Not sure if I should go AMD or Intel for PC build with $700-800 budget?

[tim3829]

I want to build a new Windows 10 PC and am not sure if I should get an AMD or Intel processor with a budget in the $700-800 range.  This budget is just for the tower and doesn't include purchase of a keyboard and mouse.  I want to be able to emulate most PS2, Gamecube, Wii and Wii U games well.  I also plan on doing some light gaming with graphics on medium settings.  I play PC games around 1-2 hours per week but care more about emulating games well.  I know something like an i5 8600K will perform very well but it is expensive and I don't want to spend $250 on a CPU unless necessary.  Also, with Intel, the socket 1151 motherboard won't be compatible with future Intel processors and there is the recent meltdown exploit issue that has affected Intel processors.  I know some people are using the Ryzen 1600x processor to run Dolphin and CEMU but will the 1600x Ryzen overclocked really emulate Wii, Gamecube and Wii U games that well.  I want games to run smoothly and if games are stuttering every 15 seconds, it will drive me nuts.  I have also watched videos of Cemu running on a 2400G Ryzen processor overclocked to 4GHz and games run okay but there was still a little stuttering.  Is it that difficult to overclock a Ryzen processor with proper cooling in a mid-ATX case?

Games that I'd like to be able to run smoothly on Dolphin are Smash Bros Melee and Brawl, F-Zero GX, Super Mario Galaxy 1/2 and Metroid Prime 1/2/3.  Cemu games that I'd like to be able to run smoothly are Smash Bros 4, Mario Kart 8, Bayonetta 1/2, Star Fox Zero, etc.  I have a Nintendo Switch for playing Breath of the Wild.  I also want to run PCSX2 well.

I like that AMD is cheaper, doesn't have exploit issues with it's desktop processors and is more future proof because AM4 motherboards will be compatible with AMD CPUs through 2020.  However, considering my budget and requirements, what do you guys recommend.

[Helios]

I'd go with an AMD build.

A Ryzen 5 is very cost efficient and can run Dolphin just fine. However, make sure you get the newer, higher end Ryzen 5. A couple games you want to emulate for Dolphin aren't the easiest to emulate, and single core performance matters here.

can't comment on cemu perf, don't know anything about it. You'll have to ask cemu folks

[tim3829]

(08-01-2018, 12:59 PM)Helios Wrote: I'd go with an AMD build.

A Ryzen 5 is very cost efficient and can run Dolphin just fine. However, make sure you get the newer, higher end Ryzen 5. A couple games you want to emulate for Dolphin aren't the easiest to emulate, and single core performance matters here.

can't comment on cemu perf, don't know anything about it. You'll have to ask cemu folks

Which Ryzen processor are you referring to?  Are you referring to the Ryzen 5 2400G?  I'd consider the Ryzen 5 2600x if it could be overclocked safely with the stock cooler.

[JonnyH]

(08-01-2018, 01:04 PM)tim3829 Wrote: Which Ryzen processor are you referring to?  Are you referring to the Ryzen 5 2400G?  I'd consider the Ryzen 5 2600x if it could be overclocked safely with the stock cooler.

For the most part, the ryzen 2xxx series don't really have any overclocking headroom as the XFR stuff already gets pretty much all out of the silicon (in single cores that is - you can get some benefits in all-core overclocks).

[Helios]

I wouldn't rely on overclocking anyways. At best you squeeze out maybe 5% in synthetic benchmarks. I actually like that Ryzen chips are designed to essentially run at what they were shipped at.

[TKSilver]

A Ryzen 2400G is generally fine for most PCSX2 games with an overclock only really being a "necessary" thing for some of the most demanding titles or if you try doing some things like 60fps (which is not recommended since it just flat out breaks a lot of games). An 8600k will just flat out perform better, but you would have to wait for something like a ryzen 2700x to really have a fair price to price comparison to decide upon.

What will be an issue in PCSX2 vs almost any other modern Emulator you listed (and most of the ones you didn't) is that PCSX2 is going to have issues if you're using an AMD based graphics solution due to the fact that PCSX2 has one really good back end that is OpenGL (the DirectX one is not as compatible and only has some features back ported to it and there is no vulkan now or any time soon) and that AMD does not do OpenGL (at least in the way emulators, PCSX2 specifically uses it) well. So if a game requires OpenGL to fix an issue (graphical or game breaking) then all AMD cards will suffer a performance penalty compared to similar performing Nvidia ones.

For Dolphin this is not an issue since the Vulkan and DirectX backends are fine solutions.

[Helios]

tbh the perf difference between Skylake and Coffee lake is so marginal in PC games and essentially non-existent in emulation that at an $800 budget, I wouldn't even look at Coffee Lake lol.