Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

Hello there. I'm a newbie here. First of all, I am a hardcore gamer and I must admit that I do not like the Wii much at the first place because its games look very childish. I'm no offensive to Wii user. Just a personal opinion, perhaps because Wii games -- there's no bloody game like God of War. Worst of all, Wii's hardware is inferor to PS3 and 360, so there can't be any realistic graphics game like Crysis 2... But I think I need to try some games and change my opinion. As a noob, I have some questions 'bout Dolphin before buying a game.

1. How many major threads does Dolphin use to emulate the Wii (major mean CPU intensive thread)? In other word how many processor cores does Dolphin support?
   
2. I want to try Twilight Princess (I like this game graphics), but I have no Wiimote for aiming the bow other than a DualShock 2 from my PS2, so I'm considering the Gamecube version. Is Gamecube emulation speed better than Wii's? Btw is there much graphics differences between Wii and Gamecube version of Twilight Princess?
   
3. Can my laptop run Dolphin? I'm sorry if asking such question is forbidden (PCSX2 forum does). I have read the system requirement thread but its info is too generic (a "fast" dual-core CPU and a DX9 GPU). Here's my laptop spec:
   

   Quote:Compaq Presario CQ42-223AX (I got it for US$500, so I do not expect much if it can run Dolphin)
   
   CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 N930 (2 Ghz, 512 kB L2 cache for each core, no L3 cache, no TurboCore)
   GPU: ATI Radeon HD 545v (clock speed 680 Mhz, 512 MB DDR3 RAM, DX10.1, shader 4.1. Basically it is a HD 4570 renamed, an entry-level graphics card for laptop. It can run Resident Evil 5 in 1280x720, all medium settings at 30 fps)
   RAM: 2 GB DDR3 (does not matter)
   OS: Windows 7 x64 (may be a bit speed up compared to x86)

I think the main bottleneck is the CPU. The quad-core Phenom II N930 can beat a dual-core i5 450M (2.4 Ghz) when all 4 cores are full load, but when running by two cores, it is weaker than an i3 330M (2.13 Ghz). I can only run Final Fantasy X on PCSX2 at 40 fps on my laptop, but my brother's with an i3 350 (2.26 Ghz) and an integrated Intel HD can run it at 60 fps. Laptop CPU is never as powerful as desktop counterpart in same brand name. Further more, my CPU doesn't has shared L3 cache, making it even weaker when running less than 4 cores. I wonder if I should buy a Wii game.

1. Dolphin uses up to 2 cores
2. Yes, the GC version is faster. The graphics difference is widescreen support (you can use the widescreen hack for GC version, but then objects on the sides can disappear)
3. You'll need better CPU, there is really none that can handle everything in Dolphin, mine for example can almost handle all of TP in fullspeed, but some areas are still slowed.

Build a dual core desktop or A Wii is much cheaper than laptop
My lappy (700$) have 20-25 FPS on Hyrule Field (Zelda TP Hack enabled) ,other areas run fullspeed
Setting :
Framelimit off
Audio Throttle off
Direct3D9:
Accurate Texture Caches off
EFB copy to Ram

(03-31-2011, 11:51 PM)Livy Wrote: [ -> ]there's no bloody game like God of War.

did you look on the internet?
http://www.listal.com/list/top-10-violent-wii-games

(03-31-2011, 11:51 PM)Livy Wrote: [ -> ]I wonder if I should buy a Wii game.

are you suggesting that you will illegally download games instead? or do you mean to wait and see if your laptop is good enough to run Dolphin and then buy games?

As of today my statement still stands.
Laptops are for Business, not pleasure.

A laptop have entirely different conditions then a really good built rig.

1. Performance, the hardware is crappier then what you can build a rig with.

2. Heat, airflow and temperature (laptops in general are more hotter and produce more heat) which means no overclocking at all.

3. Price, the price don't justify what you get in a laptop hardware vise, you'll better of searching for hardware online at good prices and build a rig yourself.

4. Laptops are clumsy since it's harder to change hardware and you can't change anything but what was inside originally basically.

I use a laptop at work, it's convenient and good for meetings.

I use the real stuff for pleasure.

no he meant waiting splashing-blood games on the wii maybe one day...

How about " Onechanbara Bikini Zombie Slayer" , it's same violence as "No more heroes" and it works perfectly on dolphin as well

(04-01-2011, 01:01 AM)Gabriel Belmont Wrote: [ -> ]2. Heat, airflow and temperature (laptops in general are more hotter and produce more heat) which means [color=#FF0000]no overclocking at all[/color].

have you seen my sig for my current laptop? you're making it sound as if its impossible to OC a laptop

btw, i could (and would) OC my laptop further if the BIOS wasnt locked by the manufacturer

Thanks for the answer. There're so few applications that support 4 cores these days (except for Visual Studio, it uses any core the machine has when compiles a project). It seems that I should try the Gamecube version instead. But is there any other graphics differences other than widescreen support? PES 2011, for example, looks awful on the PS2 compared to the PS3 version.

(04-01-2011, 01:01 AM)Gabriel Belmont Wrote: [ -> ]As of today my statement still stands.
Laptops are for Business, not pleasure.

A laptop have entirely different conditions then a really good built rig.

1. Performance, the hardware is crappier then what you can build a rig with.

2. Heat, airflow and temperature (laptops in general are more hotter and produce more heat) which means no overclocking at all.

3. Price, the price don't justify what you get in a laptop hardware vise, you'll better of searching for hardware online at good prices and build a rig yourself.

4. Laptops are clumsy since it's harder to change hardware and you can't change anything but what was inside originally basically.

I use a laptop at work, it's convenient and good for meetings.

I use the real stuff for pleasure.

http://computers.toptenreviews.com/gaming-laptops/