Emulation/HTPC build

[Legendaryk4]

Budget (including currency): $300

Country: USA

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Launchbox: Atari to PS3, Netflix, web browsing, etc

 

So I am working on building an emulation/HTPC. I purchased the Fractal Design node 202 w/ included PSU. A friend is giving me his GTX 960 for free to use. So now I am down

to selecting a cpu, mobo and ram. With this case I am limited to mini itx. I need wifi and bluetooth.

 

The other side of this story is my current gaming PC is a ryzen 1600. I know some will probably recommend a 3600. If thats the case I would put that in my gaming rig and throw the 1600 in this.

 

Just looking for recommendations for a CPU, MOBO and RAM.

 

Thanks!

[Bombastinator]

Well emulation likes lots of cores so that’s probably going to happen.  Old 14nm 1600?  Not the new one?  Old 1600 is super picky about ram. It also may not work in some new mobos.  The 1600 in the htpc starts to become a foregone conclusion and that foregone conclusion complicates matters a lot. 

[Mazdaspeeding]

 

1 hour ago, Bombastinator said:

Well emulation likes lots of cores so that’s probably going to happen.  Old 14nm 1600?  Not the new one?  Old 1600 is super picky about ram. It also may not work in some new mobos.  The 1600 in the htpc starts to become a foregone conclusion and that foregone conclusion complicates matters a lot. 

 

What?  Emulation is *entirely* single thread based.

[Bombastinator]

50 minutes ago, Mazdaspeeding said:

 

 

What?  Emulation is *entirely* single thread based.

Yes but each emulator is a separate one. It’s a little virtual machine.  I suppose if you only ever ran one at a time it would only ever be a single extra thread.

 

theres the 3300x which is 4 core.  If that’s enough it’s enough.  Still would be worth replacing the 1600 with for gaming, which creates the same old problem.  

[Mazdaspeeding]

How many people you know that play multiple emulators at one time?  The 3100x/3300x is probably the best "value" choice with a 3600 being the "splurge" option.  Then pair it with some 3200cl14 or 3600cl16 and call it a day.