Good and cheap computers for netplay?

[Weenuk]

I'm planning on saving up to get a new computer soon and I was wondering what kind of computer is best suited for netplay. I don't trust myself to build a computer on my own and I'm scared I'll mess it up somehow so I'm willing to pay extra for a prebuilt computer. I also don't care that much for graphics/resolution so as long as it can play other people in different countries at a solid 60 fps on all tournament legal stages then I'm good. Thank you for reading all this and I'm sorry if you guys get this question all the time and are sick of saying the same thing over and over again, I'm just really confused on where to look for a good, cheap computer. :/

 

[Pauer]

I posted some info and suggestions in this thread a while ago. In summary
- Get a refurbished desktop PC with an i5 processor if you want super cheap.
- Spend a little more on it for an SSD and 8gb RAM if you plan on using your PC apart from netplay.

 

[Weenuk]

I posted some info and suggestions in this thread a while ago. In summary
- Get a refurbished desktop PC with an i5 processor if you want super cheap.
- Spend a little more on it for an SSD and 8gb RAM if you plan on using your PC apart from netplay.

Okay, I saw that thread awhile ago I was just thinking it was outdated or something since it's been a few months but that works. Thanks.

 

[Pauer]

It is outdated in the way that the actual offers aren't the best, the info is ok. The general fact that a refurbished i5 desktop PC is probably the best choice for a cheap netplay machine is still true since RAM prices are still so high.
You will have to have a look yourself. The best deals can be found locally.

 

[TDRR]

If you want to go extra cheap (and assuming you won't use it for the latest games) a Intel Pentium Dual Core E5700 (3GHz) is the bare minimum for 60fps, you might want to get a E6800 if you want 60fps in all stages (except for FoD, which requires meaty graphics card)

As for the GPU, just get anything equal or better than a Nvidia Geforce 9000 and you should be fine. (Assuming 100% default config, if you want to go higher internal resolution you might want a GTX 6xx or higher) And 2GB RAM is enough for Dolphin, if you will use it for anything else then do buy 8GB.

 

[Pauer]

Intel Pentium Dual Core E5700 (3GHz) is the bare minimum for 60fps, you might want to get a E6800 if you want 60fps in all stages

I don't recommend these old pentiums. I have been told by others that some of them can't deliver enough performance, especially with Faster Melee.

(except for FoD, which requires meaty graphics card)

I think the poor performance on FoD is a CPU bottleneck and has little to do with the GPU.

I agree that GPU minimums are very low. It is still better to get something newer as integrated graphics and old AMD cards have been shown to introduce small amounts of extra lag.

 

[TDRR]

It isn't, the whole reason FoD is laggy is because of the stars in the background, which require geometry shaders to emulate them, or horrendous hacks at the time of D3D9 (they are done via Point Size) i got this info from the monthly Dolphin status report, very interesting reads. You can even bet the impact of the reflections in performance is minimal, as in Super Mario Sunshine, there are 4 of them at once yet the slowdown is minimal.

And of course they won't be fast enough for Faster Melee, that thing requires you to run at 120fps, but for vMelee it runs 60fps in most stages. I know because that's the same processor my computer has and i can confirm that it runs great, even in single core. (But when i only had my intelgrated gpu i had to set frameskip to 1 because the Intel G41 is extremely weak)

But if you can get the money, just get a i5, the very reason i still have this hardware is because of how crippled economy is in Venezuela, so i don't have better options.