[SOLVED] Help me decide on a build for emulation

Jul 30, 2021
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Hi! I'm from Indonesia and I am currently considering to build a PC for, as the title says, mostly emulation purposes. I'm not planning to emulate harder to emulate systems like the PS3 (at least not anytime soon), I mostly just play PS2 games and lower specced systems. Other than that I also would like a system that can emulate Android fairly well as I do play mobile games more. The games I play are Arknights, Punishing Gray Raven and League of Legends: Wild Rift. I do play Genshin Impact as well but it has a PC client so no need to emulate for that game. Other than that I do play some PC gaming on the side, mostly indie titles but I'd love to be able to play Apex Legends as well. All of these won't be played at 1080p resolution as my monitor isn't FHD, 900p would be ideal but I personally am comfortable with 720p as long as it's running at 60fps.

Anyway here's what I plan to build:

APU: Ryzen 3 3200g for around 150 usd
RAM: 2x8gb 3200mhz for around 100 usd
Motherboard: B450

Went with the APU route because the GPU market in Indonesia is abysmal (1050 ti goes for at least 230 usd here, it's nuts). I also can't just go ahead and buy a used card simply because I have trust issues.

Alternatively I could go the intel route with:

CPU: i3 10100f for around 95 usd (I picked this with upgradability in mind. I could probably go for an older gen i5 for better performance but I'd be stuck with it)
RAM: 2x8gb 2666mhz for around 80 usd
Motherboard: B460
GPU: A humble GT 1030 2GB GDDR 5 for around 95 usd

I could go with a 750 Ti but I opted not to since I heard that nvidia won't be supporting the 700 series cards anymore. The pricing for 1030s isn't ideal but it's far more reasonable than any other options imo.

Which should I go with? Any advice is highly appreciated. TIA!
 
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More performance from the Intel build, but the B450 platform has the better future upgrade path (up to 16 core CPUs if you get a decent board) I suppose it depends on how long you want to keep it.

GT1030 for 95 USD is the price in the US, and historically about where it sits. Always been expensive for the performance level.

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More performance from the Intel build, but the B450 platform has the better future upgrade path (up to 16 core CPUs if you get a decent board) I suppose it depends on how long you want to keep it.

GT1030 for 95 USD is the price in the US, and historically about where it sits. Always been expensive for the performance level.
 
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Solution
CPU: i3 10100f for around 95 usd (I picked this with upgradability in mind. I could probably go for an older gen i5 for better performance but I'd be stuck with it)
RAM: 2x8gb 2666mhz for around 80 usd
Motherboard: B460
GPU: A humble GT 1030 2GB GDDR 5 for around 95 usd
If you go for this get the i3 with the integrated graphics, it shouldn't be that much more than the f model and the 1030 is not worth 95USD.
You can always get a GPU later.
 
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Emulators are usually single threaded.
Look for a strong single thread performance.
3200G has 4 threads and a passmark rating of 7222. That is when all 4 threads are fully at 100%.
The single thread rating is 2228:
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+Ryzen+3+3200G&id=3497
By comparison, the i3-10100 has 12 threads and a rating of 8825/2638:
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i3-10100+@+3.60GHz&id=3717
The i3-10100 is a quicker processor and more suitable for your emulator needs.
Pay a bit more for the non F version so you can get integrated graphics to start with.
It will likely suffice for graphics, at least you can evaluate it before guessing on a discrete graphics card.

FWIW, I have a GTX750ti.
It is capable of driving a 4k monitor at 60hz using displayport.
I use it for a legacy system running civ2.42 on a 4k monitor.
I do not worry about support in the future.
Support means optimizations for newly announced games which I am not likely to need.
Even the GTX1000 series will enter the non support category, but they will continue to run.
If you can buy one at a decent price, you should be pleased.
 
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Jul 30, 2021
13
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If you go for this get the i3 with the integrated graphics, it shouldn't be that much more than the f model and the 1030 is not worth 95USD.
You can always get a GPU later.
The non F version is around 40 usd more expensive around here. I could look for the non-boxed one for slightly cheaper I guess.

I'll consider it.
 
Jul 30, 2021
13
0
10
Emulators are usually single threaded.
Look for a strong single thread performance.
3200G has 4 threads and a passmark rating of 7222. That is when all 4 threads are fully at 100%.
The single thread rating is 2228:
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+Ryzen+3+3200G&id=3497
By comparison, the i3-10100 has 12 threads and a rating of 8825/2638:
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i3-10100+@+3.60GHz&id=3717
The i3-10100 is a quicker processor and more suitable for your emulator needs.
Pay a bit more for the non F version so you can get integrated graphics to start with.
It will likely suffice for graphics, at least you can evaluate it before guessing on a discrete graphics card.

FWIW, I have a GTX750ti.
It is capable of driving a 4k monitor at 60hz using displayport.
I use it for a legacy system running civ2.42 on a 4k monitor.
I do not worry about support in the future.
Support means optimizations for newly announced games which I am not likely to need.
Even the GTX1000 series will enter the non support category, but they will continue to run.
If you can buy one at a decent price, you should be pleased.

Such a detailed reply, thank you so much! I didn't know that emulators prefer better single thread performance. I could get the non F for 30-40 usd more. I'll put your explanation to consideration.