Thoughts on Alienware Alpha w/ i3-4130T for Dolphin?

[kokirii]

Dell had this Alienware Alpha on sale for $400 recently: http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-alpha/pd?oc=dkcwa01&model_id=alienware-alpha&dgc=CJ&cid=47997&lid=4279734&acd=10550055-1225267-096bf78f3c7a4d0c9fca9af7d05fa124


Processor is i3-4130T 2.9ghz Dual-Core with GeForce 860M+ 2GB DDR5 GPU. 


Any thoughts on how well this would do with Dolphin? I'd like to run 1080p with some AA if possible. Games: Skyward Sword, Twilight Princess (Gamecube), Luigi's Mansion, Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door.


I like the price and the form factor + not having to build it myself. I'm interested in some modern PC games but don't have a whole lot of time for gaming so I'm okay with medium settings and mostly just want to play my favorite Nintendo games in high res, so I'm wondering if this would be a good option if it goes on sale again. Thanks!

[darkberry]

You should be able to run most games at 1080(if not all) and you should have no problem adding 2x AA or more depending on how demanding the game is. I know there are a few games people said they had to turn aa down or off to maintain 60fps with the 860m.

[combine1237]

860m is basically a slightly underclocked 750 ti.

[NKF98]

i3@2.9GhZ is less than optimal for running Dolphin. "Alienware" I would assume has pretty good cooling systems? idk honestly. Alienwares are gaming laptops, not emulating laptops. Two very different processes. Emulating is incredibly CPU intensive, but that one should play most games.

This laptop is superior to the extra-terrestrial one in terms of Dolphin, and it's in about the same price range. The later generation i7 iGPU is plenty capable of running the majority of the game and the processing power is better than the i3 by a huge margin. Of course, desktop would be cheaper ultimately, but if you're set on laptop then that is the better choice for emulation.

Be wary, however, as the laptop suggested is NOT a gaming laptop. The i7 iGPU is terrible for PC gaming, so if you want to play actual games, then get something with an actual video card.

[KHg8m3r]

@NKF98: The Alienware alpha is a HTPC desktop system.

@kokirii: you can build your own desktop for a bit more in price that is way stronger

[kokirii]

(04-07-2015, 12:10 PM)KHg8m3r Wrote: @NKF98: The Alienware alpha is a HTPC desktop system.

@kokirii: you can build your own desktop for a bit more in price that is way stronger

I'll have to keep looking! I looked at the core i5-4690k and that with a motherboard alone is more than $300. More, than 3/4 the price of that Alpha when it was on sale.

[NKF98]

Oh! I totally screwed up on that post lol. Build your own, it will probably end up being cheaper short of some crazy sale. The mobo+CPU is the most expensive part of a computer, next up being the video card. You will be happier with an i5-4960k.

[admin89]

Quote:i3@2.9GhZ is less than optimal for running Dolphin

it´s much faster than the mobile i7 you mentioned above （2nd gen Sandy Bridge i7 2720qm）since 4th gen Haswell performs 30% better than 3rd gen Ivy Bridge in Dolphin Benchmark
Don't judge a book by its cover .
That i3 should be good enough for most games . GTX 860M is a very good GPU
400.bucks is cheap for that small form factor yet it packs a punch
I say go for it

[kokirii]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. Newegg has a sale today on this barebones kit: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?sdtid=7780623&SID=8d844827b10d4eefb8454386f49bd23c&AID=10440897&PID=1225267&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-cables-_-na-_-na&ItemList=Combo.2291594&cm_sp=

The processor is a Pentium G3258 Haswell 3.2ghz, which has excellent reviews all around for budget builds and I've seen a few impressive videos of Dolphin running it. Apparently it can overlock to 4+ ghz pretty easily with the included Z87 motherboard. The gpu is only 750 rather than 750ti. After rebate the whole thing is only $325 with no tax for me, so I think I'm going to jump on it. It comes with pretty much everything except an optical drive and OS. Any reason not to grab this at this price??

[KHg8m3r]

I would be very wary, since that has a generic power supply. No telling what sort of havoc it can have on your system.

I would recommend this: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/wPR2nQ $420 after rebates, same motherboard/GPU/CPU, better RAM/case/power supply, slightly cheaper HDD that is practically the same.