Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

Hey guys. Just wanted to ask, how much of a performance gain will I get upgrading my video card? Here's what I've got

i5 2500k@ 3.8ghz
GTS 250 (which is a rebranded 9800 GTX+)

I'm playing windwaker now and loving it, but this 250 gets up to ~75C when using the new "1.5x internal resolution" option, and I get slowdowns during cutscenes and the like. It can't handle 2x internal resolution at full speed at all.

I'm looking at either a 560 Ti or a 6950. Will I be able to run dolphin at 1.5x, 2x, without much issue? Or is this stuff also handled by the CPU and I wouldn't see any performance gain? (Not likely due to the high temp issue.. obviously I'm no expert though)

Thanks for any help or info

Well I don't think changing your videocard will change anything. The internal resolution has much to do with CPU.

My configuration is very close to yours (but AMD 4ghz ATI 5770), I play windwaker too and I don't get slowdowns at all. I play in 1280x720 and internal *2.

So I don't know why you get slowdowns... weird.

Settings maybe... Which ones did you use?

Thanks for the replies. Here are my settings

I say get a new GPU and OC your CPU a little more (4.0 Ghz).

I'm running the game really well, but in dx11.

Here's the video, specs and settings are in the info:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqF3RnHIPz8

Only reason I'm getting slowdown in the video is because of fraps. I don't with it off or with my new recording program dxtory.
I think 4x SSAA is broken in dx9? Read a thread about it. Atleast in some recent revisions, like mine, because it never seems to do much visually, and 9x almost without question drops frames in every game I play. I've tested it in every game I've tried I think, and 8x AA with dx11 usually always works fine. Though I do play at 3x internal.

Well, it seems like eljuggy and ExtremeDude2 disagree. So I guess this thread is about one question: is internal resolution affected by GPU performance, or is it all handled by the CPU?

Unless, of course, there is something very wrong with the settings I posted

@Extremedude2: I'll overclock my CPU a bit more soon enough, but I'm still using the stock cooler

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@vortextk

Turning AA down to 4x with DX9 does bump performance up to full speed, but it doesn't look very good, like you said.

Now, on DX11, the option for anti-aliasing is greyed out. Any idea why this might be?



Edit: my video card doesn't support DX11.. But I'm still confused as to why it would even work at all under D3D11.

Edit 2: I found another thread that explains that D3D11 isn't limited to DX11 hardware, but you can't use AA. So that makes sense. So even if I didn't get performance gains from a new GPU, I would still have the benefits of being able to use DX11.

4X or 9X SSAA --> You need a powerful video card for this option. Or disable SSAA and set internal resolution to 2x or something. You won't see any major differences. Basically:

1) SSAA: Relies on video card power.
2) Internal Resolution: Relies on CPU power.

(07-20-2011, 02:38 AM)vortextk Wrote: [ -> ]I think 4x SSAA is broken in dx9? Read a thread about it.

Not all revisions (I'm currently using r7553). Regardless, it's just a case of shoddy programming.

That's kind of weird then. 4870's can not use dx11, that's what I have. AMD cards only go dx11 starting with the 5000 series. I realized that already but figured supporting dx11 didn't matter just to use it here and maybe some special options or tricks it had would be unavailable. Though I guess in your case, they are.

This is the thread for 4x ssaa, http://forums.dolphin-emu.org/showthread.php?tid=16118

I'm ok with the computers but for the emulator I'm not sure how to use that patch, you have to compile the emulator with it I think? I'm sure someone else can explain better. Anyway I'm pretty much 100% that my 4x option is broken like yours might be in the revision I'm using, 7671, because I can really notice aliasing and when it's better and it certainly doesn't do much changing to that. In dx11 even 2x is a decent boost since I'm rendering at 3x internal. Which, by the way, you should bump up the internal resolution if you haven't after setting the AA down.

Thank you for all the responses. I'm not sure how to apply that 4x AA patch but I'll see if I can figure it out. At least until I get a new video card