I'm gonna get a PC...

[Obiwanshinobi]

...and since the one I'm about to replace is pretty old, I'm not really following the market. Thus I need information what's needed inside to:

a) play S.T.A.L.K.E.R. with all settings maxed out (modded graphics, if recommended) in 1024x768,

b) emulate Wii. If everything will be playable at 100% speed, not too glitchy, in 640x480, it'll do.

What specifications would you recommend to do the aforementioned?

[Astraea FGA Mk. I]

I'm curious, why 1024x768?

[Obiwanshinobi]

I keep a 17'' CRT and it makes 1024x768 look good enough for me.

[Jonathan Ingram]

What specifications would you recommend to do the aforementioned?

You`d want to play S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl and Call of Pripyat with COMPLETE mods which somewhat raise the system requirements(but make the experience much smoother and more stable). However, the games are fairly old and you really don`t need a beast of a PC to run them. Something along the lines of Athlon II X4 or Phenom II with Radeon HD5870(or even Radeon 4K given the low resolution you are going to be playing the games at) and 2-4 gigs of RAM should be more than enough.

Wii and PS2 emulation is very CPU reliant, so you`d need one of them Ivy Bridge CPUs(like Core i7 3770k) if you want to run everything full speed. And even then you`ll still most likely have to do some overclocking. There`s nothing out there that tasks modern CPUs as much as Dolphin and PCSX2.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Well, I feared beefy CPU and possibly overclocking will be necessary. Oh dear, electricity costs money too...

[Ex-Cyber]

You can't really pin down a number for PS2 and Wii emulation because the efficiency depends heavily on the game and which speed hacks it's compatible with. You might want to search the forums of PCSX2 and Dolphin for discussions of the specific games you're most interested in playing.

[Jonathan Ingram]

You can't really pin down a number for PS2 and Wii emulation because the efficiency depends heavily on the game and which speed hacks it's compatible with. You might want to search the forums of PCSX2 and Dolphin for discussions of the specific games you're most interested in playing.

A lot of the games can be played full speed even on (relatively)stock CPUs, but something like Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario Galaxy 1-2, F-Zero GX, Metroid Prime 1-3, Shadow of the Colossus and Gran Turismo 4 definitely require the high-end ones.

[Vexorg]

I can't speak for how much system you'd need for Wii emulation since I haven't ever done anything with it, but generally you can put together a pretty respectable system for somewhere around $1,000 (not sure what currency you're working in, although I do know hardware tends to cost more in some places than others, particularly Europe.) In that price range, I think I'd be shooting for something like this:

Intel Z77-based motherboard (Asus boards are generally the most reliable ones I've had, MSIs are decent too)
Core i5 processor (Maybe a Core i7 3770k if you don't mind a bit of a splurge)
GeForce 560/660 level GPU (not sure what the equivalents are on the Radeon side, but for the NVidias the x60 level seems to be the best compromise between price and performance though. Remember, the second digit matters a lot more than the first one to determine the performance level.)
A much RAM as you can get (the stuff is pretty cheap these days)
If possible, an SSD for the system drive (150GB should be enough) and a 1-2TB hard drive for storage
At least a 700W power supply
odds and ends (I don't know what you've got for a case, but if it's not too old you might be able to reuse the existing one, as well as optical drives.)

Something like this should handle pretty much every modern PC game you could throw at it quite well, although again, I don't know how it would do on the really CPU-intensive emulators.

[Stormwatch]

I keep a 17'' CRT and it makes 1024x768 look good enough for me.

By modern standards, that's quite small. You can get a 27", 2560x1440 LED-lit S-IPS LCD for $350 on eBay.

[Ed Oscuro]

A game like the original STALKER will benefit from higher resolution in that you have more leeway in aiming.

My thought would be to head over to http://www.tomshardware.com/ and look, in the articles section, for the most up-to-date "best X for the money" articles, if you want to research this yourself.

Earlier in the year my build notes looked like this...

