The graphics card is an HD 5770.
I'm quite aware that even for a Core 2 my processor's like the second-weakest of that branch and is the bottleneck now, so I'm looking to upgrade it. It's not mainly for Dolphin, but my concern is whether a higher-end C2D would work better, or a C2Q with a lower clock rate would still be good enough to play many games at full speed (I can't even get full speed in Melee right now).
I plan on upgrading the CPU anyways so I can take this current one and stick it in an older machine, my concern is if Dolphin will mandate me getting a high-clock C2D, or if a moderately-clocked C2Q would work best.
I'm aware of the concept of overclocking and I may look into it just a bit if any, but I don't plan on having it as a requirement.