New computer to run emulators on, any help?

[Cid Highwind]

So let me get it straight, you have:

- No reusable parts from old computers? (case, PSU, input devices, monitor, optical drive?)
- No experience assembling a computer?

If I'm wrong, please fill me in with what parts you have and till what level you're able to assemble it yourself, or have a friend who is truly capable of doing so.

These things can drive up the price of a PC a lot, yet most of us don't count it in the price since we usually have those already anyway. If you see Fadingz' list there's no OS and and no monitor in it either.

__________________

PC Specs:
CPU: Intel Q8200 @ 2.8GHz
GPU: Sapphire ATi HD4870 / 1024MB / Core: 801 / Mem: 1000
Mobo: Gigabyte EP35-DS3 (rev 2.1)
SPU: Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music
RAM: 2GB Kingston HyperX DDR2 1066 @ 4-4-4-12 ~ 800MHz
HDD: 1TB Samsung Spinpoint, 32MB
PSU: Hiper Type-R 580W
Monitor: Iiyama B2403WS / 1920*1200

Geometry Wars: 198.400
Lumines: 999.999

Join the NGEmu Folding @ Home community NOW!

[AaronDude]

That's right, I have no experiance assembling a computer and no reusable parts. I gave my last computer and monitor to my mom. the monitor is kind of ruined, it looks like someone took a magnet to it.

Another thing I was wondering is if emulators such as epsxe and snes9x work on Windows 7 64 bit. I'm thinking of going with an HP, Acer, Dell or Lenovo desktop. There is just too much risk involved with having one of those boutique builders like ava direct, cybertron or cyberpower build me one. However the best garphics cards they really have are either a geforce gt220 or a Radeon 4350. I know we already discussed the system requirements for game emulation on here but I have a hunch that would be more then enough for PSX, SNES emulators but probably not for PS2, Gamecube or whatever else. Then I'm sure 4gb DDR2 or DDR3 ram is enough and the processor probably doesn't make much of a difference especially the tri core and up. Probably just need a dual core running at 2.6 ghz and that would be more than enough.

Unless someone could recommend a great boutique builder that can get me a whole computer system with a monitor and all that for under $900 I will probably end up with a cookie cutter PC in the end

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Last edited by AaronDude; 2 Weeks Ago at 18:19..

[bkwegoharder]

Go to this website


eCollegePC.com Custom Computer Systems


They are very reliable and you can get a pc made with whatever parts you choose for cheap. They assemble it for you and mail it to you. The price difference between newegg and ecollegepc.com is usually small, sometimes ecollege is cheaper but usually ecollege is slightly more expensive, bassically look at that as the premium for them building the pc. It is only a small difference in price for avoiding inconvience.

[tuanming]

Building a pc is like putting a simple puzzle together, but buying the right or compatible parts is another story for beginner.

__________________

Intel Core2Duo E6300 1.86Ghz L629A244 @ 3.78GHz
Asus P5K-E Wifi/AP Rev.1.02g
Thermalright Ultra Extreme 120+ FM121 (110 cfm fan)
ATI x1900 GT Rev.2 256mb 513/657

G.Skill 2x1gb Hz--540MHz
CORSAIR CMPSU-1000HX 1000W

[bkwegoharder]

I remember trying to separate my old Pentium 2 pc and try to put it back together. That was the first time I ever opened a PC. I accidentally broke the HDD(It was only 6.4GB so it is not that bad, even though I could have used it in my current pc) and it took me a couple of months before I finally put everything back together. I wouldn't recommend a complete newcomer into building a computer because anything can go wrong. It is hard to go from zero to hero. Maybe he could experiment on some other pcs that he doesn't need though. Just jumping in and spending hundreds of dollars on something that he might not be able to finish could be risky. Especially seeing how delicate certain compter parts are.


This website is good if you want to leran how to build a pc though, the information on the computer parts to buy is outdated though, it is from back when the Core 2 was going against the Athlons.

http://forums.ngemu.com/hardware-dis...ityourself.com

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Last edited by bkwegoharder; 2 Weeks Ago at 18:37..

