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Building a computer from scratch, need an expert's advice
MydknyteStyrm:
Hi everyone,
I am currently upgrading my computer to play most of the emulators, from Stella to Dolphin, and have been researching as much as I could to find the right specs. The items below are what I will be getting, and wanted to know if I made some good choices or not. Thanks for any advice you can provide.
CPU - Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core
CPU Cooler - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing
Mobo - Gigabyte GA-Z87-DS3H ATX LGA1150
Memory - Corsair Vengeance LP 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3-1600
Power Supply - Corsair CSM 550W 80+Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX
Sound Card - Asus Xonar DGX 24bit 96kHz
Wireless Network Adapter - TRENDnet TEW-805USB 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac USB 3.0
Video Card - EVGA GeForce 650Ti
GeoMan:
I built a system last year around the i7-2600K CPU@3.4Ghz. This CPU is unlocked so you can push it up to 4.8Ghz (with a very good cooler). Motherboard: ASUS P8P67 Deluxe that allows for easy overclocking.
I picked a HAF-X box for good airflow and the huge Noctua NH-D14 cooler for the overclocked CPU.
The PSU is very important so it is a good idea to go with a good one (Gold rating). I installed a Corsair 1.200W.
As for memory i installed 8GB G.Skill and for graphics an ASUS 7870 (2GB).
With this setup i have no problem playing PCSX2 (Playstation 2 emu) full speed, Dolphin, all games in MAME and of course PC games at the highest settings.
Generic Eric:
--- Quote from: MydknyteStyrm on May 10, 2014, 12:10:55 pm ---Hi everyone,
I am currently upgrading my computer to play most of the emulators, from Stella to Dolphin, and have been researching as much as I could to find the right specs. The items below are what I will be getting, and wanted to know if I made some good choices or not. Thanks for any advice you can provide.
CPU Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core
CPU Cooler Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing
--- End quote ---
--- Quote from: https://dolphin-emu.org/docs/faq/#which-cpu-should-i-use ---
Hardware and system requirements
What operating systems are supported?
Dolphin is a cross platform emulator that runs on Windows (Vista and up), Linux, Mac OS X (Lion and up), FreeBSD, and Android devices. For its ease of use and additional graphics backend options, Windows 7 x64 is recommended.
Which CPU should I use?
Dolphin is a dual core application that relies upon IPC (Instructions Per Clock) for performance. Additional cores will not make Dolphin go any faster, though an “extra” core that Dolphin isn’t using may help slightly by keeping background tasks from using the same cores as Dolphin.
Intel: Newer Core i5 and i7 processors such as the i5-4670K and i5-3570K are extremely fast and very affordable considering their relative power. The K series allows for overclocking, which can further improve the performance of those CPUs. Core i7 variants yield almost no benefit in IPC over the i5s they are based on, so save the cash if you’re building a Dolphin machine. For laptops, you can rely on the i7-4700MQ and i7-4930MX for the absolute best performance. Most games will run very well on any of those processors.
AMD: Due to very low IPC, AMD CPUs are poor choices for Dolphin. The FX8000 line of processors is the best they have, and even then most of those processors will be around half the speed of the 4670K’s performance with Dolphin.
Note: For more information regarding CPU performance, please checkout this handy benchmark that contains results from tons of users. Just remember that Dolphin is a console emulator: it does what the games instruct it to do. Every game has its own needs and requirements. Some games run well on most modern processors, while some won’t run full speed at all times on even the most powerful of processors.
--- End quote ---
lamprey:
Granted the sound card isn't too expensive, but it seems like a waste of money given that the MB has built in audio or you can use the video card to output sound via HDMI (if that is an option for you). Other than that, that looks like a fine list of parts. ;D
dcninja:
i'm using a dell p4 and i run everything. done. got it free.