New PC - what video card for Dolphin (do I even need one?)???

[Hanafuda]

Ok in a few days I'm assembling a new PC. I've already got all the guts - just waiting for the case to get here via UPS. The intention here is a family box, mainly for internet, school work (daughter in 8th grade), some video editing on home movies, etc. Not gaming. Not really. I'm not a person who has the time for current PC games. But I do enjoy some retro gaming and while I generally prefer playing on real hardware, I will use an emu for the sake of convenience or improved features. From some googling, it seems the new PC may be able to run Dolphin decently at 1080p as-is, and with a GPU added it'd crush it.

So...

1) if getting improved playback out of Dolphin were the aim (higher res, textures), but no real concern about playing the latest AAA PC titles, what single video card would you add? (pls don't suggest sli/bridge configs. I ain't goin' there.) The objective here is to get something that makes a real difference without being overkill for my purposes.

2) To me, 1080p sounds like a super-acceptable resolution for GC & Wii games, even w/ enhanced textures. If I am satisfied with that resolution, would this PC handle things ok without the addition of a GPU? (i.e. Intel HD 630 graphics & 16GB ram)

3) Just a quick casual look at newegg shows GTX 1050 Ti cards in the range I'm thinking would do the job (bang 4 buck). Is there any reason I should be shooting higher than that? And if that's a good choice, which particular model of GTX 1050 Ti card would you recommend??


Here's the list of all the stuff I've already purchased:
ASRock z270 Killer sli/ac motherboard
Intel i5 7600k 3.8GHz (Kaby Lake) 91W
Intel BXTS15A heatsink/fan - I'm not OC'ing so that's enuff
8GB x 2 (i.e. 16GB) G.Skill TridentZ DDR4 3200
Samsung 960 EVO M.2 250GB PCI-e SSD
EVGA 500W power supply
ASUS no-frills DVD burner/drive
Cooler Master N400 case
Win 10 Pro 64bit
MS Office 2016

There are also some conventional SATA drives that are being migrated over from our current desktop, but I'm really looking forward to seeing how running Windows off that M.2 drive goes. Zippy-dee-doo-dah.

Thanks for your thoughts/assistance.

 

[the_randomizer]

It would be highly advised to have a discrete GPU especially if you're going to scale the native resolution 2 to 3 times, at least, from my personal experience. Your CPU is plenty powerful, even for the most demanding games without overclocking.

 

[Kioku]

The GTX 1050ti would do what you needed it to, and then some. The RX 480/580 is also a viable mid to high end option for the price.

 

[TotalInsanity4]

The GTX 1050ti would do what you needed it to, and then some. The RX 480/580 is also a viable mid to high end option for the price.

A 460 should even be enough for what he wants

 

[Kioku]

A 460 should even be enough for what he wants

Shhh, we need him to unnecessarily spend more.

 

[Gnarmagon]

change your CPU to AMD Ryzen and go for a high end GPU from Nvidia (amd CPU's should perform better in emulation)

 

[Hanafuda]

change your CPU to AMD Ryzen and go for a high end GPU from Nvidia (amd CPU's should perform better in emulation)

Emulation's not my priority though. I'm an Intel bitch.

As for spending unnecessarily, I'd rather spend $150 and be happy than spend $80 and then soon after wish I still had that $80 so I could use it towards spending $150 on what I should have bought. So even if that happens, it beats the alternative. Besides, the 1050 Ti seems to be the 'trend' card right now, at least looking at prices on newegg in the 135 to 165 range depending. And the 460, being on the way out, looks overpriced. 100-130ish. So with that small of a margin between them, might as well buy the better one.

 

[the_randomizer]

Emulation's not my priority though. I'm an Intel bitch.

As for spending unnecessarily, I'd rather spend $150 and be happy than spend $80 and then soon after wish I still had that $80 so I could use it towards spending $150 on what I should have bought. So even if that happens, it beats the alternative. Besides, the 1050 Ti seems to be the 'trend' card right now, at least looking at prices on newegg in the 135 to 165 range depending. And the 460, being on the way out, looks overpriced. 100-130ish. So with that small of a margin between them, might as well buy the better one.

Intel is generally better for emulation anyway.

 

[Kioku]

Emulation's not my priority though. I'm an Intel bitch.

As for spending unnecessarily, I'd rather spend $150 and be happy than spend $80 and then soon after wish I still had that $80 so I could use it towards spending $150 on what I should have bought. So even if that happens, it beats the alternative. Besides, the 1050 Ti seems to be the 'trend' card right now, at least looking at prices on newegg in the 135 to 165 range depending. And the 460, being on the way out, looks overpriced. 100-130ish. So with that small of a margin between them, might as well buy the better one.

Also, I'm not finding anything to back up what @Gnarmagon said. Up until Ryzen, AMD CPUs have been notoriously behind when it comes to emulation.

 

[TotalInsanity4]

(amd CPU's should perform better in emulation)

Except according to the Dolphin team they don't

 

[the_randomizer]

Except according to the Dolphin team they don't

Same with the PCSX2 team, and I take their words over others.

AMD is cheaper, but for good reason.

 

[TotalInsanity4]

Same with the PCSX2 team, and I take their words over others.

AMD is cheaper, but for good reason.

They stepped up their game with Ryzen, but I'd still put an Intel chip into an emulation machine because that's what's tested

 

[brickmii82]

Don't get a RX 480/580. Cryptocurrency miners are blowing the doors off of the price. They're running close to 400$ right now.
I'm curious though, why did you choose the 7600 over the 6600? I was under the impression that the 6600 was a better buy if looking at price to performance. I plan on building my son a 6600k/GTX 1070(or Vega) build in October for his Bday. I have a Ryzen 1700/RX480 build and it runs any emulation very well. It's more for video editing and streaming though. The kids will be pure gaming.