[AaronDude]

Originally Posted by tuanming

Building a pc is like putting a simple puzzle together, but buying the right or compatible parts is another story for beginner.

I need a strategy guide for simple puzzles.

ecollegepc.com does look great. I can get everything but a blu ray drive for under 900 bucks. That includes a monitor and a 2 year warrenty where they pay for the shipping back if it breaks. I could add a external blu ray drive later on once they're cheaper and I figure out what I need to play blu ray movies. Blu Ray seems more primitive then DVD. From what I read you need a dvi connection to a monitor, playback software and of course a blu ray drive. Then you have to keep upgrading something so it still works. AAAAAAHHH! I think I'm gonna stay away from blu ray for now.

here's a build from ecollegepc that looks good to me:

AMD Athlon II X4 620 2.6GHz 2MB Cache FSB 4000MHz HT
AMD Heatsink and Fan Included
GIGABYTE GA-MA770-UD3 (AMD 770, PCI-E, 8-Ch Audio, LAN, 6xSATA2, 4xDDR2)
4GB (2GBx2) PC6400 DDR2 800Mhz Memory Lifetime Warranty
500GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache Serial ATA300 (Hitachi)
22X LG Dual Layer DVD+/-RW/CDRW w/Nero
1GB ATI Radeon HD4670 GDDR3 PCI-E DVI/Tvout (Major Brand)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 32bit
Acer 19in Black 1440x900 LCD Flat Panel Monitor 8ms Widescreen
Apevia Black X-Dreamer 3 (4 5.25, 5 3.5 bays) 3 Fans, Window, Front Audio/USB/eSATA
450watt Stock Supply
Onboard LAN included
Wireless B/G PCI Adapter
Onboard Sound included
Black Logitech Deluxe 250 Desktop Wired Keyboard and Mouse
Two year hassle free pickup and return

$876.00

The graphics card may be a little more then I need for older pc games and psx and snes emulation but It's still a budget card though. I've chosen windows 7 32 bit in this example because of possible compatibility issues with software and hardware.

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Last edited by AaronDude; 2 Weeks Ago at 02:08..

[bkwegoharder]

I don't think that you should get the stock psu with that apevia case. Apevia makes ****ty psus. They have an option for an Antec or corsair psu for you to use.

[Lord Zedeck]

I agree with tinkering with an old/spare PC before putting together your first. I also disassembled one of my earlier ones, and the reassembled it again. All went well. I did a second time later, and that time, I killed it. It was a Baby AT form factor, and if you plug the two AT power connector in backwards, it's bye-bye motherboard and/or PSU. I assume that's what I did. What was bad about it was that board was a pretty sought after and uncommon Gigabyte Baby AT socket 370 AGP board with overclocking options (I wish I knew that back then!), and there weren't many of those. It supported up to 768MB SDRAM too, which was better than the almost monopolistic 815 was capped at 512MB, and even had ISA slots (and either a 2x or a 4xAGP slot). I learned alot through tinkering with and tearing it down and rebuilding it though.

__________________

"Without forgiveness, life is governed by an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation."
"Judge people not of their mistakes, but on how they handle those mistakes."

Core 2 Duo E8600 @4.0GHz- ASUS Maximus Formula (Rampage Formula BIOS 0701) - 8GB (4x 2GB) Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800
MSI nVidia GeForce 8800GT 512MB - 4x Western Digital Caviar 6400AAKS (2,560GB total) - PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610
IBM P275 21" CRT (1600x1200 @100Hz) - Logitech Z-2300 2.1 Sound System - Windows 7 64-bit & Windows XP SP3

[AaronDude]

Well, after all that I decided to go with an Acer desktop because of the power for the price. This one right here and from this store: Acer Computer AM3802-U9062 Multimedia Powerhouse Desktop PC in PC Desktop Computers at JR.com . It's coming across the country to me in a 46 pound box with the monitor I also ordered. The box must be huge. I just couldn't get the courage to order from cyberpowerpc, ecollegepc or places like that. I would of probably end up spending more with them and they are sort of question marks. The ecollegepc site scared me off after a longer look with the geocities layout and no phone number listed. Here's the specs:

