Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

Hi all,

I originally was looking for a tablet that could run dolphin games at full (or at least playable) speed and I had ran across the Razer Edge Pro. I've been eyeing this tablet for a few months now, hesitant to purchase because of the price tag. Here are the specs:

Processor Intel Core i7 Dual core w/ Hyper Threading
Base 1.9GHz / Turbo 3.0GHz

Memory 8GB DDR3 (2x4GB 1600MHz)
Video Intel HD4000 (DX11)
NVIDIA GT 640M LE (2GB DDR3, Optimus Technology)
Display 10.1” (IPS, 1366x768)
Multi-touch HD display

I linked to the website as well above in case I'm missing any important specs. Now from browsing these forums, I know that "U" intel processors aren't the best way to go with Dolphin in terms of speed and performance. However, there is a youtube video showing how the razer edge pro handles the dolphin emulator HERE.

Now for a "U" intel processor, the Edge Pro is handling those Wii games pretty well. Earlier this week I discovered 2 in 1 laptops and thought, "Hey, I wonder if I can get a gaming 2 in 1 laptop that can run dolphin games at a playable speed?" I came across the Flip 15A. I fell in love with the laptop, looking at it online almost every day until I came across these forums saying that it would struggle with Dolphin. But the Edge Pro seems to have no problem playing Dolphin just fine. Can someone tell me between the these two machines, which one would fair better with Dolphin? The test games I would use are SSBB, Mario Party 7 and 8, Mario Kart Wii, and Sonic Colors.

Here are specs of the VAIO Flip 15A:

Processor
Processor Type : Intel® Core™ i7-4500U
Processor Cache : 4MB
Processor Speed : 1.80GHz1 with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology up to 3.00GHz2
Processor Technology : Dual Core

Display
Display Technology : Full HD, Triluminos Display for Mobile
Screen Size : 15.5"
Resolution : 1920 x 1080

Graphics
Maximum Resolution HDMI : 1920 x 1080
Graphics Video RAM : 2GB dedicated
Graphics Technology : NVIDIA® Optimus™ technology
Graphics Processor : NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 735M

Memory
Installed Memory : 8GB (4GB x 2)
Memory Type/Speed : DDR3L / 1600MHz

I recently helped a friend set up their 15A (and yes, I fell in love with it also). My big regret is that I didn't spend any time testing Dolphin on it.

Intel "U" processors are usually not the best to use with Dolphin, as they don't pack a big enough punch. We recommend that you get a full powered laptop with an i7-4700QM (preferably with a GPU that has a dedicated heat-sink, aka a gaming laptop) or a desktop.

However, to answer your question as to the comparison between the two tablets, the 15A should perform better the the Razer Edge. This is because
1) Haswell CPUs are faster in Dolphin and in general (including this case)
2) The 735M is better than the 640M

Someone else can correct me here, but I think if you follow the laptop performance guide and use Throttlestop, you can keep it in the Turbo Boost state when playing Dolphin
https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-un...ance-guide

Would it benefit if I had 16 GB in the Flip 15A? I read somewhere that the intel graphics processor included on some machines can work with gaming at full screen if 12 GB were used but I like either 8 or 16 gb

Ram has nothing to do with gaming

(03-09-2014, 12:32 AM)admin89 Wrote: [ -> ]Ram has nothing to do with gaming

You're telling me that Dolphin would run Wii games at 60+ FPS with an i7 processor clocked at at least 2.0 Ghz and dedicated GPU with 2GB of RAM? I don't see how that's even possible. Perhaps you could explain.

More like 2.4 Ghz. The GameCube and Wii are basically the same hardware, and Dolphin has been around now for since about 2003, so the developers have had a lot of time to get things running.
Dolphin code is more CPU intensive than a regular PC game that relies on a stronger GPU than CPU. This is because Dolphin translates the PowerPC code that GC and Wii games have into x86 code that PCs use.

Most modern CPUs can run Dolphin at playable speeds, except for CPUs that are 1) old by computer standards (like pre-2008), or 2) low voltage CPUs
CPUs with the "U" or "Y" at the end are low voltage, and are clocked very low. They don't have great speeds for an advanced emulator like Dolphin (or PCSX2).
The non-low voltage Intel Core i series past 1st gen CPUs, and the upper end AMD FX/APU CPUs can run mot games at playable speeds.

Quote:You're telling me that Dolphin would run Wii games at 60+ FPS with an i7 processor clocked at at least 2.0 Ghz

Not even close
i7 doesn't mean anything . Depending on the model you're talking about , First gen i7 is much slower than latest i5 . 2.0GHz is terribly slow for Dolphin
In fact , i3 4130 @ 3.4GHz blow i7 920 @ 3.8 out of water in our Dolphin Benchmark , not even i5 3570k @ 4.0GHz could beat it

The recommended CPU for Dolphin is i5 4670k @ 4.2GHz

Quote:I don't see how that's even possible

No offence but i saw this alot :
Q : How to make my PC faster
A : Add more Ram
Lol , i really laugh my ass off . You guy should pay attention on other stuffs like GPU , CPU , SSD more than Ram
Let me ask you . Can you run Dolphin full speed with a Pentium 4 + 16GB of Ram ? More likely it not even run lol
You guy misunderstand how Ram work . More Ram you will be able to do more intensive multi-tasking without memory loss (like open 32 tabs in Chrome / Firefox /IE) or run Photoshop , encoder , microsoft office at the same time

Higher Ram bus speed can speed up your PC (DDR2 800MHz , DDR3 1333MHz , DDR3 1600MHz , DDR4 2400MHz) . However , don't expect it can make a big improvement in speed .

2GB Ram is good enough for Dolphin 32bit
4GB Ram is good enough for Dolphin 64bit

Quote:More like 2.4 Ghz

Again . I know you're talking about latest i7 Haswell CPU . However , 2.4GHz Haswell i7 is not fast enough without Turbo Boost . I want to make it clear for newbie , I say i7 4700QM @ 3.2GHz

Well all of this is helpful. the Edge Pro was running those games in the video at at least playable speeds though. Can the VAIO Flip 15A and the Edge Pro still run Dolphin games at playable speeds by changing the settings in Dolphin? I don't really care if I can play in full screen since I was looking for a mobile touch screen 2-in-1 device anyway. Dedicated GPU of course. Those intel hd 4xxx GPUs that they have in 2-in-1's are crap I've heard.

According to what I´ve read here on the forums, Intel HD Graphics aren´t that bad (HD 4600). With that one you can do up to 2X IR on some games.

(03-09-2014, 11:58 PM)DJBarry004 Wrote: [ -> ]According to what I´ve read here on the forums, Intel HD Graphics aren´t that bad (HD 4600). With that one you can do up to 2X IR on some games.

Yeah but the 2 in 1 machines have the HD 4400 i believe. I'd be able to get a more Dolphin-suitable machine. The problem is I was wondering if I should get a tablet (Edge Pro or Surface Pro 2) or a new laptop. I was leaning more towards a laptop last week so I started looking for laptops and then I said, "hey I could get a touchscreen laptop" and then I came across the 2 in 1's and I was like a computer and a tablet? Heck yeah. Problem is the strongest 2 in 1 I found was the Flip 15 and apparently that isn't that strong. If anyone knows of a better 2 in 1 machine that can handle Dolphin let me know please.