Is my HTPC good enough

[ianthenut]

Hi people, having recently moved (and had kids) the games room has had to go, so ive been painfully selling off all my old consoles and games.

As i was looking to build a new HTPC i discovered something called "Hyperspin". It looked awesome. Being able to have one machine that contained all my old games (that i was getting rid of) really appealed to me... and the wife.

Having no knowledge or experience with emulators as i owned the real thing, im now looking to amend the specs of my HTPC to also be used as a games machine.

I spent most of my time playing racing and beat em up games on the Snes, Dreamcast and Saturn, on the Wii i generally stuck to the Mario games (Bros and Kart got the most play)

As its an HTPC ive gone for a small form case, the specs are...

CPU - Intel Quad Core i5 (2500K) @ 3.30Ghz
RAM - 4GB Kingston HyperX Blu
MOBO - Zotac H67-ITX WiFi (New Revision)
HDD - 120GB Corsair Force 3
OS - Win 7 Home Premium 64

The games i intend on storing on a 2TB Western Digital MyBook untill my NAS is set up.

Ive read that emulated games rely on the processor more than a graphics card, ive also read that the i5 2500k is good for over clocking (will have to read how to do that)
I may also upgrade the RAM to 8gb

Any help or advice is appreciated.

[Starscream]

Looks good so far, but what about the video card? While you're right that the processor is most important, a good video card is needed for high resolutions (1080p) and other graphic enhancements. You can technically get away with a bare minimum GPU (as long as it doesn't bottleneck your processor), but I'd imagine you'd want to enjoy games in HD.

[MayImilae]

Your CPU is DEFINITELY good. But even a 2500K needs an overclock to really get the most on hard to emulate games like mario galaxy. What is your GPU? Are you using integrated?

Edit: Ninja'd

[ianthenut]

(07-03-2012, 05:11 AM)MaJoR Wrote: Your CPU is DEFINITELY good. But even a 2500K needs an overclock to really get the most on hard to emulate games like mario galaxy. What is your GPU? Are you using integrated?

Edit: Ninja'd

Yeah, i was going to use integrated graphics.
"Intel HD Graphics 3000 with InTru 3D technology and Intel® Clear Video Technology"
As its a small HTPC i havent got room for a graphics card.

Im happy wth the games being 720p if that makes a difference.

[DefenderX]

This iGPU can't even handle 720p in Dolphin, sorry.

[ExtremeDude2]

(07-03-2012, 05:19 AM)ianthenut Wrote:

(07-03-2012, 05:11 AM)MaJoR Wrote: Your CPU is DEFINITELY good. But even a 2500K needs an overclock to really get the most on hard to emulate games like mario galaxy. What is your GPU? Are you using integrated?

Edit: Ninja'd

Yeah, i was going to use integrated graphics.
"Intel HD Graphics 3000 with InTru 3D technology and Intel® Clear Video Technology"
As its a small HTPC i havent got room for a graphics card.

Im happy wth the games being 720p if that makes a difference.

Well you really won't be able to get that in many games

[ianthenut]

Ok, so what would you recommend?

Upgrade CPU to an I7

or do I have to give up the idea of a small pc and upgrade parts for a normal sized htpc and add a graphics card.

[DefenderX]

If you want to play in HD, a dedictated GPU is needed. -> http://forums.dolphin-emu.org/showthread.php?tid=18414

[Starscream]

(07-03-2012, 05:34 AM)ianthenut Wrote: Ok, so what would you recommend?

Upgrade CPU to an I7

or do I have to give up the idea of a small pc and upgrade parts for a normal sized htpc and add a graphics card.

(07-03-2012, 05:10 AM)Starscream Wrote: a good video card is needed for high resolutions (1080p) and other graphic enhancements.

I thought I made that pretty clear, your CPU has nothing to do with graphic detail.

[ianthenut]

(07-03-2012, 05:40 AM)Starscream Wrote:

(07-03-2012, 05:10 AM)Starscream Wrote: a good video card is needed for high resolutions (1080p) and other graphic enhancements.

I thought I made that pretty clear, your CPU has nothing to do with graphic detail.

And with regards to High Res 1080p, you were clear. So asked about 720p.

Thanks for the input.