The Bane of My Existence

[TheOriginalTiger]

Ever since I discovered emulation, I have been trying, desperately attempting to run Super Mario Galaxy.

All my attempts and tweaks have been shot down.

My current build, an i7 860 (2.80Ghz) and a GTX 780, has been unable to run SMG at 60fps 1080p.

My simple question is this: If I were to upgrade to the i5-4590 (3.3Ghz), would I finally be able to emulate all Dolphin games flawlessly? And maybe even Wii U games when they become available?

[Shonumi]

Yeah, the i5-4950 should be able to run it without issues. I played it without noting any significant (>5) drops in FPS with an i5-2500K @ 3.8GHz, and any Haswell at 3.3GHz is going to run circles around a Sandy Bridge CPU when it comes to Dolphin.

Just be sure to use the very latest development revisions (not the stable 4.0.2). LLE audio is no longer necessary for decent audio; HLE audio plays just fine for the most part, aside from some minor volume issues here and there.

EDIT: Please note, this CPU is not sufficient for every game in Dolphin. Heavy and demanding games need an overclockable CPU with high single-threaded performance. Get a K model of the Haswell refresh (i5-4690K for example) if you want to really play every game, or just about every game.

[DJBarry004]

Just get the Pentium G3258... It overclocks like hell and it´s pretty cheap compared to other Haswell CPU models.

EDIT: If you ever plan to upgrade, of course.

[TheOriginalTiger]

Wow, insanely fast answers! Thanks guys, you are awesome!

Yeah, the i5-4950 should be able to run it without issues. I played it without noting any significant (>5) drops in FPS with an i5-2500K @ 3.8GHz, and any Haswell at 3.3GHz is going to run circles around a Sandy Bridge CPU when it comes to Dolphin.

Just be sure to use the very latest development revisions (not the stable 4.0.2). LLE audio is no longer necessary for decent audio; HLE audio plays just fine for the most part, aside from some minor volume issues here and there.

I can't tell you how glad I am to hear that. Now I just need to get a new motherboard to support the chipset. I hope I won't have problems fitting a new motherboard into a Dell XPS case.

Also, you yourself have an i5-4950? The administrator of a Dolphin forum? I shouldn't have any problems then.

By the way, what do you think about Wii U emulation on Dolphin? I hear we can already access the filesystem. About a month or two before actual emulation? And will it start out as only accessible for super-fast processors, then gradually become easier?

Sorry for the long questions, I'm just very curious.

Just get the Pentium G3258... It overclocks like hell and it´s pretty cheap compared to other Haswell CPU models.

EDIT: If you ever plan to upgrade, of course.

Yeah, I heard about that thing. Very nice piece of hardware. AMD used to control the low-end processor market, but what now? Do you think they will be able to come back from this?

[DJBarry004]

Most people rumored about possibilities of emulating Wii U on Dolphin, with absolutely no success. In other words, devs are simply not interested on those things right now...

[TheOriginalTiger]

Most people rumored about possibilities of emulating Wii U on Dolphin, with absolutely no success. In other words, devs are simply not interested on those things right now...

But doesn't it even use the same architecture as the Wii?

[Shonumi]

Actually, I have a 2500K (got this bad boy when it was the CPU of choice for Dolphin ) But I'm essentially saying that weaker hardware is capable of playing SMG 1&2 comfortably, so your choice should do fine. But PLEASE read my edit. It's kinda important.

I have no comment on Wii U emulation. The hardware needs more research. I think we should focus on getting a 3DS emulator (*cough*Citra*cough*) up and running first, because the 3DS is where it's at for Nintendo games

[DJBarry004]

Most people rumored about possibilities of emulating Wii U on Dolphin, with absolutely no success. In other words, devs are simply not interested on those things right now...

But doesn't it even use the same architecture as the Wii?

If you are referring to the file system, the one used by the Wii is pretty different.

[TheOriginalTiger]

Actually, I have a 2500K (got this bad boy when it was the CPU of choice for Dolphin ) But I'm essentially saying that weaker hardware is capable of playing SMG 1&2 comfortably, so your choice should do fine. But PLEASE read my edit. It's kinda important.

I have no comment on Wii U emulation. The hardware needs more research. I think we should focus on getting a 3DS emulator (*cough*Citra*cough*) up and running first, because the 3DS is where it's at for Nintendo games

Even the most emulated 3DS software won't be able to replicate the 3D effect, which is the whole gimmick and arguably half the experience.

Unless you want to get into Red/Cyan and Passive/Active 3D. Imagine playing a 3DS game on a 50 inch TV with 3d glasses.

Hmm. Emulation is more fun than I thought.

[Shonumi]

Honestly, I don't think anyone would miss the 3D features if Citra never implemented them. We'd just call it a 2DS emulator and call it a day. I emulate games not gimmicks :p

The WiiU is a different beast all right. The GC and Wii were closer than the Wii and Wii U as far as I know. There are a number of hardware differences, despite the backwards compatibility.

Glad to see you're having fun with your journey into emulation. It's an exciting trip that's worthwhile.