I'm going to build a pc solely for hooking up to the tv and playing my console games, that includes wii and ps2 (dolphin and pcsx2), amongst other, older and less demanding emulators. The goal is a minimalist system, but one that won't bottleneck performance with graphics maxed out, LLE and little to no speedhacks/speedsettings as much as possible. Given the nature of emulation, hardware is ofcourse not the only factor that determines performance of a game but my goal is for my hardware not to be a factor limiting performance.
I have a gtx670 and 8gb of ram. I take it this is already more than enough, right? CPU is i3570k 3.40Ghz, this will likely have to be upgraded, any suggestions? Any advice of other hardware is appreciated, my budget isn't very limited atm.
Quote:I have a gtx670 and 8gb of ram. I take it this is already more than enough, right ?
one that won't bottleneck performance with graphics maxed out
Not even close . GTX 780 (minimum) or better GPU (780 Ti , GTX Titan) . Yes we have GTX Titan user/tester
Forget about Ram . The amount of Ram doesn't matter , 4GB (2x2Gb) is good enough for 64bit OS , higher bus speed matter but not by much
You should be happy with 4x Internal Res , no AA or 2x AA , 16x AF atm (Depending on the game . You can max out graphic in some light-weight games , demanding games are out of the question)
Quote:LLE and little to no speedhacks/speedsettings as much as possible
Wihout speedhack (Vbeam speedhack and Vertex Streaming Hack ) , even the fastest heavily overclocked i5 4670k @
4.4GHz can't help you in some demanding games
Base on
Dolphin benchmark , i5 4670k @ 4.2GHz is on par with i5 3570k @ 5.0GHz
Since you already have Ivy Bridge CPU , you should wait to make a jump for Skylake (2015 or maybe longer than that) or Broadwell next year at least
But if you still want to upgrade then :
_i5 4670k
_MSI Z87 G45
_Aftermarket cooler (Depending on you budget : cheap - CM Hyper 212 Evo , recommended - Noctua DH-N14)
_Aftermarket thermal compound (Arctic MX-4 , IC diamond...)
Or you just get an aftermarket cooler + Arctic MX-4 (if you're using the crappy Intel stock fan atm) and overclock the hell out of i5 3570k (Assume you mobo must be Z75 or Z77 that support overclocking) . This is the cheapest route
Thanks for clarifying my misconceptions. So with MSI z87-g45, i504670k @ 4.20Ghz, Noctua DH-N14, GTX780Ti... the one here (
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduc...ubcat=1402)
This should get me the performance I want?
EDIT: Is single-channel ram ok? I have 8gb (4x4gb) corsair and I not going to need that much on either pc, can't I just take one 4gb stick and stick it in the other rig?
Yep , single channel is ok though i would prefer dual . Make sure your power supply is good enough to handle the beast 780Ti
IMO , you should keep your GTX 670 and wait for Nvidia 800 series which will come soon (Q1 2014) . GTX 700 series are based on GTX 600 series architecture - Kepler but GTX 800 will use completely new architecture which will bring huge speed boost over GTX 700/600 . If i was you , i would aim for GTX 880
(12-28-2013, 02:26 PM)MiikaZorah Wrote: [ -> ]CPU is i3570k 3.40Ghz, this will likely have to be upgraded, any suggestions? Any advice of other hardware is appreciated, my budget isn't very limited atm.
I'm mostly happy with my 4670k @ 4.4 ghz
but if you want to avoid speedhacks etc you might consider;
though I'm not necessarily recommending...
- i5 4670k and win the luck of the draw with a good chip for overclocking
- delidding the integrated heat spreader (pretty much voids warranty though)
- custom 360mm watercooling (XSPC Radiator, EK waterblocks etc) with appropriate case
- gigabyte Z87 as that's the most well-documented for overclocking
- RAM that runs cool, stable and fast
and use that all to squeeze every stable hertz you can out of the processor
.......................................but I'm not sure any of that is truly
worth it.
