Hardware PC for PCSX2 and DOLPHIN

[PolloDiablo]

Hi guys.... I’m thinking on building a desktop HTPC to run XMBC as a media and emulation center
How well this setup could handle PCSX2 and Dolphin at 1080p fullspeed?

Spoiler: OLD BUILD

INTEL Core I5 2500K
ASUS P8P67-M PRO
AMD Radeon HD6750 (1GB DDR5)
KINGSTON HyperX Genesis (4GB DDR3 1600Mhz)
WD Caviar Black WD1002FAEX (1TB 64MB 7200rpm)

I dont want to overspec it since I have a low budget and the PC is going to be used only for that.
So, any suggestions about cheaper components are welcome

UPDATE: So... it has been a whole year and I still didn't build my PC (money issues ).
But now I got a little money and I will be spending it on this ...

CPU - Intel i5 3570K
MOBO - ASUS Maximus V Gene
RAM - Kingston HyperX Blu (1600 Mhz)(1x8GB)
SSD - Samsung 840 Pro Series (128GB)
HDD - WD Caviar Green (1TB)
COOLER - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo
PSU - Cooler Master Silent Pro M700  (700W)
CASE - Antec Twelve Hundred V3

So... what do you guys think?
Pretty standard 3570k build. I just chose all the parts people usually recommend.

I plan to overclock to 4.5 ghz without risking too much the CPU... from what I've heard, the Maximus V Gene is a great mobo for OC. Also, people recommend the Antec 1200 for his good air flow, and the Hyper 212 for being cheap and reliable.
My main concern is about the PSU, it's the best I could manage to find in that price range. I've heard good reviews, but it's not the one most people recommend.

I plan on adding later another 8GB of RAM (to use as a RAM Disk) and the GPU (I'm between the GTX660ti, HD7850 or HD7870).

 

[ilman]

hmmm...the graphics card might be a bit of a problem if you want it 1080p FULL speed.

Nah, I think he'll get 30 FPS minimum on the hardest to emulate games.

 

[Berthenk]

You could always buy another GPU and CrossFire them up, however, that will probably induce stuttering.
RAM is dirty cheap so you should get 8GB while you still can, prices for DDR3 are bound to go up.

 

[Berthenk]

hmmm...the graphics card might be a bit of a problem if you want it 1080p FULL speed.

Nah, I think he'll get 30 FPS minimum on the hardest to emulate games.

well im talking about FULL SPEED here.

Technically, 30 FPS is full speed because most console games run at 30 FPS.

 

[Berthenk]

im talkin 60fps here

What's the point in having a higher FPS if the limit on the actual game is 30? I don't think you'd miss those 30 images every second if/when you are playing on an actual console.
Besides, you're emulating; not playing online, so you won't even notice NPCs being faster than you.

Now can we please get back on topic?

Emulation is mostly CPU dependent, however, I don't think that's a problem with an i5 2500K.
I myself would wait a bit with the HDD and try to salvage an old one to wait for the current ones to drop in price. That way you can put some more money into the GPU which could come in handy.

 

[PolloDiablo]

thanks for your suggestions guys

Emulation is mostly CPU dependent, however, I don't think that's a problem with an i5 2500K.
I myself would wait a bit with the HDD and try to salvage an old one to wait for the current ones to drop in price. That way you can put some more money into the GPU which could come in handy.

the thing is that I have to hurry up and buy all the parts because the fucking goverment decided to close all importations. Yeah, my country sucks
I dont know if going with a Caviar Blue instead of a Black will have a big hit in performance

 

[Originality]

As mentioned, emulation is CPU dependent. The choice in graphics don't make any significant difference. CrossFire/SLI is absolutely pointless for you - I have no idea why Berthenk suggested it (he usually knows better). The 2500K is good because aside from having a good speed (3.3Ghz quad core) it's also a very good overclocker, which helps push higher fps even if you can't perceive anything higher than 26fps (and the games are capped at 30fps). Also, I have one, my friend has one, my other friend just ordered one (arriving tomorrow), and it's the easiest CPU for me to recommend on these forums. It's just a really good CPU.

Caviar Black has better performance than Caviar Blue. This is mostly important in how responsive Windows is and how long it takes to boot up/shut down. You won't see any difference at all in emulation.

I generally recommend getting 8GB of RAM these days because it's so cheap. £20 for 4GB, £35 for 8GB. 4GB is the minimum I recommend and all you need, but 8GB does help in certain games/programs and having it will help future-proof you somewhat. That said, I prefer Corsair XMS3 over Kingston, just because I've had Kingston RAM die on me before (only once, and it was 5 years old at the time). Either way, get whichever is cheaper.

Otherwise, you've not mentioned what case, power supply or cooling (optional) you're getting. Make sure the case has at least one intake fan and one exhaust fan, and make sure the power supply is over 500 (I prefer 650W or more, although being a techie I've got a 1.2kW PSU for testing multi-GPU rigs). Never, ever get a power supply that's unbranded (they explode) and try to get one from a famous brand (Corsair, Antec, Tagan, OCZ, Enermax, CoolerMaster, etc).

 

[PolloDiablo]

thanks for your suggestions
I think I will go with a Caviar Blue and spend the difference on another 4GB of ram

about the case/psu... I will go with a Sentey DS1-4234, it comes with 4 coolers and a 600W psu
it also includes a LCD display and option to adjust the rpm of the internal coolers

if I need higher fps, maybe I could overclock the 2500k up to 4.0Ghz... but I dont know how well that motherboard handles overclocking. Also, I will have to change the stock CPU fan

 

[Deleted-236924]

hmmm...the graphics card might be a bit of a problem if you want it 1080p FULL speed.

