I want to know if my computer can run Gamecube games using Dolphin 4.0. My system specs are:
Intel Celeron CPU 1017U @ 1.60 GHz (Dual Core)
4 GB RAM
Using Windows 8 x64
Graphics card: Intel HD Graphics
I mainly want to play the pokemon games, the Day of Reckoning ones, Mega man Command Mission and Fire Emblem
Sorry, but I doubt you'd be able to play anything on that. Dolphin's one of the most CPU-demanding applications a regular person would have any desire to use, and that celeron's not so much a CPU as a typewriter ribbon.
As the owner of a Celeron 1037U, which is stronger than your CPU by 200MHz (same IGP though), I can personally attest that you won't be able to run many GC games comfortably. Perhaps TimeSplitters 2 will run over half-speed, but everything else will be painfully slow.
Damn it. Well how about my laptop? These are the specs:
AMD A8-5545M APU with Radeon HD Graphics @1.70 GHz (Quad Core)
8 GB RAM
Windows 8x64
That's actually even worse. The integrated graphics processor is somewhat better than the Intel HD graphics, but the CPU is still slower than the 1017U. Even though the 1017U is an ULV CPU, it's an Ivy Bridge CPU, which will beat any of AMD's CPUs at the same or similar clock speeds when it comes to Dolphin. We've done benchmarks and that's the result we keep finding. For Dolphin, AMD's current CPUs simply have lower single-threaded IPC than Intel's, and that makes all the difference.
EDIT: Dolphin is a dual-core program, largely, so don't expect the quad-core AMD APU to give it a major advantage over the Celeron (which is just dual-core). Quad-cores do allow Dolphin to run better since other tasks in the background (OS stuff, other active programs) can run, but the Ivy Bridge architecture has the advantage over the APU when strictly talking about Dolphin. PC gaming is a different ballpark, but in Dolphin, the latest generations of Intel products beat AMD's comparable offerings (talking about the CPU itself, not the integrated graphics, though Intel is making strides there as).
Damn it. Well, i gues i better buy another Gamecube to play my games. Thanks guys.