Dolphin PC buying guide

[scomph]

Hey, I'm new, but have been checking out these boards for a few months. Anyway, I just bought a new PC (first build from scratch), and hope to run dolphin on it. I still need to get a LG816* drive or similar, but I've seen those for around $30 so hopefully I'll be ripping my personal collection soon (have only GC games, but sister is getting a wii for christmas, and I have about 2500 Goozex points saved up). Here are my specs

Phenom II X4 955 - 3.2Ghz - $160
ASUS M4A79XTD - $60 ($65 in rebates from newegg)
G.Skill 4GB DDR3 1600 - $95

I already have a case, psu, cooling system, hard drive, so I guess this isn't completely from scratch, but I still think for ~$300 you can't get a better deal. Oh yeah, I have a nvidia 8600 GT w/512mb ram, but plan on upgrading to something like a 340 when it comes out next year.

Can't wait to try overclocking this, I'm shooting for 3.8Ghz, which will hopefully handle any game I throw at it.

[w4ffles]

(12-01-2009, 03:43 PM)scomph Wrote: Hey, I'm new, but have been checking out these boards for a few months. Anyway, I just bought a new PC (first build from scratch), and hope to run dolphin on it. I still need to get a LG816* drive or similar, but I've seen those for around $30 so hopefully I'll be ripping my personal collection soon (have only GC games, but sister is getting a wii for christmas, and I have about 2500 Goozex points saved up). Here are my specs

Phenom II X4 955 - 3.2Ghz - $160
ASUS M4A79XTD - $60 ($65 in rebates from newegg)
G.Skill 4GB DDR3 1600 - $95

I already have a case, psu, cooling system, hard drive, so I guess this isn't completely from scratch, but I still think for ~$300 you can't get a better deal. Oh yeah, I have a nvidia 8600 GT w/512mb ram, but plan on upgrading to something like a 340 when it comes out next year.

Can't wait to try overclocking this, I'm shooting for 3.8Ghz, which will hopefully handle any game I throw at it.

What PSU are you planning on using? It's a crucial component that you should never skimp on.

[master9716]

http://forums.dolphin-emu.org/thread-5538.html

its better than budget build

about the same as mainstream build.

[Theway]

(11-21-2009, 02:10 PM)G2K Wrote: How much more speed would the i7 mobile offer over the Core2Duo mobile? I know laptops aren't recommended, just askin'.

i7 720QM (Currently cheapest i7 for mobile), has stock clock of 1.6GHz but the turbo mode allows it to go up to 2.8GHz when one core is used and up to 2.66GHz when only two cores are used. You will probably get better performance than most Core 2 Duo mobile processors.

[Reptile]

Hai!

I'm buying a laptop for school and gaming, and I was thinking if this system could run Dolphin (SSBB?) fluently:

ASUS N61VN 16"
Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 2.53 Ghz
nVidia GeForce GT240M 1024Mt GDDR2
4Gb RAM
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

I'm used to playing at ~50 fps on a Q9550 @2.83Ghz and a GTX260, but as Dolphin is unable to use more than two cores, is there a huge difference in performance? Sure, the cards are different too, but I don't feel like wasting extra 300 euros on the mobile version of the 260.

Thanks for any answers!

[w4ffles]

Let me just say that I hate Nvidia's naming schemes. I'm glad you're staying away from the GTX 260m because it is equivalent to a desktop 9800GT/8800GT, a chip that is now a few years old. All they did was shrink the die to reduce costs and power consumption, yet the damn thing still puts a hefty premium on notebooks.

I think that configuration will run SSBM just fine since Dolphin isn't very GPU-intensive.

[scomph]

(12-03-2009, 09:49 PM)w4ffles Wrote: What PSU are you planning on using? It's a crucial component that you should never skimp on.

Earthwatts 500W that came with my sonata III

[James333]

Could someone help me with the graphics cards ? ^^'

A friend wanted to buy a Sapphire HD4670 1GB DDR3 , but when I checked today in the website It said that they don't have more of them. So ... What GPU would you recommend to my friend ? ( equivalent to the first one )

ATI: http://pcfactory.cl/buscar_productos.php?g=454&sc=334
nvidia: http://pcfactory.cl/buscar_productos.php?g=378&sc=334

maybe this http://pcfactory.cl/ficha.php?id=d3a94df6-3202-4161-b877-df72ced5e756 ?

[CacoFFF]

(12-15-2009, 08:21 AM)James333 Wrote: Could someone help me with the graphics cards ? ^^'

A friend wanted to buy a Sapphire HD4670 1GB DDR3 , but when I checked today in the website It said that they don't have more of them. So ... What GPU would you recommend to my friend ? ( equivalent to the first one )

ATI: http://pcfactory.cl/buscar_productos.php?g=454&sc=334
nvidia: http://pcfactory.cl/buscar_productos.php?g=378&sc=334

maybe this http://pcfactory.cl/ficha.php?id=d3a94df6-3202-4161-b877-df72ced5e756 ?

Radeon 4770, or any other 40nm GPU.

[w4ffles]

(12-15-2009, 03:02 AM)scomph Wrote:

(12-03-2009, 09:49 PM)w4ffles Wrote: What PSU are you planning on using? It's a crucial component that you should never skimp on.

Earthwatts 500W that came with my sonata III

You should be fine then.

(12-15-2009, 08:21 AM)James333 Wrote: Could someone help me with the graphics cards ? ^^'

A friend wanted to buy a Sapphire HD4670 1GB DDR3 , but when I checked today in the website It said that they don't have more of them. So ... What GPU would you recommend to my friend ? ( equivalent to the first one )

ATI: http://pcfactory.cl/buscar_productos.php?g=454&sc=334
nvidia: http://pcfactory.cl/buscar_productos.php?g=378&sc=334

maybe this http://pcfactory.cl/ficha.php?id=d3a94df6-3202-4161-b877-df72ced5e756 ?

Are there any other sites you can buy from? The 9600GT isn't a bad card, but 1GB is overkill for the the 128-bit memory interface. You might as well spend a little more for the Zotac 9800GT.
http://pcfactory.cl/ficha.php?id=5a4fcdf0-f638-454f-a992-fee8649ddaba#