CPU and GPU for 4K Dolphin

[Nintendo Maniac 64]

(01-13-2018, 07:46 AM)metalmaniac253 Wrote: In that case, I'll be getting a new laptop

Depending on the laptop, that might not actually be much of an upgrade though.

Another alternative would be a used LGA1150 CPU + LGA1150 motherboard and then re-using your current DDR3 RAM since, in terms of performance-per-GHz, you're only really looking at 5 to 10% less than a modern Intel CPU while still being much faster in Dolphin than what an FX CPU can pull off (specefically in Dolphin they're even faster than 1st gen Ryzen for some unknown reason). This also has the added benefit of avoiding DDR4's stupidly expensive pricing right now.

[metalmaniac253]

This is the one I had in mind.
https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Predator-i7-7700HQ-1060-6GB-G3-571-77QK/dp/B06Y4GZS9C/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

i7 2.8 GHz 3.8 GHz turbo
GTX 1060 6 GB
16 GB RAM

Thoughts? I can always wait. My current laptop should handle dolphin in 1080p, but it's a few years old, so I think it's time to upgrade.

[Nintendo Maniac 64]

(01-13-2018, 08:04 AM)metalmaniac253 Wrote: My current laptop should handle dolphin in 1080p, but it's a few years old

What is your current laptop?

[metalmaniac253]

I don't know the model. Bought it off a friend a year ago, but it's a Sager. It's got a GTX 960M, an i7 and 16 GB of RAM. I mainly want to upgrade for the GPU. I believe it's an i7 from the 4th gen, but can't remember for certain.

[Nintendo Maniac 64]

(01-13-2018, 08:11 AM)metalmaniac253 Wrote: It's got a GTX 960M, an i7 and 16 GB of RAM. I mainly want to upgrade for the GPU. I believe it's an i7 from the 4th gen, but can't remember for certain.

If it's got a GTX960M then it's almost certainly a 4th gen i7.  In that case, assuming it's not an ultra-low-power variant (CPU models ending in 'U' - they tend to throttle back under sustained loads like emulation), then your current laptop is likely much more capable of running Dolphin than you give it credit.

You know those comments above that I said about a used LGA1150 motherboard and CPU?  Well guess what CPU generation that is - 4th gen Intel Core processors.

Thing is, 5th gen Intel Core was largely a side-grade except in integrated graphics and power consumption, and 6th gen Intel Core is only 5-10% faster.  But the kicker is that 7th gen Intel Core and 8th gen Intel Core have identical per-GHz performance to 6th gen Intel Core processors.


tl;dr: Your current laptop may very well only be 10% slower in Dolphin than a new laptop would.

[metalmaniac253]

I'm not completely certain about the GPU or CPU tbh as I'm going off guesses and memory from when I first checked when I got it.

What I can say is that my current laptop will not output any higher than 1080p on my UHD TV, and I recall reading that the model it was is from 2013, so I must be wrong on the hardware. It's a nice laptop, don't get me wrong, and runs perfectly, but I definitely need to upgrade it for it to suit my needs.

[Nintendo Maniac 64]

(01-13-2018, 08:26 AM)metalmaniac253 Wrote: What I can say is that my current laptop will not output any higher than 1080p on my UHD TV

That is because it does not have HDMI 2.0. Now normally on a desktop PC you can still get 4k 60Hz even with HDMI 1.4 by using 4:2:0 chroma, but I do not know if your laptop will allow that.

Keep in mind that even a new laptop can have this issue as, when using an Intel CPU, the integrated Intel GPU handles the video outputs and Intel iGPUs do not support HDMI 2.0 as of this time.


If by chance your laptop has a DisplayPort 1.2 output, then an active DP 1.2 --to-> HDMI 2.0 adapter should solve the issue.

(01-13-2018, 08:26 AM)metalmaniac253 Wrote: I recall reading that the model it was is from 2013, so I must be wrong on the hardware

Only partially true - 4th gen Intel Core CPUs did in fact launch in 2013, but the Nvidia 900-series weren't available yet.

[metalmaniac253]

Maybe it was the 800 series then, I don't know. It runs Crysis 2 on high for reference, but my laptop doesn't have displayport. I know for a fact the one I'm looking to buy can output to a UHD TV in 4k without issues, so I think I'm just going to buy that one and give my current laptop to my GF.

Thanks for all your help though! I think I have a pretty good idea of what I need for hardware at this point. All that's left is GTX 1060 or 1070, but I may just go with the 1060.

[Nintendo Maniac 64]

(01-13-2018, 08:40 AM)metalmaniac253 Wrote: I know for a fact the one I'm looking to buy can output to a UHD TV in 4k without issues

I believe that's because it's doing the "4:2:0" chroma sub-sampling thing I mentioned. To clarify, what this does is reduce the color information to 1080p while leaving the brightness/darkness/contrast information at a full 4k.

I also looked into things a bit more and it turns out Haswell's iGPU cannot actually handle outputting a single 3840x2160 image, even at 30Hz or the like - it only can do it over DisplayPort via MST (which essentually outputs two video streams and combines them afterwards).

[mstreurman]

(01-13-2018, 08:46 AM)Nintendo Maniac 64 Wrote: I believe that's because it's doing the "4:2:0" chroma sub-sampling thing I mentioned.  To clarify, what this does is reduce the color information to 1080p while leaving the brightness/darkness/contrast information at a full 4k.

I also looked into things a bit more and it turns out Haswell's iGPU cannot actually handle outputting a single 3840x2160 image, even at 30Hz or the like - it only can do it over DisplayPort via MST (which essentually outputs two video streams and combines them afterwards).

It's no problem with my Haswell Core i7 4800MQ with Optimus (Intel HD 4600 and GeForce GTX870m 6GB) and HDMI1.4, I run my desktop (on my iGPU) at a glorious 2160p 60hz on HDMI without any special drivers or settings. I did have to find the port on my TV that allowed that though (all of them are HDMI2.0 with HDCP2.2 but only the one that has the ARC (Audio Return Channel) seemed to work flawlessly) and did have to buy a "HDMI 2.0 UHD 4k 60FPS" cable (which is essentially nothing more than the old High Speed HDMI cables (I got mine without the ethernet but I doubt it makes a difference)