];
+    if (!strcmp(brand_string, "GenuineIntel"))
+        vendor = VENDOR_INTEL;
+    else if (!strcmp(brand_string, "AuthenticAMD"))
+        vendor = VENDOR_AMD;
+    else
+        vendor = VENDOR_OTHER;
+
+    // Set reasonable default brand string even if brand string not available.
+    strcpy(cpu_string, brand_string);
+
+    // Detect family and other misc stuff.
+    bool ht = false;
+    HTT = ht;
+    logical_cpu_count = 1;
+    if (max_std_fn >= 1) {
+        __cpuid(cpu_id, 0x00000001);
+        int family = ((cpu_id[0] >> 8) & 0xf) + ((cpu_id[0] >> 20) & 0xff);
+        int model = ((cpu_id[0] >> 4) & 0xf) + ((cpu_id[0] >> 12) & 0xf0);
+        // Detect people unfortunate enough to be running Dolphin on an Atom
+        if (family == 6 && (model == 0x1C || model == 0x26 || model == 0x27 || model == 0x35 || model == 0x36 ||
+            model == 0x37 || model == 0x4A || model == 0x4D || model == 0x5A || model == 0x5D))
+            bAtom = true;
+        logical_cpu_count = (cpu_id[1] >> 16) & 0xFF;
+        ht = (cpu_id[3] >> 28) & 1;
+
+        if ((cpu_id[3] >> 25) & 1) bSSE = true;
+        if ((cpu_id[3] >> 26) & 1) bSSE2 = true;
+        if ((cpu_id[2]) & 1) bSSE3 = true;
+        if ((cpu_id[2] >> 9) & 1) bSSSE3 = true;
+        if ((cpu_id[2] >> 19) & 1) bSSE4_1 = true;
+        if ((cpu_id[2] >> 20) & 1) bSSE4_2 = true;
+        if ((cpu_id[2] >> 22) & 1) bMOVBE = true;
+        if ((cpu_id[2] >> 25) & 1) bAES = true;
+
+        if ((cpu_id[3] >> 24) & 1)
+        {
+            // We can use FXSAVE.
+            bFXSR = true;
+        }
+
+        // AVX support requires 3 separate checks:
+        //  - Is the AVX bit set in CPUID?
+        //  - Is the XSAVE bit set in CPUID?
+        //  - XGETBV result has the XCR bit set.
+        if (((cpu_id[2] >> 28) & 1) && ((cpu_id[2] >> 27) & 1)) {
+            if ((_xgetbv(_XCR_XFEATURE_ENABLED_MASK) & 0x6) == 0x6) {
+                bAVX = true;
+                if ((cpu_id[2] >> 12) & 1)
+                    bFMA = true;
+            }
+        }
+
+        if (max_std_fn >= 7) {
+            __cpuidex(cpu_id, 0x00000007, 0x00000000);
+            // careful; we can't enable AVX2 unless the XSAVE/XGETBV checks above passed
+            if ((cpu_id[1] >> 5) & 1)
+                bAVX2 = bAVX;
+            if ((cpu_id[1] >> 3) & 1)
+                bBMI1 = true;
+            if ((cpu_id[1] >> 8) & 1)
+                bBMI2 = true;
+        }
+    }
+
+    bFlushToZero = bSSE;
+
+    if (max_ex_fn >= 0x80000004) {
+        // Extract CPU model string
+        __cpuid(cpu_id, 0x80000002);
+        memcpy(cpu_string, cpu_id, sizeof(cpu_id));
+        __cpuid(cpu_id, 0x80000003);
+        memcpy(cpu_string + 16, cpu_id, sizeof(cpu_id));
+        __cpuid(cpu_id, 0x80000004);
+        memcpy(cpu_string + 32, cpu_id, sizeof(cpu_id));
+    }
+    if (max_ex_fn >= 0x80000001) {
+        // Check for more features.
+        __cpuid(cpu_id, 0x80000001);
+        if (cpu_id[2] & 1) bLAHFSAHF64 = true;
+        if ((cpu_id[2] >> 5) & 1) bLZCNT = true;
+        if ((cpu_id[2] >> 16) & 1) bFMA4 = true;
+        if ((cpu_id[3] >> 29) & 1) bLongMode = true;
+    }
+
+    num_cores = (logical_cpu_count == 0) ? 1 : logical_cpu_count;
+
+    if (max_ex_fn >= 0x80000008) {
+        // Get number of cores. This is a bit complicated. Following AMD manual here.
+        __cpuid(cpu_id, 0x80000008);
+        int apic_id_core_id_size = (cpu_id[2] >> 12) & 0xF;
+        if (apic_id_core_id_size == 0) {
+            if (ht) {
+                // New mechanism for modern Intel CPUs.
+                if (vendor == VENDOR_INTEL) {
+                    __cpuidex(cpu_id, 0x00000004, 0x00000000);
+                    int cores_x_package = ((cpu_id[0] >> 26) & 0x3F) + 1;
+                    HTT = (cores_x_package < logical_cpu_count);
+                    cores_x_package = ((logical_cpu_count % cores_x_package) == 0) ? cores_x_package : 1;
+                    num_cores = (cores_x_package > 1) ? cores_x_package : num_cores;
+                    logical_cpu_count /= cores_x_package;
+                }
+            }
+        } else {
+            // Use AMD's new method.
+            num_cores = (cpu_id[2] & 0xFF) + 1;
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+// Turn the CPU info into a string we can show
+std::string CPUInfo::Summarize() {
+    std::string sum(cpu_string);
+    sum += " (";
+    sum += brand_string;
+    sum += ")";
+
+    if (bSSE) sum += ", SSE";
+    if (bSSE2) {
+        sum += ", SSE2";
+        if (!bFlushToZero)
+            sum += " (but not DAZ!)";
+    }
+    if (bSSE3) sum += ", SSE3";
+    if (bSSSE3) sum += ", SSSE3";
+    if (bSSE4_1) sum += ", SSE4.1";
+    if (bSSE4_2) sum += ", SSE4.2";
+    if (HTT) sum += ", HTT";
+    if (bAVX) sum += ", AVX";
+    if (bAVX2) sum += ", AVX2";
+    if (bBMI1) sum += ", BMI1";
+    if (bBMI2) sum += ", BMI2";
+    if (bFMA) sum += ", FMA";
+    if (bAES) sum += ", AES";
+    if (bMOVBE) sum += ", MOVBE";
+    if (bLongMode) sum += ", 64-bit support";
+    return sum;
+}
+
+} // namespace Common