Funny thing today, I actually tested dolphin on one of my school's workstation computers (I think it was this maybe:
http://shopping1.hp.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/WFS/WW-USSMBPublicStore-Site/en_US/-/USD/ViewProductDetail-Start?ProductUUID=i1sQ7EN5N3wAAAFAnEYCyXGY&CatalogCategoryID=c1EQ7habuDQAAAE_9cItdehn), it had an Intel Xeon processor and a 128-bit NVIDIA Quadro 600 Workstation GPU, and it actually worked well, I was able to play at a mostly constant 30 (max) fps (with the drops that went down to ~25 fps for a very short period of time).
So, I became curious and I went looking at workstation computers, thinking by some chance that they would be a good fit for this type of gaming (I also plan to produce music as well so I figured it would fit well with that too), and I found this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883155838
The GPU is okay (I think), the HDD and RAM specs fit my needs, on top of that being an All-in-one so I wouldn't have to purchase pretty much anything else with it, but what really caught my attention was the i7 (Haswell) CPU. From what I've read an i7 is overkill for pretty much any application (I might be wrong in this case).
I just thought it was an interesting find, and I wanted to hear your guys thoughts on it.
The i7 isn't overkill for multi-threaded applications like video and music/graphics production and editing. It has Hyper Threading, which effectively doubles the number of cores available to the OS. The CPU in this box is roughly equivalent to the Haswell 4670K in terms of clock and IPC. This would be a sensible choice for a dual-purpose rig.
However, the i7 is overkill for Dolphin because it will not use those extra cores. Additionally, this will not play the most demanding tier of games at top performance because the Turbo Boost only goes to 3.9 GHz and it won't be possible to overclock this CPU with that SFF case. It wouldn't be easy anyway because I doubt that CPU is unlocked or the board has the ability to change those settings. That extra 300-400 MHz doesn't sound like much, but it's the extra bit needed to make some games run at full speed.
Still a good choice if you're willing to spend the extra money and have another purpose in mind.
(10-03-2013, 11:53 PM)rokclimb15 Wrote: [ -> ]The i7 isn't overkill for multi-threaded applications like video and music/graphics production and editing. It has Hyper Threading, which effectively doubles the number of cores available to the OS. The CPU in this box is roughly equivalent to the Haswell 4670K in terms of clock and IPC. This would be a sensible choice for a dual-purpose rig.
However, the i7 is overkill for Dolphin because it will not use those extra cores. Additionally, this will not play the most demanding tier of games at top performance because the Turbo Boost only goes to 3.9 GHz and it won't be possible to overclock this CPU with that SFF case. It wouldn't be easy anyway because I doubt that CPU is unlocked or the board has the ability to change those settings. That extra 300-400 MHz doesn't sound like much, but it's the extra bit needed to make some games run at full speed.
Still a good choice if you're willing to spend the extra money and have another purpose in mind.
First of all, thanks for the info!
Second, is it possible you could list some of the games that might not work well on that Dell Optiplex that I listed (regarding the ones I mentioned in my previous posts in this thread)? I tried looking up demanding games for dolphin and I know there are a few ones that don't seem to work well for any computer with normal specs (not something like a super computer with multiple super-powerful GPUs and CPUs) like TLS and LoZ: TP (Yeah, I know I listed both in one of my posts in the games I wanted to play, didn't know if the builds everyone was discussing in this thread would run these games well), but I wonder what other games that are not so obviously demanding wouldn't be able to perform well on this PC.
Also, maybe I missed something, but wouldn't the Optiplex be less expensive than the build that I listed previously to it? It adds up to a grand total of $1000 (it was listed on the official Dell website for +$1200 without any additional costs for some reason, gonna have to call up newegg about that) compared to the other build which had a grand total just under $1100. Doesn't really make sense to me that an All-in-One would cost less than a DIY of these standards, but whatever. Just a bit of confusion there.
I would say TLS and LoZ: TP. Those are two where every last bit of clock speed counts. You might just have to accept that they won't quite run at fullspeed with this setup.
This is not apples to apples with your proposed custom rig. It's similar, and a little less expensive. The three biggest factors are 1) lack of overclocking 2) lack of easy expansion (MT is a minitower) 3) Your chosen GPU beats this 8570. In the other column, the i7 4770 is a better general purpose processor than the 4670K (but lacks unlocking to do overclocking). Dell made up the cost with economy of scale and a cheaper GPU in this case. You also didn't have to buy Windows separately (their licensing gives it to them for pennies on the dollar compared to retail) but you'll be scrubbing crap from your system left and right.
Again, that's a good balance between a powerful general purpose PC and something Dolphin specific. It won't do everything that the Dolphin rig will do with current 4.0 software but is arguably a better value.
I think I would need a computer that has some room to upgrade the components:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883249007
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822178115
Same amount of memory, same amount of hard drive space, HD Monitor, CPU with insignificantly worse performance (
http://www.cpu-world.com/Compare/440/Intel_Core_i7_i7-3770_vs_Intel_Core_i7_i7-4770.html), interchangeable components, external hard drive for better/more storage (Internal for programs, emulators, etc.; External for Work and other irreplaceable files), better GPU, better PSU, better motherboard, better warranties, pre-built, and all of it being cheaper than the DIY ($1,087.56).
Oh, by better I mean better than the Optiplex, not the DIY.
Also, I have a Wii actually, so if I REALLY wanted to play those games I guess I could just play those couple that I wouldn't be able to play on the emulator on the actual consoles, as long as I can play all the other games I listed in the performances I described than I'll be good with it.
This is a fine computer and the 3770 is a great CPU. However, I should tell you that this leans even further away from optimal performance in Dolphin by dropping to a third gen Intel processor (IPC drop of about 20% in some cases). Still a good computer, and it may work better for your other purposes in mind. It is a worse choice when it comes to all out Dolphin performance though. Your other points regarding quality of components, warranties, and not having to build it are probably all true and valid (I didn't check).
Your point about the Wii is also true. You can't play in HD on the Wii, which is primarily why people use Dolphin. Nothing wrong with your proposed machine, I'm just pointing out the differences.
Thanks, I didn't really take into consideration the generation of the CPU, but would it be able to play the games that I mentioned at the performances I described though? :o
I'll leave that one to the group. I've never played those games on a third gen Intel 5/7 series, but I'm sure lots of people in here have.
