Just upgraded from GT210 to GT730 and the performance improvements were very good.
Before Mario Galaxy would run at 15fps at native resolution, now runs at max fps at 1.5 resolution.
So the GPU does seem to improve things out, contrary to what people say...?
Cheers
your old GPU was so bad that it can't even push 1x internal resolution.
Of course it would be faster.
Hilariously, the first Google result for "GT210" is a video titled "The WORST Graphics Card." There's yer problem, as they say.
I always hate seeing people in the emulation scene claim "GPU doesn't matter." Yes it freaking matters. Just because you don't need a Titan Xp to play it at native resolution doesn't mean it absolutely doesn't matter. You still need a fairly competent card that can push some decent 3D graphics for Dolphin and later. It's only in recent years when GPUs started to get really overkill for emulation, that's why people started saying "it doesn't matter."
A GT210? Oh God. I remember waltzing into Best Buy years ago when I was a kid who didn't know crap about computers and asking for a cheap GPU that worked with a spec listed I printed out. They handed me a GT 210 for $30. Keep in mind this thing came out in 2009, so it was a bottom-of-the-barrel card 8 years ago. If anything you should be commending for managing to put up with it for so long.
But yes, "your GPU doesn't matter" is a gross oversimplification. Somewhere on the FAQ it is said that "no NVIDIA GPU before the Geforce 4xx series can be recommended."