Trying to build PC or buy laptop for 4K GameCube

mariodude9 · 05-31-2019, 12:39 PM #1

I’ve been searching for a great gaming desktop or PC that will allow me to run GameCube games on highest settings within dolphin and on 4K? I’m upgrading from a 2014 gaming laptop with a Gen 4 processor so I’m way behind the ball game. I do have a big budget I’m looking at getting i9-9900K cpu and rtx 2070

mariodude9 · 05-31-2019, 12:40 PM #2

I’ve heard that 4K is pointless for gaming but I wondered how it works with Dolphin and GameCube games? Is it noticeable and worth it on GameCube games. I’d love to see Twilight Princess in 4K

**Helios** · 05-31-2019, 01:20 PM #3

Do you only care about emulation or do you want to play PC games at very high settings too?

mariodude9 · 05-31-2019, 09:26 PM #4

(05-31-2019, 01:20 PM)Helios Wrote: Do you only care about emulation or do you want to play PC games at very high settings too?

I don’t play triple A titles. Only thing I really play besides emulators would be old school RuneScape (running many clients at a time which can use a lot of cpu. League of legends, StarCraft 2, Heroes of the storm

**Admentus** · (This post was last modified: 06-01-2019, 02:22 AM by Admentus.)

(05-31-2019, 12:40 PM)mariodude9 Wrote: I’ve heard that 4K is pointless for gaming but I wondered how it works with Dolphin and GameCube games? Is it noticeable and worth it on GameCube games. I’d love to see Twilight Princess in 4K

4K gaming pointless?

Nonsense. The heresy!

4K is the future!

4K gaming for Dolphin works pretty decently, but not as exceedingly as with native PC games. Problem is that N64 / GameCube / Wii games were made with 480p or lower in mind, and the limited CPU / GPU power of consoles at the time. This results in low-polygon models and unsharp textures during development. Increased Internal Resolutions can do quite a bit to make the polygons sharper, but you're still limited to their dated technology. As for textures, only a texture pack can solve that. Games definitely require 4K texture packs if you want your 4K resolution to be useful. I mean, it won't make Super Mario 64 look as superb as Super Mario Odyssey. So yeah... You miss some of the full potential from 4K in emulation.

Through games super as Paper Mario: TTYD with the texture pack actually work as wonderful in 4K as you expect. It kinda depends on the game.

Luckily, PC gaming already has you covered there. 4K textures everywhere!

No... I wouldn't go back to my old 1080p screen anymore.

Except... I mostly play those low polygon Japanse anime RPG's, such as the Atelier and Trails series... But hey, it's supports 4K.

**Helios** · (This post was last modified: 06-01-2019, 02:36 AM by Helios.)

(05-31-2019, 09:26 PM)mariodude9 Wrote: I don’t play triple A titles. Only thing I really play besides emulators would be old school RuneScape (running many clients at a time which can use a lot of cpu. League of legends, StarCraft 2, Heroes of the storm

Cool, than you can do it very inexpensively. The link below assumes you live in the US.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/N6dmbX

Pick a case as that's pretty much entirely personal preference.

The only thing to note is for your emulators, use Direct3D or Vulkan renderers where possible. AMD GPUs are faster on D3D, but otherwise much less expensive for low system load apps pushing 4K.

mariodude9 · 06-01-2019, 02:51 AM #7

(06-01-2019, 02:15 AM)Helios Wrote: Cool, than you can do it very inexpensively. The link below assumes you live in the US.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/N6dmbX

Pick a case as that's pretty much entirely personal preference.

The only thing to note is for your emulators, use Direct3D or Vulkan renderers where possible. AMD GPUs are faster on D3D, but otherwise much less expensive for low system load apps pushing 4K.

Thanks! Are those parts you put together for me in the pcpartpicker link?

**Helios** · 06-01-2019, 03:20 AM #8

No. You have to buy them and assemble them.

**Admentus** · (This post was last modified: 06-01-2019, 04:09 AM by Admentus.)

Hmm? Would 16 GB RAM sufficient?

Of course it is more than enough for Dolphin, but if the OP wants to use 4K for emulation he might need more RAM if wants to use texture packs as well and prefetch them. Provided they exist of course. Depends on which titles the OP wants to emulate.

But since the OP stated Triple-A PC gaming was not his aim, more than 16 GB RAM wouldn't be that useful. I definitely wouldn't settle for anything less than 16 GB RAM with today's standards. The OP stated he had quite the budget available for it, so it might be beneficial to use 16 GB RAM slots instead of 2 x 8, just to make future upgrading easier. Currently he already has 24 GB RAM and 16 GB RAM would only serve as a downgrade from his current setup.

That i9-9900K and RTX 2070 certainly isn't needed if only sticking to Dolphin emulation and non Triple-A games, unless the OP is interested in more modern console emulators. Otherwise that would be too much overkill. My old Intel i5-4430 and GTX 660 / GTX 960 were more than capable of running Dolphin maxed with all my games. I just had to avoid using Anti-Aliasing and stick to 1080p and all was fine. Perhaps avoid the CPU Clock Override too, but that didn't exist yet back then. Well... You definitely need a bit more power than I used to had if your aiming for 4K. In my case, my upgraded i5-8600K and GTX 1070 are perfectly capable of maxing out Dolphin at 4K (just avoid Exclusive Ubershaders), so that definitely works. You can do with a bit less through.

**Helios** · (This post was last modified: 06-01-2019, 03:52 AM by Helios.)

You couldn't pack enough RAM into your system for prefeching some texture packs. Don't worry about it. 16 GB is fine.

Never build a system with single rank RAM. Always build dual rank. The performance you throw away with single rank vs "easier upgrading" isn't a good trade.

The build I gave fits OPs needs.