How much would it cost to build a PC to run PCSX2?

[IglooBob]

Alright, that clears everything up. Thanks again for all the info. Time to go shopping and investigating, I suppose!

[cyber]

No problem, glad to help, happy shopping and the best of performance I wish you!

[Tsuchirinhon]

Don't skimp out on the video card just because PCSX2 is in bizarro world and relies more on CPU power. Go ahead and get a decent GPU so that you can play other games too.

Just remember that you don't need top-of-the-line ***** to play the latest games. With the way computers work, you can buy older *****, overclock, and it'll work just as good for much cheaper.

[cyber]

P.S. If you have such a high budget, go for a good video card, as in at least an HD 5770/ GTX 260, or maybe even a high-end 5850 card.
I currently have a 5770, and it is 27% faster at 1680x1050 than my older 4850 (tested with 5-6 games), and a good 32% faster for emulation, under the tests I conducted in 5 different scenarios in God of War 2 at four different resolutions (including 2560x1600).

[IglooBob]

Hm yeah, I was thinking about the GTX 260, it's about $100 more than the 9800GT from what I'm seeing, might be worth it. As far as PCSX2 goes, the only difference between the cards would probably be performance at higher resolutions, right?

[rama]

Right.
Though the card is great for all current pc games as well, unlike the 9800GT, where you'll have to sacrifice some image quality for speed

[cyber]

Aah, and don't overlook the Power Supply.
The GTX 260 is pretty demanding when it comes to power requirements, and an overclocked quad core should draw significant power as well, so a high quality PSU is another requirement for a high end sistem.

I like Corsair very much for their very good build quality and stable power distribution. A 550 watt corsair CMPSU shoul be enough, and I say this because I saw it can run an Nvidia GTX 295 (top of the line dual card, bassicaly two gtx 275 slapped together but not quite), and that card is said to require a 670 watt PSU.

If you are looking into other manufacturers, maybe 550 watt will be enough, depending on the product quality.

And remember SLI/Crossfire does not offer any gains in pcxs2, because it is not suported, but it is good for PC games (if no annoying microstuttering occurs).

[Air]

Using under-powered PSUs is never a good idea. Sure they almost always work, but they typically run very hot, increasing chance of failure. And a failing PSU is a terrible thing that any and all computer owners should seek to avoid. A failing PSU will happily kill most or all of the hardware in your computer in a hurry.

But that said, a single GTX260 coupled with an Intel cpu need only 370w of power to cover everything with some room to spare. With an AMD cpu you'll want to gun for 400w or better tho. The GTX275 uses like 25% more power than the 260 if I recall, which is also why the 295 has such ridiculous PSU requirements.

[IglooBob]

Man, I feel kind of lame thanking you guys over and over again, but you've been awfully helpful. Thanks again! So I've never actually built my own computer before, but I think I've got a good list. Wondering if you guys could let me know if I'm missing anything, and what power supply and how much cooling I should expect to buy. I'm completely clueless on those two areas. It looks like most of my old parts are not compatible with the new stuff, so I'm thinking I can only bring my screen, speakers, and keyboard/mouse over. Anyway here we go.

CPU - Intel Core i5-750
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...-_-Product
People around the net are saying it's not too difficult to overclock this to a stable 4Ghz, which from reading around this forum seems like it's a requirement to play some games full speed.

Motherboard - Gigabyte P55-UD5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...pk=p55-ud5
Some people doing overclocking tests on the i5-750 were saying this was a good combo. I know jack about motherboards, so I chose this on their recommendation and high reviews.

Graphics Card - GTX 260
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...-_-Product

8 Gigs of DDR3 Ram - I've got 8 gigs in my current system, and have no idea whether it is DDR3 or not, or how to check. I'd cannibalize this in a second if it turns out that it is. Motherboard says it's compatible with DDR3 - I assume that means it isn't compatible if my ram is lower grade or whatever?

Apevia X-Cruiser Thermally Advantaged Case
http://www.xoxide.com/aspire-x-cruiser-case-black.html
I came in with no idea on cases, just like motherboards, so I chose this on recommendations and reviews. Says it's roomy for cooling stuff, which seems like it'd be a necessity for overclocking, right?

...and a hard drive and DVD burner. I'll steal these from my current system too, if I can work it out.

So after all that, I think I'm only missing a power supply and cooling system. Is there anything else? And I've really got no idea how to go on either of those two things. Do your earlier recommendations still hold, or does something I posted here change the power requirements? Also if I've made any boneheaded decisions or some sort of compatibility mistakes, let me know! Thanks guys again, in advance.

[cyber]

Ok, after doing some searching around the internet, I came up with a few answers for you.

About your 8 gigs of ram, I think it is kinda overkill, 4 gb of ddr3 should suffice for pretty much everything. To find out what type of ram you have you can download a very common and usefull program called cpu-z, google it and you will find it in no time. After you open cpu-z you go to the Memory section and it will shou you what type of memory you have (ddr 2 or ddr 3), the fsb and the ratio of the ram.
Just to make an observation, the core i5 likes two dimms of ram in dual chanell ( as in 2x2gb, or 2x4gb if you really want 8 in total), if you plan to overclock.

The motherboard is just fine, good for overclock and such, the video card the same.

About the power supply , I can recommend you get a good quality CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...-_-Product
Yes I know I said the 550 watt corsair would be enough, but on newegg they have the exact same price, and in my country the difference is like 14$, so I figure you can go for the 650 watt version. It has 52 Amps on one 12 volt rail, which is exceptional. The 550 watt one is the same with the difference that is has 42 Amps.

The GTX 260 requires 38 Amps on the 12 volt rail so you are very safe if you choose either PSU, it depends on how big the price difference is between them in your location.

About your case, I really am not too sure, as I don't have enough information about computer cases. I recently bought one for myself though, with a 70$ budget, and I have to say it has been very tough for me to choose a case. I went for a Vantec TSXb 300 Black, and I am very happy with it, it is very silent, good air flow for it's low noise, it looks good. Anyway I do know that Antec or Coolermaster or Thermaltake make very good cases so I recommend you look into Antec SIX Hundred, or maybe even NINE Hundred, as I don't really know from other manufacturers.

Your choice, the Apevia case, I don't have any clue about it. I can say though it seems roomy enough (but I am not certain) and it has a fairly good cooling capability. I see it has room for an 120 mm fan in the rear, and you should definately buy one aside from the case itself. What I can say more surely is it could get very bright during night time, as it has lots of blue leds, especially in the front. So if you let the computer to run at night, you might not be able to sleep beacause of the amount of light coming from the case.

In the area of cpu coolers, I haven't really been keeping up with the socket 1156 choices, and they are not so many btw, but I can recomend two coolers however:
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 compatible - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6835103065
The Hyper 212 is number 7 in the top ten best cooling solutions for all platforms according to Frostytech.

GlacialTech F101 CPU Cooler - http://www.glacialtech.com/products/F1O1.htm

Be warned about the Cooler Master and maybe the glacialtech too, high end coolers are bulky and require a wide case, and they need to be installed at the moment before screwing the motherboard to your case. If you ever plan changing theese coolers you HAVE to remove the motherboard before this operation can be achieved.

Well that is the extent of my knowledge and the limit of the advice I can provide, I hope some other members of the forum have more info to give.