Building a console-like PC that can run Dolphin smoothly bellow 400€

Moukrea · (This post was last modified: 11-30-2017, 09:20 AM by Moukrea.)

Hi guys,
I posted here earlier today, but wandering around with my phone i deleted the topic by accident...

As for now, I no longer have a decent computer to play with, but I would like to change this, it's the opportunity for me to have some fun, so here is my project:

Basically, building an emulated Wii! This, being cheaper than an actual high end console (PS4 Pro/Xbox One X)

Well yeah I heard you, I would be better off using my own Wii, but that's not the point here, I want to see how far it can go. there's point I want to respect in this project:

- The case size may vary from 215x157x44mm to 343x263x80mm (Console-sized, the lower the better), nothing bigger and nothing fancy with blinking leds all over the place. Se bellow for more details

- It will run pretty much everything from NES to Wii, including PS2 (however I don't expect it to play smoothly PCSX2)

- It has to be able to run GameCube and Wii at their native resolution (if it can do 720p/1080p of even 4K, that would definitely be better, but we're on the cheap run here).

- It will be used as a Windows 10 based HTPC, with Kodi (Movies/TV-Show), Launchbox (Games), Netflix over Edge browser for 4K.

- Thus it has to handle 4K resolution for video playback.

- The Switch can play Skyrim @ 900p, Doom and Rocket League @ 720p. I want this PC build to be able to do just the same, see where I'm going?

About the size, knowing the following (sorted from the smalest to biggest):
- Nintendo Wii: 215x157x44mm
- Nintendo Wii U: 267x172x45mm
- PS4 Slim: 288x265x39mm
- Xbox One S: 295x230x65mm
- Xbox One X: 300x240x60mm
- PS4 (Original): 305x275x53mm
- PS4 Pro: 327x295x55mm
- Xbox One: 343x263x80mm

Knowing that's going to be a small, and cheap computer I decided to ask you guys if it would be possible to make it run, at least at native resolution

First approach: (Show Spoiler)

CPU: Intel - Pentium G4600 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor (€82.81 @ Amazon France)
Memory: Kingston - Impact 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory (€112.89 @ Amazon France)
Storage: Crucial - BX300 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€59.99 @ Amazon France)
Case: ASRock DeskMini 110 (€139.99 @ Amazon France) it includes the motherboard and the PSU [155x155x80mm, It's about the size of the Wii!]
Total: €395,68

Which is just around 95€ more than a Switch! Of course compared to the Switch it doesn't include a screen, nor controlers... but it futures a full computer experience and might run all the emulators around from NES to the latest Wii games released... On top of that if may run several PC titles, be used as an HTPC + a PC and still somewhat portable. (I'm not talking about Cemu and Citra here, even though I'd like to see them running on it)

Do you think that would do the trick? Any suggestions?

I'm not against rising a bit the price, however if the price tag reach an Xbox One X (499€), then I want it to be able to run Battlefront II in 4K as smoothly as it plays on the so called console. You get me, that's nowhere near to be achievable... so 500€ is a no go.

**Helios** · 11-30-2017, 06:45 AM #2

These kinds of builds got harder when the prices of RAM and GPUs skyrocketed.

Also you have no GPU with this build, so you're not going to be playing any sort of PC game with this build at any sort of appreciable framerate at 720p. Dolphin will probably be limited at 720p at best, although some games will probably run at 1080p fine.

Basically, your build is fine but you also want a GPU for your use case.

Doesn't need to be powerful. Something in the GTX 1050 class of performance will be more than enough.

Nintendo Maniac 64 · (This post was last modified: 11-30-2017, 07:29 AM by Nintendo Maniac 64.)

If you really want to use Intel integrated graphics, then make sure you at least get a Pentium G4600 (which has a considerably stronger iGPU) with dual-channel memory (faster RAM is also better, but dual-channel is more important for integrated graphics).

Also, if you're not impatient and you really don't want to use a discrete GPU, then I would think that the upcoming releases of Hades Canyon and Ryzen APUs (which just launched in laptops) would make next year a much better time to build a small console-like PC.

Moukrea · 11-30-2017, 09:09 AM #4

(11-30-2017, 06:45 AM)Helios Wrote: These kinds of builds got harder when the prices of RAM and GPUs skyrocketed.

Also you have no GPU with this build, so you're not going to be playing any sort of PC game with this build at any sort of appreciable framerate at 720p. Dolphin will probably be limited at 720p at best, although some games will probably run at 1080p fine.

Basically, your build is fine but you also want a GPU for your use case.

Doesn't need to be powerful. Something in the GTX 1050 class of performance will be more than enough.

