Can my laptop run it?

[AlphaMagnum]

Recently had my new laptop delivered.

My laptop:

Sager NP9150 - 1920x1080 Matte
i7 3720QM - base 2.6 GHz; self-overclocks to 3.5GHz @ 2 cores or 3.4GHz @ 4 cores
GTX 680M
12GB 1600MHz RAM
500GB 7200RPM HDD

The graphics card, for those unfamiliar with notebook versions, is basically a replica of the desktop GTX 660 Ti with reduced memory bandwidth and somewhat limited overclocking ability. At stock, the 680M outperforms the desktop GTX 580 by a slight margin, though they are evenly matched when both are overclocked to the limit, thanks to more overclocking in the desktop card.

The i7 is just like a desktop i7, except it can't overclock at all. I might be able to get it to run at 3.5 or 3.6GHz with 4 cores, but I'm not certain yet.

What I want to play with it:
The Last Story and Xenoblade Chronicles @ 1080p (is that 3x IR?) and 30 fps

What I know:
The GPU is probably overkill for what I want, but it's the CPU that I'm more concerned about. Will my inability to overclock prevent me from reaching the clock speeds necessary to play the games I mentioned at the settings I want?

If there's any more information you need, please let me know. I'm new to this emulator and forum so I won't know that I've missed something unless you tell me. I did check out the CPU and GPU hierarchy threads, but they don't seem to be updated with the latest generation of graphics cards.

[DefenderX]

Xenoblade is playable with that CPU, but in some ares you'll get FPS drops though. The GPU (GTX 680M) is enough for 4x IR (and maybe some Anti-Aliasing).

btw: Nice laptop, but the GPU is overkill

[AlphaMagnum]

(08-29-2012, 04:09 AM)DefenderX Wrote: Xenoblade is playable with that CPU, but in some ares you'll get FPS drops though. The GPU (GTX 680M) is enough for 4x IR (and maybe some Anti-Aliasing).

btw: Nice laptop, but the GPU is overkill

Thanks for the info!

Yeah, the GPU is totally overkill, but I play PC games on this thing too and I wanted something that'll last for a couple years. I knew Kepler was coming so I waited, since the 580M was over a year old at that point. Totally worth it. One 680M at stock outperforms a 580M SLI setup in almost all games and benchmarks. It's like G92 all over again! (Fortuitously, my last major PC purchase occurred when G92 first came out so my 8800 GT SLI setup was similarly overpowered for its time. Lucky me!)

Apparently I might be able to push the CPU up to 3.8GHz with only two cores running, which will likely help smooth things out. How about The Last Story? Is it more demanding than Xenoblade?

[DefenderX]

Yep, the Last Story is (perhaps) the most demanding Wii game ever. Even a real Wii has problems with that game If u want to play the Last Story perfectly on Dolphin, an overclocked (about 4.3/4.4Ghz) Core i5-3570k is needed.

[AlphaMagnum]

What my slower CPU cause? Will I be forced to reduce the resolution to get 30fps? Or will I compromise on audio settings or something else?

[DefenderX]

Your CPU is the bottleneck, when you play The Last Story. It's just too weak. (The GPU is still strong enough to handle 4x IR )

[AlphaMagnum]

(08-29-2012, 05:21 AM)DefenderX Wrote: Your CPU is the bottleneck, when you play The Last Story. It's just too weak. (The GPU is still strong enough to handle 4x IR )

Boo! Looks like I'll just have to play it on my Wii when I come home for the holidays. Xenoblade Chronicles ought to tide me over in the meantime, I guess.

EDIT: Can code improvements to Dolphin in the future reduce the burden on the CPU? Or will 4.2GHz i5/7 CPUs always be the only way to play The Last Story?

EDIT2: How would my GPU handle Xenoblade Chronicles with that HD Texture pack that's been floating around? If my GPU is overkill I might as well put it to work, right?

[NaturalViolence]

Quote:EDIT: Can code improvements to Dolphin in the future reduce the burden on the CPU? Or will 4.2GHz i5/7 CPUs always be the only way to play The Last Story?

Theoretically yes. But I doubt that will happen. After a certain point emulators have a tendency to get slower as they continue to be developed, not faster.

Quote:EDIT2: How would my GPU handle Xenoblade Chronicles with that HD Texture pack that's been floating around? If my GPU is overkill I might as well put it to work, right?

An HD texture pack isn't going to have any impact on GPU load. It will require more vram but considering how little dolphin normally uses that's not really an issue.

[AlphaMagnum]

Is 4.2 GHz the minimum needed for The Last Story? I've seen that number quoted around here very frequently.

I could possibly get my i7 to hit 3.8 or 3.9GHz with two cores running. How would that fare?

[admin89]

Although Dolphin use 2 or 3 cores , Quad Core is still faster than Dual Core in Dolphin
4.2GHz 4 cores active != 4.2GHz 2 cores active
With 3.8GHz , you should get fullspeed at the beginning of the game .You will get slowdown to 20FPS+ when you reach Ruli city