Looking to get some upgrades on the desktop PC, probably end goal is to run GC titles on a 4K monitor. CPU will be i4790K unless someone has a better suggestion (bearing in mind I care about performance, not cost or value proposition), for GPU what should I be looking at? 2x GTX 770 to start with, or go higher discrete card like 780 TI? Probably should add that ill be streaming to my Shield Tablet BTW, so an Nvidia card is a given.
The 4790K is pretty much the best Dolphin CPU out there right now, especially after being overclocked. As for GPUs, it's important to remember that Dolphin can't make use of SLI/CrossFire, so you're better with a single GPU. While pretty much any modern GPU can handle Dolphin at 1080p, 4K is harder, especially since we switched to integer-based shaders to match the original consoles' GPUs. This means you're probably better off with a GPU from the Titan family (which includes the 780 and 780 Ti) as being repurposed workstation GPUs, they have much better integer performance than the rest of the GTX lineup. If you didn't need to stream to a Shield, then it would be noteworthy that all AMD GPUs have a more workstation-like quantity of integer units, so you wouldn't have to automatically go for the top-of-the-range card for Dolphin.
It's also possible that a 770 may be enough for 4K in Dolphin, but as the IR options in Dolphin's GUI don't go that high (I think you can set higher in an ini file, but you may even have to use a special build) I haven't tested it.
Actually a Radeon r9 290 would be good for 4K, now bare end mind that OpenGL is Faster then Direct3D so OpenGL should be easier for 4K. So even a Radeon 280x can get 4K on OpenGL. Am also planning to get a 4K TV which is the new Vizio P Series, and am planning to wait for Radeon r9 390x not just for dolphin but for PC games too. If a graphics card can already render at 4x Internal Resolution shouldn't it already be ready for 4K on Dolphin?
(09-09-2014, 11:31 PM)Lumbeeslayer Wrote: [ -> ]Actually a Radeon r9 290 would be good for 4K, now bare end mind that OpenGL is Faster then Direct3D. So even a Radeon 280x can get 4K on OpenGL. Am also planning to get a 4K TV which is the new Vizio P Series, and am planning to wait for Radeon r9 390x not just for dolphin but for PC games too. If a graphics card can already render at 4x Internal Resolution shouldn't it already be ready for 4K on Dolphin?
Well 4x internal is close to 4k but still lower. 4x => 2560 * 2112 = 5.406.720 pixels while 4K is 3840 * 2160 = 8.294.400 pixels. 4K has basically about 55% more pixels, not much higher than 4x so it could give you a good estimate. To give you an example going from 720p to 1080p more than doubles the pixels so the jump from 4x to 4K is smaller.
Now I know it's not completely useless, I've done a little testing. My GTX 770 can do Super Mario Galaxy (a pretty demanding game, especially on the GPU side) at 110 FPS with 4x IR and 2x MSAA in the observatory. I'm not sure if that's a particularly demanding part of the game, but it still bodes well for being able to do 4K on something other than the top few GPUs.
@Lumbeeslayer, he specifically stated he's going to be streaming to an nVidia Shield tablet, so he'll definitely need an nVidia card. A cheaper Radeon being adequate isn't especially relevant.
AnyOldName3 do you experience any fps drop in your above test going from 3x to 4x? Don't forget that you also have a pretty good cpu, so taking it out of the equation is important.
(09-09-2014, 11:04 PM)AnyOldName3 Wrote: [ -> ]The 4790K is pretty much the best Dolphin CPU out there right now, especially after being overclocked. As for GPUs, it's important to remember that Dolphin can't make use of SLI/CrossFire, so you're better with a single GPU. While pretty much any modern GPU can handle Dolphin at 1080p, 4K is harder, especially since we switched to integer-based shaders to match the original consoles' GPUs. This means you're probably better off with a GPU from the Titan family (which includes the 780 and 780 Ti) as being repurposed workstation GPUs, they have much better integer performance than the rest of the GTX lineup. If you didn't need to stream to a Shield, then it would be noteworthy that all AMD GPUs have a more workstation-like quantity of integer units, so you wouldn't have to automatically go for the top-of-the-range card for Dolphin.
