GC game list generator

[jeanvion]

I have been setting up different system emulators and the last one being Dolphin.

I don't want however to have a huge list of games which are crap and/or don't work proparly when i'm opening the system in hyperspin. I'm kind of OCD on having everything perfect so thats a bitch with hyperspin! So what I do is when I set up each emulator i use don's hyperspin list generator to select only the games I want to or consider myself playing.

However I find and read that a lot of gamecube games are not playable or have some minor glitch. I don't mind the latter as long as it doesn't bother the gaming experience too much. So I found the following site which provides you an overview of the playability of the games. But for some games (for example super smash brothers on 4 players stages or some mortal combat deception stages) I notice frame drops making them not playable while they get a 4 star playability review on the site. I don't know however for sure if it's due to my PC choking on the demands or if everyone is experiencing this.

https://dolphin-emu.org/compat/?nocr=true

PC:

Intel MB

I3 550 @ 3.2Ghz

Sapphire HD2600XT

4GB ram

320 GB WD @7200 RPM

2 TB WD @ 7200 RPM

Is my PC too low end for some gamecube games or can I lower/optimise some settings? My cores are peaking to 80% only when I get frame drops though.. (Yes I read https://dolphin-emu.org/docs/faq/

Do you use any other emulator than Dolphin that makes some games playable where Dolphin fails?

[justinwebb]

Your graphics card is the problem, haven't seen a graphics card that slow in a looooong time. The CPU is slower but the first bottleneck is that graphics card

[jeanvion]

I understood that emulators and hyperspin don't require powerful graphic cards thats why I put that old timer in there. Although I did read somewhere that Dolphin is an exception on this rule.. What graphics card would be recommended without paying the big box? Do other emulators also require more resources from the graphic cards, if so which ones?

I bought the desktop for 170$ for my arcade because it had a dual processor with a high amount of Ghz.

[Fromlostdays]

120 more bucks to get the GTX 660. I'm no guru but that's what I run and no problems at all with Dolphin.

[jeanvion]

What is your processor aletterfromthelostdays? Isn't that a bit overkill or really required to run each game on Dolphin?

[Fromlostdays]

It may be. Like I said, I'm no guru. I didn't want to steer you wrong with any guesses so I'll just say I get flawless FPS on the 660. I run the i5. You might want to check out the dolphin website. I could swear I remember there being a lot of info on the video card requirements.

Also, a long time ago I remember coming across some stuff on how you can up the framerate using settings on the emulator itself. It was a youtube video, but it certainly worked for me on my old computer. You'll have to look for that video though.

[SIMPLYAUSTIN]

Like I said many a time on here. If you want a cheap rig to run anything top speed you have 2 options.

1. i5 760, 8 gig ram and a 570. You could have picked that up off ebay for easily less than 200 pounds. Go for old series parts and OC the hell out of the CPU. This processor will run 4.2Ghz without a sweat and with the GPU will even run the latest games without issues. laughing at Dolphin and PCSX2

2. If you dont want second hand, go for the Pentium limited edition thingy. OC it to 4.5 ish and team it with a Gigabyte 650 oc Edidtion. Again, this will laugh at anything and for a new build you can run anything from real budget parts.

the main issue is getting a 4ghz+ CPU. GPU is not important, but theres so many new ones out, if you look for older models you can pick them up for nothing.

[urbangangsta101]

The CPU is the problem, needs to be 4GHz + for Dolphin and PCSX2. The GPU will only help with scaling and filtering, although yours is very old.

[jeanvion]

Thank you for all information guys but I just don't have any OC experience so I'm kind of cautious on this topic. However if my I3 550 @3.2 Ghz wouldn't cut it, wouldn't my cores show peaks to 100% when I get frame drops? Because thats not the case as i monitored.. Also is it possible to OC my processor with an intel MB? If so, can it be done without having to buy watercooling or another more powerful CPU vent.

[urbangangsta101]

Thank you for all information guys but I just don't have any OC experience so I'm kind of cautious on this topic. However if my I3 550 @3.2 Ghz wouldn't cut it, wouldn't my cores show peaks to 100% when I get frame drops? Because thats not the case as i monitored.. Also is it possible to OC my processor with an intel MB? If so, can it be done without having to buy watercooling or another more powerful CPU vent.

the 100% you are referring to is the loading of the cores, not the speed. You need a faster CPU to get the most out of PCSX2 and Dolphin. Your i3 wasn't made for overclocking, you really need an unlocked (K Series) INTEL chip for best results. If you want to do it cheap, buy an Intel G3258 and a good Z97 motherboard - this will do 4.5GHz easy and for as little moneys as possible. You will need good cooling for any overclock but you can buy a good heatsink/fan rather than going for watercooling (I wouldn't use watercooling if you don't know what you are doing)

[Agrajag]

If overclocking the CPU yourself is too daunting, see if you can buy an overclocked CPU/motherboard bundle. There are some good deals at scan.co.uk (I bought an i5 bundle last year and plan to get the Pentium for a cabinet) but hopefully you can find something in Belgium.

[jeanvion]

I will just limit myself for the moment then to the games that run fine on my build but I will definately consider all the usefull information given for my second build!