Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

I'll be getting a gaming rig for this holiday, and I'd really like it to get the most out of Dolphin with it.

Here are the specs:


CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor
or Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5 GHZ Quad-Core Processor
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-OC ATX LGA1150

Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X 3GB Video Card
EVGA GeForce GTX770 SuperClocked 2GB GDDR5
or [color=#000000]Gigabyte Z87 LGA 1150 (GA-Z87-D3HP)[/color]
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory


Now, I have some questions regarding the performance gain I'd get from choosing certain parts.

How much of a performance gain would I be getting if I go with the i7-4770K instead of the i5-4670K? I do know that it isn't much for regular gaming, 3 - 4 FPS at most, since according to what I've read games don't benefit from Hyperthreading, and there's also the $100 difference to take into consideration. I wouldn't mind paying if it's really going to give me that edge over the i5.

Then, there's the video card. The R9 280X and the GTX770 are pretty even when it comes to performance with regular games, and the R9 280X is $40 cheaper than the GTX, but for some reason I like to lean towards Nvidia. But, how will these 2 play with Dolphin? And, would the extra 1Gb of VRAM give me any performance boost on the R9 over the GTX? I've read that higher VRAM is only good for gaming with multiple screens or at really high resolutions, but I don't plan on going over 1080p.

When it comes to the games I want to play, well, I've never had a Wii of a GC so it'll be pretty much the essential ones. Mario Galaxy, NSMB, Zelda (especially Skyward Sword) and so on. Let's say I'm planning on playing the most graphic intensive games that there are.

Thanks in advance.

Extra question, that I'm sure it doesn't belong here, but just in case anyone can answer it: I plan on buying a WiiMote Plus to play games that require it, such as Skyward Sword. Now, do I need the sensor bar for it? I've seen there's a USB one on Amazon for ~$13, but do I really need? I'm also aware of the candle trick to replace the Sensor Bar, but do I really need either of them?

Quote:I've seen there's a USB one on Amazon for ~$13, but do I really need?

You will ...if you hate fire lol

Quote:I plan on buying a WiiMote Plus and a nunchuk (you missed one here ) to play games that require it, such as Skyward Sword

You need quite a lot of luck to make it work though . I explained each type of Wiimote here

Quote:How much of a performance gain would I be getting if I go with the i7-4770K instead of the i5-4670K? I do know that it isn't much for regular gaming, 3 - 4 FPS at most, since according to what I've read games don't benefit from Hyperthreading, and there's also the $100 difference to take into consideration. I wouldn't mind paying if it's really going to give me that edge over the i5

Some modern games like BF4 fully support HyperThreading , i7 should be much faster . In Dolphin , the difference is so small as you just said
As for GPU , Dolphin - Vertex Streaming Hack : Enabling this option can cause huge performance gains on nVidia graphics cards . However , AMD 280X has "mantle" api which make PC game (PC game only , not emulator) run faster than before . Dolphin or PC game , choose one
Edit : Forgot to mention , AMD R9 xxxX run extremely hot at full load , may exceed 85 degree celsius. You will need an aftermarket one if you you choose latest AMD GPU (which is an OCed 7XXX )

Koga001 Wrote:How much of a performance gain would I be getting if I go with the i7-4770K instead of the i5-4670K? I do know that it isn't much for regular gaming, 3 - 4 FPS at most, since according to what I've read games don't benefit from Hyperthreading, and there's also the $100 difference to take into consideration. I wouldn't mind paying if it's really going to give me that edge over the i5.

Dolphin doesn't take advantage of Hyper-Threading. It's only useful if you have a lot of background processes going on, but even then, four cores on the i5 would be sufficient for that. Just go for the i5-4670K. Unless you do other tasks that need Hyper-Threading (like frequent video encoding), the i5-4670K is going to be what you want.

