Hi everyone. This is my first time posting on dolphin forum and thank you to everybody for such a great space.
I purchased an Asus ROG G75 laptop for my kids (great deal scratch 'n' dent on newegg!) with i7-3630qm and gtx 660m. G75 is an awesome gaming laptop with great cooling, but I learned quickly the 2.4ghz mobile i7 is clearly insufficient for some games on dolphin. It's become clear that one gaming computer for two kids is leading to trouble and I decided to try my hand at building a desktop (more power, less $$$).
I have $1000 fund and I really don't want to spend all of it. I started out with the idea of building a $500 PC that could match an Xbox or ps4, and quickly found that each way I configure features, I can't bring it in under $750 and I've settled around $800 as an ideal upper limit. I don't have a copy of windows and I'm thinking about maybe running steamOS (don't know how easy to run dolphin on linux, but I assume it's possible).
My initial build centered around keeping it upgradeable (particularly with z87/97, OC and SLI), but I've been thinking more recently about an ITX build, keeping it close to the size of a console. I saw ads on newegg for the Asrock M8, which seems like a nice form factor, but supposedly has lousy cooling. Then I read about Silverstone's new Raven ITX case RVZ01, which is drawing attention for great cooling in a very small form factor, and the ability to house a 13" video card.
http://www.silverstonetek.com/raven/prod...odel=RVZ01
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6811163252
http://www.overclock.net/t/1466816/silve...wners-club
It seems like a great case with one major limiting factor. The 4" height (or width, depending on orientation - mine will sit horizontal) does not allow much room for a CPU cooler. It will supposedly house even small liquid coolers, but I haven't seen a great recommendation for one to go with the case. Most everybody seems so say that low profile aftermarket air coolers might be more quiet than stock intel, but not better performing.
It's clear that the outstanding cooling in the case is great for the gpu, but I wonder if my build concept really matches the case. I had in mind to start with a z97/i5-4670k (or devil's canyon equivalent - maybe 4690k?) and a gtx 750 ti. This way I'll have sufficient power for dolphin and any cpu intensive games from a power efficient haswell, mixed with a power efficient maxwell gpu that can be upgraded down the road when more funds and 800 series power efficient maxwell are available.
My concern is that I'm spending an extra $50 for K-chip and Z-mobo and I won't be able to OC to get the power from them. I'd probably only use a modest OC, but I'm sure it'd help with dolphin with LLE DSP. I'm not really sure if that makes sense given the cooler constraints, and maybe I should drop down to h97/i5-4590 and just enjoy without worrying about OC (I could also buy haswell refresh this week instead of waiting another month for Devil's Canyon).
http://pcpartpicker.com/user/bkoltai9/saved/4zIT
Currently clocking in around $900, this is a rough outline of the ideal system for this build concept. With h87/non-K i5, I'd probably also use silverstone's 300W 80+ bronze PSU. I would also consider going up to the gtx 760.
If anyone has experience with this case or thoughts in general about this build concept, I would love to know your opinion. I'll take other case recommendations too.
Thanks so much everyone!
NOTE: I'm only considering nvidia gpus since we have a shield (amazing emulator system!) and can take advantage of gamestream tech.
I purchased an Asus ROG G75 laptop for my kids (great deal scratch 'n' dent on newegg!) with i7-3630qm and gtx 660m. G75 is an awesome gaming laptop with great cooling, but I learned quickly the 2.4ghz mobile i7 is clearly insufficient for some games on dolphin. It's become clear that one gaming computer for two kids is leading to trouble and I decided to try my hand at building a desktop (more power, less $$$).
I have $1000 fund and I really don't want to spend all of it. I started out with the idea of building a $500 PC that could match an Xbox or ps4, and quickly found that each way I configure features, I can't bring it in under $750 and I've settled around $800 as an ideal upper limit. I don't have a copy of windows and I'm thinking about maybe running steamOS (don't know how easy to run dolphin on linux, but I assume it's possible).
My initial build centered around keeping it upgradeable (particularly with z87/97, OC and SLI), but I've been thinking more recently about an ITX build, keeping it close to the size of a console. I saw ads on newegg for the Asrock M8, which seems like a nice form factor, but supposedly has lousy cooling. Then I read about Silverstone's new Raven ITX case RVZ01, which is drawing attention for great cooling in a very small form factor, and the ability to house a 13" video card.
http://www.silverstonetek.com/raven/prod...odel=RVZ01
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6811163252
http://www.overclock.net/t/1466816/silve...wners-club
It seems like a great case with one major limiting factor. The 4" height (or width, depending on orientation - mine will sit horizontal) does not allow much room for a CPU cooler. It will supposedly house even small liquid coolers, but I haven't seen a great recommendation for one to go with the case. Most everybody seems so say that low profile aftermarket air coolers might be more quiet than stock intel, but not better performing.
It's clear that the outstanding cooling in the case is great for the gpu, but I wonder if my build concept really matches the case. I had in mind to start with a z97/i5-4670k (or devil's canyon equivalent - maybe 4690k?) and a gtx 750 ti. This way I'll have sufficient power for dolphin and any cpu intensive games from a power efficient haswell, mixed with a power efficient maxwell gpu that can be upgraded down the road when more funds and 800 series power efficient maxwell are available.
My concern is that I'm spending an extra $50 for K-chip and Z-mobo and I won't be able to OC to get the power from them. I'd probably only use a modest OC, but I'm sure it'd help with dolphin with LLE DSP. I'm not really sure if that makes sense given the cooler constraints, and maybe I should drop down to h97/i5-4590 and just enjoy without worrying about OC (I could also buy haswell refresh this week instead of waiting another month for Devil's Canyon).
http://pcpartpicker.com/user/bkoltai9/saved/4zIT
Currently clocking in around $900, this is a rough outline of the ideal system for this build concept. With h87/non-K i5, I'd probably also use silverstone's 300W 80+ bronze PSU. I would also consider going up to the gtx 760.
If anyone has experience with this case or thoughts in general about this build concept, I would love to know your opinion. I'll take other case recommendations too.
Thanks so much everyone!
NOTE: I'm only considering nvidia gpus since we have a shield (amazing emulator system!) and can take advantage of gamestream tech.