Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

Well, we HAVE already established that I am a University student, and "stretched for cash" usually goes with that

I was able to convince him to let me use the 1440x900 monitor

Regardless, the motherboard has a bunch of problems. USB ports don't work properly, PCI slot doesn't work at all, sometimes it doesn't start up if there are devices plugged into USB ports. I need a new motherboard.

If I decide to wait to buy a Haswell processor, I will only have spent a total of $60 on the motherboard to re-use the Athlon II X4 635. Like you said, that's not a big deal. And all the other parts I buy will be re-usable.

My goal was to a) learn how to and build a computer and b) have a high-end computer. But I don't really need a high end computer, because I've realized Dolphin is luxury. And I'm worried about my very first computer being overwhelming! Don't be disappointed! It's not like I am NEVER going to buy a high end computer, probably once the current processor isn't able to play games well anymore I will plunk down the cash to get a Haswell (which may very well be next year) It's only a $60 hit, it's not a big deal.

And I'm beginning to think that I don't even really need a really high end computer! The game I most want to play, Okami, can't be played in Dolphin well no matter what the hardware is. The games that I own can run easily with the current Athlon II processor. I have a Wii. Do I want to spend an extra $400 on the luxury of playing a Wii in 1080p? I can always do it later, it's just the processor + motherboard are half the cost of the entire system, and I have a perfectly functional processor for PC gaming.

Eh, I'll go with 650 Ti. Cheapest option, can play all my PC games very well, is good enough for Dolphin when I eventually need it, if something significantly better comes along (like Maxwell or the next generation of Radeon), I wouldn't have spent as much.

turtlefu Wrote:The game I most want to play, Okami, can't be played in Dolphin well no matter what the hardware is.

With a haswell cpu, especially overclocked, it probably can.

turtlefu Wrote:It's not like I am NEVER going to buy a high end computer

Yeah but I won't have designed that high end computer.....

turtlefu Wrote:Do I want to spend an extra $400 on the luxury of playing a Wii in 1080p?

From earlier:

NaturalViolence Wrote:However I should point out that whether you're talking about PC gaming, video production, emulation, or anything else the high end specs requirements overlap. So it's not like you're spending all of this money just for PCSX2. You're spending all of this money to have a nice computer. This is one of the many things that you can do with a nice computer.

One more thing that I want to repeat:

NatualViolence Wrote:If you put those high end parts in that crappy case and with no SSD I swear to all of the gods of all religions I will scream in pain so loud that you will hear me from whatever part of the country you're in.

When something costs $400, "probably" is not good enough

Haha, no I am getting a new case, don't worry! It's going to be that Corsair.

And it's still the computer you designed, I'm just getting everything EXCEPT the Haswell processor/mobo. I can re-use everything else.

Other than video games, the only other demanding application I use is the Adobe Creative Suite for non-professional use. My laptop can run that fine, so this upgraded desktop will be even better. The only reason for me to get a Haswell processor is for Dolphin, and until I get confirmation that, yes, Okami can be played at fullspeed in HD with LLE I will hold off on getting it.

And because I can use the 1440x900 monitor I don't think I need a 1080p. I like 1080p but slightly better pixel density/resolution is not worth another $200. I'll save up to get a really amazing one when I need it

Buy me Okami, and I'll test it within a week.

What about the SSD?

I'm looking into it. Faster boot times is not a priority and that Samsung is not currently on sale. And I'm checking to see how easy it would be to transfer the OS (I asked my friend if he had the original installer disc around, hopefully he does)

Even if he doesn't a retail installation should work fine if you transfer it via the method that I linked earlier (save the contents of the drive as a disk image then extract the image onto the SSD). Like I mentioned earlier faster boot up/shut down times are not the only advantages of an SSD.

I wanted to try and format the drives, but keep the OS, especially since the computer seems to run oddly (I can't tell if it's slow but I'm not able to log-in to Chrome and it was very difficult installing Java - it kept on telling me that another program was currently being installed)
There's a local computer shop that does a wipe and fresh install but they probably use a OEM licence to do so so I wanted to avoid that.

Well then get the disc from your brother. Unless you're ok with linux there is no other legal alternative.

I'm back! I've been obsessively tweaking this build, trying to find the best price/performance. My friends have abandoned me in disgust because all I can talk about are computers Here are my updates:
http://pcpartpicker.com/user/turtlefu/saved/1Mml

Video Card: After finding out that 2 x GTX 760 in SLI beats out a Titan, I figured buying a second 760 when the 800/900 series comes out would be a MUCH cheaper way to stay ahead of the pack instead of buying a whole new card (especially because by then the price of the 760 should go down), so I'm thinking about including a 750W PSU. Is that even a good idea?
PSU: My options then are an XFX (manufactured by SeaSonic) 750W Bronze Modular PSU, or a Rosewill (manufactured by Super Flower) 750W Gold Modular PSU. Is the difference in quality/efficiency good enough to justify the $40 increase in price? I doubt the extra efficiency would save me $40 in electricity over the lifetime of the PSU, even if I intend to use if to 5-7 years. The XFX is the same price right now as the Corsair CX series, which is not for high performance systems anyways. If I don't SLI, the SeaSonic and Rosewill 550W Gold PSU are only $70.
Motherboard: Is the ASRock Extreme4 good enough for overclocking and SLI? My goal is a 4.3 GHz overclock on the 4670K, don't know if that is possible. I know you can get up to 4.5 GHz but I don't know if I want to pay the extra money for an Asus Sabertooth board (which costs $110 more, and the Gigabyte UD4H costs $35 more than the ASrock Extreme4).
SSD: I might be able to get a Samsung 840 SSD for $80, but the 840 Pro is $130. I'm guessing the new controller is not worth the extra $50? Non-sale price on the 840 is $100.
RAM: As for memory, are all brands equal? I can get Crucial Ballistix for $58 and Corsair Vengeance for $60. And is it wise to get 8GB now and add another 8GB later for a total 16GB when I need it?
Case: The Corsair 500R is $75, the Fractal Design Define R4 is $80. 500R gets better cooling performance, but is supposedly less roomy and a little bit louder. Also I think the R4 comes with filters making it easier to clean? The Enermax Ostrog GT is also the same price as the Corsair 500R.
Cooling: Is it a good idea to pay $5 more for the Cooler Master Seidon 120M water cooler? It supposedly gets better thermal performance, which might be useful if I decide to overclock above 4.3 GHz. It's on sale right now for $35, and it seems like on average it's about 6 degrees cooler than the Hyper 212 EVO and 4 degrees hotter than the Corsair H80 (which costs $50 more)

Remember, I want to build something that can last as long as possible and I want to re-use as many of the parts as much as possible for future builds.