Video card Recommendations

[gaby04]

Hey Im looking to buy a new video card after my weak GeForce 210 died. The Geforce 210 only gave me 35-40fps on my lowest screen resolution(800x600). I dont' do much gaming but i want dolphin to run at full speed or near full speed at 720p. Which video card do you recommend ? The cheaper the better but im willing to spend $150 at most.

I have a 550w power supply with pcie connector
Amd phenom II X4 925 overclocked to 3.2ghz
4gb of ram

[boogerlad]

gtx 460

[tuanming]

gtx 460

Agreed. The GTX 460 will give you good pc gaming and emulation (as long as the cpu don't bottleneck...).

[bbyam]

How important is the video card vs. processor for Dolphin? I noticed on the main page it says some Integrated graphics work.

I have a Core2 Duo 2.4 GHz and a GeForce 7100, and I can barely get 15% speed on SMBW when the window is 640x480. I have Vista 64-bit, and all the latest drivers.

So would I better off spending money to get a new motherboard with Core i5-661 (3.33GHz, 2 core) or spending that on a better video card instead?

[tuanming]

I'd say 50/50. If you play games at high-res then a faster GPU is needed and if you need more fps, you could always turns to overclocking. You need to have a balanced Pc, one that does not bottleneck each other. If you want a faster overall system performance then a complete system upgrade is a better choice. If it's just for dolphin or emulation, then just upgrade your GPU.

[NaturalViolence]

The amount of graphics throughput needed depends heavily on the revision, OS, plugin, game, and what settings you're using (especially the last one). With the right revision, plugin, and settings even some of the worst modern video cards can run dolphin without bottlenecking the cpu.

Amount of graphics throughput needed based on OS (higher is more):
macos>linux>windows

Amount of graphics throughput needed based on plugin:
opengl>d3d11>d3d9

Based on revision:
Newer revisions>older revisions

EFB scale, pixel lighting, and AA all have an ENORMOUS impact on how much graphics throughput is needed. And some games require 5 times as much as other games. Having a higher end video card will allow you to run higher settings without bottlenecking the cpu. 3x efb scale + 4xSSAA + pixel lighting requires a GTX580 to guarantee no bottleneck in any game. With only a 1x efb scale and no AA or pixel lighting a 9500gt would be sufficient. That's a 20-40 times difference in throughput easily. If you stay away from AA and pixel lighting anything from a 9600gt/5670 up should be able to handle 720p with fractional efb scaling on any game.

@bbyam

Video card. A 7100 is too little for dolphin no matter what you do.

@gaby04

Like the others here suggested buy a GTX 460 if you can afford it. If not a GTS 450 will do just fine. Just stay away from AA and pixel lighting (unless you're using a low resolution/efb scale).