Noob Dad trying to build for my daughter - Hardware Specs inside

[mercury888]

Hi Guys.

Sorry in advanced if i am breaking the rules. I read through the rules and made sure i remembered before i post so here goes:

A little backstory....

I am a Single Dad on a tight budget and was wondering if you folks could help me out. During my college days I loved playing my gamecube and wii games and would love to build a nice little gaming RIG that runs Dolphin at full speed for my daughter. Its not much but i was hoping to get your honest and expert opinion on my build.

The specs for my build are as follows:

CPU: Celeron N3160 (Braswell) or Celeron 3205U (Broadwell)
GPU: inbuilt HD Graphics 400
RAM: 4gb ram
HDD: 64GB SSD
OS: linux - ubuntu

I also read that there are some tweaks i need to do for intel HD graphics - https://www.reddit.com/r/lowendgaming/comments/4dx4fh/how_torun_dolphin_smoothly_on_intel_hd_graphics/ Which i will be applying.

I saw a video that can run dolphin at full speed on a 3205U cpu (https://youtu.be/2Bh8UxdodUY?t=7m36s) and since the N3160 seems faster on CPUBoss.com will this be theoretically a better choice for me?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I will post my findings after i build the pc.

Thanks guys

[admin89]

You call that a PC ? No offence but it's just like another Intel Stick , way too underpowered for me
Some games (maybe 1 or 2) may run ok on it but most games don't .
For most games , you need at least an i3 6100 @ 3.7GHz
and a GTX 1050 or GTX 750(minimum) if you want to play game at 1080p , it's pointless to run game at 480p . You better buy a used Wii ($20) for her

[mercury888]

hehe wish i could afford it.

I dont mind running on 480p.

So on this video: https://youtu.be/2Bh8UxdodUY?t=7m36s running the Celeron 3205U - is this not acceptable for you guys in terms of speed? For me and my daughter i am pretty ok with this speed.


Btw under this configuration would running windows or linux be faster on dolphin?


Thanks guys for your input.

[Link_to_the_past]

(12-20-2016, 03:03 PM)mercury888 Wrote: hehe wish i could afford it.

I dont mind running on 480p.

So on this video: https://youtu.be/2Bh8UxdodUY?t=7m36s running the Celeron 3205U - is this not acceptable for you guys in terms of speed? For me and my daughter i am pretty ok with this speed.


Btw under this configuration would running windows or linux be faster on dolphin?


Thanks guys for your input.

You might get full speed but in a few lightweight games, that's the issue. With most games you will probably not. If you are ok with that then go ahead.

[mercury888]

(12-20-2016, 08:04 PM)Link_to_the_past Wrote: You might get full speed but in a few lightweight games, that's the issue. With most games you will probably not. If you are ok with that then go ahead.

Ah ok. So this game that was demonstrated in this video: https://youtu.be/2Bh8UxdodUY?t=7m36s is considered lightweight?

[Benze]

Yes, it is a lightweight game. If your only goal is to play wii/gamecube games on native resolution, your are better of with a used Wii. The Wiis software can be modded, so you can copy your wii game discs to a harddrive and have easy-access library. Just make sure it has the gamecube controller ports. It is a bit of tinkering but quite easy to do.

Another possibility is used PC hardware. Some high clocked chips from the haswell era are good enough for dolphin. How high is your budget?

[admin89]

Yup, that game and Mario Sunshine can run well on most PC , even on a high-end phone/tablet
Most games demand much more power
And here is the CPU requirement to run most games at full speed
https://dolphin-emu.org/docs/faq/#which-cpu-should-i-use

You could build a good PC from used parts . Maybe you can find a first/second generation Core i3/i5 or even a Xeon along with motherboard for like 30-40 bucks on ebay or amazon , a used graphic card for another $30 ....Like that you will have a true gaming PC on low budget

[mercury888]

Oh wow!

Thanks for this info guys,

btw what game is that in the video? ( https://youtu.be/2Bh8UxdodUY?t=7m36s )

[AdderDee]

(12-20-2016, 10:22 PM)mercury888 Wrote: btw what game is that in the video? ( https://youtu.be/2Bh8UxdodUY?t=7m36s )

That's Wave Race: Blue Storm 

[Probwontusethisaccountagain]

I ain't a computer expert, but I'll try to help.

Firstly, is there a specific reason why you chose those parts, like a good deal on those specific parts used? If not, from what I can tell the Celeron you want is 100 dollars, while a good i3 is only slightly more money.

Also, you should tell us your budget, it'd help a lot.