It's also possible that a 770 may be enough for 4K in Dolphin, but as the IR options in Dolphin's GUI don't go that high (I think you can set higher in an ini file, but you may even have to use a special build) I haven't tested it.
Thanks, good information. Good to know the 4790K is the one to opt for on the CPU side, also good to know that maximum performance in a discrete card is what I'm after. Thanks also for the information on the integer shading, again something to factor in. Thinking of that, if we set aside Shield Tablet streaming, what would be the best GPU performance-wise for Dolphin? Higher end AMD from the sounds of it?
(09-10-2014, 06:48 AM)NZtechfreak Wrote: [ -> ] (09-09-2014, 11:04 PM)AnyOldName3 Wrote: [ -> ]The 4790K is pretty much the best Dolphin CPU out there right now, especially after being overclocked. As for GPUs, it's important to remember that Dolphin can't make use of SLI/CrossFire, so you're better with a single GPU. While pretty much any modern GPU can handle Dolphin at 1080p, 4K is harder, especially since we switched to integer-based shaders to match the original consoles' GPUs. This means you're probably better off with a GPU from the Titan family (which includes the 780 and 780 Ti) as being repurposed workstation GPUs, they have much better integer performance than the rest of the GTX lineup. If you didn't need to stream to a Shield, then it would be noteworthy that all AMD GPUs have a more workstation-like quantity of integer units, so you wouldn't have to automatically go for the top-of-the-range card for Dolphin.
It's also possible that a 770 may be enough for 4K in Dolphin, but as the IR options in Dolphin's GUI don't go that high (I think you can set higher in an ini file, but you may even have to use a special build) I haven't tested it.
Thanks, good information. Good to know the 4790K is the one to opt for on the CPU side, also good to know that maximum performance in a discrete card is what I'm after. Thanks also for the information on the integer shading, again something to factor in. Thinking of that, if we set aside Shield Tablet streaming, what would be the best GPU performance-wise for Dolphin? Higher end AMD from the sounds of it?
After awhile it really doesn't matter what GPU you use as you will get the same performance with frames capped. So you could just go with something like R9-285 and OC as needed.
(09-09-2014, 11:49 PM)Link_to_the_past Wrote: [ -> ] (09-09-2014, 11:31 PM)Lumbeeslayer Wrote: [ -> ]Actually a Radeon r9 290 would be good for 4K, now bare end mind that OpenGL is Faster then Direct3D. So even a Radeon 280x can get 4K on OpenGL. Am also planning to get a 4K TV which is the new Vizio P Series, and am planning to wait for Radeon r9 390x not just for dolphin but for PC games too. If a graphics card can already render at 4x Internal Resolution shouldn't it already be ready for 4K on Dolphin?
Well 4x internal is close to 4k but still lower. 4x => 2560 * 2112 = 5.406.720 pixels while 4K is 3840 * 2160 = 8.294.400 pixels. 4K has basically about 55% more pixels, not much higher than 4x so it could give you a good estimate. To give you an example going from 720p to 1080p more than doubles the pixels so the jump from 4x to 4K is smaller.
Actually what I meant is Dolphin Renders the Game According to the resolution that is set. 4K at 4x Resolution wouldn't necessary be 4K unless Auto is Set in the Internal Resolution then Dolphin Will Be Rendering at 4K with a desktop Resolution of 4K. Sure a Radeon 7850 can handle 4K at 4x Resolution but it wouldn't be rendering at 4K unless set to auto so you get half the pixels now I don't know how that would look on a 4K display, but technically you might as well say your playing at 2K on a 4K monitor. OpenGL is much faster then Direct3D so 4K Probley should be easy to achieve even on a Radeon 7850. I tested the Dolphin Build that had 5x and 6x Internal resolution on Zelda Windwaker and there wasn't any performance hit on OpenGL but when I tried Direct3D the fps was a little lower.
(09-10-2014, 02:36 AM)Link_to_the_past Wrote: [ -> ]AnyOldName3 do you experience any fps drop in your above test going from 3x to 4x? Don't forget that you also have a pretty good cpu, so taking it out of the equation is important.
I had no difference between MSAA off and at 2x, if that helps. It implies a CPU bottleneck happens first, so therefore implies the GTX 770 should be enough for the OP's needs in DOlphin.