Dolphin PC buying guide

[CacoFFF]

(01-23-2010, 06:38 PM)RupeeClock Wrote: "Is this dangerous to overclock slightly"

At those temperatures and stock VCore, not dangerous at all.

[RupeeClock]

(01-24-2010, 03:13 AM)CacoFFF Wrote:

(01-23-2010, 06:38 PM)RupeeClock Wrote: "Is this dangerous to overclock slightly"

At those temperatures and stock VCore, not dangerous at all.

Lol, thank you.

[Toothache]

I'm looking to build a dolphin playable PC, going for a budget build since I don't have huge funds to draw on, but I'm noticing the prices of DDR2 RAM is steadily increasing where as DDR3 is dropping in price. Might be worth getting a 2 x 2 GB DDR3 set over the recommended Corsair DDR2 in the budget build since there's almost no difference in price from what I'm seeing at the minute. Also there's no way you can find that Corsair pack for less than $75-80 nowadays.

[MalAlmighty]

You can't put DDR3 in a board designed for a different kind of processor.

[mikespit1]

I'm putting together a budget rig for gaming and Dolphin among other things. So far I'm leaning towards an Athlon II X3 435 that I'll likely overclock to around 3.5GHz with a Coolermaster Hyper 212 to go along with a ATI 5770. What kind of performance can I expect out of dolphin, specifically Metroid Prime 3 and Twilight Princess? I was hoping for at least 720p and maybe some AA.

[Toothache]

(01-27-2010, 10:56 PM)MalAlmighty Wrote: You can't put DDR3 in a board designed for a different kind of processor.

Notice I never actually mentioned the motherboard anywhere. Of course that will have to be taken into consideration. :-)

[HK1]

I have: CPU and GPU (q9550 @3.4ghz/4870x2HD). It seems more than enough. Am currently playing Umbrella chronicles 480p, no slowdown whatsoever.

[sendblink23]

My computer is just a budget I only spent $605

Ebay:
Motherboard MSI 770-C45 + 8GB DDR3 1600Mhz + AMD Phenom ii X4 965 (3.40Ghz stock) = $475
ATI HD 4650 1gb DDR2 = $50
Zalman CNPS9700 = $20

Local Store:
550w PSU = $15
Case (some big one i found at a local store) = $30
1 x 120mm + 5 x 80mm Fans = $15

Total = $605

Now I just ordered a Corsair H50 = $80 from Ebay for better cooling

Dolphin avg in all games is between 35 to 60 fps depending on areas in a game, most stay stabled at 60fps. Soon I'll get way better graphics card, but at least my cheap $50 card works fine on the Wii emulator & many other games at max settings (Gears of War, Assassin's Creed, Halo 2, NFS Shift, NFS Most Wanted, Modern Warfare 2, GTA IV & many more).

[CacoFFF]

(02-03-2010, 12:28 PM)sendblink23 Wrote: My computer is just a budget I only spent $605

Ebay:
Motherboard MSI 770-C45 + 8GB DDR3 1600Mhz + AMD Phenom ii X4 965 (3.40Ghz stock) = $475
ATI HD 4650 1gb DDR2 = $50
Zalman CNPS9700 = $20

Local Store:
550w PSU = $15
Case (some big one i found at a local store) = $30
1 x 120mm + 5 x 80mm Fans = $15

Total = $605

Now I just ordered a Corsair H50 = $80 from Ebay for better cooling

Dolphin avg in all games is between 35 to 60 fps depending on areas in a game, most stay stabled at 60fps. Soon I'll get way better graphics card, but at least my cheap $50 card works fine on the Wii emulator & many other games at max settings (Gears of War, Assassin's Creed, Halo 2, NFS Shift, NFS Most Wanted, Modern Warfare 2, GTA IV & many more).

Dude, yours is one of the sanest builds I've seen so far.
Which tells me you already know very well what GFX card to pick. Which one will it be?

[DaddyLongLegs]

I would appreciate any advice from any kind soul willing to give me upgrade advice. Keep in mind the ONLY game I care about is Super Smash Bros. Brawl which runs very well at 1080p on my HDTV but I'd love to get it running perfectly.

I am running an AMD Athlon 64x2 dual core 6000+ 3.1ghz with 3gb ram on Windows XP 32-bit and with a Radeon 4500HD 512MB graphics card. Since this is running in a ShuttlePC, I cannot upgrade the motherboard so if someone is going to recommend a CPU upgrade, it would have to be a socket AM2. Also, the video card can't be insane because the PSU on the shuttle is only 250 watts.

What would you fine folks recommend? Graphics card upgrade or CPU upgrade? Or neither as this might be the best I'll get? Thanks so much for your time! Money isn't much of a concern as long as it gets me some full speed Smash and I don't have to replace the motherboard. Thanks again!