Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

Hello All, I'm currently looking into building a HTPC for my living room. Of course the icing on the cake would be being able to run NGC, if not Wii Games on Dolphin, at at least 480p if not 1080p on 90-100% most of the time. However, I need some help deciding on which combination of processor / mobo / card to use for this build.

My choices are:

Mobo:

-ASUS Socket AM3/AMD 890FX (Crosshair IV Formula)

-Biostar AMD Motherboard A880G+ (HTPC Sized, less PCI slots but has its own onboard video card for a cheap start)

Processor:

- AMD Phenom II X6 Six-Core Processor 1090T (3.2GHz) AM3, HDT90ZFBGRBOX (Black Edition) (Heard you can overclock it to 3.6GHz pretty easily)

- Phenom II X4 965 Black AM3 3.4Ghz 512KB 45NM 125W 4000MHZ

- AMD Athlon II X3 450 Rana 3.2GHz 3 x 512 KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Desktop Processor - Retail ADX450WFGMBOX (Budget Build, See if I can get away with this one)

Video Card:

- Onboard Video Card (if I use the Biostar Board, that is. Just as a cheap solution for the time being)

- EVGA GeForce GTX460 SE 1 GB GDDR5 PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card 01G-P3-1366-TR (I'm trying to get the HTPC to also play 3D content)

- MSI Radeon HD 5670 1024 MB DDR5 PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card Cyclone 1G (Cheaper, Smaller, Probably better for a HTPC build)

RAM:

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1333MHz DIMM PC3-10666 Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8G​BRL

If anyone's willing to give the possible combinations a look over, which combination(s) would get me a decent, playable framerate for NGC games (maybe Wii?) on a Hi-Def and/or Standard Def TV? I will be using HDMI / VGA output, obviously.

Thanks in advance

HTPC? Dolphin 90%-100% all the time? Two words - Sandy Bridge. Just get an i5 2500k, take it to around 4ghz (it'll still use less power than any of those AMD cpus), get a GTX460 768mb (slightly faster than the SE, and uses slightly less power) and play all* of your games in 1080p at pretty much 100% all of the time. For fear of stating the obvious, anything slower will be, well, slower.

*providing the games that you want to play are working correctly in Dolphin.

(04-15-2011, 02:15 AM)turingpest Wrote: [ -> ]HTPC? Dolphin 90%-100% all the time? Two words - Sandy Bridge. Just get an i5 2500k, take it to around 4ghz (it'll still use less power than any of those AMD cpus), get a GTX460 768mb (slightly faster than the SE, and uses slightly less power) and play all* of your games in 1080p at pretty much 100% all of the time. For fear of stating the obvious, anything slower will be, well, slower.

*providing the games that you want to play are working correctly in Dolphin.

Ah, I was going to see if I could cheap out on the build, but I guess not. 8GB of RAM still enough though?

This will also play Wii games* at 1080p, no?

*of course, provided they are working correctly in Dolphin :p

So now, going off of your suggestions, how does this look?

Mobo:
Biostar DDR3 LGA 1156 Intel H55 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard TH55BHD

Processor:
Intel Core i5 Processor i5-2500K 3.3GHz 6MB LGA1155 CPU BOX80623I52500K​

Video Card:
Nvidia GTX460 (Should I get EVGA, MSI, or ASUS?)

RAM:
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1333MHz DIMM PC3-10666 Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8G​BRL

Everything should play nice with that Mobo, right? Despite the price increase, if it all worked together that would be great - the Mobo is a lot smaller than the ones I was looking at originally.

Like I said it'd be great to have only my PS3 and my HTPC hooked up, and be able to play all my SNES/MAME/N64/NGC/WII/ROMS from all in one place. Steam would probably run like warm maple syrup as well...

(04-15-2011, 02:46 AM)SN3S Wrote: [ -> ]Mobo:
Biostar DDR3 LGA 1156 Intel H55 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard TH55BHD

Everything should play nice with that Mobo, right? Despite the price increase, if it all worked together that would be great - the Mobo is a lot smaller than the ones I was looking at originally.

That mobo is incompatibe with the i5 2500k
you need a LGA 1155 and a H or P67 but P67 is recommended
now that I saved you all of that time and money you must give it to me jk

---

(04-15-2011, 02:46 AM)SN3S Wrote: [ -> ]Video Card:
Nvidia GTX460 (Should I get EVGA, MSI, or ASUS?)

should not really make a difference which you go with but I would buy a 560 instead

(04-15-2011, 02:52 AM)ryancollins Wrote: [ -> ]

(04-15-2011, 02:46 AM)SN3S Wrote: [ -> ]Mobo:
Biostar DDR3 LGA 1156 Intel H55 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard TH55BHD


Everything should play nice with that Mobo, right? Despite the price increase, if it all worked together that would be great - the Mobo is a lot smaller than the ones I was looking at originally.

That mobo is incompatibe with the i5 2500k
you need a LGA 1155 and a H or P67 but P67 is recommended

---

(04-15-2011, 02:46 AM)SN3S Wrote: [ -> ]Video Card:
Nvidia GTX460 (Should I get EVGA, MSI, or ASUS?)

should not really make a difference which you go with

Thanks for all the help guys - this would be my first from scratch PC build.

So, how about this puppy?

BIOSTAR TH67+ LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138296 )

(Lo and behold, someone on the feedback section for that mobo posted an excellent HTPC build similar to mine - no Video Card listed though)

In the end, I'm looking to fit it all into this case:

http://www.amazon.com/Antec-Fusion-Remote-Black-Center/dp/B001BLWVJU/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I3TNC2ALSBNLBU&colid=2E5IJ2A29LSO5

so hearing that the card shouldn't make a difference is great.
Probably will go with the MSI/EVGA for the size / price.