Display Type: Monitor Not Included

Condition: New

Lifestyle: Entertainment

Operating Systems: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit

Startup Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit

Optional Operating Systems: N/A

Operating System Licenses Included: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit

Platform: PC

Orientations Allowed: Vertical

Form Factor: Mid-Tower

Bays: 2 - 5.25" Drive Bays

Internal Bays: 3 - 3.5" Drive Bays

Available 3.5" Drive Bays: 2

Available 5.25" Drive Bays: 1

Colors: Black

PCI Slots (Total): 2

PCI Slots (Available): 1

PCI Express X1 Slots (Total): 1

PCI Express X1 Slots (Available): 1

PCI Express X4 Slots (Total): N/A

PCI Express X8 Slots (Total): N/A

PCI Express X16 Slots (Total): 1

PCI Express X16 Slots (Available): 0

PCI X Slots: N/A

AGP Slots (Total): N/A

ISA Slots (Total): N/A

CNR Slots (Total): N/A

AMR Slots (Total): N/A

PS/2 Keyboard Connectors: 1

PS/2 Mouse Connectors: 1

Serial Communication Ports: N/A

Parallel Ports: N/A

USB Ports: 8

FireWire Ports: 1

eSATA Ports: N/A

LAN Ports: 1

Game/MIDI Ports: N/A

Audio Out Jacks: 6

Microphone Jacks: 1

Composite Video: N/A

VGA Ports: 1

DVI Video: N/A

DisplayPorts: N/A

HDMI Ports: 1

LFH Video: N/A

S-Video Connectors: N/A

Coaxial Connectors: N/A

S/PDIF Connectors: 1 - Optical

SCSI Connectors: N/A

Processor Brand: Intel

Processor Class: Core 2 Quad

Processor Number: Q8300

Processor Speed: 2.5GHz

Processor Interface: Socket 775

Processors Supported: 1

Additional Technologies: Execute Disable Bit
Enhanced Halt State (C1E)
Intel® 64
Enhanced Intel® Speedstep Technology

Memory Type: DDR2

Memory Size: 4 x 2048MB

Total Memory: 8.0GB

Memory Speed: DDR2 800 (PC2-6400)

Memory Slots (Total): 4

Memory Slots (Available): 0

Hard Drives Included: 1

Hard Drive Types: Hard Disk Drive

Capacity: 1TB

Speed: 5,400RPM

Optical Drives Included: 1

Optical Drive Type: 16X DVD+/-RW SuperMulti SATA

Optical Drive Class: DVD SuperMulti

Supplemental Media Type: Media Reader

Capacity: Multi-in-one

Media Types: MultiMediaCard
Memory Stick
Secure Digital
Memory Stick Duo
Memory Stick PRO Duo
Memory Stick PRO
xD
Compact Flash I
RSMMC
CF+ MicroDrive
Compact Flash Il
mini-SD
MultiMediaCard Mobile

Audio Description: Integrated Audio

Audio Chipset: Third-generation Dolby Home Theater® audio enhancement

Channels: 7.1

Graphics Description: PCI-Express x16 Video Card

GPU/VPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 220

Video Memory: 1GB dedicated

Video Interface: DVI
VGA

Communications Description: Integrated LAN

Interface Type: RJ-45 - Ethernet Connector

Data Transfer Rate: 10/100/1000Mbps

WiFi Data Transfer Rate: 54 Mb

WiFi Description: Wireless LAN 802.11 b/g

Power: 300 Watt

Connection Type: USB

Keyboard Type: Standard

Connection Type: USB

Height: 14.8"

Width: 7.1"

Depth: 16.4"


The power supply isn't the highest wattage but it obviously should power it ok and a few add ons if I get them later and maybe a slightly better card later on. From what I read some 300 watt power supplies can work better then the 500 watt or so.

