Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

hi guys i wanted to know if my pc can handle dolphin as wii emulator


spec:
Intel core i3 550
Amd rx 550
8GB of RAM
Windows 10 x64

(05-08-2022, 11:35 PM)yologameroppo Wrote: [ -> ]hi guys i wanted to know if my pc can handle dolphin as wii emulator


spec:
Intel core i3 550
Amd rx 550
8GB of RAM
Windows 10 x64

With this kind of hardware, you're better off getting rid of Windows and installing Linux due to the fact that Windows will take up quite a bit of hardware resources, not leaving enough room for Dolphin to run smoothly.

If you've never touched Linux before, I recommend you install Pop!_OS, because it offers a good OOTB experience while not being as bloated as its parent distro, Ubuntu.
If you've used Linux before and you're confident in a command prompt/terminal workflow, I recommend Debian 11 along with a lightweight window manager (Personally, I'm using Qtile)

If you'd need any help, like installing Linux, setting up Dolphin or maintaining a Linux install, lmk!

(05-09-2022, 12:19 AM)Markix Wrote: [ -> ]With this kind of hardware, you're better off getting rid of Windows and installing Linux due to the fact that Windows will take up quite a bit of hardware resources, not leaving enough room for Dolphin to run smoothly.

If you've never touched Linux before, I recommend you install Pop!_OS, because it offers a good OOTB experience while not being as bloated as its parent distro, Ubuntu.
If you've used Linux before and you're confident in a command prompt/terminal workflow, I recommend Debian 11 along with a lightweight window manager (Personally, I'm using Qtile)

If you'd need any help, like installing Linux, setting up Dolphin or maintaining a Linux install, lmk

i know whats linux but i dont know precisely how to use it so if you suggest me pop!_OS then i will since its good for smoother performance

As much as I like using Linux for emulation, I actually question if that'll help in this regard because the GPU already supports Vulkan even on Windows and, while 8GB can be touch-and-go for modern PC games or more demanding emulators (e.g. PCSX3) on Windows 10, I don't think 8GB will be much of an issue (if at all) unless maybe you were using integrated graphics (which you're not) or you're using an OS installation that has a decent amount of background applications open (which only you will know if you do or not).

Basically that CPU is going to without a doubt be the bottleneck being Nehalem-based (technically Westmere), and using Linux is simply not going to help in that regard or, if it does, then certainly not be enough to matter all that much. In that case it really comes down to "try it yourself and see if the games run fine" as, if the performance doesn't cut it, then no amount of OS changing will make it better.

That being said, you can technically run Dolphin in a live Linux environment to give performance a whirl but, in a live environment, RAM capacity is even more important.

For reference around 3 years ago I found that Nehalem at ~3.7GHz (automatic turbo on Xeon x3470 with 2 cores manually disabled) wasn't quite able to run F-Zero GX 3-player splitscreen at full speed but instead only around maybe 45fps or so on even the basic "Sonic Oval" track; also this was on Linux Mint 18 or 19 of some variety (the system was also configured with 6GB of RAM and an HD5870-flashed-to-5850).


BTW for Linux suggestions, I'm personally found of Linux Mint as a sort of "baby's first Linux" whereby, TBH, I find its UI to be more similar to classic Windows than even modern Windows is to classic Windows (especially with the likes of Windows 11).

Also, at least in the future, there's the option of SteamOS 3.0 whereby, in theory, instructions for installing Dolphin on the Steam Deck would be identical to installing Dolphin on SteamOS 3.0... once a general-purpose version is available for download of course!

Lastly, Ventoy is your friend for trying out Linux ISOs, and Linux even lets you install and boot the actual non-live OS itself on to USB drives and not just internal drives.

(05-09-2022, 06:52 AM)Nintendo Maniac 64 Wrote: [ -> ]As much as I like using Linux for emulation, I actually question if that'll help in this regard because the GPU already supports Vulkan even on Windows and, while 8GB can be touch-and-go for modern PC games or more demanding emulators (e.g. PCSX3) on Windows 10, I don't think 8GB will be much of an issue (if at all) unless maybe you were using integrated graphics (which you're not) or you're using an OS installation that has a decent amount of background applications open (which only you will know if you do or not).

Basically that CPU is going to without a doubt be the bottleneck being Nehalem-based (technically Westmere), and using Linux is simply not going to help in that regard or, if it does, then certainly not be enough to matter all that much.  In that case it really comes down to "try it yourself and see if the games run fine" as, if the performance doesn't cut it, then no amount of OS changing will make it better.

That being said, you can technically run Dolphin in a live Linux environment to give performance a whirl but, in a live environment, RAM capacity is even more important.

For reference around 3 years ago I found that Nehalem at ~3.7GHz (automatic turbo on Xeon x3470 with 2 cores manually disabled) wasn't quite able to run F-Zero GX 3-player splitscreen at full speed but instead only around maybe 45fps or so on even the basic "Sonic Oval" track; also this was on Linux Mint 18 or 19 of some variety (the system was also configured with 6GB of RAM and an HD5870-flashed-to-5850).


BTW for Linux suggestions, I'm personally found of Linux Mint as a sort of "baby's first Linux" whereby, TBH, I find its UI to be more similar to classic Windows than even modern Windows is to classic Windows (especially with the likes of Windows 11).

Also, at least in the future, there's the option of SteamOS 3.0 whereby, in theory, instructions for installing Dolphin on the Steam Deck would be identical to installing Dolphin on SteamOS 3.0... once a general-purpose version is available for download of course!

Lastly, Ventoy is your friend for trying out Linux ISOs, and Linux even lets you install and boot the actual non-live OS itself on to USB drives and not just internal drives.

i tried wii sports and it works (sometimes it fps drops when the game starts like baseball or bowling)

(05-09-2022, 07:46 PM)yologameroppo Wrote: [ -> ]i tried wii sports and it works (sometimes it fps drops when the game starts like baseball or bowling)

One thing you could try is enabling and reducing Dolphin's "Emulated CPU Clock Override" (Config -> Advanced) which can at times substantially improve performance on weaker CPUs with the huge caveat that it can also cause major problems in a large amount of games... but at the same time can "just work" without issue in others - it's an extremely hit-and-miss setting.


If that doesn't work out for you then, I mean, you can try the Linux route but, as mentioned, I really don't think it'll help much if at all unless your OS is bogged-down with a ton of background stuff eating up CPU cycles (which, with Win10, you can never be too sure about...).


Alternatively, if you're the type willing to get your hands dirty by tinkering with hardware, there are two things you may be able to do:

#1 is overclock (assuming your motherboard can do this) since, on Nehalem CPUs (what you have), you can overclock even i3 models.

#2 is just straight-up upgrading your motherboard and CPU to something newer which is obviously going to cost money, particularly on the motherboard side of things (CPU-wise I've previously mentioned that the G3258 is an absolute steal for Wii emulation at ~$15 on the used market if paired with a compatible, overclock-capable motherboard)