Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

I'm thinking of buying a PC just for dolphin, a set top box type deal except for running Dolphin only. I want to be able to run all games (those that work already on high-end systems) at 1080p with at least 2x Antialiasing (unless it's not needed). I'm trying to stay under $350, $400 worst case scenario.

So far my components are:
GDR-8162B drive from eBay - $20
Linkworld 6280-01 HTPC case - $55 (w/shipping)
ASRock A780LM-S 780L Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - $53 (w/shipping)
AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition Callisto 3.1GHz - $83 (w/shipping)
Crucial 2GB DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 Desktop Memory - $57 (w/shipping)
Western Digital Caviar Blue 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - $46 (w/shipping)

The processor can be unlocked to it's full Quad-Core potential since the motherboard has an SB710 Southbridge, and I plan on overclocking it to 3.75GHz. I'm not sure if the the power supply and/or cooling is enough, I could use some help with that.

I plan on using a 32-bit version of Windows XP (unless 64-bit will increase performance) and removing the explorer shell and all startup programs so it will launch directly to the Wii Disc (the drive I chose reads Wii discs). Hopefully the Quad-Core 3.75GHz processor can play at near full speed.

The onboard ATI 3000 seems to support 1080p, but again, I could use some help choosing something better as I want games running smoothly. The components cost about $314 with shipping included.

I have about $35 of leverage, maybe $85 worst case, but I should be fine with that Hard Drive and Processor. I'd love suggestions on anything else I could upgrade/replace without throwing down too much money.

Thanks for all the help in advance!

Note on the cpu, look at the batch number before ordering it, if you can go get it physically and look the number up yourself, some batches are 100% proved not to unlock.

If you want 1080p, you'll need something like Radeon 5770, or GeForce GTX260... minimum. For Dolphin of course.
On a 3300 you'll notice slowdowns from 800x600 and on. (compared to 640x480)

(05-25-2010, 11:06 AM)CacoFFF Wrote: [ -> ]Note on the cpu, look at the batch number before ordering it, if you can go get it physically and look the number up yourself, some batches are 100% proved not to unlock.

If you want 1080p, you'll need something like Radeon 5770, or GeForce GTX260... minimum. For Dolphin of course.
On a 3300 you'll notice slowdowns from 800x600 and on. (compared to 640x480)

How would I go about checking the batch number and which ones am I looking for?

Would this card suffice for full 1080p? Should I keep the mobo and just add the GFX card onto it?

Is there a good GFX card that ships on a motherboard that would run 1080p (or at least 720p)?

(05-25-2010, 11:19 AM)n4ru Wrote: [ -> ]

(05-25-2010, 11:06 AM)CacoFFF Wrote: [ -> ]Note on the cpu, look at the batch number before ordering it, if you can go get it physically and look the number up yourself, some batches are 100% proved not to unlock.

If you want 1080p, you'll need something like Radeon 5770, or GeForce GTX260... minimum. For Dolphin of course.
On a 3300 you'll notice slowdowns from 800x600 and on. (compared to 640x480)

How would I go about checking the batch number and which ones am I looking for?

Would this card suffice for full 1080p? Should I keep the mobo and just add the GFX card onto it?

Is there a good GFX card that ships on a motherboard that would run 1080p (or at least 720p)?

GFX card, awesome for Dolphin on 1080p+filters, and any other 2010 gen game.

About the CPU, on normal BOX Athlon and Phenom cpu's are visible on the outside as seen .

Look at the numbers, before doing that, you should make a list of some batches and whether they are likely to unlock or not; where you you find what cpu batches unlock better? Forums, spend a couple of hours of google search and you'll come across dozens of posts, if you can't enter, use the google cache

About Onboard graphics, the most powerful you'll get would let you play with no slowdows up to 800x600, no more.

You don't really need a quad core for dolphin, I'd maybe try to get a more powerful dual core cpu. But I really don't think you can max out games at full fps for under $400.

