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| JILost |
Posted on 19-01-06, 15:06 (revision 2)
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Post: #1 of 3
Since: 11-13-18 Last post: 1761 days Last view: 1424 days |
So I got some extra money this year for the holidays. I'd like to upgrade my computer somehow. Here's what I have: ASUS F2A55-M LE not sure on RAM internal video card internal sound card 1 TB HDD internal most recent Win10 The RAM I'm not clear on because I don't know how to read CPU-Z's memory page to tell me exactly how many sticks I have, what capacity, or what my total capacity is. Here are my options: * New external HDD or SSD of at least 2TB to store my iTunes library, VSTs, back up old hard drive(s), etc. * RAM upgrade to full capacity (whatever that is). * Video card upgrade for emulation purposes. * CPU/mobo for emulation purposes. * Given the age of my current machine, a "cheap" but whole new machine at least slightly exceeding the specs of my current one. Note that on the last two, I'm not looking for "state of the art", just enough of whatever is necessary to run something like Saturn or 2DS (or 3DS?) full speed. Right now, even higan and bsnes struggle to reach full speed, which I'm guessing is a RAM issue rather than CPU. Barring full speed, I'll pretty much settle for anything that qualifies as an "upgrade" from where I am right now. Right now, I'm using crucial.com to figure out how much RAM I would need, but even it won't explicitly specifically tell me exactly what my full capacity is and exactly what I have (or I'm being very, very dense). SO out of the options above, which one(s) would get me the most improvement? |
| tomman |
Posted on 19-01-06, 19:47
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Dinosaur
 Post: #120 of 1315 Since: 10-30-18 Last post: 58 days Last view: 18 hours |
Why not take the computer apart and look it yourself? Benchmarking and information tools sometimes aren't very specific about system-specific details. High-accuracy emulation is strictly CPU-bound. More RAM won't help your cause at all, but it's always nice to have since modern software is extremely bloated nowadays. Remember the old motto: "RAM is cheap, developer time is not". Licensed Pirate® since 2006, 100% Buttcoin™-free, enemy of All Things JavaScript™ |
| creaothceann |
Posted on 19-01-06, 20:34
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 Post: #47 of 456 Since: 10-29-18 Last post: 44 days Last view: 1 day |
Posted by JILost Maximum is 32GB, but you probably won't need that much, unless you like to run VMs. Posted by JILost On the Memory page it tells you your installed type, size and settings. The SPD page is the same, but for each stick separately. (The Timings Table shows the recommended settings for each speed profile.) Posted by JILostI'd copy the system partition(s) to an SSD (deleting/uninstalling everything that can be redownloaded/reinstalled). 500GB should be plenty (depending on how many games/videos/disks you like to keep there). The 1TB HDD can still be used, check its SMART info. Posted by JILost https://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html Posted by JILostUnlikely. Emulators usually don't need much RAM; most of their hot code paths might even fit into the last CPU cache. What CPU do you have? The AMD A10-6800B is probably the best for your board, and it gets a single thread rating of 1628. My i7-4790K gets a rating of 2530, and 300fps in bsnes at the SMW title screen (after pressing a button). So the 6800B might get 190fps. The only problem is finding it... My current setup: Super Famicom ("2/1/3" SNS-CPU-1CHIP-02) → SCART → OSSC → StarTech USB3HDCAP → AmaRecTV 3.10 |
| JILost |
Posted on 19-01-16, 15:57
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Post: #2 of 3
Since: 11-13-18 Last post: 1761 days Last view: 1424 days |
The reason I suggest that it might be a RAM issue is because I've been told that far weaker CPU's have blown through higan easily. Dolphin gets 10-30 fps on a good day. Same with Saturn emus. I should be able to run all of these at over 60 fps with my current CPU, shouldn't I? Am I lacking some kind of Open GL components that would be present on a dedicated video card? Even if I did upgrade my processor, would any of the above improve or would I need a whole new mobo? What would be the benefit of going to an SSD over a HDD? Would it just be a reliability/stability thing or would the performance actually pick up in any significant way? |
| Nicholas Steel |
Posted on 19-01-16, 17:02 (revision 5)
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Post: #84 of 426
Since: 10-30-18 Last post: 499 days Last view: 14 days |
