Thoughts on this system for Dolphin?

[EmuMind]

Hello everyone,

I'm getting a new all purpose system and I'd like to get the most out of Dolphin while keeping the cost manageable. I've been reading the hardware forum a lot and I've selected this system which actually comes pre-built with components tested etc.

What kind of performance can I expect from Dolphin with the following system? Especially with games like SMG 1+2, Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword and Xenoblade.

Is there anything I'm missing or that I should improve or could improve to give a big performance gain? Or similarly anything that can be downgraded and won't provide much benefit so I can save some money?

CPU: Intel Core i5 4670K overclocked to 4.2GHz
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80 Hydro Liquid Cooler
Motherboard: Asus Z87-K
GPU: EVGA 2GB GTX 770 Superclocked
RAM: 8GB (2x4GB) Corsair Vengeance Pro Silver 1866MHz
PSU: 750W Modular Corsair

I was also considering an SSD for my OS but I haven't researched this yet.

Thanks!

[LordVador]

What kind of performance can I expect from Dolphin with the following system?

It couldn't work better .

4670K is currently the best deal for Dolphin

[EmuMind]

What kind of performance can I expect from Dolphin with the following system?

It couldn't work better .

4670K is currently the best deal for Dolphin

Hehe, well I think I managed to pick that up then!

I'd be really grateful for any in depth information, tips etc though since it's a long long time since I bought or built a PC or even looked into it! Anything will be appreciated.

Things like will doubling the RAM help out or would it be overkill? Is it worth having 1866MHz RAM or can I reduce this? (I read that there was no point in going over 1866MHz for Dolphin in one of the threads here). Even things like if my cooling and PSU is suitable, and if it's worth pushing to get a GTX 780! Although the GTX 780 might be a little bit out of my price point.

Thanks again.

[pauldacheez]

Dolphin doesn't really care that much about your RAM, though I did once hear about RAM overclocking being mildly helpful. You're gonna be able to run everything at full speed regardless, so there's really no reason to obsess about *every* detail, eh?

[GranteedEV]

That looks good to me and I think you basically have been thinking the same thing I have. About the only thing I'd suggest doing differently is just building the thing yourself if you can save any money at all. If you have a local computer store that will price-match online parts prices, then do that so that you don't have to worry about component-testing issues.

And with that saved money, buy a more "XS"ivey "Kooler" custom water setup to chase the following goals:

Even higher OC frequency to ensure that not only do you run games at full speed, you do it with headroom for busy sequences or slightly wrong settings.
Quietest possible water loop and case so you can enjoy game soundtrack more than fan hiss (any audible noise is unwanted noise).

At least that's my personal final goal for my build. And next, you'll want a good monitor to really do dolphin justice. Either a Plasma TV like the Panasonic ST series, or a good IPS-rated monitor like the Monoprice IPS-Zero-G . Then a truly quality 2.1 sound-system - none of the crap sold to gamers by logitech et al but legit stuff from Marantz, Emotiva and Salk, EMP, Philharmonic, Ascend, or even certain DIY kit speakers. Yeah, the large wooden kind that people think are obsolete as they listen to crappy sounding powered full-range minispeakers made of plastic and 3" of paper trying to reproduce the full range. Likewise for a subwoofer. And with OpenAL even allowing conversion of Pro Logic to 5.1..........

[pauldacheez]

I'd extoll OpenAL's support for Dolby Pro Logic as well, but, uh, the latency makes it unusable for a *lot* of people. >_>

[EmuMind]

That looks good to me and I think you basically have been thinking the same thing I have. About the only thing I'd suggest doing differently is just building the thing yourself if you can save any money at all. If you have a local computer store that will price-match online parts prices, then do that so that you don't have to worry about component-testing issues.

And with that saved money, buy a more "XS"ivey "Kooler" custom water setup to chase the following goals:

Even higher OC frequency to ensure that not only do you run games at full speed, you do it with headroom for busy sequences or slightly wrong settings.
Quietest possible water loop and case so you can enjoy game soundtrack more than fan hiss (any audible noise is unwanted noise).

I was planning on building it myself but there barely seems to be any additional cost in receiving it pre-built with everything tuned and tested and it's a nice time saver!

So is there value for Dolphin in overclocking the i5-4670k as high as possible? Is there a 'sweet spot' where it wouldn't be worth it to overclock it any further?

[pauldacheez]

4.2 GHz is probably plenty for Dolphin's needs. If you actually find yourself needing more, check if other parts are bottlenecking you first.

[NaturalViolence]

but there barely seems to be any additional cost in receiving it pre-built

I have a hard time believing that. I've never seen less than a 25% markup on prebuilt systems. For a high end system that adds up to a lot of money. Put the same parts into a newegg cart and compare prices. How much extra is it?

As far as overclocking goes pushing haswell beyond 4.2/4.3GHz is not even remotely practical anyways (delidding + liquid cooling) so don't worry about it.

[EmuMind]

but there barely seems to be any additional cost in receiving it pre-built

I have a hard time believing that. I've never seen less than a 25% markup on prebuilt systems. For a high end system that adds up to a lot of money. Put the same parts into a newegg cart and compare prices. How much extra is it?

As far as overclocking goes pushing haswell beyond 4.2/4.3GHz is not even remotely practical anyways (delidding + liquid cooling) so don't worry about it.

I'm in the UK so newegg isn't an option unfortunately. If I go via Amazon and buy all the parts individually it's less than 5% cheaper without overclocking which was surprising to me.

Thanks for the help everyone, I think I'm just about settled on a system. It won't be much different from my original post!