11-01-2017, 03:18 PM
Then if you don't have a HDD you can use, I would add one for an extra $70-80. Note that these are actually quite powerful machines, both are more than you need for dolphin, and should be able to knock out 1080p60 with ultra settings on fallout4. If this is getting a bit expensive, there's a few things we can trim down the cost with, but it'll lower performance accordingly. Similarly, if you have a bit more cash and want to get the next step up, you can get a geforce 1070 or above, and the cpu will run with that perfectly fine.
As for failure rates: HDDs do fail. SSDs fail too. There is always a chance hardware can fail - never have anything you *really* can't live without in only one place - make sure you have backups of important stuff!
The chance that a specific piece of hardware will fail somewhat depends on the make and model - there may be statistics people publish on failure rates for specific use cases you can lookup, but I don't have anywhere near enough hardware to provide anything other than anecdotal evidence (which for me is "Well-known brand, not the cheapest model, none of them have failed on me). Note, this also heavily depends on use cases - the demands that (say) a massive data storage company makes on a disk could be very different to what you use it for. And the failure rates could be dramatically different as a result.
Also remember, if you aren't upgrading an old PC, you'll need mouse/keyboard/screen/windows key on top of the hardware listed above, and you may want to add a case fan or two if the case doesn't already ship with them.
And if you are buying a new monitor, that opens up another whole complication of adaptive sync (Freesync for AMD or GSync for Nvidia). I personally believe this technology is incredibility good - I think is adds significantly to the enjoyment of games, as it smooths out the screen update so it's always in line with how fast the graphics card can output frames. I feel this tech alone is "as good as" going halfway towards the next tier of GPUs (that is, a 1060 with gsync "feels" only a little worse than a 1070 without). Another thing to take into consideration here is that, for an equivalent monitor, freesync tends to be noticeably cheaper than gsync. This may end up causing you to prefer the radeon GPU, as (unfortunately) the 2 display technologies aren't compatible with each other (so if you have an nvidia card with a freesync monitor it won't be used - same with an AMD card and a gsync monitor).
As for the performance of freesync vs gsync, in tests, gsync tends to be a little better (wider refresh range, better response times), but it is slight enough that if you're not testing explicitly for those things (say, playing games instead of running display benchmarks), they're close enough you can barely tell the difference. If money is no object, however, a top-end nvidia card with gsync monitor /is/ slightly superior.
If you are getting a new monitor - I would strongly recommend looking at something with one of the adaptive sync technologies.
As you can see there's a large number of variables. I'm sure there's a build that'll fit any budget, so if you have a hard limit, or an amount you want to spend, a dollar value would be useful to tune the builds.
As for failure rates: HDDs do fail. SSDs fail too. There is always a chance hardware can fail - never have anything you *really* can't live without in only one place - make sure you have backups of important stuff!
The chance that a specific piece of hardware will fail somewhat depends on the make and model - there may be statistics people publish on failure rates for specific use cases you can lookup, but I don't have anywhere near enough hardware to provide anything other than anecdotal evidence (which for me is "Well-known brand, not the cheapest model, none of them have failed on me). Note, this also heavily depends on use cases - the demands that (say) a massive data storage company makes on a disk could be very different to what you use it for. And the failure rates could be dramatically different as a result.
Also remember, if you aren't upgrading an old PC, you'll need mouse/keyboard/screen/windows key on top of the hardware listed above, and you may want to add a case fan or two if the case doesn't already ship with them.
And if you are buying a new monitor, that opens up another whole complication of adaptive sync (Freesync for AMD or GSync for Nvidia). I personally believe this technology is incredibility good - I think is adds significantly to the enjoyment of games, as it smooths out the screen update so it's always in line with how fast the graphics card can output frames. I feel this tech alone is "as good as" going halfway towards the next tier of GPUs (that is, a 1060 with gsync "feels" only a little worse than a 1070 without). Another thing to take into consideration here is that, for an equivalent monitor, freesync tends to be noticeably cheaper than gsync. This may end up causing you to prefer the radeon GPU, as (unfortunately) the 2 display technologies aren't compatible with each other (so if you have an nvidia card with a freesync monitor it won't be used - same with an AMD card and a gsync monitor).
As for the performance of freesync vs gsync, in tests, gsync tends to be a little better (wider refresh range, better response times), but it is slight enough that if you're not testing explicitly for those things (say, playing games instead of running display benchmarks), they're close enough you can barely tell the difference. If money is no object, however, a top-end nvidia card with gsync monitor /is/ slightly superior.
If you are getting a new monitor - I would strongly recommend looking at something with one of the adaptive sync technologies.
As you can see there's a large number of variables. I'm sure there's a build that'll fit any budget, so if you have a hard limit, or an amount you want to spend, a dollar value would be useful to tune the builds.
. Some TVs have a "gaming" mode that may help with this, but even then I wouldn't trade my 1440p monitors for a tv... Plus, a "nice" mechanical-switch keyboard and decent mouse can make playing games quite a bit more enjoyable if your current equipment is poor - if it's already pretty good and you're happy with it don't spend money just for the sake of it though.