Considering that you're using Intel graphics, the answer should be a major "yes" that using Linux instead is a good idea.
This is because Intel's Windows drivers are the worst of the 3 graphics vendors, yet their Linux drivers are actually the best. My friend's Sandy Bridge laptop was running the OpenGL-powered Eduke32 at a whopping 1 (one!) frame per second, and simply using Linux Mint on the exact same hardware instead brought it up to like 40fps.
Also, as a side bonus, if you have any interest in using the official 1st party GameCube USB adapter, it's stupid simple to get working in Linux compared to Windows as it's nothing more than creating a new text file in a specific location and pasting the according text into the aforementioned text file.
This is because Intel's Windows drivers are the worst of the 3 graphics vendors, yet their Linux drivers are actually the best. My friend's Sandy Bridge laptop was running the OpenGL-powered Eduke32 at a whopping 1 (one!) frame per second, and simply using Linux Mint on the exact same hardware instead brought it up to like 40fps.
Also, as a side bonus, if you have any interest in using the official 1st party GameCube USB adapter, it's stupid simple to get working in Linux compared to Windows as it's nothing more than creating a new text file in a specific location and pasting the according text into the aforementioned text file.
Dolphin 5.0 CPU benchmark
CPU: Pentium G3258 @ 4.5GHz 1.24v
GPU: Intel integrated
RAM: 4x4GB Corsair Vengence @ DDR3-1600
OS: Linux Mint of some variety + [VM] Win7 SP1 x64
CPU: Pentium G3258 @ 4.5GHz 1.24v
GPU: Intel integrated
RAM: 4x4GB Corsair Vengence @ DDR3-1600
OS: Linux Mint of some variety + [VM] Win7 SP1 x64