I also know that I should have way more then enough power to run psx emulators and earlier generations. I was wondering though, would it still even be enough to run a PS2 emulator? It would be nice if I could get 20 frames a second or more. it would be neat if I could put in my dragon quest 8 game in the optical drive and play it on the PC(the emulator I was looking at supports it). I haven't got a change to play it yet and part of the reason why is I don't want to play it on the PS2 itself. I like being able to save whenever and were ever I want. I would also have easy access to a cheat sheet that way. That's fine if my computer won't handle it, it wouldn't break the deal for me. I got a great price. It certainly would be great if it did play them well enough though. I just don't understand all the min specs stuff I see on the interweb and this message board.

I know it kind of sounds like I'm trying to pimp my new machine but I'm not, well maybe a little . I'll be getting it either Wednesday or Friday. I hope it survives the trip across the country.

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Last edited by AaronDude; 1 Week Ago at 03:02..

[StriderVM]

Decent speed? Yeah sort of. As it has a 2.53 Intel Core2Quad. But PCSX2 doesn't support quad cores so kinda moot. And since it's branded stuff, no overclocking.

The video card might also need a little upgrade. Beyond that, it's ok.

__________________
Current PC specs :
AsRock 945GCM-S
Pentium Dual Core E5200 @ 2912Mhz (233x12.5)
Palit Radeon 4850 Sonic 512MB gDDR3
2x2048MB Kingston DDR2 800Mhz RAM

[Phil]

Originally Posted by bkwegoharder

I don't think that you should get the stock psu with that apevia case. Apevia makes ****ty psus. They have an option for an Antec or corsair psu for you to use.

They make horrid cases as well. Stay clear of them.

__________________

A Mac is like an escort, you pay a ton and get nothing.
A PC is like a hooker, it's a lot cheaper and gives you what you're after.. and if unlucky some diseases as well, that's why you gotta use protection. -CC

[Lord Zedeck]

Originally Posted by AaronDude

Power: 300 Watt

I hope you can get specifics on that. Any company selling a real quality PSU would be listing it help advertise the quality of the system. Otherwise, it's just a number. While a quality 300 watt PSU would work with that, it'd be cutting it close. I'd really find out what PSU it is, and perhaps choose a higher model.

Originally Posted by AaronDude

Speed: 5,400RPM

Oh dear goodness no. Select a higher rotational speed, 7200 at the least. Yes, it is worth dropping to a lower size drive if you have to do so. If that's a Western Digital 1TB Green drive, you want to stay away from it anyway. It has an issue with it's spindown or spinup or something, and it was apparently "mostly" fixed, but I wouldn't advise a 5400RPM drive anyway. It's selling point is it's power savings, which is moot unless you run a ton of computers and want to make the costs add up.

As for PCSX2 and Dolphin, a higher clocked dual core (namely, one you can overclock too) would be better than a slower clocked quad core, and yes, this will still be true for about 95% of the people for about 99% of that CPU's time spent working. Don't waste speed on needless cores. Their time still isn't quite here yet, and no, it's not just right around the corner either. Unless you're going with Core i7 (in which you get four cores by default, and they're really fast at almost any speed), then you needn't a quad core CPU unless you know you need it (video, picture, and multimedia work for the most part). 2.53GHz is "okay" for PCSX2, especially with speed hacks, but it's not going to be a real force to be reckoned with. Don't settle for 20FPS (that PC would get more than that anyway). If you're going new now, you should be aiming for the full speed range.

__________________

"Without forgiveness, life is governed by an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation."
"Judge people not of their mistakes, but on how they handle those mistakes."

Core 2 Duo E8600 @4.0GHz- ASUS Maximus Formula (Rampage Formula BIOS 0701) - 8GB (4x 2GB) Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800
MSI nVidia GeForce 8800GT 512MB - 4x Western Digital Caviar 6400AAKS (2,560GB total) - PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610
IBM P275 21" CRT (1600x1200 @100Hz) - Logitech Z-2300 2.1 Sound System - Windows 7 64-bit & Windows XP SP3

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Last edited by Lord Zedeck; 1 Week Ago at 21:41..

