Dolphin PC buying guide

[THELUKESTIR]

(08-18-2009, 12:01 AM)jasong Wrote: All things being equal though clock speed does make a difference.

its not all that matters though, a dual core pentium d at 3.0ghz per core vs a core 2 duo @ 2.0ghz per core, the c2d would plow the pd out of the water!

[G2K]

I can't really pick out what I'm looking for amongst the arguing . What should I get to play the game I mentioned? If you can't direct me to a specific laptop, at least the individual parts would be nice, though I'd prefer not to have to build my own...

If the laptop can run Crysis on high settings, can it run the games I mentioned well?

[Iulius]

no.

crysis need a good graphics card which is highly available.

dolphin needs a strong cpu, for some games faster then the ones available.(especially faster then the ones available for laptops)


if you really want to spend extra money on a laptop which can run dolphin, which i cannot recommand as you get a usual laptop + a strong desktop cheaper, look for a strong cpu together with any real nvidia oder ati card (usually numbers 500+, for example 4500 or higher for ati cards)


with the cpu, it depends on how you want to play it :

- play full game with all stages, always at good fps -> impossible on laptop

- play full game with some major slowdown for certain areas -> get a laptop with T9800 or T9900 (around 3 ghz)

- play most parts of the game with reasonable speed, other areas unplayable -> 2,5ghz would be enough

- play only few parts (for example some stages with only 1vs 1 fights in brawl) -> 2ghz c2d or turion is enough


thats what i can say from my experience with a 2,4 and 3ghz c2d.

for example, 3ghz c2d is certainly not enough for brawl on some stages with many combetants.

[G2K]

Okay, thanks for that! A nice helpful answer is all I wanted

Any idea on where I can buy either of the 2 mentioned processors? Or where can I buy ANY parts for that matter (including a case)?

Can I simply buy one of those processors and stick it into another laptop, or do I have to make sure they are compatible? And from what it seems, the processor is the only real key element to running Dolphin
, as long as I've got a good GPU, right?

[cmccmc]

http://www.newegg.com

[G2K]

I know about newegg, but

1) They don't have either of the suggested processors
2) I'm in Canada, and newegg.ca is awful.

Plus, neither the US or Canadian version has laptop shells.

[Iulius]

you cant just upgrade the cpu as mostly the cooling is only made for weaker cpus.

get a laptop that has a build in T9900/9800 if you want that.


apples mac book pro or lenovo/ibms w700/w500 would be a good choise.

cheaper ones are available from lg (p510,S510)
but cheap may be the wrong word....


if you want it real cheap, look for some "clevo" manufacturers in canada.

clevo is a barebone system and different companys build stuff in there.

here in europe, you get a book with T9900 and gt260 for around 1500€, which means it should be about 2000$ in the US.


the question is : is it worth spending 2000$ when you get 2,5ghz for under 1000$ ?

double price for 20% more performance....

thats why i said : dont buy a laptop for dolphin.


its always a bad choise unless money does not matter for you.

[G2K]

Okay, this is probably my final question, unless I come up with more...

Dolphin can't use quad cores yet... will this eventually be oercome? Would it be better to get a quad core laptop in case we ever can use them? Or should I stick to dual core?

[THELUKESTIR]

only dual core will be used in dolphin EVAH

[abfab126]

(08-18-2009, 11:41 AM)G2K Wrote: Okay, this is probably my final question, unless I come up with more...

Dolphin can't use quad cores yet... will this eventually be oercome? Would it be better to get a quad core laptop in case we ever can use them? Or should I stick to dual core?

As I always say , Dolphin wont use 4 cores , but you can still use the other 2 cores at the same time to do something else !