I've got a Phenom II @ 3.2ghz and ati 5770 and I think most games are just playable, definitely not fullspeed. I have tried tweaking things a little and probably can get more more fps if I continued messing around, but I doubt you'd be able to play most games fullspeed with that budget.

i3 530

i am building a cheap - high end compy too: maybe you want to check this out

Intel Core i3-540 (easy overclock to 3.6ghz - 4.0ghz) [color=#FF0000]- 140 $ [/color]
MSI H55-G43 LGA 1156 Intel H55 HDMI ATX [color=#FF0000] -100 $[/color]
2GB RAM kingston DDr3 [color=#FF0000]- 60 $[/color]
COOLMAX CL-600B 600W ATX 12V V2.3 Power Supply [color=#FF0000]- 60 $[/color]
Radeon HD 4850 [color=#FF0000]-109$[/color]
Antec VSK-2000 Black ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - [color=#FF0000] 40$[/color]

- Thats 510$ for a nice machine - 400$ without the GPU- (BTW my old Geforce 9500GT can take 720p (same speed as 480p), set something higher and speeds will drop )

- 315$ without a GPU, just save some more money and buy a better computer, it will not only be good for dolphin but for many heavy PC games too

The Phenom 550 will NOT give you full speed on Dolphin, either in dual core or Quad Core mode....i should knoiw i have one...that can successfully unlock the cores...

The max Overclocked speed speed you will get an on average 550 is 3.8Ghz, 4Ghz if your lucky and get a really good example....its still not enough.

Of course, its different for every game as some run better than others, but on average i get about 45-50fps, with a Radeon 4850......More than enough GPU power, so its definately the CPU holding back the frame rate....

Some games like Metroid, Fzero, Zelda, SSX can drop as low as 25-30fps in some sections...

I reckon you would need to push the 550 past 6Ghz to get 60fps on most games in Dolphin....and unless you go in for Nitro cooling, that aint going to happen...

The fact is Dolphin is VERY buggy, and has a LONG LONG way to go before all games can maintain their original frame rates....in fact it wouldnt surprise me if, as Dolphin emulates things more accurately, the slower it will get....

There isnt a fast enough CPU out there, Intel or AMD, that will give full speed in all games....

(05-27-2010, 10:19 PM)Bagpuss Wrote: [ -> ]There isnt a fast enough CPU out there, Intel or AMD, that will give full speed in all games....

That's just false. Yes there is. Anyone with 64-bit dolphin, phenom II x4 or an i5/i7 processor (and plenty of people on the forum) get full speed in all games with a proper gpu. They might not be a good investment financially if you only intend to play dolphin games, but it's a lie that there isn't a fast enough cpu to gain full fps.

I have yet to meet a single game that doesn't yield full fps. The sole and only exception is hyrule field in twilight princess, which is a universal bug and happens to anyone running the emulator due to buggy FIFO code. Galaxy occassionally drops to 58 fps from 60 but that's it.

In fact, dolphin is progressing far faster than project64 ever did, and unlike on pcsx2 PS2 emulation project, a big percentage of new releases play fine on dolphin without any extra source modding even on months old revisions. There is a staggering amount of extras supported, like 1080p resolution, antialiasing, anisotrophic filters, and on a proper system all these work flawlessly to create a gameplay experience vastly superior to that of the original console. It's pretty much the first in any emulator to even surpass the performance of the console it intends to emulate.

No it's not perfect and a lot of games are still buggy, but it's not as bad as you say it is. A lot of games play flawless.

@Bagpuss: FYI some games cap 25/30 FPS due to wii/GC hardware limitation.

(05-28-2010, 01:28 AM)Ocean Wrote: [ -> ]In fact, dolphin is progressing far faster than project64 ever did, and unlike on pcsx2 PS2 emulation project, a big percentage of new releases play fine on dolphin without any extra source modding even on months old revisions.

Funny I found it to be completely different, many new game need modding to be able to even boot while pcsx2 generally can play till the end.