Koga001 Wrote:Then, there's the video card. The R9 280X and the GTX770 are pretty even when it comes to performance with regular games, and the R9 280X is $40 cheaper than the GTX, but for some reason I like to lean towards Nvidia. But, how will these 2 play with Dolphin? And, would the extra 1Gb of VRAM give me any performance boost on the R9 over the GTX? I've read that higher VRAM is only good for gaming with multiple screens or at really high resolutions, but I don't plan on going over 1080p.

If you want to future-proof yourself with AMD's Mantle API (technically, Nvidia could implement the API as well, but no one knows if that will happen) you could go with the R9 280X. If not, both GPUs will be ridiculously good in Dolphin. The GPU determines how high you can raise your Internal Resolution and Anti-Aliasing without creating a GPU bottleneck. Both GPUs will laugh at 1080p; that's not even going to stress them in Dolphin. You'll need to crank up the settings to pretty intensive levels to start slowing them down.

Koga001 Wrote:Mario Galaxy, NSMB, Zelda (especially Skyward Sword) and so on. Let's say I'm planning on playing the most graphic intensive games that there are.

Dolphin is very reliant on the CPU for most of its performance (unlike many modern PC games), but since the 4670K can overclock, reaching 4.0 GHz should be enough for most games, and 4.2 GHz should cover just about everything else. SMG1 and SMG2 are CPU intensive games, since you need to use LLE audio for proper sound, but again, the 4670K will tear through it. NSMB Wii is a very lightweight game, as in it doesn't take much to run it (think mid-range laptop). It won't be a problem at all. Skyward Sword is slightly more demanding than most games on average, but it's nowhere near the level of SMG1 & 2 with LLE audio; you'll be able to handle that as well, easily.

Koga001 Wrote:Extra question, that I'm sure it doesn't belong here, but just in case anyone can answer it: I plan on buying a WiiMote Plus to play games that require it, such as Skyward Sword. Now, do I need the sensor bar for it? I've seen there's a USB one on Amazon for ~$13, but do I really need? I'm also aware of the candle trick to replace the Sensor Bar, but do I really need either of them?

Yes, you need something to act as a sensor bar. This game uses the sensor bar in conjunction with the WiiMotion+ control scheme; both are necessary in order to play this game properly. There is an unofficial emulated WiiMotion+ build that lets you use a keyboard or joystick to play WiiMotion+ games, but trying to beat this game with anything but a WiiMotion+ is often an unenjoyable exercise is frustration.

(11-17-2013, 10:50 AM)admin89 Wrote: [ -> ]

Quote:I've seen there's a USB one on Amazon for ~$13, but do I really need?

You will ...if you hate fire lol

Quote:I plan on buying a WiiMote Plus and a nunchuk (you missed one here ) to play games that require it, such as Skyward Sword

You need quite a lot of luck to make it work though . I explained each type of Wiimote here

Quote:How much of a performance gain would I be getting if I go with the i7-4770K instead of the i5-4670K? I do know that it isn't much for regular gaming, 3 - 4 FPS at most, since according to what I've read games don't benefit from Hyperthreading, and there's also the $100 difference to take into consideration. I wouldn't mind paying if it's really going to give me that edge over the i5

Some modern games like BF4 fully support HyperThreading , i7 should be much faster . In Dolphin , the difference is so small as you just said
As for GPU , Dolphin - Vertex Streaming Hack : Enabling this option can cause huge performance gains on nVidia graphics cards . However , AMD 280X has "mantle" api which make PC game (PC game only , not emulator) run faster than before . Dolphin or PC game , choose one
Edit : Forgot to mention , AMD R9 xxxX run extremely hot at full load , may exceed 85 degree celsius. You will need an aftermarket one if you you choose latest AMD GPU (which is an OCed 7XXX )

Great, thanks for the reply. I think Dolphin's guide on setting up the WiiMote+ using the Toshiba software pretty much covers it.
And, about the GPU, I'm getting the Gigabyte one with "WINDFORCE 3X Anti-Turbulence Cooling Solution", that according to what I've read, is the coolest one of the 280X series.

