Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

I am planning on purchasing a laptop and I want to be able to run Wii games (yes, I know, that was mistake #1, but due to portability issues I need a laptop instead of a desktop)

The specs are:
Intel® Core™ i7-2670QM (2.2~3.1GHz, 45W) w/6M L3 Cache - 4 Cores - 8 Threads
nVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M 192bit w/1.5GB GDDR5
and 8 GB RAM

I intend to play Super Mario Galaxy 2, Sonic Colours and Skyward Sword.
I will be running these games at 1080p. For Mario Galaxy, I will be using the LLE DSP. I will not be using anti-aliasing if it significantly hampers performance, and I am even willing to run at native res.

Main question:
Can I get full speed? If not, can I get 95% speed?

If not even close, will any of these processor options satisfy:
Intel® Core™ i7-2760QM (2.4~3.5GHz) w/6M L3 Cache
Intel® Core™ i7-2860QM (2.5~3.6GHz) w/8M L3 Cache
Intel® Core™ i7-2960XM Extreme (2.7~3.7GHz) w/8M L3 Cache

or can I get equivalent native-res performance with these lower-tier processors:
Intel® Core™ i5-2410M, 3MB L3 Cache, 2.3-2.9GHz
Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM, 6MB L3 Cache, 2.0-2.9GHz

I can also up the graphics card to 570M or 580M if necessary.

I have a 2670QM also, and I get ~80-100% in SMG2 on HLE, obviously much slower with LLE. I don't have Sonic, but Skyward is about 90-100% for me. The 2960XM or 2860QM should give you fullspeed in basically everything.

(12-04-2011, 01:59 PM)HawaiianPunch Wrote: [ -> ]I have a 2670QM also, and I get ~80-100% in SMG2 on HLE, obviously much slower with LLE. I don't have Sonic, but Skyward is about 90-100% for me. The 2960XM or 2860QM should give you fullspeed in basically everything.

When running Wii games, do you have trouble forcing the processor into Turbo Boost for two cores? I've heard that some of the quad core processors have a hard time deactivating two of the cores, and the best you'll get is maybe 1 core deactivated.

(12-04-2011, 02:03 PM)billyea Wrote: [ -> ]

(12-04-2011, 01:59 PM)HawaiianPunch Wrote: [ -> ]I have a 2670QM also, and I get ~80-100% in SMG2 on HLE, obviously much slower with LLE. I don't have Sonic, but Skyward is about 90-100% for me. The 2960XM or 2860QM should give you fullspeed in basically everything.

When running Wii games, do you have trouble forcing the processor into Turbo Boost for two cores? I've heard that some of the quad core processors have a hard time deactivating two of the cores, and the best you'll get is maybe 1 core deactivated.

Not at all. That was my main worry too with the quad core, but if a keep the lappy cool I routinely get to 3.0Ghz, even the max of 3.1. So it's not a problem, even without Lock Threads to Cores checked. This was a big surprise to me.

(12-04-2011, 02:15 PM)HawaiianPunch Wrote: [ -> ]

(12-04-2011, 02:03 PM)billyea Wrote: [ -> ]When running Wii games, do you have trouble forcing the processor into Turbo Boost for two cores? I've heard that some of the quad core processors have a hard time deactivating two of the cores, and the best you'll get is maybe 1 core deactivated.

Not at all. That was my main worry too with the quad core, but if a keep the lappy cool I routinely get to 3.0Ghz, even the max of 3.1. So it's not a problem, even without Lock Threads to Cores checked. This was a big surprise to me.

I see. Then do you run the games at a very high resolution, with anti aliasing or some multiple above internal resolution? I'm trying to see if the 560M (which is approx 1.7x the power of a 555M) would improve my framerates any.

I run the games at Auto, which is probably about 1440x800, with no AA. In easy games such as MKD, lowering my resolution did raise my fps.

(12-04-2011, 02:40 PM)HawaiianPunch Wrote: [ -> ]I run the games at Auto, which is probably about 1440x800, with no AA. In easy games such as MKD, lowering my resolution did raise my fps.

Alright, thanks for the experiences. I've decided to hold off on buying a laptop until Ivy Bridge is released. I'd like to see better Wii game performance on cheaper models before I commit to something that I'll be using for the next 3 years.