Otherwise wait until next gen intel processors are out (IE Broadwell / Haswell-E / Skylake ) and see how things turn out for them
(12-28-2013, 03:15 PM)admin89 Wrote: [ -> ]Quote:I have a gtx670 and 8gb of ram. I take it this is already more than enough, right ?
one that won't bottleneck performance with graphics maxed out
Not even close . GTX 780 (minimum) or better GPU (780 Ti , GTX Titan) . Yes we have GTX Titan user/tester
Forget about Ram . The amount of Ram doesn't matter , 4GB (2x2Gb) is good enough for 64bit OS , higher bus speed matter but not by much
You should be happy with 4x Internal Res , no AA or 2x AA , 16x AF atm (Depending on the game . You can max out graphic in some light-weight games , demanding games are out of the question)
Quote:LLE and little to no speedhacks/speedsettings as much as possible
Wihout speedhack (Vbeam speedhack and Vertex Streaming Hack ) , even the fastest heavily overclocked i5 4670k @ 4.4GHz can't help you in some demanding games
Base on Dolphin benchmark , i5 4670k @ 4.2GHz is on par with i5 3570k @ 5.0GHz
Since you already have Ivy Bridge CPU , you should wait to make a jump for Skylake (2015 or maybe longer than that) or Broadwell next year at least
But if you still want to upgrade then :
_i5 4670k
_MSI Z87 G45
_Aftermarket cooler (Depending on you budget : cheap - CM Hyper 212 Evo , recommended - Noctua DH-N14)
_Aftermarket thermal compound (Arctic MX-4 , IC diamond...)
Or you just get an aftermarket cooler + Arctic MX-4 (if you're using the crappy Intel stock fan atm) and overclock the hell out of i5 3570k (Assume you mobo must be Z75 or Z77 that support overclocking) . This is the cheapest route
You're kidding him, right? A 780 Ti is extreme overkill, and the Titan isn't even that much better than the standard 780 in the first place. He could get by just fine on a 670 and there's just no need for a 4670k; you could get by just fine on a 3570k provided you OCed it up to maybe 4.2-4.4. I mean, hell, I'm on a 2500k at 4.3 with a 7950, and I get full speed on every game I've tried, with 4x AA and 4x internal res.
(12-29-2013, 07:43 AM)Recurve Wrote: [ -> ] (12-28-2013, 03:15 PM)admin89 Wrote: [ -> ]Quote:I have a gtx670 and 8gb of ram. I take it this is already more than enough, right ?
one that won't bottleneck performance with graphics maxed out
Not even close . GTX 780 (minimum) or better GPU (780 Ti , GTX Titan) . Yes we have GTX Titan user/tester
Forget about Ram . The amount of Ram doesn't matter , 4GB (2x2Gb) is good enough for 64bit OS , higher bus speed matter but not by much
You should be happy with 4x Internal Res , no AA or 2x AA , 16x AF atm (Depending on the game . You can max out graphic in some light-weight games , demanding games are out of the question)
Quote:LLE and little to no speedhacks/speedsettings as much as possible
Wihout speedhack (Vbeam speedhack and Vertex Streaming Hack ) , even the fastest heavily overclocked i5 4670k @ 4.4GHz can't help you in some demanding games
Base on Dolphin benchmark , i5 4670k @ 4.2GHz is on par with i5 3570k @ 5.0GHz
Since you already have Ivy Bridge CPU , you should wait to make a jump for Skylake (2015 or maybe longer than that) or Broadwell next year at least
But if you still want to upgrade then :
_i5 4670k
_MSI Z87 G45
_Aftermarket cooler (Depending on you budget : cheap - CM Hyper 212 Evo , recommended - Noctua DH-N14)
_Aftermarket thermal compound (Arctic MX-4 , IC diamond...)
Or you just get an aftermarket cooler + Arctic MX-4 (if you're using the crappy Intel stock fan atm) and overclock the hell out of i5 3570k (Assume you mobo must be Z75 or Z77 that support overclocking) . This is the cheapest route
You're kidding him, right? A 780 Ti is extreme overkill, and the Titan isn't even that much better than the standard 780 in the first place. He could get by just fine on a 670 and there's just no need for a 4670k; you could get by just fine on a 3570k provided you OCed it up to maybe 4.2-4.4. I mean, hell, I'm on a 2500k at 4.3 with a 7950, and I get full speed on every game I've tried, with 4x AA and 4x internal res.
Haswell is like 20% faster for Dolphin. A i5 4670k clocked at 4.4Ghz would equal a i5 3570k at like 5Ghz.
And a GTX780ti isn't really overkill if you wanna make sure you don't want to upgrade in a while.
