Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

It might not make much of a difference since it's an emulator, but it's worth a shot anyway.

I'm currently using a laptop, a fairly powerful one mind you, and when I'm trying to select my graphics adapter (I have 2) it only shows my on board graphics card, which isn't going to run it as well as my GT 555M.

So is this just a visual bug? Is there a workaround? On fullscreen I can only manage maybe 16 FPS. I'm trying to play LoZ:TP and would appreciate some help... I mean it's playable, but I wanna see if I can get at least 20 FPS.

Thanks in advance.

Everyone thinks they have a powerful computer and few ever do, especially when it comes to CPU hungry emulators like Dolphin. Post more specific processor info, your profile specs are not detailed enough.

Remember, searching before you post saves lives. Well, not really :/, but this question seems to get asked a lot for laptops with the GT 555M. Next time make sure to google around first.

At any rate post your settings as well, either as text or screenshots, so we can (maybe) help you with your FPS problem. We need to know your hardware too, like Starscream said, though it might be the case that your laptop isn't enough to handle Dolphin.

Right. I'm well aware I might not be up to speed, but it's worth a shot anyway right? Such a shame emulators are so inefficient.

And I did a quick search, but didn't check anything specific such as my video card. So I musta missed it :\

Anyway, specs are as follows.

CPU: Intel i7-2670QM CPU @ 2.20GHz
RAM: 8 GB @ 1600 Mhz
OS: Windows 7
Video card: A GT555M

And what else is important...?

And what do you want me to screenshot? Well here.

Doesn't seem to be loading for me so a direct link
http://imgur.com/tQICo

(04-20-2012, 11:23 AM)Shonumi Wrote: [ -> ]saves lives.

Shonumi gave you the blue link you need , just click on it lol

(04-20-2012, 12:17 PM)admin89 Wrote: [ -> ]Shonumi gave you the blue link you need , just click on it lol

Yeah I was just trying to have some fun.

@LukaCola, a lot of answers can be found out faster by using Google rather than making a new thread here and waiting for replies though. Plus, we have a handful of duplicate threads asking the same thing. As a result, we always encourage that people at least try to search first before asking here. The thread I posted should have all of the stuff you need for your GPU problem, so have a look.

(04-20-2012, 12:01 PM)LukaCola Wrote: [ -> ]Such a shame emulators are so inefficient.

Any program can be inefficient, it just depends on the capabilities of the programmers. That emulators in general are inefficient, or even Dolphin specifically, is a bit mistaken. Emulators have to translate the game's native code into instructions that your computer can understand. The very nature of emulating another system usually requires more processing and resources than the original system would ever use. In Dolphin's case, it takes a lot more effort to do that. The emulator isn't inefficient; it's not wasting cycles with poor code. That's just how expensive GC/Wii emulation is.

Anyways, I wanted your Dolphin settings, e.g. Options->Configure->General tab, and Options->Graphics Settings->General, Enhancements, and Hacks tabs. But looking at your full specs, you should be fine. Other forum members have your same CPU and GPU, and I've heard good reports about them with Dolphin. Try the link I posted. If that doesn't help, then give us your settings here.

(04-20-2012, 10:11 AM)LukaCola Wrote: [ -> ]I'm currently using a laptop, a fairly powerful one mind you

(04-20-2012, 12:01 PM)LukaCola Wrote: [ -> ]And I did a quick search, but didn't check anything specific such as my video card. So I musta missed it :\

(04-20-2012, 12:01 PM)LukaCola Wrote: [ -> ]Such a shame emulators are so inefficient.

There is no hope, we're just going to keep getting the same person millions of times on the forum. You forgot to say that you can play Crysis on all high, why can you not play an old Gamecube game.

We need to make something which automatically answers common or dumb questions. Anyway, we haven't given him time to retract his statement yet, so we should wait a bit before the exasperation.

Yes yes, I put up with the same stuff on other forums as well. Just bare with me Unfamiliar territory.
Sorry I missed the link as well, I was between tasks and just thought "I'll bang out a response and move on"
Only reason I said they're inefficient is because they do not utilize hardware to its full potential. It's a shame is all, I know it can't be avoided, I know why it is, I'm just saying it's a shame.

It's just that at current settings, lowering or removing any graphics hacks, I still get roughly 16 FPS which is hardly playable. I guess I'll have to play around with settings later, and of course force GPU in the control panel as suggested in the other thread. If you don't hear from me again, it works. So I'll be out of your hair soon I'm sure.

(And somehow I doubt I'll run Crysis on high, I can run the Sims 3 on high with a lower res though!)

E: If this all doesn't work, would switching to my desktop help at all? It's got an AMD Phenom II x6 1090T @3.3GHz and a GTX 465 (which doesn't make a difference as I've read however)
I just wanted it on my laptop for convenience. Didn't realize emulators were so tough on the poor machines.

(04-21-2012, 07:17 AM)LukaCola Wrote: [ -> ]E: If this all doesn't work, would switching to my desktop help at all? It's got an AMD Phenom II x6 1090T @3.3GHz and a GTX 465 (which doesn't make a difference as I've read however)
I just wanted it on my laptop for convenience. Didn't realize emulators were so tough on the poor machines.

Your desktop CPU is much slower than Laptop CPU . Even if you overclock it to 4.2Ghz , it's still no match for i7
Dolphin is a dual core app....(3 cores with LLE on threads)