Is My Computer Fast Enough?

[NovaNights]

I bought a new HP Pavilion desktop from Best Buy and they told me that it was an above-average gaming computer and it does play most new games at decent settings. I can't get Dolphin to run at more than 60%. I have tried Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Spyro: A Hero's Tail.

System: Windows 8.1 x64

CPU: AMD A4-5000 w/ Radeon HD Graphics 1.50 GHz (Quad-Core)

GPU: AMD Radeon HD 8330 (DirectX 11)

Memory: 6.00 GB (5.45 GB usable)

Emulator: Dolphin 4.0.2 x64

[JMC47]

That's because your processor is waaaaaaaay below average. I'm surprised you get 60%, to be honest.

Also, best buy sales clerks are not looking out for your best interests, they want to make a sale and pad their pockets. That thing is a very weak computer even for regular gaming.

[NovaNights]

But my computer plays regular games just fine. Maybe they don't play at the highest possible settings but even at mid settings I can play newer games without lag. And I can run any emulator perfectly except Dolphin and PCSX2. I am far from being an expert at gaming computers, but I am computer literate, and I know that a 1.50 GHz processor isn't that fast, but shouldn't 4 CPU cores running at 1.50 GHz be some what fast?

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Ok, I just looked up the PassMark for my processor and it sucks. It's not even in the same ballpark as the Intel Core i7. What would be cheaper; buying another computer or buying a new processor and graphics card?

[elemein]

1: Your CPU is based off the Jaguar architecture. That's a small-core architecture; all of which are pretty much unsuitable for Dolphin right off the bat even if it's at something like 4 GHz. All x64 small-core architectures are 2-wide, which is simply far too narrow for Dolphin's CPU intensive workload; let alone the fact they're pretty much anemic on execution units.

2: Dolphin is more or less entirely a dual-thread application; meaning two of your four cores will sit mostly unused and unregarded for Dolphin.

3: Pretty much never use Passmark as a measurement of CPU performance.

4: Getting a new custom-built computer would be your best bet. If you give us a budget and maybe even return your current computer, myself or another member could piece together a good build for you to build for yourself that would, without much doubt, perform far better than your current computer.

Even something as simple as a Pentium G3258 + nVidia GTX 750 would likely do great for you, be affordable, and even play medium on all AAA games as well as get 100% on most Dolphin games.

[Shonumi]

But my computer plays regular games just fine. Maybe they don't play at the highest possible settings but even at mid settings I can play newer games without lag.

Emulators aren't PC games though. They operate in very different manners, even if the end result is "playing a game". Modern PC games rely significantly on the GPU for most of the performance. Generally speaking, only a fair to moderate CPU is required, but a decent GPU is a must. Emulators tend to stress the CPU above all else (though many can stress the GPU when turning up the graphical enhancements). Without a strong CPU however, your performance will suffer no matter what kind of GPU you have.

And I can run any emulator perfectly except Dolphin and PCSX2.

These two are some of the most demanding emulators you can run.

I am far from being an expert at gaming computers, but I am computer literate, and I know that a 1.50 GHz processor isn't that fast, but shouldn't 4 CPU cores running at 1.50 GHz be some what fast?

Dolphin will only really stress 2 cores (we call it a dual-core application) under most circumstances. Even if you had 4 cores available (PCSX2 can take advantage of your extra cores for example), running them at 1.5GHz is still slow. There's no getting around that low frequency.

Ok, I just looked up the PassMark for my processor and it sucks. It's not even in the same ballpark as the Intel Core i7. What would be cheaper; buying another computer or buying a new processor and graphics card?

Got a budget? You'd do yourself a favor if you want to run Dolphin (and PCSX2) by getting a new motherboard and a Haswell CPU. Your GPU is fine for Dolphin though. If you're aiming for the cheapest thing, the new Pentium G3258 is ridiculously cheap as far as Intel CPUs go, but if you have the cash to blow, you may want to go for a 4690K.

[NovaNights]

Thank you for all the information you gave me. It really clears up a lot of questions.

At the moment I don't have a budget for anything new; I'll have to wait until next tax season. Around that time I'm looking at a budget of about $1500.00. Before I bought my current computer (which was a 'had to have' cause my hard drive crashed in my old computer) I was looking at Alienware, but I'm starting to distrust pre-built computers.

I would rather spend less, not more. I am not a social gamer. I do not play MMOs (ever). I sometimes play FPS but I prefer 3PS. And my main focus is console-style RPGs and Action Adventure games. And I use a lot of emulators like ZSNES, ePSXe, and DeSmuME. Also my wife loves her Facebook games.

So I'm looking for something that is top-of-the-line, but I don't need anything fancy like a water cooled computer or anything of that sort. So if you could just recommend either a complete PC or a Motherboard/CPU/GPU/Memory combination that I can put in my HP Pavilion.

[KHg8m3r]

Well, from what I can see on Google, it looks like either a mini-ATX or micro-ATX motherboard (probably a mini, though). You can probably find a replacement board that supports Haswell (LGA1150) and drop it in with an i3-4330 for about $200 or so. You can reuse the RAM, motherboard, HDD, and everything else I think. The HD4600 is good for most Dolphin games at 2-3x IR, and most PC games at low to medium (it's similar to a GT 640 in speed and power). Or ypu would need to get a low-profile card to fit in the case.

Or a better solution would be to factory reset the computer and return it for your money back and buy a better computer that you can build yourself. How long ago did you buy it?

A good build for now would be this: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Nrmgator/saved/dJ7CmG
You can take off the GTX 650 and just use the HD4600, or spend a little more and get a GTX 750 Ti

This would be the best build for your money right now: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Nrmgator/saved/njx2FT
That's the best CPU for Dolphin (and anything else besides video editing where you need more cores). You can always add more bells and whistles like a stronger graphics card or whatnot.

[NovaNights]

Thank you very much KHg8m3r. I saved those pages for future reference when I have the money.

I've had this computer since February, so I think it's to late to take it back.

If I don't take the route of building a PC myself, is there any PC brands that you would recommend? Or any online custom builders you would recommend?

[KHg8m3r]

Bummer, I'm pretty sure that's outside of the return window (60/30 days?)

Newegg has some good pre-built ones. But you're going to be paying more for it than if you build it yourself.

[elemein]

NCIX (if you live in Canada. Not sure if the service is offered in America) has a 50$ builder fee if you order all parts from them (they do Price Match).

That's not too bad. Though I haven't used the service before so I can't attest to it.