Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

Hello,

I'm thinking of buying a laptop, but the color must be white. My current PC's specs are Intel core 2 duo e7400 2.8ghz (overclocked to 3.4ghz), Radeon HD 4670 1GB DDR3, 4GB of RAM, Windows 7 32 bit. It can run Xenoblade at 80%-100% speed with HLE.

I've searched for i7 laptops with white colors and still affordable, and this one catches my attention:
HP G4-2040TX around $700 with these specs:
- Intel Core i7-3612QM 2.1ghz with turbo boost up to 3.1ghz
- AMD Radeon HD 7670M (2 GB DDR3 dedicated)
- 4 GB 1600 MHz DDR3

My question is:
1. Is this enough to run Xenoblade and Tales of Symphonia (GC) with LLE audio? I can handle a little slowdown as long as the crappy sound is gone and the speed is not below 90%..
2. I don't want the laptop to overheat if I use dolphin.. so will it be alright if I use a portable cooling pad? I honestly don't know if this is a multimedia or a gaming laptop.. I usually only play 1-2 hours per day though..
3. How do I use the turbo boost? Is it automatically used in heavy programs, or do I have to manually set it?
4. I currently use Windows 7 32 bit.. And planning to upgrade to Windows 8 64 bit.. Will it be faster for dolphin?
5. Will I get a significant improvement from my current PC?

I'd really appreciate it if anyone could answer my question. Thanks

1. It probably won't be enough for either with LLE, but it should be plenty for both with HLE.
2. It will almost assuredly overheat, and a cooling pad won't help. It is a multimedia laptop, which means only one fan vs. a gaming laptop's two. That will not only heat up your laptop, but also cause the CPU to throttle itself in order to protect the CPU (which means that 3.1 GHz turbo frequency will end up closer to 2.6-2.8 GHz).
3. Turbo Boost is enabled automatically. You don't need to do anything. Recognize, however, you will never hit 3.1 GHz running Dolphin, as Dolphin uses more than 1 core (3.1 GHz is turbo for 1 core).
4. Windows 8 64 bit will be faster than Windows 7 32 bit.
5. You will get an improvement. How much depends on whether or not your laptop's temps throttle the CPU.

Nvm, axxer beat me to the post.

(10-29-2012, 02:47 PM)Axxer Wrote: [ -> ]1. It probably won't be enough for either with LLE, but it should be plenty for both with HLE.
2. It will almost assuredly overheat, and a cooling pad won't help. It is a multimedia laptop, which means only one fan vs. a gaming laptop's two. That will not only heat up your laptop, but also cause the CPU to throttle itself in order to protect the CPU (which means that 3.1 GHz turbo frequency will end up closer to 2.6-2.8 GHz).
3. Turbo Boost is enabled automatically. You don't need to do anything. Recognize, however, you will never hit 3.1 GHz running Dolphin, as Dolphin uses more than 1 core (3.1 GHz is turbo for 1 core).
4. Windows 8 64 bit will be faster than Windows 7 32 bit.
5. You will get an improvement. How much depends on whether or not your laptop's temps throttle the CPU.

Thank you so much for your information!
Answer #2-5 are already clear enough for me. I'm still a bit curious about how much it can handle LLE though..
Well I guess I should look for a gaming laptop instead of multimedia laptop.. It's really hard to find an affordable gaming laptop with white colors, LOL..

Well, your current PC is not able to handle LLE well in demanding games such as Mario Galaxy 1+2, Xenoblade etc. In lighter games, maybe your PC can handle it.

It all depends on the clock speed of the CPU and the CPU micro architecture.

(10-29-2012, 08:07 PM)DefenderX Wrote: [ -> ]Well, your current PC is not able to handle LLE well in demanding games such as Mario Galaxy 1+2, Xenoblade etc. In lighter games, maybe your PC can handle it.

It all depends on the clock speed of the CPU and the CPU micro architecture.

Thanks for your info.
How about the CPU of the laptop? It's i7 3612qm 2.1ghz - 3.1ghz, is it far more powerful than my current CPU (core 2 duo 2.8ghz overclocked to 3.4ghz)?
How much it can handle Tales of Symphonia with LLE (if not at full speed)?

We told you once already . It's meaningless if the CPU overheat

Better get a gaming laptop with two heatsinks and two fans.

(10-30-2012, 12:15 PM)Astearica Wrote: [ -> ]How about the CPU of the laptop? It's i7 3612qm 2.1ghz - 3.1ghz, is it far more powerful than my current CPU (core 2 duo 2.8ghz overclocked to 3.4ghz)?
How much it can handle Tales of Symphonia with LLE (if not at full speed)?

Forget LLE.
You'll get good speed (not full speed though). But you'll have to deal with crappy sound unfortunately

(10-30-2012, 08:40 PM)DefenderX Wrote: [ -> ]Better get a gaming laptop with two heatsinks and two fans.

Better to get a desktop if room allows and get twice more power for same price, also way better display (good IPS as opposed to really shitty cheap TN in most laptops)