Critique my upcoming build please

[rokclimb15]

I've read the stickied threads about CPU hierarchy and min GPU specs and some posts from these and other forums specifically comparing the Phenom X4 965 with the i5 for Dolphin. Looking to build a Dolphin rig that will run Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword, and maybe Super Paper Mario/Mario Galaxy well on high settings (1080p, AA on, perhaps with LLE).

I have a couple of hangups, especially due to the fact that I've always been an AMD fanboy. Reading the benchmarks between the Phenom II X4 965 and the i5 (really any model) was pretty sobering. So I'm trying to move past that and pick the best rig to run the above games. I'm shaky on the GPU choice. I'd prefer not to spend more than about $150 on one, but I can flex a little if I need it to meet my specs.

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=30854468
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=22713645

These builds do not include case or PSU since I haven't narrowed that down yet (I'm open to suggestions). I'm thinking an HTPC case but I have concerns about cooling. Also, most of them either seem to be very cheap in terms of build quality, or outrageously expensive for a case.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%204017&IsNodeId=1&name=%24100%20-%20%24200&Order=REVIEWS


Thanks!

[admin89]

Intel HD 4600 of haswell i5 4670k can handle 2.5xIR (1600x1320) or even 3xIR in some games , no AA , 16x AF which mean you can buy a GPU later (wait for AMD 8000 series)
Base on Dolphin Benchmark , i5 4670k (stock) is more than 2 times as fast as Phenom II x4 945
i5 4670k is superior at overclocking , it can reach 4.6GHz with 1.2Vcore (lower Vcore is better and safer , <1.35Vcore is recommended ) while that Phenom II x4 945 need 1.4Vcore (not safe at all) to reach 3.8GHz
Edit : Oops , Phenom II x4 965 , not 945 my mistake

[skid]

The AMD rig will not be able to play the games you want at a playable speed. The Intel rig should be able to with some overclocking. You'll need an aftermarket cooler.

I agree that a HTPC case might make things a bit too toasty.

[rokclimb15]

(07-04-2013, 11:18 AM)admin89 Wrote: Intel HD 4600 of haswell i5 4670k can handle 2.5xIR (1600x1320) or even 3xIR in some games , no AA , 16x AF which mean you can buy a GPU later (wait for AMD 8000 series)
Base on Dolphin Benchmark , i5 4670k (stock) is more than 2 times as fast as Phenom II x4 945
i5 4670k is superior at overclocking , it can reach 4.6GHz with 1.2Vcore (lower Vcore is better and safer , <1.35Vcore is recommended ) while that Phenom II x4 945 need 1.4Vcore (not safe at all) to reach 3.8GHz

Thanks! This is great advice.

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(07-04-2013, 11:19 AM)skid Wrote: The AMD rig will not be able to play the games you want at a playable speed. The Intel rig should be able to with some overclocking. You'll need an aftermarket cooler.

I agree that a HTPC case might make things a bit too toasty.

That has been my fear. So much for supporting the home team.

Do you have any recommendations on a cooler?

[admin89]

CM GeminII M4 Ultra slim aftermarket cooler
It will do the job well . Quiet and effective !
Pair this with Arctic MX-4 , you can OC i5 4670k to 4.2GHz which is fast enough for most demanding games

[NaturalViolence]

The GeminII M4 is meant to be extremely low profile (for mini-itx systems) and quiet. Its thermal performance is behind the competition as a result. Why would you recommend that one?

admin89 Wrote:Intel HD 4600 of haswell i5 4670k can handle 2.5xIR (1600x1320) or even 3xIR in some games , no AA , 16x AF which mean you can buy a GPU later (wait for AMD 8000 series)

Considering the HD 4000 bottlenecks a lot of games at 1x and the HD 4600 is supposed to be only marginally faster I'm not sure that's such a great idea.

admin89 Wrote:i5 4670k is superior at overclocking , it can reach 4.6GHz with 1.2Vcore (lower Vcore is better and safer , <1.35Vcore is recommended ) while that Phenom II x4 945 need 1.4Vcore (not safe at all) to reach 3.8GHz
Edit : Oops , Phenom II x4 965 , not 945 my mistake

They're two completely different chips with different microarchitectures and manufacturing technology. 22nm trigate is a lot more sensitive to voltage than 45nm. 1.4v on a phenom II 945 is perfectly safe.

rokclimb15 Wrote:These builds do not include case or PSU since I haven't narrowed that down yet (I'm open to suggestions).

I can't give you suggestions since I don't know anything about what you're planning to do with this rig or how you want it designed.

rokclimb15 Wrote:I'm thinking an HTPC case but I have concerns about cooling. Also, most of them either seem to be very cheap in terms of build quality, or outrageously expensive for a case.

As someone who recently built in HTPC I can confirm this is true.

Why are you building an htpc? What are your goals for the rig (size, noise, performance, etc.)?

[admin89]

Quote:Why would you recommend that one?

Why not ?
4.2GHz is not that hard to reach on an Intel Stock Cooler and CM Gemin4 is better than Intel Stock cooler .

Quote:HD 4600 is supposed to be only marginally faster

Base on Notebookcheck benchmark results , Intel HD 4600 is as fast as Nvidia GT 540M while Intel HD 4000 is on par with Nvidia GT 520M
Edit : Here
Most benchmark results show Intel HD 4600 ~ 2xIntel HD 4000
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-HD-Graphics-4000.69168.0.html
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-HD-Graphics-4600.86106.0.html

[NaturalViolence]

admin89 Wrote:Why not ?

Because you can get a better cooler for the same price if you don't have extreme height restrictions with your chassis, which is what that cooler is meant for.

[AnyOldName3]

If you don't need a small case, then I can vouch for the Hyper 212 Evo being really easy to install etc, as I put mine in just yesterday.

[rokclimb15]

(07-04-2013, 03:26 PM)NaturalViolence Wrote: I can't give you suggestions since I don't know anything about what you're planning to do with this rig or how you want it designed.

I plan to use it for Dolphin gameplay as well as some Handbrake transcode/ripping and perhaps other PC gaming. Haswell seems to be a good fit for those tasks since it has Quick Sync and Handbrake now supports that in Beta builds.

(07-04-2013, 03:26 PM)NaturalViolence Wrote: Why are you building an htpc? What are your goals for the rig (size, noise, performance, etc.)?

Truly, I'm not building an HTPC, but ideally would like to fit it in a case of that type so it could fit nicely under my TV. After enough consideration and reading, I decided it was too ambitious to do that with a Haswell i5 and hope to overclock it eventually with air cooling. I settled for a Lian-Li mid-tower that I had lying around.

I considered this case, which is nice and I'd think about again, but it's micro-ATX and all of the Haswell micro boards had the lower end chipset that doesn't expose many OC options. I bought the K series CPU so I can overclock to reach my goal with Dolphin.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352011

I think I'm going to go with the HD4600 graphics and see how they do, but I bought a power supply large enough to add a discrete GPU and even SLI a couple of them down the road when the prices on the GPUs I want drop a little (maybe after the AMD 8000 series hits). Total cost was about $575 for all parts plus a bluetooth adapter and card reader (minus case and HD, which I already own).

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=22713645