Intel Xeon E3-1230 V2 Ivy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 69W Quad-Core Server Processor BX80637E31230V2
$236
E3-1230 V2 motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme6 - BIOS rev. P1.20 or higher
or
ASRock Z77 Professional LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard, BIOS rev. P1.10 or higher - $240
ASRock Z77 Extreme6 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $180

Now, my finished build (missing sound card, OS, and GPU; all will be salvaged, along with other peripherals) looks like this:

Core-i7 3930K $570
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819116492
Z79 motherboard - P9X79 PRO $305 + $8.50 s&h
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131800
RAM - G.SKILL Trident X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) two count - $140 ($70+$70)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820231587
Blu-Ray drive - ASUS SATA BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827135252
heatsink & fan - Noctua NH-D14 $81
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835608018
case - phantom 820 $195 + ~$16.50 s&h
http://www.frys.com/product/7370654?sou ... 4Aoda3gAFw
hard drive - mechanical - Western Digital Red WD30EFRX 3TB $170 + $7.28
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822236344
hard drive - SSD - PNY Prevail Elite SSD9SC240GEDA-PB 2.5" 240GB $235
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820178523
power supply - Seasonic SS-660XP 660W $150 + $10.72 s&h
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817151121
thermal paste + arcticlean thermal material remover $14.48 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDeal ... bo.1046967

My spreadsheet puts the total price at $1966.98, although that is $16.50 and pennies short (due to Fry's not actually having free shipping up to December 31st, like a review site claims).

Some of the stuff in there you most likely won't need (fancy case - I am hoping this one will last a long while, but realistically another metal box would've worked and I could've just salvaged a tower sitting around; blu-ray drive - just salvage another optical drive unless you specifically need it, since most everybody has a good DVD burner these days; I'm just getting it in case I ever want to watch a disc on my PC, or burn a data Blu-Ray, and in case anybody starts delivering data on Blu-Ray discs). The thermal paste is more expensive than you need (I got it in part for the material remover which may or may not work well on other pastes outside the Arctic Silver brand...it's a combo deal though and I thought it would be useful). Overall this is definitely an "enthusiast" type of build, which has already surpassed the point of diminishing returns on the money in some respects (but not outrageously so, like buying a $1000 CPU or GPU).

Not exactly sure if my case choice will turn out to be wise; I just had another look at the review of the case on Tom's. It might turn out to be another turd like the Enermax Uber Chakra...hoping for the best here. Good price at least (compared to where it is elsewhere, that is...the original version of the case might've been just as good a choice).

You'll also note that the power supply isn't a 850W monster this time - it's harder for many supplies to be efficient at low loads while also being efficient in demanding loads, and even at load this build shouldn't come very close to touching 650W. 500W probably would've been fine, but I like to have a comfortable bit of headroom.

Finally, some reliability stuff: The power supply has solid caps (not the old kind with an electrolyte); the motherboard does as well (and, incidentally, Intel's motherboard people claim that the number of voltage regulators is better kept to a lower number, like 8 instead of 12, 14, or even 15 in one of the motherboard choices I was looking at), and a number of parts here have a 5 year warranty. The SSD has a 5 year warranty and I think the power supply, mechanical hard drive, and the motherboard also have long-term warranties.

[Nasirosuchus]

A game like the original STALKER will benefit from higher resolution in that you have more leeway in aiming.

My thought would be to head over to http://www.tomshardware.com/ and look, in the articles section, for the most up-to-date "best X for the money" articles, if you want to research this yourself.

Earlier in the year my build notes looked like this...