RAM: 16GB (2x8GB or 1x16GB). Unless you're video, audio or image editing you're unlikely to need more than 16GB of RAM for anything (heck 8GB is still plenty for all but the latest AAA publisher games). CPU: If you can't find the AMD A10-6800B CPU proposed by creaothceann than a CPU upgrade may necessitate a Motherboard upgrade (and a change to RAM compatible with the new motherboard). For most emulators the CPU should have the biggest performance impact. GPU: Nvidia Geforce 1060/2060 6GB or better. A recent dedicated video card is important because it has dedicated memory (VRAM) for a notable performance increase over an integrated video device, the GPU itself is much more powerful on a dedicated video card and they have much more robust drivers than what AMD and Intel CPU's integrated video chips have. Emulation of more modern gaming consoles (Dolphin, PCSX2) can rely heavily on the performance of both the GPU & CPU (especially the GPU if you intend to render graphics above the normal resolution). AMD Ryzen 3700X | MSI Gamer Geforce 1070Ti 8GB | 16GB 3600MHz DDR4 RAM | ASUS Crosshair VIII Hero (WiFi) Motherboard | Windows 10 x64 |
| wareya |
Posted on 19-01-16, 17:17
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 Post: #30 of 100 Since: 10-30-18 Last post: 1782 days Last view: 1347 days |
The difference between integrated and discrete graphics chips is much more complicated than that. Shared memory is better when the emulator tries to do shittons of texture modifications, for example. |
| BearOso |
Posted on 19-01-17, 00:19 (revision 1)
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 Post: #31 of 175 Since: 10-30-18 Last post: 1450 days Last view: 1450 days |
Posted by wareya With newer PCIe, readback isn't a problem any more. PCIe 3.0 x16 can ideally do 16GB/s, which is basically half the system RAM bandwidth. If a texture is modified a lot, a program can hint to GL/Vulkan that it wants a shadow buffer. I imagine DX has the same. GPU RAM is usually 10x the system RAM speed, so it definitely makes a big difference when moving pixels. But as you say, RAM is only part of the picture. If the only difference was dedicated VRAM it would barely be faster. Integrated GPUs are designed to have less processing power such that they don't outperform the system RAM. Posted by JILost You've never said what processor you have now. You'd probably want to opt for a new motherboard. I can't say that upgrading to an old CPU like the 6800B is going to change a whole lot.
Load times, generally. Emulation rarely hits the hard drive, so it's not going to affect performance the way you're thinking. If you buy any storage in the future, it would be best to steer away from HDDs because SSDs are getting so cheap. |
| Nicholas Steel |
Posted on 19-01-17, 06:31
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Post: #85 of 426
Since: 10-30-18 Last post: 499 days Last view: 14 days |
With an SSD you should put the O/S on it for the most meaningful performance improvement, then maybe some games with long load times like Dragon Age: Inquisition for example. AMD Ryzen 3700X | MSI Gamer Geforce 1070Ti 8GB | 16GB 3600MHz DDR4 RAM | ASUS Crosshair VIII Hero (WiFi) Motherboard | Windows 10 x64 |
| BearOso |
Posted on 19-01-17, 16:59
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Post: #33 of 175 Since: 10-30-18 Last post: 1450 days Last view: 1450 days |
Posted by Nicholas Steel Basically, anything using lots of small files is a good candidate. Hard drives' biggest weakness is seek time, which can be 1000 times slower than a solid state drive. |
| nyanpasu64 |
Posted on 19-01-17, 18:51
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Post: #8 of 77
Since: 10-31-18 Last post: 1189 days Last view: 1116 days |
Posted by JILost Maybe try running Higan using some "null video output" or similar, to isolate the problem to either display output, or emulation? Maybe prime95 or intel burn test as a CPU check? Check for WHEA CPU/RAM corruption errors? Run a benchmark? |
| Nicholas Steel |
Posted on 19-01-18, 04:13 (revision 2)
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Post: #86 of 426
Since: 10-30-18 Last post: 499 days Last view: 14 days |
You could try going to the Windows Control Panel > Power Settings > change to High Performance profile (not one supplied by your PC manufacturer, I mean the High Performance Profile that Microsoft provides). AMD Ryzen 3700X | MSI Gamer Geforce 1070Ti 8GB | 16GB 3600MHz DDR4 RAM | ASUS Crosshair VIII Hero (WiFi) Motherboard | Windows 10 x64 |
| funkyass |
Posted on 19-01-18, 07:05
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Post: #18 of 202
Since: 11-01-18 Last post: 660 days Last view: 15 days |
or grab something like speccy or CPUID and give use more detail on what you have. tho anything doing 3D gfx will benefit from a dedicated video card. |
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