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(11-17-2013, 10:57 AM)Shonumi Wrote: [ -> ]

' Wrote:How much of a performance gain would I be getting if I go with the i7-4770K instead of the i5-4670K? I do know that it isn't much for regular gaming, 3 - 4 FPS at most, since according to what I've read games don't benefit from Hyperthreading, and there's also the $100 difference to take into consideration. I wouldn't mind paying if it's really going to give me that edge over the i5.

Dolphin doesn't take advantage of Hyper-Threading. It's only useful if you have a lot of background processes going on, but even then, four cores on the i5 would be sufficient for that. Just go for the i5-4670K. Unless you do other tasks that need Hyper-Threading (like frequent video encoding), the i5-4670K is going to be what you want.

' Wrote:Then, there's the video card. The R9 280X and the GTX770 are pretty even when it comes to performance with regular games, and the R9 280X is $40 cheaper than the GTX, but for some reason I like to lean towards Nvidia. But, how will these 2 play with Dolphin? And, would the extra 1Gb of VRAM give me any performance boost on the R9 over the GTX? I've read that higher VRAM is only good for gaming with multiple screens or at really high resolutions, but I don't plan on going over 1080p.

If you want to future-proof yourself with AMD's Mantle API (technically, Nvidia could implement the API as well, but no one knows if that will happen) you could go with the R9 280X. If not, both GPUs will be ridiculously good in Dolphin. The GPU determines how high you can raise your Internal Resolution and Anti-Aliasing without creating a GPU bottleneck. Both GPUs will laugh at 1080p; that's not even going to stress them in Dolphin. You'll need to crank up the settings to pretty intensive levels to start slowing them down.

' Wrote:Mario Galaxy, NSMB, Zelda (especially Skyward Sword) and so on. Let's say I'm planning on playing the most graphic intensive games that there are.

Dolphin is very reliant on the CPU for most of its performance (unlike many modern PC games), but since the 4670K can overclock, reaching 4.0 GHz should be enough for most games, and 4.2 GHz should cover just about everything else. SMG1 and SMG2 are CPU intensive games, since you need to use LLE audio for proper sound, but again, the 4670K will tear through it. NSMB Wii is a very lightweight game, as in it doesn't take much to run it (think mid-range laptop). It won't be a problem at all. Skyward Sword is slightly more demanding than most games on average, but it's nowhere near the level of SMG1 & 2 with LLE audio; you'll be able to handle that as well, easily.

' Wrote:Extra question, that I'm sure it doesn't belong here, but just in case anyone can answer it: I plan on buying a WiiMote Plus to play games that require it, such as Skyward Sword. Now, do I need the sensor bar for it? I've seen there's a USB one on Amazon for ~$13, but do I really need? I'm also aware of the candle trick to replace the Sensor Bar, but do I really need either of them?

Yes, you need something to act as a sensor bar. This game uses the sensor bar in conjunction with the WiiMotion+ control scheme; both are necessary in order to play this game properly. There is an unofficial emulated WiiMotion+ build that lets you use a keyboard or joystick to play WiiMotion+ games, but trying to beat this game with anything but a WiiMotion+ is often an unenjoyable exercise is frustration.

That's one hell of a helpful and comprehensive answer, thanks a lot.
Guess I'm going for the i5 and the R9, which are also cheaper haha.
And yes, I figured emulating the WiiMote would be a pain.

FYI, Dolphin is currently generally faster on Nvidia GPUs – not really because of the GPU speed, but because their OpenGL drivers have a buffer upload method that's much faster for Dolphin than the buffer methods normally supported (spoiler: this is the "Vertex Streaming Hack" in Graphics > Hacks). If you're worried about the 4670K's limits, take the 770 (or a 760, that's fine too) to relieve that worry a bit. (We're probably not even gonna implement a Mantle backend anyway, unless Nvidia decides to support it and/or neobrain and degasus look at the API and squeal with delight.)