So build v.3:

Case:
Antec Fusion Remote Black Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case

Mobo:
BIOSTAR TH67+ LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

Processor:
Intel Core i5 Processor i5-2500K 3.3GHz 6MB LGA1155 CPU BOX80623I52500K​

Video Card:
MSI Geforce 460GTX 768 MB DDR5 PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card Twin Frozr II SOC

or

EVGA 768-P3-1362-TR GeForce GTX460 768 MB Superclocked DDR5 PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card

RAM:
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1333MHz DIMM PC3-10666 Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8G​BRL

Power Supply:
Corsair CMPSU-650TX 650-Watt TX Series 80 Plus Certified Power Supply

Since you guys know your builds, will all of the above work together and fit in that case?

(04-15-2011, 03:15 AM)SN3S Wrote: [ -> ]Since you guys know your builds, will all of the above work together and fit in that case?

I actualy never have built a computer (I am trying thou ) so I would not know.

(04-15-2011, 03:55 AM)ryancollins Wrote: [ -> ]

(04-15-2011, 03:15 AM)SN3S Wrote: [ -> ]Since you guys know your builds, will all of the above work together and fit in that case?

I actualy never have built a computer (I am trying thou ) so I would not know.

Ah, well you knew that tip about the Mobo, so thanks

I'll probably do the maths myself later, but if that Motherboard works with the i5 I should be good to go.

Still though, if anyone has any comments / thoughts / don't-do-its on that build I posted above, it'd be much appreciated

For the board, go for an asus p8p67-m pro - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131707 - as it's the only board that both fits that case AND will allow you to overclock the 2500k. It also has excellent fan control options which is very important for a HTPC.
For the graphics card go for the MSI one. It'd be a good idea to check that it fits the case first though. As for the psu, that model would be more than powerful enough, although i'm not too sure about how noisy it is. 8gb ram is more than enough as well, so if you wanted to save money then 4gb would be plenty.

Considering all of this, that pc would probably be able to run all of the emulators that you listed above at full speed SIMULTANEOUSLY.

(04-15-2011, 05:17 AM)turingpest Wrote: [ -> ]For the board, go for an asus p8p67-m pro - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131707 - as it's the only board that both fits that case AND will allow you to overclock the 2500k. It also has excellent fan control options which is very important for a HTPC.
For the graphics card go for the MSI one. It'd be a good idea to check that it fits the case first though. As for the psu, that model would be more than powerful enough, although i'm not too sure about how noisy it is. 8gb ram is more than enough as well, so if you wanted to save money then 4gb would be plenty.

Considering all of this, that pc would probably be able to run all of the emulators that you listed above at full speed SIMULTANEOUSLY.

Oooh, Graphical BIOS and pretty blue tones are very nice (Yes, I'm a stickler for looks :p)

I have no clue how to tell if the MSI will fit though - the maths say it will, but everyone has weird ways of listing dimensions... If it doesn't I can spend an extra 20$ for a similar Lan-Li case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112228&cm_re=Media_Center_%2f_HTPC_Case-_-11-112-228-_-Product) that's a bit deeper. I wish there were more PC stores where I live...

Also, would this PSU work well enough?
Corsair CMPSU-430CX CX Series 430-watt Power Supply Compatible with Intel Core I7 and Core I5 (http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-CMPSU-430CX-430-watt-Supply-Compatible/dp/B003YBVN08/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I5D5SGTDJSBMG&colid=2E5IJ2A29LSO5 )

Yeah, the PSU / RAM is to future proof it / make it easy to use as a HTPC / Living Room Psuedo-PC. The main complain I get from my parents about their PC's is that they are never fast enough... but they never buy future proof models :p

My current Tower (an old Dell XPS 600 model, with some aftermarket tweaks / upgrades) has lasted me about 6-7 years, and it's just now becoming obsolete. Of course, it cost me nearly twice as much as this build probably will, due to brand name purchases / my lack of PC knowledge back then.

I basically want this to last me at least 5 years, which by the sound of it it will. I will probably be using this for some heavier apps as well when it's not being used as a media center (Photoshop, Webcams, etc), but the main goal here is a smaller size than my current, near waist height tower, without sacrificing performance.

Also the potential for 3D display and how I might get this thing under 20 pounds when all is said and done, is really exciting me. For about the same weight of my PS3, which I frequently take to friends and family's houses, I could also have my Media Center and all of my old and new PC games. That and I've always wanted to see how some wii games would look at 1080p on a 72" screen

that psu looks a bit poor. no 80+ efficiency and iirc a fairly bad reputation for the cx series. not too sure what to recommend, as it's been a while since i built a pc and i live in the uk. probably just best to stick with the 650w tx one. it's got a good rep and you know that you'll have more than enough power. not sure what the 550w vx one is like. and if you have the money then you may as well get the 8gb of ram (it'll be pretty much the standard in a couple of years.) also, if you're (pc) gaming at 1080p, then the full-blooded 1gb gtx460 is probably worth getting. it shouldn't be too much extra, and the difference will definitely be worth it. if you could stretch to it, then the 560ti would be even better of course, but if it's a big difference in price, then you could just see how you get on with the 460 and always upgrade in the future.
other than that, this build will definitely last you for years. that cpu is about as good as it gets at the moment for general builds like this, and will eat emulators, pc games, photoshop and anything else you care to throw at it for breakfast