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Need some insight on hardware for new rig.


BL4Z3D247

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Hi everyone,

So basically I want to build a emulation only PC. I want to be able to play up to and including Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, GameCube and Wii. I've read lots of threads about the minimum requirements for these systems to work. I basically don't want to spend more money than I have to but I also don't want to skimp on anything that would be crucial for these systems to run the best they can.

Anyways, here's what I have so far for a parts list. Any recommendations or insight as to whether this is overkill/underkill would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

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Looks like a solid set of choices (I'm an ASUS/Bitfenix fanboy myself), though I would DEFINITELY get a SSD for the OS and apps--- Samsung's 850 Pro series are zippy and not godawful expensive. What were you thinking for video card? For emulators, I'd think any nVidia GTX 960/970/980 series would keep you happy without need to upgrade again any time soon.

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Looks like a solid set of choices (I'm an ASUS/Bitfenix fanboy myself), though I would DEFINITELY get a SSD for the OS and apps--- Samsung's 850 Pro series are zippy and not godawful expensive. What were you thinking for video card? For emulators, I'd think any nVidia GTX 960/970/980 series would keep you happy without need to upgrade again any time soon.

 

Have you used or seen used the AMD A10 series used with solely the onboard GPU? I was looking at using the A10-7700k, but I'm pretty curious how it will hold up with emulators for DC and PS2.

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I can't view your parts list because it is a dead link for me.  Here is a build better than one I am using to play Dreamcast, ps2, gamecube and wii.  I have overclocked my CPU to 4.0.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($64.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H81M-HDS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($54.99 @ Mwave)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($53.10 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($52.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 270X 2GB Dual-X Video Card  ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1100 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($24.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair CSM 450W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($26.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $417.54
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-13 15:50 EDT-0400

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Looks like a solid set of choices (I'm an ASUS/Bitfenix fanboy myself), though I would DEFINITELY get a SSD for the OS and apps--- Samsung's 850 Pro series are zippy and not godawful expensive. What were you thinking for video card? For emulators, I'd think any nVidia GTX 960/970/980 series would keep you happy without need to upgrade again any time soon.

Thanks man. Yeah that would've been a great build, I'm going to opt for a more budget friendly build though. I already built a $1000 PC last year. Appreciate the input though. Oh and I am going to use a Sammy SSD, just forgot to add it to the list at that time.

Have you used or seen used the AMD A10 series used with solely the onboard GPU? I was looking at using the A10-7700k, but I'm pretty curious how it will hold up with emulators for DC and PS2.

I've read that if you were to use an AMD APU you should use an A10 6800K. I guess the 7700K and 7850K yeild problems with PC games and possibly some console games(?). The 6800K should be able to handle the DC and PS2. I've watch a few videos that had Dolphin running Mario Kart pretty well.

I can't view your parts list because it is a dead link for me. Here is a build better than one I am using to play Dreamcast, ps2, gamecube and wii. I have overclocked my CPU to 4.0.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($64.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: ASRock H81M-HDS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($54.99 @ Mwave)

Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($53.10 @ Newegg)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.49 @ OutletPC)

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 270X 2GB Dual-X Video Card ($139.99 @ Newegg)

Case: Fractal Design Core 1100 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($24.99 @ NCIX US)

Power Supply: Corsair CSM 450W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($26.99 @ Newegg)

Total: $417.54

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-13 15:50 EDT-0400

That's because axed that build, great hardware just felt a bit overkill. I've been redoing the parts list. I stumbled upon a thread about the Pentium G3258 and saw it for $65 and decided that's a no brainer.

The build I have parted out now is very similar to that of the parts list you posted. Actually, I did 3 parts lists(based off of my price range), a pure budget build, a mid-level build and mid/high-level build. Probably going to go with the G3258.

AMD A10 6800K build

Pentium G3258 build

Core i5-4690K build

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That G3258 sounds very appealing. I guess I'll need to look into this some more. It's been north of 7 years since I've looked into hardware for a gaming rig. 

It does doesn't it? I went with the G3258 after reading up on it for a few days. I watched a lot of videos on it too. From what I gathered it's the best performance for the price, especially when you overclock it(like it's made for). I've read when OCed to 4.4-4.5GHz it can stand up to the i7 4770K @ 4.4Ghz so it certainly seems like a great little chip considering the price difference between the two is $280 or an additional four G3258s. It really is a no brainer. Lol.

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It does doesn't it? I went with the G3258 after reading up on it for a few days. I watched a lot of videos on it too. From what I gathered it's the best performance for the price, especially when you overclock it(like it's made for). I've read when OCed to 4.4-4.5GHz it can stand up to the i7 4770K @ 4.4Ghz so it certainly seems like a great little chip considering the price difference between the two is $280 or an additional four G3258s. It really is a no brainer. Lol.

 

The other CPU I was looking at was the FX-8350, but that was only because it was recommended for Mortal Combat X for PC which I'd like to be able to play. If an overclocked G3258 can stand up to that i7 though... it's really not black and white.

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The other CPU I was looking at was the FX-8350, but that was only because it was recommended for Mortal Combat X for PC which I'd like to be able to play. If an overclocked G3258 can stand up to that i7 though... it's really not black and white.

The only downside is the G3258 is only 2 cores. It smokes the 8-core FX-8350 @ 4.7GHz though so I think it'll do fine with Mortal Kombat X.

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  • 3 months later...

im using an amd x6 fx. but it's all about the motherboard! asrock dont buy them there so unstable buggy! asus not bad!

as for emulation using 2 cores, there program's that use all cores on one particular program like core tuner that helps! 

so far every think works like a dream ps2 psp etc full speed.

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  • 2 weeks later...

My rig is pretty cool.. And not that expansive.. Bought a cheap from ebay.. Then i bought a better case (rvz01) and a new gpu (gtx960 mini itx oc 2gb) and.. So well..

I5 4590. 8gb ram. 320gb ssd. Be quiet rock shadow LP cooler for CPU instead of stock cooler.. And 6tb external..

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