Graphics card for 4k HLSL

[honkbahh]

Greetings,

I'm deciding on a monitor for my bartop build and am considering a 4k. Any knowledge on what graphics card (ati for free sync) I would need for good HLSL performance? I'd mostly play mame games like metal slugs, simpsons, street fighter II era and older. I don't want to get in too deep financially.

[ark_ader]

Greetings,

I don't want to get in too deep financially.

[honkbahh]

Greetings,

I don't want to get in too deep financially.

I just realized the guy eventually rolls over laughing. That hurts a bit... Anywho, if such a thing doesn't exist, how about a modest graphics card to use HLSL and 1080p? I'd love suggestions!

[ark_ader]

 :embarassed:e

Greetings,

I don't want to get in too deep financially.

I just realized the guy eventually rolls over laughing. That hurts a bit... Anywho, if such a thing doesn't exist, how about a modest graphics card to use HLSL and 1080p? I'd love suggestions!

I liked that 4k and financially deep in the same post.  Unless someone can explain it to the reasons for having a 4k monitor and graphics card for mame, then the suggestion is comical, and you have more money than sense.  Use the discrete graphics or an off the shelf gtx 4xx or hd5450. It is not rocket science, just a 35 year old gaming platform.  If are going to play modern games on it well....

[rootbeer]

Let's not be too hard on the guy. There's some pretty dogmatic (but not necessarily correct) info out there saying that one would be foolish to attempt HLSL unless you're running at least 4K. Really, entire snobby threads about how terrible HLSL looks at 1080.

honkbahh, check out http://www.paradoxarcades.com/monitor/. That's all at 1080 with a GTX970 graphics card. The GTX970 is getting kinda old now. You should be able to get something comparable or better without spending too much.

If you can, fool around with HLSL in 1080 on your own computer. See how it looks for yourself. You'll probably be fine at 1080.

It's like FLAC vs. MP3. Sure, FLAC sounds better, and you can train yourself to hear the deficiencies in MP3s. But if finances are a consideration, why put yourself through that? MP3s are just fine.

[honkbahh]

Let's not be too hard on the guy. There's some pretty dogmatic (but not necessarily correct) info out there saying that one would be foolish to attempt HLSL unless you're running at least 4K. Really, entire snobby threads about how terrible HLSL looks at 1080.

honkbahh, check out http://www.paradoxarcades.com/monitor/. That's all at 1080 with a GTX970 graphics card. The GTX970 is getting kinda old now. You should be able to get something comparable or better without spending too much.

If you can, fool around with HLSL in 1080 on your own computer. See how it looks for yourself. You'll probably be fine at 1080.

It's like FLAC vs. MP3. Sure, FLAC sounds better, and you can train yourself to hear the deficiencies in MP3s. But if finances are a consideration, why put yourself through that? MP3s are just fine.

Thanks! This is the kind of response I was hoping for. Unfortunately I don't have access to a reasonable pc for testing. I am using my new hard drive that will eventually go in the arcade through a usb converter on my 2008 macbook running bootcamp, so I cannot really learn anything from testing there, which is why I ask for advice here!

I have not bought a graphics card since I was in High School (2001!). I guess my question would be (or was) is a $100-$150 price difference in graphics cards going to allow me to run 4k HLSL. The answer seems to be no.

I am really an open book on what graphics card (and ram amount) to get to support a 1080p setup with HLSL. Got any other suggestions of good deals, or a slight upgrade in price that would be worth it? Thanks again!

To ark_ader I've read in a lot of places that 4k with HLSL is great, and since I only build a pc every 15 years or so I figured it was worth looking into before I build my cabinet.

[rootbeer]

Graphics card availability and pricing changes all the time, and it's been a couple years since I've bought one. I'd say do some research on current budget graphics cards (googling "PC Gamer best graphics cards" is a good start), and then pick one or two and compare their specs to a GTX 970 (which is now 2.5 years old, so it's not a high bar). Not that GTX 970 is the absolute minimum -- I don't know the minimum, but it seems like the GTX 970 is more than sufficient. Use it as a rough reference point, not a hard benchmark. For the games you referenced, you really won't need a heavy-duty graphics card.

Actually, even one of AMD's APUs might be a good idea. I used one of them in a (non-MAME) build a few years ago and was quite happy with it. They're a CPU and GPU in one unit, for a pretty great price.

Also, if you're not used to using cutting-edge stuff already, there's probably no point in worrying about FreeSync. I've never used it myself, so I don't know much about it, but I don't see it being worth it for what you're shooting for. Similar to 4K vs 1080p: If you want to spend the money on it, great, but you can probably get 80% of that performance for 25% of the price.

[rootbeer]

Sorry, honkbahh, I was rushing and got the graphics card wrong. Paradox Arcade is using a GTX 750 ti, which is three years old, and well below the specs of the GTX 970. (A GTX 970 would be massive overkill for MAME + HLSL.) Also, they're using 2560x1600 16:10 monitors. Still, you can see that HLSL looks pretty cool even without a 4K display.

[honkbahh]

Thanks Rootbeer!

I settled on an Asus VN248H-P 1080p monitor. I read the 1050 ti is comparable to the 970 and I like the size and power consumption, and a price around $120. Thanks!

[ark_ader]

Thanks Rootbeer!

I settled on an Asus VN248H-P 1080p monitor. I read the 1050 ti is comparable to the 970 and I like the size and power consumption, and a price around $120. Thanks!

No way near.  But you will be future proofing if your mobo goes dead.  You could get away with a $35 card and see the same results with less heat. 

[mourix]

Okay, let's clear up a few things here.

HLSL & GLSL crt emulation might not be 100% like the real thing on 1080P, but compared to stock filters it looks a thousand times better already. Once you try it there is no going back

But the whole needing the most high end GPU is pretty much a myth by now. I've been running lotte's shader on my GT650M GPU laptop for years, and everything else I threw at it worked well too. As long as you run a common shader without rediculous extras, a low to medium end card will do great. Plus you get the added benefits of low cost and low heat production in your bartop.

[rootbeer]

I bought the same monitor for the build I'm working on, honk. I have the TN (=non-IPS) version of that monitor in my triple-monitor desktop computer, and I've been happy with them. If you don't need the monitor right now, hold off buying and watch for sales. I got mine for 45% off at Newegg.

Re: what the other fellas said: I hadn't thought of heat production. And if you know you're aiming for mid-90s and earlier MAME stuff, your requirements aren't very high. I haven't researched them in a few years, but an AMD APU might work out well for you. You can get an APU (which is a CPU and a GPU) for under $100.