Hello Dolphin users,
I'm building a HTPC/steambox kind of thing for our tv corner. We're going to use this machine to play films and series, as well as to play some indie games and perhaps stream some of the larger titles via the steam streaming service.
I've recently stumbled across Dolphin and we'd like to get it up and running on this machine as well. Now I've perceived that Dolphin is quite the software and is not too light on performance.
At the moment we're planning to use an I3 4130 or I3 4150 processor in conjunction with a MSI GTX 750 TI NVIDIA graphics card. We've got four xbox-controllers as input method.
I'd like to be able to play both gamecube and wii games on the system. It'll have to run on a resolution of 1920x1080, however I don't find the extra graphics options dolphin provides essential (apart from the resolution). So if having a stable 60 frames per second on a demanding game requires disabling graphical enhancements such as anti-alias I'm not too worried.
I've got quite a few questions that I'd love answered. Sorry for my ignorance if some prove elementary, I've strolled the forums for a few days and could not find definitive answers on these.
1. Will this setup be able to run most games? I'd like to play games such as Mario Kart, Zelda and Tales of Symphonia.
2. Are there some obvious hardware choices I'm missing? That is, are there in this price range parts that give significant performance increases for Dolphin?
3. Should I go for an i3 4130 or for an i3 4150?
Thank you for your time and your responses, and apologies if my goals are unrealistic.
All the best,
Ties
i3 4150 is just 5$ higher than i3 4130 . So why not ?
For the GPU , i would recommend EVGA over MSI due to stability , durability and warranty .
Quote:Will this setup be able to run most games?
Yup , it will
i3 4130 is as fast as i5 3570k @ 4.4GHz in
Dolphin Benchmark
Thank you for your response, admin89. I've got a few quick questions.
I've chosen the MSI for it's silent fans. Is EVGA really a much better buy? Do I need to oveclock my processor to be able to run all games even without any dolphin graphic enhancements?
Thank you for your time,
All the best,
Ties
Quote:Is EVGA really a much better buy ?
If you want your GPU to last long , you must choose EVGA brand
You should get this version :
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...-_-Product
It's ultra quiet
Quote:
Do I need to overclock my processor to be able to run all games even without any dolphin graphic enhancements?
You can't overclock a locked multiplier processor . Unlocked CPU : Pentium G3258 < i5 4670k < i7 4770k < i5 4690k < i7 4790k
No CPU is capable of running all games full speed btw
If you want to run more demanding games at full speed , you should get unlocked
Pentium G3258 (Intel Pentium Anniversary Edition ~ 75$ ) + Z97 mobo that support overclocking
Dolphin is a dual core application . i3's Hyperthreading (2 cores 4 threads) is useless . Pentium G3258 (2 cores 2 threads) can be pushed to 4.6GHz with Intel stock fan . At that speed , it will kill any i3 . However , Intel stock fan is noisy , you should buy Noctua NH-l9i
EVGA is, by no means, the best brand. In terms of Nvidia-exclusive brands, it's one of the best, but it's not the best, and not the most durable. That prize is passed between the top 3, which happens to include EVGA, but it's not just EVGA, admin98. Now, yes, MSI isn't the best buy, but it's one of the top non-exclusive companies in the GPU business, so you're discrediting MSI pretty hard there.
Also, locked-multiplier processors can be overclocked, but they have to be overclocked using a method that isn't entirely safe, especially if you do not get a good motherboard, and they can't go very far, and the motherboard restricts how far they can go, etc. Of course, AMD processors can go a lot further with this than Intel processors, and locked-multiplier Intel processors are not built to withstand overclocking, so it's not recommended. By anyone. Seriously, only do it if you're sadistic, and like throwing money away. I don't even recommend looking up what I'm talking about unless you have a toilet that uses money instead of water, and a shower that drops 2-dollar coins on your head instead of water, and your chair is made from 100-dollar bills reinforced with quarters, and you have a suit made of solid gold.
I've done some research and have a few last questions to ask. My apologies if some questions are very similar to the original questions in this thread. I've tried to formulate them more properly to get the answers I seek.
With the system I want to play games such as Baten Kaitos(: Origins) and LoZ: Wind Waker. It is also essential that the system runs both Smash games on normal speed without drops. The system should be tailored to accustom this.
The trend seems that the CPU is the most important component and requires most attention. I've my eyes on the i3-4130/4150 (significant difference here?) for two reasons: dual core performance and stability. I don't fancy OC an Pentium processor that much as the system will be a HTPC and thus will not have an optimal cooling solution, yet the system has to be (fairly) silent. If, however, these two points are no issues for certain OC I'd be happy to be told. Furthermore, as the system in it's nature will run minimal background processes (windows system processes) I don't see the value in getting more that two cores for the cpu.
A second point I'd like to be informed about is the GPU. I've selected the MSI 750 ti as a silent and stable video card. The HTPC will not just be used for emulation, but will also be used to run a vast amount of steam (indie) games. It seems to me that the video card should be sufficient for dolphin, but are there other cards in it's range that outperform it. And are there brands that surpass the MSI 750 ti with their 750 (ti) model?
Thank you for your time,
All the best
Ties
Like i said before , The Pentium can be overclocked at maximum speed even if you use the worst cooler : Intel stock cooler
Just swap Intel stock cooler with Noctua nh-l9i . Base on most reviews , it's extremely silent (Tested with Core i7 2600k @ 4.3GHz . Keep in mind that i7 2600k 's power consumption is much higher than the Pentium)
Does this OC pentium perform equal or better to the i3 for other applications such as steam gaming? And what compared to a stronger i3? What about it's stability and longevity? And I've never overclocked a CPU, I assume there are well written guides about it and that the risk involved is nihil?
Thank you for your response,
Ties
In the past , when you overclock a CPU (Phenom and Core 2 duo/quad or i3/ i5/i7 nehalem) , you also overclock other components as well . We call that is BCLK overclocking
BCLK overclocking isn't safe , it harms your PC since the mobo components , Ram ....will be Oced along with CPU
Nowaday , instead of overclocking the FSB (a.k.a BCLK OC), you only have to adjust is the multiplier. So only CPU is involved
As long as you can keep the Vcore in safe area , your CPU should last a decade or even more
In most PC games , OCed Pentium beats any i3 . In multi-threaded app such as video encoding software , they're neck and neck (i3 @ 3.6GHz is a bit better )