Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

Doing this emulation thing on my laptop just isn't cutting it anymore - especially since I've been trying out other emulators for ps2, etc. I was going to get one of those cheap Gigabyte Brix models, but didn't like that they were noisy and unreliable. So I've set out to build the ultimate emulation build (within reason). I wanted something small, portable, looks great (going in the living room), and quiet. But most importantly, it needs to have EXCELLENT emulation performance. PC gaming is an afterthought, but would still like the option. I was going to order one of those Digital Storm Bolt 3's and call it a day, but the build / wait time was too long. Plus I haven't built anything for a long time, and it's fun.

Here's what I came up with. I have not built a PC in several YEARS, so I'm a little out of practice. Let me know if I'm missing anything obvious, or if you see anything that I can replace to get more performance / bang for buck:

(BTW - I'm not big into overclocking, so I'd rather spend the extra for a faster CPU, than deal with the hassle of overclocking a lower end CPU)

Case: Fractal Node 304 - Link
Mobo: Asrock z97e mini itx - Link
CPU: i7 4790k - Link (I'm guessing this is the most important - so I'm more than willing to upgrade this. I just couldn't find anything faster).
Ram: Gskill Trident 16GB X Series - Link
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S - Link
PSU: Silverstone SX500-LG - Link
GPU: EVGA GTX970 - Link (I may use my GTX 660ti if it will fit).
SS intel 730 SSD 480GB - Link
Bluetooth / Wireless: Intel 3160 - Link
(I read the bluetooth on the Asrock sucks, and since all my gaming / emulation I'll be using a bluetooth DualShock 4, I need very strong bluetooth. And it's cheap so I figured why not!).

What kind of performance am I going to see with this, purely from an emulation standpoint? Ideally, I'd like to get everything to run at maximum or near maximum. So if I need to upgrade anything without going too overboard of the budget, I will in a heartbeat.

Planning on grabbing all this tomorrow - and overnight shipping it. So I'm willing to make any changes before then.

Thanks!

Build it on PCpartpicker.com to make sure you're getting the lowest price.

Otherwise, at base clocks, that CPU is the best, and the GPU is fine too.

if you look at admin89's sig he has a cheap build that is similar to yours and specializes in emulation

I wouldn't say so . A10 6790k @ 4.6 is not even on par with i3 4130 @ 3.4GHz in Dolphin . I built this PC because i only had 250$ at that time