Intel Xeon E3-1230 V2 Ivy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 69W Quad-Core Server Processor BX80637E31230V2
$236
E3-1230 V2 motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme6 - BIOS rev. P1.20 or higher
or
ASRock Z77 Professional LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard, BIOS rev. P1.10 or higher - $240
ASRock Z77 Extreme6 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $180

Now, my finished build (missing sound card, OS, and GPU; all will be salvaged, along with other peripherals) looks like this:

Core-i7 3930K $570
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819116492
Z79 motherboard - P9X79 PRO $305 + $8.50 s&h
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131800
RAM - G.SKILL Trident X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) two count - $140 ($70+$70)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820231587
Blu-Ray drive - ASUS SATA BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827135252
heatsink & fan - Noctua NH-D14 $81
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835608018
case - phantom 820 $195 + ~$16.50 s&h
http://www.frys.com/product/7370654?sou ... 4Aoda3gAFw
hard drive - mechanical - Western Digital Red WD30EFRX 3TB $170 + $7.28
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822236344
hard drive - SSD - PNY Prevail Elite SSD9SC240GEDA-PB 2.5" 240GB $235
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820178523
power supply - Seasonic SS-660XP 660W $150 + $10.72 s&h
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817151121
thermal paste + arcticlean thermal material remover $14.48 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDeal ... bo.1046967

My spreadsheet puts the total price at $1966.98, although that is $16.50 and pennies short (due to Fry's not actually having free shipping up to December 31st, like a review site claims).

Some of the stuff in there you most likely won't need (fancy case - I am hoping this one will last a long while, but realistically another metal box would've worked and I could've just salvaged a tower sitting around; blu-ray drive - just salvage another optical drive unless you specifically need it, since most everybody has a good DVD burner these days; I'm just getting it in case I ever want to watch a disc on my PC, or burn a data Blu-Ray, and in case anybody starts delivering data on Blu-Ray discs). The thermal paste is more expensive than you need (I got it in part for the material remover which may or may not work well on other pastes outside the Arctic Silver brand...it's a combo deal though and I thought it would be useful). Overall this is definitely an "enthusiast" type of build, which has already surpassed the point of diminishing returns on the money in some respects (but not outrageously so, like buying a $1000 CPU or GPU).

Not exactly sure if my case choice will turn out to be wise; I just had another look at the review of the case on Tom's. It might turn out to be another turd like the Enermax Uber Chakra...hoping for the best here. Good price at least (compared to where it is elsewhere, that is...the original version of the case might've been just as good a choice).

You'll also note that the power supply isn't a 850W monster this time - it's harder for many supplies to be efficient at low loads while also being efficient in demanding loads, and even at load this build shouldn't come very close to touching 650W. 500W probably would've been fine, but I like to have a comfortable bit of headroom.

Finally, some reliability stuff: The power supply has solid caps (not the old kind with an electrolyte); the motherboard does as well (and, incidentally, Intel's motherboard people claim that the number of voltage regulators is better kept to a lower number, like 8 instead of 12, 14, or even 15 in one of the motherboard choices I was looking at), and a number of parts here have a 5 year warranty. The SSD has a 5 year warranty and I think the power supply, mechanical hard drive, and the motherboard also have long-term warranties.

What are you using this computer for? If the most intensive thing you'll be doing is gaming, then you could spend a lot less money.

To the OP:
If you want to follow this build as an example:

You can go with an i5 Ivy Bridge which would only run you a little over $200. You can also go with just one of those 8GB sets of RAM which would only run you about $70. A Corsair HX650 will run you about $119 and should give you more than enough juice for what you have under the hood. If you want an SSD, go with Intel or Corsair.

[Hagane]

I have an AMD FX-4100, 4 gigs of ram and an AMD Radeon 6850 and I can play pretty much anything I want. And that's a pretty cheap machine, especially if you live in the first world. Maybe you might want to replace the FX with something less crappy like an i3 or i5, but you don't really need to buy a powerhouse just for gaming.

[shmuppyLove]

My advice would be to put most of your money towards the processor, and an SSD if you want to go that route (though you'll still need a traditional HDD for storage).

Find an inexpensive graphics card (~$100, maybe less), because even for current PC games (like Skyrim, Far Cry 3, etc), you aren't going to be playing at resolutions that will need anything more powerful than that. But for emulation, CPU speed is king.

