pc what to buy?

[SadSatan]

i am new to this and want to build a pc from an old thrift store pc tower, what is the minimum hardware needed to start setting it up to run hyperspin? 

[Creezz67]

Maybe helpful to specify more information than this.

What are you expecting to run on it ? if you want to run stuff like snes and nes etc  then any old pc will be fine

If you want to run Wii-U, Sony PS3 etc then you will need to get a much more powerful pc, 8gb+ ram, gtx 1060+ graphics card. The better the pc the more it will run using Hyperspin

[dark13]

If you want to run everything on a "budget" at 1080p: intel 8350k @4.5ghz, 16gb ddr4, a GOOD heatsink, gtx1060 6gb and a decent mobo for overclock.

From intel 2xxx series to 7xxx cpu power has not increased that much, only 8xxx and 9xxx cpus are really better, especially because they have more cores. That means a 4 core i5 starting from 2500 can run most of the stuff without problem, just look at frequencies.

Consider also AMD: they have worse single core performance compared to intel BUT with the crazy price tag of Intel cpus these days a ryzen 2400g (120€) can make sense. AMD cpus also have a decent integrated videocard (some emulators don't like AMD videocard)

[Honosuseri]

3 hours ago, dark13 said:

If you want to run everything on a "budget" at 1080p: intel 8350k @4.5ghz, 16gb ddr4, a GOOD heatsink, gtx1060 6gb and a decent mobo for overclock.

From intel 2xxx series to 7xxx cpu power has not increased that much, only 8xxx and 9xxx cpus are really better, especially because they have more cores. That means a 4 core i5 starting from 2500 can run most of the stuff without problem, just look at frequencies.

Consider also AMD: they have worse single core performance compared to intel BUT with the crazy price tag of Intel cpus these days a ryzen 2400g (120€) can make sense. AMD cpus also have a decent integrated videocard (some emulators don't like AMD videocard)

I agree with your recommended spec. The i3 8350K sadly does get knocked in reviews, the reviewers are NOT taking emulation into account though. This confuses people when we suggest the new i3K, although it's actually better than the i5K cpus that came before it.

The OP stated a PC from a thrift store though, you're not going to find a spec like that going cheap!

I would probably argue buying a Shield TV now whilst on sale makes more sense, if on a budget. It can't do as much as a well spec'd PC but it can emulate a lot of systems.

The geforce now service whilst in beta is free to all shield tv owners. This allows us to stream PC games with the performance and graphics settings of a very decent gaming PC. 

When you factor in all it can do for the money, it makes a lot of sense!

[dark13]

Explaining single core performance and WHY you should look at it when buying a new cpu for gaming or emulation seems to be the most difficult thing in the world, moreover people say "it's just an i3" but they don't get i3 now have 4 cores like 7xxx i5. F*ck marketing ?

The real problem is in August 8350k was 180€ and a 6 cores 8400 225€. These days... well, prices seems to be on a freaking rollercoaster, even nvidia has released the new line with prices out of this world, rtx2080TI costs 1400€ and it can't even properly run raytracing at 4k.

Anyway with 350€ it should be possible to get an used system that can run almost everything. If you own a 2600k you know that it is still perfect at 1080p and you need something better only if you want 4k but there are also some people who buy things without knowing how they really work, and honestly it is ridicolous that a 10 year cpu is still ok.

Again, I'd like to understand why people spend 1k on a mobile that does the same stuff of a 350€ mobile but when you explain them how much you have to milk out for a gaming rig they say it's too much...