Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

Hello all,

I recently built a HTPC with the great Pentium G3258, but I cannot run Mario Kart Double Dash at more than native resolution. I am also unsure wether the integrated GPU can even run 4-player gameplay at 100%. I am now considering on buying a passive-cooled dedicated video card, but only if it makes sense.
Can anyone make a statement about the performance of the cheap R5 230?

Specs:

Intel Pentium G3258 @ 3.2 GHz (so far)
4 GB DDR3 1333
Windows 8.1

Thank you in advance.

You´d better get the HD 6450. It has higher memory bandwidth and it costs less. http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-R5-230-vs-Radeon-HD-6450

EDIT: Sure, the R5 may have more memory than the 6450, but it´s a lot slower (R5´s DDR3 vs 6450´s GDDR5, which is faster).

Hm, passive-cooled 6450 seem to be worse than R5 230, all clocks are lower and it has the same bandwith and DDR3.

Edit: You were right. There are some with the same clocks, unfortunately still DDR3.

I would steer away from both of those, as they are very shitty (basically like a Nvidia GT 520), and not much better than the integrated Intel HD that you have. At the very least, I would go with the Nvidia GT 640 1 GB GDDR5: http://www.game-debate.com/gpu/index.php...on-hd-6450 or the GTX 750 (similar to the R7 260) http://www.game-debate.com/gpu/index.php...on-hd-6450

(01-05-2015, 06:04 AM)Intruder Wrote: [ -> ]Hello all,

I recently built a HTPC with the great Pentium G3258, but I cannot run Mario Kart Double Dash at more than native resolution. I am also unsure wether the integrated GPU can even run 4-player gameplay at 100%. I am now considering on buying a passive-cooled dedicated video card, but only if it makes sense.
Can anyone make a statement about the performance of the cheap R5 230?

Specs:

Intel Pentium G3258 @ 3.2 GHz (so far)
4 GB DDR3 1333
Windows 8.1

Thank you in advance.

It'd be faster than your integrated gpu, but probably not by a whole lot.
I'd recommend saving up for a GT 640, GT 730(the gddr5 model), or r7 240-250.

I want it to be as quiet as possible, so I looked for a passive-cooled solution. Maybe one with a super silent cooling might be OK too. I will see if I can find a quiet GT 640 or similar.
But if someone here happens to own a R5 230, please post your experience with it.

There are passive GTX 750 and 750 Ti cards. Here's the Zotac version: http://www.amazon.com/Zotac-GeForce-Disp...=kalmx+750
The passive KalmX cards from Palit: http://www.quietpc.com/pal-ne5x75t00941-1073h
Also the semi-passive Asus: http://hexus.net/tech/news/graphics/7216...echnology/

Thank you, the Strix technology by Asus is very interesting. However, the Zotac is the cheapest one.

I can't really believe it takes a $100+ video card to emulate at double native resolution, when the integrated GPU can run at native. I am unsure...

Intel integrated graphics are really not ideal. They've made some great strides, but they aren't great.
And as for why it needs to be so strong is that the GC/Wii graphics chips are just so different to PC graphics cards. But once you meet the minimum requirements, then playing at native resolution is considered a success. And then adding on the other goodies like higher resolutions is just like a PC game where the stronger card looks the best (unlike how Dolphin's core runs, which needs a CPU with fast single-core speeds)

My integrated HD 4600 can reach about 2.5x native, and yours isn't super worse than mine, so I don't know why you cant hit 2x. Are you running the latest drivers from Intel? Go to the Driver update page for intel to check. Also try switching backends. If you're using D3D, make sure you've downloaded and run DirectX Web installer to make sure you aren't missing any packages.

As a side note, the 750 can hit 4x.

(01-05-2015, 07:49 AM)Intruder Wrote: [ -> ]Thank you, the Strix technology by Asus is very interesting. However, the Zotac is the cheapest one.

I can't really believe it takes a $100+ video card to emulate at double native resolution, when the integrated GPU can run at native. I am unsure...

What about this?

http://www.amazon.com/PNY-GeForce-GDDR5-...565&sr=1-1

A similar card with much lower bandwidth seems to handle mario galaxy at 720p fine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yk6cahBQaI

KHg8m3r Wrote:My integrated HD 4600 can reach about 2.5x native, and yours isn't super worse than mine, so I don't know why you cant hit 2x.

The hd 4600 has twice as many execution units and can run at higher clock speeds.