As an example, I have an AMD Phenom II X4 925 overclocked slightly to 3.0GHz (default is 2.8GHz), with 4GB of RAM and an EVGA GTX 550 Ti video card. I can play any current PC title at 1680x1050 (native res. for my 22") with no problems at all (not always at full detail), but I can't run the CV1000 games in the latest CAVE UI at full speed without some hiccups. Same even with PCSX2 and Dolphin.

Hopefully sometime next year I want to swap out the CPU and motherboard for some Intel stuff, whatever will be current at the time around the 3GHz+ mark. A lot of emulators seem to be better optimized for Intel processors.

[Ed Oscuro]

To the OP:
If you want to follow this build as an example:

You can go with an i5 Ivy Bridge which would only run you a little over $200. You can also go with just one of those 8GB sets of RAM which would only run you about $70. A Corsair HX650 will run you about $119 and should give you more than enough juice for what you have under the hood. If you want an SSD, go with Intel or Corsair.

Agreed with this, I meant to say that Ivy Bridge should be enough for anybody.

I tend to have a lot of things running at the same time, so a little tradeoff in single-threaded performance (apparently hyperthreading hurts this as well) is no problem.

Interestingly, a little blurb on Tom's today has this to say:

"Even counting a modest boost for the new Sandy Bridge CPU, performance is increasing at just 10 percent per year for desktops and 16 percent for laptops, a far cry from the good old days of 60 percent annual performance increases. As a result, PC users have little incentive to upgrade their systems," Gwennap wrote.

With the parts I bought, and coming in four years after I last bought parts, I was clear that durability and somewhat long-term use were key in the determination to buy something that seems quite overpowered for today's usual applications. (It seems like all the new interfaces that sprout up - e-SATA, now Thunderbolt, even Firewire - all have maybe one or two uses for me, and it is annoying that the motherboard I'm getting has no Firewire, not that I'd use it.) There is always the worry that you can get much better performance a little down the road, but now that I think about it, what the analyst says about 10% annual performance gains does seem to ring true. While the Core i7 920 is much better than the E6600, it didn't really seem that way. Probably the biggest improvements I'll notice could have all been had merely by buying an SSD and keeping the current build. However, it's time to upgrade, and the flip side of that is the relatively little-used hardware I've got on hand should hold some resale value.

The "second tier" Intel CPUs out now (like the Xeon E3 or Core i5 mentioned earlier) is a very compelling performance upgrade; for most uses, the i5 and slower RAM will get you most of the performance of a top-tier CPU but at just over $200 for the CPU and probably less than $70 for the RAM (one pair of performance RAM, like what I bought, was just $70, which is pretty amazing).

Not sure what to think about it - it does seem like a good time to upgrade if you only look at the historical price data, but it seems like the PC market is just waiting for something to come along and jumpstart performance increases (or the demand for them). That being said, I do like that more attention is being put on energy efficiency these days - my incoming CPU will have a 130W dissipation at max, just like the Core i7 920, but it reportedly does much better at idle and at low-load usage (which, admittedly, is how most of us use these). There certainly are areas with a lot of performance gains these days - Knight's Corner for supercomputing, and ARM and other competitors for mobile - it's just not really pushing gains on the PC.

But for emulation, CPU speed is king.

Not all CPUs are as quick as others per-clock, so that just looking at the 3.2 GHz value or whatever won't tell much about what's going on, even when running somewhat older programs which don't make use of the latest and greatest instructions (the N64 emulators are an example of this; Project64 just traps 64-bit instructions instead of emulating them in real-time, because it's built for x86 32-bit CPUs), but get some programs that use newer instructions and you might see a good performance boost. Another thing that seems to be key for MAME is cache size - more is better of course.

[Stormwatch]

it is annoying that the motherboard I'm getting has no Firewire, not that I'd use it.

If you happen to need it, Firewire cards go for $15 or so.

