Which mac works the best with dolphin?

[John]

Hello I am John, I have a question, I sincerely dont know what specs of these to mac contribute more to dolphin performance, graphics, and speed. I have these two options and I would really appreciate if you could tell me wich would work the best with dolphin. If you are lazy to reply, just vote above, if you really know which one runs best with dolphin


13-inch Macbook Pro with Retina Display (My favorite one):

Processor: 2.9 GHz dual-core Intel Core i7

Memory: 8G memory

Storage: 768GB Flash Storage

Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 4000


15-inch Macbook Pro Glossy Display


Processor: 2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7

Memory: 4GB of 1600MHz DDR3 memory

Storage: 500GB 5400-rpm hard drive

Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 4000, NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M graphics processor with 512MB or 1GB GDDR5 memory



If you need any additional info, click on this link
www.apple.com/why-mac/compare/notebooks.html



Sincerely,

- John

[admin89]

Is it obvious ? The 2nd one (Nvidia GT 650M)
Beware overheating issues though -> CPU , GPU downclock -> Dolphin run slow . Macbook pro is not a gaming laptop , it's a multi-media laptop
And you'll need to install Windows 7/8 x64 via bootcamp to use Directx9 & 11 backend anyway . OpenGL is slow and Directx 9 & 11 have better compatibility

Having a dedicated GPU , you will have great performance & graphic (1080p) comparing to the crappy Intel HD 4000 (480p) . Integrated Intel HD GPU are not capable of running demanding games , you will have huge slowdown even with lowest res (480p) . However , having a dedicated GPU , your laptop temp will skyrocket when playing game

Let compare the CPU :
Dual Core i7 3520M (2.9-> 3.6GHz) Turbo Boost :
+3.4 GHz (for 2 active cores)
+3.6 GHz (for 1 active core).

Quad Core i7 3615QM (2.3-> 3.3GHz) Turbo Boost :
+3.1 GHz (for 4 active cores)
+3.2 GHz (for 2 active cores)
+3.3 GHz (for 1 active core)

Dolphin is a dual core app -> i7 3520M will clock at 3.4GHz and i7 3615QM will clock at 3.1 or 3.2GHz . You will have speed boost with Quad Core since Dolphin support 3 cores (LLE on threads)
-> Result : both CPU are almost equal in term of performance via Dolphin
Edit : Forgot to mention : i7-3520M is rated at a TDP of 35 W , i7-3615QM is rated at a TDP of 45 W -> i7 3520M will run cooler . The size of laptops are also important . Bigger size -> More space -> Less heat

[John]

(12-15-2012, 01:16 PM)admin89 Wrote: Is it obvious ? The 2nd one (Nvidia GT 650M)
Beware overheating issues though -> CPU , GPU downclock -> Dolphin run slow . Macbook pro is not a gaming laptop , it's a multi-media laptop
And you'll need to install Windows 7/8 x64 via bootcamp to use Directx9 & 11 backend anyway . OpenGL is slow and Directx 9 & 11 have better compatibility

Having a dedicated GPU , you will have great performance & graphic (1080p) comparing to the crappy Intel HD 4000 (480p) . Integrated Intel HD GPU are not capable of running demanding games , you will have huge slowdown even with lowest res (480p) . However , having a dedicated GPU , your laptop temp will skyrocket when playing game

Let compare the CPU :
Dual Core i7 3520M (2.9-> 3.6GHz) Turbo Boost :
+3.4 GHz (for 2 active cores)
+3.6 GHz (for 1 active core).

Quad Core i7 3615QM (2.3-> 3.3GHz) Turbo Boost :
+3.1 GHz (for 4 active cores)
+3.2 GHz (for 2 active cores)
+3.3 GHz (for 1 active core)

Dolphin is a dual core app -> i7 3520M will clock at 3.4GHz and i7 3615QM will clock at 3.1 or 3.2GHz . You will have speed boost with Quad Core since Dolphin support 3 cores (LLE on threads)
-> Result : both CPU are almost equal in term of performance via Dolphin
Edit : Forgot to mention : i7-3520M is rated at a TDP of 35 W , i7-3615QM is rated at a TDP of 45 W -> i7 3520M will run cooler . The size of laptops are also important . Bigger size -> More space -> Less heat

I see, thanks a lot admin89, I really dont know much about GPU thats why I asked for help, thanks.

[DefenderX]

I personally use the 15" Macbook Pro w/ Retina Display and I'm surprised of the good performance in Dolphin. The GT 650M is able to handle 3x IR (1080p) and the CPU can handle all my games at playable speed.

[pauldacheez]

admin89, the 15" MacBook Pro may be considered a multimedia laptop, but A) it has *two* big fans in it, and B) Apple seems to do a pretty good job with thermal management, otherwise MacRumors would have an article about people having it overheat and downclock itself.

Also, DX9/DX11 don't necessarily have better compatibility than OpenGL. DX11 may be mostly comparable to GL, but DX9 is definitely more problematic.

And, most notably, there's a lighting bug in Dolphin that shows up only with Nvidia GPUs under OS X, so if you're taking the 15", you're gonna need to play under Windows unless you're fine with everything looking weird under OS X. Until delroth fixes it, of course, but he says he can't exactly figure that out yet.

[admin89]

Quote:big fans

Small , even smaller than my laptop cooler .Macbook pro has ultra-thin design you know -> Not much space

Quote:Apple seems to do a pretty good job with thermal management

This ?
Btw , OEM thermal compound can not compare to aftermarket TC which is used in gaming laptop (IC diamond ,Arctic Cooling)
I saw many Macbook pro users have overheating issue . Ask @ Axxer , his laptop temp can hit near 100C when dolphin is running .
After that , he take his Macbook to Apple Support Center . You know what ? Apple genius said his laptop was fine
-> This official thread is meaningless

You don't have overheating issue because your laptop doesn't have dedicated GPU
Most Mac users ain't technician (not an insult) . They don't even care about their laptop temp until i told them to use "Realtemp" to check their CPU temp and then the problem appears ...

[pauldacheez]

Eh, yeah, I'm probably full of shit about the thermal part. I'm not exactly a cooling expert.

For the record, my wimpy little 13" MacBook Air (1.7 GHz i5-2557M, HD 3000) gets to about 200ºF (93ºC) when running games in Dolphin. It's bottlenecked by both the CPU and GPU, which is goddamned hilarious.

[admin89]

No way , i5 2557M is power efficient Ultra Low Voltage CPU (TDP = 17W)
Ah , i see , Macbook air ...

[John]

(12-16-2012, 12:14 AM)admin89 Wrote: No way , i5 2557M is power efficient Ultra Low Voltage CPU (TDP = 17W)
Ah , i see , Macbook air ...

Admin89, so, can the Macbook Pro 13" Retina can handle 2x Native Resolution at full speed?

[DefenderX]

The HD Graphics 400 is NOT able to handle 720p (2x IR). Only 1x IR (480p).

But yeah, you'll get good performance in most games, the i7-3520M is pretty powerful (2 cores + HT).