Intel or NVIDIA

[chumpz]

what is the recommended video adapter for dolphin??

does it really matter or dolphin just relies on processor and ram speed??

[JosJuice]

If you're not using much graphics enhancements, Intel graphics can be good enough, depending on which Intel chip you have. But to get the most out of Dolphin, you should use a dedicated GPU, either Nvidia or AMD.

[mstreurman]

It depends a bit on the GPU too, faster GPU's will allow for higher Internal Resolutions. If you're okay with IRx1 (or the Native resolution) you could get away with anything above a Intel HD Graphics 4600 although it doesn't support any of the newer back-ends like Vulkan. For FullHD (1080p) we used to recommend a minimum GPU that is equivalent to a nVidia Geforce GTX750. So if you're looking to upscale the graphics using an nVidia card anything with at least a 7 in the first spot and at least a 5 in the second to last spot should suffice (eg. 950/1050)

[chumpz]

thanks

[sirdaniel]

From my experience, recent intel intel igpu chips gives about 2x scaling with wii, and if you want pay more then take nvidia to get over 3x. Graphic card is usually for enhancing picture quality.

[chumpz]

so dolphin relies more on processors rather than graphics card?

[JosJuice]

so dolphin relies more on processors rather than graphics card?

Yes. A low-end GPU will just mean that the graphics quality won't be as high as it could be, but a low-end CPU can often make games unplayably slow.

[chumpz]

Yes. A low-end GPU will just mean that the graphics quality won't be as high as it could be, but a low-end CPU can often make games unplayably slow.

thanks.. so there is no much difference in performance between intel hd graphics 4400 and nvidia 720m when playing dolphin??

[mstreurman]

thanks.. so there is no much difference in performance between intel hd graphics 4400 and nvidia 720m when playing dolphin??

The 720m is about 1-2% faster than the HD4400, so yeah, not much difference. What MIGHT make a bigger difference is that the HD4400 uses internal RAM memory for its processing thus taxing the memory bus and heating up the processor more where the 720m has it's own memory and doesn't heat up the processor itself, which might lower it's speed.

[Helios]

Systems like that tend to share heat sinks/pipes anyways so temps are probably irrelevant between the two