Nah, I think he'll get 30 FPS minimum on the hardest to emulate games.

well im talking about FULL SPEED here.

Technically, 30 FPS is full speed because most console games run at 30 FPS.

*Attemps to play Tales of Symphonia at 45 FPS*
*Dies from earbleed*

 

[Deleted User]

Really, all you need for PCSX2/Dolphin is the i5-2500k and any half-decent graphics card. The rest don't particularly matter because of speed-hacks, and/(or) over-clocking.

 

[Berthenk]

As mentioned, emulation is CPU dependent. The choice in graphics don't make any significant difference. CrossFire/SLI is absolutely pointless for you - I have no idea why Berthenk suggested it (he usually knows better).

Why, thank you! I assumed he'd also want to play some games, however. Next time OP says he wants to emulate, I won't assume he/she/it will use his PC for other stuff as well.

im talkin 120fps here

So what is full speed? 60 or 120 FPS?

*Attemps to play Tales of Symphonia at 45 FPS*
*Dies from earbleed*

I said most, not all.
Though it sucks. I tried it once, however I didn't get very far due to the shitload of buttons needed, and the music. That, and I couldn't get used to playing Symphonia with a 360 controller.

 

[Originality]

Why, thank you! I assumed he'd also want to play some games, however. Next time OP says he wants to emulate, I won't assume he/she/it will use his PC for other stuff as well.

Aside from the need to play emulated games, there's also the need of keeping it within a "low" budget. As a general rule of thumb, CrossFire/SLI is not for anyone with a budget of below $1000 because you can get better performance from simply buying a better graphics card, rather than being 2 lesser graphics cards. Plus, for gaming, I personally can never justify the extra performance at the cost of micro-stuttering in games, at least not without adding a third graphics card to the mix to stabilize the micro-stuttering and then you're talking about fairly big rigs with specialized motherboards and massive power supplies and a small concern over cooling three big graphics cards. For the needs of the OP, multi-GPU setups is not the answer.

Also, why talk 120fps when you can just take the bar off and go over 9000fps?
EDIT: Took out the ​ from my post. Why the hell does it add that every time I press enter?

 

[Berthenk]

Why, thank you! I assumed he'd also want to play some games, however. Next time OP says he wants to emulate, I won't assume he/she/it will use his PC for other stuff as well.

Aside from the need to play emulated games, there's also the need of keeping it within a "low" budget. As a general rule of thumb, CrossFire/SLI is not for anyone with a budget of below $1000 because you can get better performance from simply buying a better graphics card, rather than being 2 lesser graphics cards. Plus, for gaming, I personally can never justify the extra performance at the cost of micro-stuttering in games, at least not without adding a third graphics card to the mix to stabilize the micro-stuttering and then you're talking about fairly big rigs with specialized motherboards and massive power supplies and a small concern over cooling three big graphics cards. For the needs of the OP, multi-GPU setups is not the answer.

Also, why talk 120fps when you can just take the bar off and go over 9000fps?
EDIT: Took out the ​ from my post. Why the hell does it add that every time I press enter?

Oi... next time, I'll make sure to read the OP at least 4 times because I see I missed something there.

On a side note: I'm not satisfied with optimization until I can at least render fluid simulations real-time using an Intel 386.

 

[PolloDiablo]

Oi... next time, I'll make sure to read the OP at least 4 times because I see I missed something there.

I dont want to overspec it since I have a low budget and the PC is going to be used only for that

sorry if I wasnt clear

I just really dont have enough money to make a competent rig in order to play intensive PC games, also I dont have the time to play that games also!
I will just stick with console games.... there is a lot of PS2 RPGs that I have to play still!
The Last Story it's coming 24 of this month... it willl be awesome to play that game in HD

Well, I guess that I will go with these specs. I've saw lots of videos on youtube with people playing pcsx2 with much lower specs.

 

[PolloDiablo]

sorry to double post and bump this old thread... but I've updated the first post with the new build

 

[trumpet-205]

Replace Hyper 212 EVO with a better cooler, it is not suitable for overclocking.

Go with 2 x 4 instead on single 8 GB DDR3 RAM to take advantage of dual channel RAM.

Other than that it is a fine PC for PCSX2 and Dolphin.

 

[Luckkill4u]

sorry to double post and bump this old thread... but I've updated the first post with the new build

Have you thought of a AMD chip based PC? Just kinda curious lol

 

[PolloDiablo]

Have you thought of a AMD chip based PC? Just kinda curious lol

My current PC is an Athlon 3500+
so.. yes, I thought about buying an AMD CPU. But after some research I found that pcsx2 and dolphin likes Intel chips more.

 

[PolloDiablo]

Replace Hyper 212 EVO with a better cooler, it is not suitable for overclocking.

Which one do you recommend?

Go with 2 x 4 instead on single 8 GB DDR3 RAM to take advantage of dual channel RAM

Yeah, I thought the same... but since I plan on adding another 8GB of ram later. I will just wait and go with 2x8 dual channel RAM.

opps... sorry for double posting... AGAIN

 

[Luckkill4u]

My current PC is an Athlon 3500+
so.. yes, I thought about buying an AMD CPU. But after some research I found that pcsx2 and dolphin likes Intel chips more.

Indeed they do like Intel processors better but emulators use GPU's much more. You would save more $$$, get better quality/fps and play better PC games with AMD. Phenom II X4 965 is a great gaming CPU and only $85 so you can get a $200 Graphics card that can run any game and any emulator. Of coarse you wont have those crazy processing speeds intel chips have but with a AM3+ Motherboard upgrading will be really easy to say the $200 eight-core processor athough i doubt you will ever need it. The Phenom 965 Black Edition is killer.