Hardware /Specs Question

[JR316]

Hi All, new to Dolphin but not new to emulators. Recently bought an ACEPC AK1 from Amazon and although it emulated most consoles well via LaunchBox (Celeron J3455, 1.6GHz), it obviously couldn't handle Dolphin or even Mednafen so I'm now in the market for something that can!.
I want to be able to play Rogue Squadron, Bounty Hunter and 007 games on Game Cube and then Mario games and the likes on Wii.

I've been looking around the forum as well as the web and the more I look the more confused I get! .I want to keep it neat and discrete for a living room so want a prebuilt small form factor PC that just plugs into a TV via HDMI.

So my question is what specs would you recommend for near-flawless Dolphin gaming with a budget of around €500-600?. I was considering the below options but I'm not sure if either would be good enough so maybe I need to review my budget? - also some people on the forum are saying Ryzen over Intel then others are saying the opposite  

I'd be happy to play in 720p with 1080p a bonus. I also want to stick with Windows.
Would be grateful if people could steer me in the right direction or if they had better ideas!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Windows-i7-7820HK-Desktop-Computer-Ethernet/dp/B08F9PMCB6?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1

OR

https://www.pcspecialist.ie/computers/amd-pn50-4700u/

OR 

????

[mbc07]

Well, forget Rogue Squadron, it is one of the hardest games to emulate in Dolphin and it requires a system that far exceeds Dolphin's minimum requirements to maintain constant speed. The other games you mentioned should work perfectly fine on any of the two mini PCs you linked, though...

[JR316]

(11-13-2021, 06:12 AM)mbc07 Wrote: Well, forget Rogue Squadron, it is one of the hardest games to emulate in Dolphin and it requires a system that far exceeds Dolphin's minimum requirements to maintain constant speed. The other games you mentioned should work perfectly fine on any of the two mini  PCs you linked, though...

Thanks a mill!. And if I was to review my budget and go after something that could handle Rogue Squadron (big Star Wars fan!), would you have any recommendations as to what I'd need?

[Nintendo Maniac 64]

I may be slightly late to this thread...


For specifically a pre-built, on that pcspecialist.ie site, select "Performance Mini PCs" and then set the processor to "AMD Ryzen 5 5600G".

The following image (click for full size) is a baseline of what I came up with.  If you want to improve performance, then instead select the cheapest RAM (1x4GB) and then buy your own 2x kit of DDR4 with a speed of at least 2933 (2x RAM sticks will outperform 1x RAM stick, especially for integrated graphics).

   

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And I know you said it must be a prebuilt, but what about a "half" pre-built that kind of more of a DIY kit?  It would be even smaller sized with comparable or better performance while only costing €521 for the example baseline config that I provide.

DIY kit info-dump - not a spoiler: (Show Spoiler)

https://www.amazon.de/ASRock-DeskMini-Barebone-schwarz-Betriebssystem/dp/B08NWHGTQQ

I realize that the listing is in German but for whatever reason the exact same listing costs twice as much on Amazon.co.uk when you do the pounds → Euro conversion.  Nevertheless here's ASRock's own product page for the item: https://www.asrock.com/nettop/AMD/DeskMini%20X300%20Series/index.asp

Oh uh, though it being a German listing might mean that it comes with a Europe-spec power cable (the separate cable that plugs into the actual power brick, not the cable that the brick itself is a part of), but you should be able to just use any old laptop power cable instead.  Alternatively maybe you can find the DeskMini X300 or DeskMini X300W through a UK merchant if you need a UK-spec wall plug?


Anyway it's more of a DIY kit than a custom built PC in that it already comes with a motherboard pre-installed into the case and comes bundled with an external power supply brick, and it's small enough (about the size of an ATX desktop power supply) that, with the official VESA mounting kit, you can even mount it to the back of a TV or monitor.

For reference, the only things you need to provide are the processor, RAM, storage (plus operating system)... and, well, external peripherals like mouse/keyboard/display but that doesn't count.  Note that wifi may or may not be included depending on whether it's the X300 or X300W model (one can always purchase the official wifi card + antenna add-on separately if you don't want to just use ethernet or your own USB adapter or the like).

Special mention that there's an optional 2x USB ports add-on if you care that I could only find on France-region Amazon:
https://www.amazon.fr/ASRock-5RB000010020-Nouveau/dp/B01N8ZNJ3U

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The baseline choice of an ideal processor is obvious - Ryzen 5600G.  For emulation, the more expensive 5700G won't help unless you want to try your hand at PS3/X360 emulation or newer in which case it could be better (but don't quote me on this), otherwise the 5600G's lesser heat output could be more desirable.  Both processors come with a heatsink that should just fit if you remove the shroud from around the AMD wraith stealth fan (you might have to force it in a bit).

For RAM, well, just get a dual 2x kit of laptop DDR4 RAM with 3000+ speed of whatever capacity you want (2x8GB, 2x16GB, etc)

And storage?  Any m.2 or SATA drive of however much capacity you want.


Do keep in mind you'll have to install your own operating system, but honestly that's pretty easy nowadays.  And if it is just for emulation (and increasingly viable for more than just emulation nowadays), then you could even go with a "baby's first Linux" or the like (especially if you want to use the official 1st party GameCube USB adapter which is way easier to get working on Linux than on Windows).

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Here's an example that I put together for €521 as a sort of "baseline" in that I wouldn't recommend going with components lower-end than this, again using German retailers because it was way cheaper for whatever reason:

• Germany-region PCPartPicker Part List
  

CPU+cooler: AMD Ryzen 5 5600G 3.9 GHz 6core/12thread Processor  (€249.00 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 CL16 Memory  (€78.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Western Digital Blue 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  (€53.15 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Case+motherboard+power supply: ASRock DeskMini X300 Barebone, schwarz, ohne Betriebssystem  (€139.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €521.04
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by Germany-region PCPartPicker 2021-11-19 03:45 CET+0100

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(11-13-2021, 06:12 AM)mbc07 Wrote: Well, forget Rogue Squadron, it is one of the hardest games to emulate in Dolphin and it requires a system that far exceeds Dolphin's minimum requirements to maintain constant speed.

...isn't anything with single-threaded CPU grunt faster than Haswell more than enough? (so therefore Broadwell, Skylake and its derivatives, Rocket Lake, Alder Lake, Zen2, Zen3, half-L3 Zen3, and maybe quarter-L3 Zen2)

Or has Rogue Squadron gotten even more demanding in Dolphin to the point that only Alder Lake-levels of single-threaded performance will cut it at this time?