[Obiwanshinobi]

I don't even think about prices. Will save up if necessary. I just set up two requirements it needs to meet because thinking this way suits me best at the moment. I feel too old to rejoin the amraments race.

You can get a 27", 2560x1440 LED-lit S-IPS LCD for $350 on eBay.

CRT I'm using displays up to 1280x1024, but I tend to choose more frames per second/shorter input delay and see no real need for more pixels onscreen instead.
None of those Wii games I've played where pixel hunting was required made me wish the resolution was higher (Metroid: Other M, Dead Space: Extraction). Delay is another story (Prime feels a tad laggier to me than Other M on the same setup).

When all is said and done, I like more fps whenever possible in my computer games (provided it doesn't break the game). Console-wise, if manual aiming is easier in recent MGS3 ports than it was on the PS2, I'm inclined to think 60 fps instead of ~30 makes a bigger difference than higher resolution.

[Ed Oscuro]

For most modern games resolution isn't a problem - postprocessing effects are what cause that.

It would be better therefore to run most games at a high resolution while sacrificing postprocessing effects (anti-aliasing for example), which is what I do (I rarely use AA even when my card can afford it).

It seems silly to put together a modern PC capable of running games which are pushing enough data to look pleasing with high detail, but refusing to run the games at a resolution large enough that you can actually see the detail the PC is working to process. At low resolution you certainly could run all the post-processing you need but it would be basically wasted.

[Obiwanshinobi]

One of more expensive toys I intend to buy is a brand new CRT that will easily exceed 1280x1024 (photography alone is worth it), but such a luxury can wait.

[Ed Oscuro]

Photography alone should steer you towards a high-resolution wide-gamut LCD monitor. CRT could work but unfortunately you'll have to have some luck finding one that will really please for photography while keeping a high resolution. 1920x1200 LCD monitors unfortunately aren't common anymore (I think that extra height over 1080p models really makes a difference), and I don't want to suggest something larger - this is a case where the intended uses can end up competing with one another. Perhaps you can find a nice 1600x1200 or similar one, or maybe 1680x or 1920x1080. With my current camera, that would still leave a lot of unwanted panning when viewing images at full size - and this from one of the last generation of cameras (7D, 18MP), not one of the new 24MP behemoths (let alone 36MP of the D800).

[Obiwanshinobi]

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed being finally on the PC, could somebody tell me what lowest available resolution is? Also, do the graphics remain well-defined in low resolution?
Now THIS is a game I've been waiting for. Sub-arcade performance of all console versions makes the PC one my version of choice. Games being technically better off played on PC is pretty normal nowadays, but this particular game not even running at 60 fps on consoles says fucking all about console games of today. (Enjoyment such racers gave me on PS2-era consoles was one of the most pleasant surprises that generation brought about; their oft-impeccable performance played a big part.)

Regarding photography, professionals keep using CRTs for a reason. LCD always works as a Claude glass of sorts. This may not be a big deal with games, where colour and brightness depth is always rather simplistic, but even digital photos have deeper palettes than any black mirror can do justice.

[Ed Oscuro]

Regarding photography, professionals keep using CRTs for a reason.

Uh, no, they don't. Almost all photography pros have moved to LCDs within the last few years (it has been relatively recent), IPS-type panels (and OLED in some cases, like Sony's new PVMs) have leapfrogged CRT technology. Pro CRTs are also prone to color shift over time and many of the now increasingly elderly examples out there can't be relied on to hold color well enough. Certain LCDs, by contrast, are preferable now in every regard (aside from perhaps black levels in some examples, but Plasma seems best in this area; haven't looked at it in detail) as far as the graphic artist or photographer is concerned. Plenty of good options - Sony, Eizo, Planar probably, Dell, Apple even.

[mortified_penguin]

You`d want to play S.T.A.L.K.E.R. ... with COMPLETE mods

I'd highly recommend you do the exact opposite, Clear Sky is the only one in the series that is so buggy it needs Complete. For every one thing Complete fixes it breaks two more elsewhere and really makes the game baby easy. Shadow of Chernobyl is fine on it's own now and Call of Pripyat is excellent vanilla and the single most refined Stalker experience out there, don't muddle it with Complete.