(12-29-2013, 07:43 AM)Recurve Wrote: [ -> ] (12-28-2013, 03:15 PM)admin89 Wrote: [ -> ]Quote:I have a gtx670 and 8gb of ram. I take it this is already more than enough, right ?
one that won't bottleneck performance with graphics maxed out
Not even close . GTX 780 (minimum) or better GPU (780 Ti , GTX Titan) . Yes we have GTX Titan user/tester
Forget about Ram . The amount of Ram doesn't matter , 4GB (2x2Gb) is good enough for 64bit OS , higher bus speed matter but not by much
You should be happy with 4x Internal Res , no AA or 2x AA , 16x AF atm (Depending on the game . You can max out graphic in some light-weight games , demanding games are out of the question)
Quote:LLE and little to no speedhacks/speedsettings as much as possible
Wihout speedhack (Vbeam speedhack and Vertex Streaming Hack ) , even the fastest heavily overclocked i5 4670k @ 4.4GHz can't help you in some demanding games
Base on Dolphin benchmark , i5 4670k @ 4.2GHz is on par with i5 3570k @ 5.0GHz
Since you already have Ivy Bridge CPU , you should wait to make a jump for Skylake (2015 or maybe longer than that) or Broadwell next year at least
But if you still want to upgrade then :
_i5 4670k
_MSI Z87 G45
_Aftermarket cooler (Depending on you budget : cheap - CM Hyper 212 Evo , recommended - Noctua DH-N14)
_Aftermarket thermal compound (Arctic MX-4 , IC diamond...)
Or you just get an aftermarket cooler + Arctic MX-4 (if you're using the crappy Intel stock fan atm) and overclock the hell out of i5 3570k (Assume you mobo must be Z75 or Z77 that support overclocking) . This is the cheapest route
You're kidding him, right? A 780 Ti is extreme overkill, and the Titan isn't even that much better than the standard 780 in the first place. He could get by just fine on a 670 and there's just no need for a 4670k; you could get by just fine on a 3570k provided you OCed it up to maybe 4.2-4.4. I mean, hell, I'm on a 2500k at 4.3 with a 7950, and I get full speed on every game I've tried, with 4x AA and 4x internal res.
Playing light-weight games and average-weight games, don´t you?
And admin89 IS right about the GPUs:
http://www.game-debate.com/gpu/index.php...op-edition
Even though the 780 Ti has a lower core speed than the 670 GTX, the 780 Ti would have lots of advantage in memory terms:
Amount: 3.07 GB (780 TI) vs. 2.04 GB (670 GTX).
Memory speed: 1.70 GHz (780 TI) vs. 1.5 GHz (670 GTX).
Memory bus: 384 bit (780 TI) vs. 256 bit (670 GTX).
Bandwith: 336 GBps (780 TI) vs. 192 GBps (670 GTX).
And about 780 GTX TI vs. 780 GTX, you´re wrong. The GTX TI has a good advantage in bandwith compared with the normal one:
780 GTX TI: 336 GBps bandwith.
780 GTX: 288.4 GBps bandwith.
Well thanks for the replies! I should point out that I am certain about what I'm looking for and futureproofing isn't one of them. I have a number of consoles I wish to emulate, the most demanding ones being the PS2 and the Wii and as long as hardware is sufficient in running these maxed out I won't be needing any upgrades, not even in a future year like 2865, maybe a few thousand replacements but no upgrades :p I never liked anything that came after 2010 anyway.
Based on the suggestions here I've decided to hang on to my 670 as it's more than enough for any other emulator and almost enough for dolphin and wait for the 800 seriers. MSI z87-g45 and 4670k + Noctua DH-N14 will be the only upgrades made for now as I have everything else.
Dolphins absolute max settings are insane. It is capable of rendering games at 144x the native resolution (4x IR + 9xSSAA). Admin is pointing out that at those settings you need a top of the line GPU to play most games at acceptable speeds. However that is far above the threshold of noticeable image quality improvements. I think 4x IR with 4x MSAA or 3x IR with 4xSSAA would be more a more realistic approximation of the settings that you will be using. And for these settings a 670 is fine. That is what recurve was pointing out.
Dual channel is greatly preferred but quiet frankly if you have 3 or 4 dimms inserted in your motherboard it doesn't matter which slots you put them in, you will have dual channel. So I don't understand why you're worrying about it. And you can do dual channel with only 2 dimms if you use the right slots (look it up in your motherboard manual) so there is no reason you would have to run the system in single channel mode.