[AaronDude]

Thanks for the comments.

I thought 5,000 for the hard drive was a little slow too, but I think I can live with it. OS may take a while to load and there may be a stutter or two every once in a while in a game because of loading. There is plenty of ram, so that may help, and even if it doesn't I really don't care. I really wasn't planning on going full speed anyway. I just didn't want to get too crazy and spend a whole bunch on a computer and go over my budget, and take a big risk with ecollegepc, cyberpower and such. Plus for all I know if I spent a whole bunch it could of been outdated just as fast as this. I can't keep up. I picked this because it seemed to have the best specs for the price and a good graphics card, better than any I've seen in a Windows 7 machine already built(from acer, dell and hp) although it still has a budget card. I could of picked better parts at dell or hp website but I would of gone way over. This seemed to just do everything I needed decently. As long as it doesn't look like a movie from the 20's or very annoying I'm ok with it.

[Lord Zedeck]

You don't need to spend alot to get a 7200 RPM drive. Believe me, it is not worth getting a 5400RPM drive unless you want the Green drives for mass energy savings. For a desktop PC, 7200RPM (or more) is the way to go. Drop down to about 750GB if you have to in order to get a 7200RPM drive for the same price. Having alot of RAM is moot. Some people say a 5400RPM drive is okay for a secondary/archive disk, but even I wouldn't go there. I have four, and all are 7200RPM drives. Either way, at least the primary drive should be 7200RPM.

Also, do find out more about that PSU if you can.

__________________

"Without forgiveness, life is governed by an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation."
"Judge people not of their mistakes, but on how they handle those mistakes."

Core 2 Duo E8600 @4.0GHz- ASUS Maximus Formula (Rampage Formula BIOS 0701) - 8GB (4x 2GB) Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800
MSI nVidia GeForce 8800GT 512MB - 4x Western Digital Caviar 6400AAKS (2,560GB total) - PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610
IBM P275 21" CRT (1600x1200 @100Hz) - Logitech Z-2300 2.1 Sound System - Windows 7 64-bit & Windows XP SP3

[Spyhop]

Originally Posted by Lord Zedeck

Some people say a 5400RPM drive is okay for a secondary/archive disk

And those people are correct. You don't need performance for simple storage.

__________________

WINTERFELL - C2D E8400 - DFI Lanparty JR P45-T2RS MATX Motherboard - Mushkin Redline PC2 8000 DDr2 - EVGA Geforce GTX 285 - Silverstone SG01 case
RIVERRUN - Pentium DC 2.5ghz - 4GB OCZ DDR2 - Cheapie ASUS Motherboard w/onboard vid - Antec Sonata III
KING'S LANDING - 80GB Playstation 3

[AaronDude]

I'll let you guys know how well the hard drive is in a couple days. It makes me wonder why Acer would call this a powerhouse and include a slower HD. It has a decent budget card, lots of ram, and good processor for newer games. The graphics card probably isn't good enough for top of the line new games but the processor is? weird. Then add to that the slower HD. Then the lower wattage PSU tells me that I couldn't do much upgrading without upgrading that thing too. The PSU is probably the same generic or in house stuff dell and hp use. Don't know, will have to try to find out.

[Lord Zedeck]

Originally Posted by Spyhop

And those people are correct. You don't need performance for simple storage.

Maybe so, but that's neither here nor there. He's using this as his primary drive. That was my point. It might be okay to get away with it as a storage drive, but I wouldn't go for less than 7200RPM drives for a primary one.

__________________

"Without forgiveness, life is governed by an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation."
"Judge people not of their mistakes, but on how they handle those mistakes."

Core 2 Duo E8600 @4.0GHz- ASUS Maximus Formula (Rampage Formula BIOS 0701) - 8GB (4x 2GB) Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800
MSI nVidia GeForce 8800GT 512MB - 4x Western Digital Caviar 6400AAKS (2,560GB total) - PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610
IBM P275 21" CRT (1600x1200 @100Hz) - Logitech Z-2300 2.1 Sound System - Windows 7 64-bit & Windows XP SP3