Oh that's not only me! What happened to the prices?

Do you really think I would really need a discrete GPU? I gotta change the case then, do you know any on the cheap that wouldn't go above the original Xbox One size? I wouldn't mind to put a Pico PSU on it, as long as it's powerful enough but it has to remain smal!!

Thanks

(11-30-2017, 07:16 AM)Nintendo Maniac 64 Wrote: If you really want to use Intel integrated graphics, then make sure you at least get a Pentium G4600 (which has a considerably stronger iGPU) with dual-channel memory (faster RAM is also better, but dual-channel is more important for integrated graphics).

Also, if you're not impatient and you really don't want to use a discrete GPU, then I would think that the upcoming releases of Hades Canyon and Ryzen APUs (which just launched in laptops) would make next year a much better time to build a small console-like PC.

I've acknowledged your advices and updated my build, it gets near the price limit but it does seems fair, thanks!

Nintendo Maniac 64 · (This post was last modified: 11-30-2017, 10:53 AM by Nintendo Maniac 64.)

(11-30-2017, 09:09 AM)Moukrea Wrote: I've acknowledged your advices and updated my build, it gets near the price limit but it does seems fair, thanks!

I'm guessing the latency on the Corsair DDR4-2666 kit was too poor to consider it a viable choice?:

Corsair - Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 CL18 Memory (€91.11 @ Amazon France)

Nevertheless, if you're able to have items shipped from other European countries, then check out Amazon España, Amazon Deutschland, and Amazon Italia - sometimes you can find a sweet deal on RAM.

Here's what I found via PCPartPicker's other European localizations:

Corsair - Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 CL18 Memory (€79.99 @ Amazon Italia)

Corsair - Vengeance Performance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 CL16 Memory (€83.99 @ Amazon España)

Kingston - Impact 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 CL14 Memory (€104.09 @ Amazon Deutschland)

I also noticed that, if you're unlucky and the motherboard comes with an old BIOS, you won't be able to boot with the CPU you chose.

Similarly to the RAM, you could actually get an i3-6100 from Amazon Deutschland for about €20 more which would be guaranteed to work out-of-the-box on the motherboard (its clock speed is also 2.7% faster):

Intel - Core i3-6100 3.7GHz 2core/4thread Processor (€103.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)

**Helios** · 11-30-2017, 03:35 PM #6

(11-30-2017, 09:09 AM)Moukrea Wrote: Oh that's not only me! What happened to the prices?

Do you really think I would really need a discrete GPU?

GPUs: Cryptocurrency popularity shot up and miners bought out all the efficient GPUs for it, inflating prices.

RAM: global shortage due to rising demand in consumer devices with lots of RAM (smartphones), probably coupled with the DRAM's industry's very well known history of price fixing.

If you want to play PC games at any appreciable framerate and want to play Dolphin at anything above 720p, yes. You will need a dedicated GPU. There are some low profile GTX 1050s though that should let you use that case and get the job done though

**AnyOldName3** · 12-01-2017, 10:12 AM #7

With DRAM, it also doesn't help that the Taiwanese floods a few years ago knocked out like a fifth of the world's DDR3-making capacity, and because DDR4 was right around the corner, it wasn't replaced. This pushed prices up for DDR3 forever, and then when DDR4 released, there was no real reason to sell it for less than DDR3 as it was newer and better, which would be incredibly tempting even in an industry without a history of price fixing.

Nintendo Maniac 64 · 12-01-2017, 10:30 AM #8

(12-01-2017, 10:12 AM)AnyOldName3 Wrote: With DRAM, it also doesn't help that the Taiwanese floods a few years ago

The flood should be inconsiquential as DDR4 was at its cheapest ever price just 18 months ago - scroll down and look at the price history charts:

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/4vWrxr/gskill-memory-f42400c15d16gvr?history_days=730

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/MYH48d/corsair-memory-cmk16gx4m2b3000c15?history_days=730

**AnyOldName3** · 12-01-2017, 10:44 AM #9

I didn't know it had ever been that low. Interesting.

WinterzShadow · 12-27-2017, 07:21 AM **#10**

(11-30-2017, 03:35 PM)Helios Wrote: GPUs: Cryptocurrency popularity shot up and miners bought out all the efficient GPUs for it, inflating prices.

RAM: global shortage due to rising demand in consumer devices with lots of RAM (smartphones), probably coupled with the DRAM's industry's very well known history of price fixing.

If you want to play PC games at any appreciable framerate and want to play Dolphin at anything above 720p, yes. You will need a dedicated GPU. There are some low profile GTX 1050s though that should let you use that case and get the job done though

Damn dude, you know your shit.