Desktop options and opinions

[pumpkinpie]

Hi all - I am trying to get myself a desptop computer that can act as a media player along with running dolphin as well as other emulators.

I know the media player and older emulator requirements are not that high but its trying to get dolphin to run well which is making things difficult.

What I have now is a core 2 quad Q9550 with 8 GB's of RAM and an HD5450 video card which serves well as the media player and emulator.

Would adding a newer/powerful video card to this computer run dolphin well ?

I also have the options of picking up the following computers:
#1 - ADM A8-7600 with 8 GB's of RAM for around $250
#2 - Intel i5-4460 with 12 GB's of RAM for around $325

Would these computers run dolphin well as is with onboard graphics or would I need to add a video card to them as well ?

And which would be the better computer with said video card ?

Thanks !

[Ivybridge11]

(05-28-2017, 11:19 AM)pumpkinpie Wrote: Hi all - I am trying to get myself a desptop computer that can act as a media player along with running dolphin as well as other emulators.

I know the media player and older emulator requirements are not that high but its trying to get dolphin to run well which is making things difficult.

What I have now is a core 2 quad Q9550 with 8 GB's of RAM and an HD5450 video card which serves well as the media player and emulator.

Would adding a newer/powerful video card to this computer run dolphin well ?

I also have the options of picking up the following computers:
#1 - ADM A8-7600 with 8 GB's of RAM for around $250
#2 - Intel i5-4460 with 12 GB's of RAM for around $325

Would these computers run dolphin well as is with onboard graphics or would I need to add a video card to them as well ?

And which would be the better computer with said video card ?

Thanks !

Adding a video card to your current computer probably wouldn't help much, as Dolphin is mostly reliant on CPU Speed and IPC, and your Core 2 Quad is quite old.
Intel Haswell and newer CPU's tend to run Dolphin very well, so the i5-4460 would probably be your best bet for use with Dolphin.
AMd APU's tend to have better integrated graphics, but it certainly won't run Dolphin as well.
The GPU doesn't need to be particurally powerful, so the i5's iGPU could be ok if you only want to play at native resolution or with other enhancements. If you want to up resolution or other settings, a 750Ti or 1050 wpuld be more than enough. You could also get a really cheap one, but it probably wouldn't be a huge amount better than the integrated graphics.
Hope this helps.

[GreenT]

The i5 and a GTX 1050 would be a great option for Dolphin. Stick with the 10-series GPU because they can drive a 4K display over HDMI. (You may not have a 4K TV yet, but the option is there.) Both the 1050 and 1050 ti have relatively low power draw but can drive all Dolphin games I tried at 1080p and some at 4K (2160p).

I don't know if you could save money by getting option number 2 with less RAM, but 8 GB would be more than enough for Dolphin and any HTPC use I can think of.

[mstreurman]

(05-28-2017, 02:08 PM)GreenT Wrote: The i5 and a GTX 1050 would be a great option for Dolphin. Stick with the 10-series GPU because they can drive a 4K display over HDMI. (You may not have a 4K TV yet, but the option is there.) Both the 1050 and 1050 ti have relatively low power draw but can drive all Dolphin games I tried at 1080p and some at 4K (2160p).

I don't know if you could save money by getting option number 2 with less RAM, but 8 GB would be more than enough for Dolphin and any HTPC use I can think of.

Unless you're using ultra large texture packs.

[GreenT]

(05-28-2017, 02:43 PM)mstreurman Wrote: Unless you're using ultra large texture packs.

I wouldn't normally suggest somebody go with less RAM, but the OP seemed to be cost conscious, listing the price for each option. If money were really tight, I'd be willing to work with 6 or 8 GB RAM, if doing so meant I could get a decent GPU. 

FWIW, I'm using HD texture packs on an 8 GB system and haven't run into any issues yet. 

[pumpkinpie]

yes I am being cost conscious which is why I was I wondering if my current computer would be okay with a new graphics card.

thanks for the suggestions all - looks like its the i5 !

[pumpkinpie]

Bringing up an old thread as i did buy the i5 system that i listed above and now have the chance to pick up a used 750 ti for about $65 CDN.

I dont really want to spend the $200+ CDN needed to get a 1050 ti so my question is will the 750 ti make a decent difference over the integrated graphics and is $65 a reasonable price for it ?

[KHg8m3r]

Yes that is a great price, and the performance increase will be quite high. The 750 Ti can push 4K resolutions in Dolphin, from what I remember, in most games that aren't super demanding on the GPU.

[pumpkinpie]

great thank you !