Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

Hey there!

I've had a touch and go relationship with dolphin over the years but after seeing Skyward Sword on my 50' Plasma I think it's time I made a commitment and start considering this as a viable way to play the game.

My current specs are from a computer I put together last year (It was my first time so go easy on me) and I end up getting a pretty lose 20-30 fps during Skyward Sword at 2x native resolution and 1x Anisotropic Filtering. I have a feeling from looking around the forums here that my processor is what's holding me back. I was thinking about upgrading to this http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.asp...6819103996 seeing as it uses the same socket type and wattage.

Anyone have a better recommendation? Is there some reason why this won't work (switching processors)? Or is it common trick in the configuration of Dolphin that's holding me back and my hardware is perfectly acceptable?

Thanks!

Bulldozer is slower than Phenom and Dolphin mainly uses 2 cores
Upgrade to Phenom or Llano instead of BD

Even better, get a Sandy Bridge CPU if you plan on 'upgrading'.

What is your motherboard model?

(11-23-2011, 01:19 PM)dancrane212 Wrote: [ -> ]Anyone have a better recommendation? Is there some reason why this won't work (switching processors)? Or is it common trick in the configuration of Dolphin that's holding me back and my hardware is perfectly acceptable?

Thanks!

I don't know what the rest of your specs are, but this processor will do fine. http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.asp...6819103993

I have 6 of those cores, and Dolphin likes to use two. If threads are allowed to shift onto neighboring cores, the performance and core load difference is insignificant.

If you're not willing to shell out for Sandy Bridge and a new motherboard, overclock that Phenom II and use this cooler to keep it and the surrounding components from overheating: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.asp...6835185155

i think the bulldozer with 3.6ghz should run pretty welll..
but nothing compared to sandybridge...
thats 1ghz more than your current cpu... thats a lot
and should be enough for skyward
check for bios updates if the bulldozer is supported

otherwise look if the
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.asp...6819103923
is supported by your mainboard or other cheaper black editions with cooler and oc

I knew I should have included my motherboard in my signature.

It's a GIGABYTE GA-MA74GM-S2 AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 740G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.asp...6813128342

Thanks for all the information guys! I'm starting to lean towards the AMD Phenom II X4 975, I'll have to double check that my PSU can handle the wattage.

Ah yes, that should work fine.

If I were you I'd get a 945 or a 955, to save you the 50 bucks.
You can easily overclock it to 3.6 if you wish.

PII x4 945: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.asp...6819103809

How much wattage is your PSU?

(11-23-2011, 09:42 PM)Garteal Wrote: [ -> ]Ah yes, that should work fine.

If I were you I'd get a 945 or a 955, to save you the 50 bucks.
You can easily overclock it to 3.6 if you wish.

PII x4 945: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.asp...6819103809

How much wattage is your PSU?

It's 460W, the Newegg calculator puts me around 435W with the 975 if my motherboard is a "regular" one.

The only other things I have in my Box are two fans and a usb 2.0 card. That's pretty safe right?

Before we go any further, what brand is the PSU?

(11-23-2011, 10:15 PM)Garteal Wrote: [ -> ]Before we go any further, what brand is the PSU?

Cooler Master