[Jonathan Ingram]

There`s little reason not to use the mods unless they disagree with your system. The graphical improvements they bring to the table are quite dramatic and in my own experience they also improved stability and the overall performance of the games.

Not sure what you mean by "baby easy", but these mods don`t alter the game`s balance in such a radical way as to make them easier than before.

[DragonInstall]

After 9 years I got a new PC. All in one PC - Lenova 3.2 Ghz dual core for 350 dollars. It can emulate all the ps2 games I've tried at 60fps. Came with only onboard graphics card.

You think it could run wii games also?

I heard for emulator the pc speed is all that matters. Emulators don't utilize most graphics cards.

Also, holy shit after 9 years of my old cpu, this one feels like it's 10 times faster overall.

[Jonathan Ingram]

It can emulate all the ps2 games I've tried at 60fps.

Which ones have you tried?

You think it could run wii games also?

Depends on the game. Something like Muramasa, Rune Factory Frontier, New Super Mario Bros, Contra ReBirth, Wario Land: Shake It, FFCC: My Life as a King, Super Paper Mario and Rayman Origins - yes. Monster Hunter Tri and Xenoblade Chronicles - maybe. Super Mario Galaxy 1-2, Metroid Prime 3 and Donkey Kong Country Returns - no(that is, your PC could run them, but not anywhere close to full speed most of the time).

I heard for emulator the pc speed is all that matters. Emulators don't utilize most graphics cards.

That`s not quite correct. CPU speed matters most, but a reasonably powerful GPU is still required if you want to run the games at anything other than their native resolution. On-board GPUs are sub-optimal in this regard and won`t work very well with many games.

[mortified_penguin]

There`s little reason not to use the mods unless they disagree with your system. The graphical improvements they bring to the table are quite dramatic and in my own experience they also improved stability and the overall performance of the games.

Not sure what you mean by "baby easy", but these mods don`t alter the game`s balance in such a radical way as to make them easier than before.

They aren't supposed to, no but you end up with things like massive piles of late game weapons showing well ahead of their time, (off screen blowouts or something), and the bullet trajectory isn't what it once was. There is also a nasty habit of the AI just standing there late game and waiting to get shot.

At one time I thought it was me simply running too many mods at once but then my girlfriend played the first and second game with only Complete and had the same exact issues.

Just saying there have been enough patches that I really do not think it's worth installing Complete any more, especially with everything it screws up.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Cool, so I'll happily get one of those CRTs professionals are getting rid of.
As for S.T.A.L.K.E.R., I know that the graphics can be vastly enhanced by mods, but I'd like to try out unmodded gameplay first. Internet stories about certain mod (Oblivion Lost?) being the "true" S.T.A.L.K.E.R. stank of wishful thinking if you ask me. Back in 2003-2004 the hype made it all sound too good to be true, so if the real thing is at least half as good, that's still pretty rad.
By the way, I wonder what about SMG emulation takes that much power. The physics?

[Ed Oscuro]

Cool, so I'll happily get one of those CRTs professionals are getting rid of.

I think the window of time is growing short. I think many have already made the transition. I should've moved on it much faster too.

[asu_tenan]

You think it could run wii games also?

I heard for emulator the pc speed is all that matters. Emulators don't utilize most graphics cards.

Also, holy shit after 9 years of my old cpu, this one feels like it's 10 times faster overall.

i have 3ghz dual core + HD 7750, still can't get to emulate wii smoothly

depends on the emulator, cpu sure matters alot on emulation. On pcsx2 for example.. they have graphical plugin for you to tinker around that means your graphic card will play part too on emulating the game, but not in wii emulator like dolphin. I don't think more powerful graphic card do boost your fps...

[shmuppyLove]

Erm, you're wrong about Dolphin, it does have Direct3D acceleration.