Emu Box Build - Need your input

[cheewee]

Hi all,

I'm looking to gut and re-build a Downloads box I have setup in the living room. I built it as a downloads and Media PC but now I'm wanting to build a nice emulation system out of it. I recently fired up Dolphin and had to drop the settings down to nothing in order to even play most games at full speed.

I've posted this on Reddit's BuildaPC subreddit here but only got a response from one person. I'm posting here in hopes to get some more input from folks that fool with emulators, especially Dolphin. For those that don't want to follow a link, here's the breakdown...

This is what I currently have:

Case: SILVERSTONE Black Aluminum skin reinforced plastic front panel, 0.8mm SECC body MILO Series ML03B Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case
Mobo: ASUS M5A88-M AM3+ AMD 880G 6 x SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
CPU: AMD FX-6100 Zambezi 6-Core 3.3GHz Socket AM3+ 95W FD6100WMGUSBX Desktop Processor
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL9D-8GBXL
PSU: Thermaltake TR2 TR-500 500W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Power Supply

I also bought an EVGA nVIDIA GT740 2GB 128-bit graphics card because I thought the integrated ATI Radeon graphics chip was the main problem. (Had to be a low-profile card due to the HTPC case I'm using.) I installed it this weekend and it didn't make a BIT of difference in the performance. I maded sure it met the recommended specs for the Dolphin emulator. At this point I assume it's my CPU that's causing the performance issues but I thought for sure the video card was going to help some. I understand that, according to the FAQ, AMD chips run at half the IPCs as Intel chips and that Dolphin only supports up to 2 cores, so a six-core 3.3 Ghz processor must be like running on an i3 Intel chip.

Here's what I'm looking to upgrade to:

MOBO: ASUS Z97M-PLUS LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K Devil’s Canyon Quad-Core 4.0GHz LGA 1150 BX80646I74790K Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4600
RAM: G.SKILL Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Intel Z87/ Z77/ Z68/ P67 Memory Model F3-1600C10D-16GAB

I don't think I'll need to upgrade the power supply. I'm using a WD Blue-series 750GB SATA 3 6.0Gb/s hard drive. I assume that an SSD won't really help.

Some of my favorite Nintendo games are the Super Smash Brothers, Mario Kart and Zelda series, so I'd definitely like to be able to play those. I'd like to be able to play Wii games if that's feasible. I'm more into adventure and "party"-style games to play with friends. I never owned a Gamecube or Wii system so I don't know exactly what all is out there as far as game options but I'm familiar with most of the Nintendo franchises.

I have a 50" 1080p 60hz TV and I'm not a quality so I'm not worried about getting max resolution. I just want to be able to play most games at full speed without having to neuter the graphics settings and have artifacting and glitchy graphics.

I really hope you guys can help. Thanks in advance!

[admin89]

i7 4790k has max turbo boost of 4.4GHz.You won't need to OC it
H97 board should be a better choice since it's cheaper
Also , don't waste money on RAM , it won't help. I think you should get a ssd instead

[kirbypuff]

I'm posting here in hopes to get some more input from folks that fool with Dolphin.

With language like that, only fools would help you. [j/k]

[Shonumi]

I'm posting here in hopes to get some more input from folks that fool with Dolphin.

You won't get any help if you use such language (only fools will help you).
That's why you have almost zero responses on Reddit.

I think there's a bit of miscommunication here (language barrier?). "To fool with" or "to fool around with" can mean to tinker, fix, fiddle, or work with something (generally something complicated). People that "fool with Dolphin" are people that take the time to get it working, basically. In effect, the OP wants help from people who have experience handling Dolphin.

See here -> http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/fool+with

[kirbypuff]

I think there's a bit of miscommunication here.

It wasn't a miscommunication, just a joke
(and shonumi replied too fast <before the edit>)

[Shonumi]

@kirbypuff - I see. Thought you were saying something else. Never mind then :P Stay on-topic though.

@cheewee - Have you considered waiting for Skylake? It's going to be the next "tock" in Intel's "tick-tock" strategy. It should improve performance (yet again) if things go accordingly. Keep in mind that prices for the next line of CPUs will be relatively in-line with current Haswell/Broadwell prices. There's still no solid ETA on Skylake (should be soon, August 5 as some think) but it seems to be right around the corner. I mean, if you're going to upgrade to Intel, you might as well go for the latest models, right?

Having said that, the CPU in question will do what you want from Dolphin. The only concern I can think of with multiplayer games is that Mario Kart Wii gets more demanding when you add subsequent players. Still, your CPU should breeze through multiplayer sessions.

[cheewee]

@kirbypuff - I see. Thought you were saying something else. Never mind then Stay on-topic though.

@cheewee - Have you considered waiting for Skylake? It's going to be the next "tock" in Intel's "tick-tock" strategy. It should improve performance (yet again) if things go accordingly. Keep in mind that prices for the next line of CPUs will be relatively in-line with current Haswell/Broadwell prices. There's still no solid ETA on Skylake (should be soon, August 5 as some think) but it seems to be right around the corner. I mean, if you're going to upgrade to Intel, you might as well go for the latest models, right?

Having said that, the CPU in question will do what you want from Dolphin. The only concern I can think of with multiplayer games is that Mario Kart Wii gets more demanding when you add subsequent players. Still, your CPU should breeze through multiplayer sessions.

Yeah. He was joking. I didn't see the "[j/k]" at first and I was like "WTF MAN!??" but then I laughed Also, I saw it after he went back and edited it. Before the edit I would've labeled him a troll and /ignored.

Thanks for your input on the specs. I will definitely be playing with at least one other player, possibly up to 4 at times, so I definitely want good performance with multiplayer as well. I guess I should've mentioned that. I think I might be waiting a little while before I spend this money because I might be moving soon and should probably avoid any large purchases in the near future. I may end up waiting for the Skylake line. I did see an article talking about them, but I never buy products hot off the presses. We'll see. Thanks for taking the time to read and reply.

I guess the good news is that Gamecube and Wii emulation will always be here and getting better and the hardware to run it will will also. A year or 2 from now we should all have the hardware to play it all

[cheewee]

i7 4790k has max turbo boost of 4.4GHz.You won't need to OC it
H97 board should be a better choice since it's cheaper
Also , don't waste money on RAM , it won't help. I think you should get a ssd instead

Ok. Thanks. Maybe I'll go with 8GB of RAM. I'm curious, if the emulator is on the SSD and the games are on an HDD will it benefit from the performance of the SSD? I wouldn't think so since it'd be reading the game image. That's why I thought the SSD would be a waste of money. If I bought one I would get a 120 or 240GB and I wouldn't have enough room for all my GC and Wii games on that one drive so I'd be swapping them out constantly which would be annoying.

[JosJuice]

I'm curious, if the emulator is on the SSD and the games are on an HDD will it benefit from the performance of the SSD?

You won't get better emulation performance by putting Dolphin or your games on an SSD. GameCube and Wii games were designed to be played from slow DVD drives, and regular HDDs are so much faster than those that you won't notice any difference if you upgrade to an SSD.

[cheewee]

I'm curious, if the emulator is on the SSD and the games are on an HDD will it benefit from the performance of the SSD?

You won't get better emulation performance by putting Dolphin or your games on an SSD. GameCube and Wii games were designed to be played from slow DVD drives, and regular HDDs are so much faster than those that you won't notice any difference if you upgrade to an SSD.

Cool. Thanks for your input.