Dolphin on Macbook Air

[RCBH928]

I tried running Dolphin emulator on Macbook Air which has Intel HD 4000 graphics . The game, Luigi's Mansion, runs in slow motion. I had a hard time believing that 2012 hardware will not emulate 2001 console especially that I learned that the Intel HD is capable of running COD Black Ops 2.

What makes this even more confusing is that my macbook 2008 has Nvidia geforce 9400M was capable of running the game just fine. You can notice some frame drops but you can play it just fine.

Can it be a RAM issue?

[marurun]

It probably offloads lots of tasks to the GPU. Intel HD4000 is NOT really all that powerful. You can design around it, but emulator authors are unlikely to. I suspect it is a GPU issue all the way around.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

It probably offloads lots of tasks to the GPU. Intel HD4000 is NOT really all that powerful. You can design around it, but emulator authors are unlikely to. I suspect it is a GPU issue all the way around.

Not really is an understatement.

I do find it odd the GeForce 9400m MacBook runs it fine since both are integrated and use shared memory. The 4000 should easily beat the 9400 on all levels. I'd reckon it's the GPU as well. It's just strange that it's happening on one and not the other.

[ninjainspandex]

I had a hard time believing that 2012 hardware will not emulate 2001 console especially that I learned that the Intel HD is capable of running COD Black Ops 2.

Black ops 2 is not that graphically demanding of a game, its running the same engine as COD4 which came out in 2007. Try playing Battlefield 3 on it.

[marurun]

If the emulator is using an older version of DirectX or OpenGL the older card may run better with it. That can play a role. The HD4000 is maybe better than the 9400, but Geforce chips have been on the market a long time and may run better on older code. What version of Dolphin are you using? Also, Apple may have better drivers for the Geforce card.

[RCBH928]

I am running the latest version of Dolphin. God, I would be super upset if that macbook air was mine. Apple computers have proved to me 100% times over they suck for gaming. For laptops that cost $1000 for the cheapest one, they should be at least on par with Wii U graphics. Even the more expensive models $1500 macbook pro's got the Iris Pro integrated chips. So far what I learned, that means its bad for games.

[irixith]

The only way you're going to get a mildly playable experience on HD4000 is to knock the resolution way down, and even then it's still going to be jittery and slow. Integrated Intel chips are getting better ... but they aren't really comparable to real dedicated graphics chips.

Also, you're using a Macbook Air, so I imagine trying to run an emulator that intensive is cranking up the heat -- and the Air will throttle its CPU in order to maintain temps and not shut down.

Both of those things together are going to make for a pretty crappy Dolphin experience.

[RCBH928]

I am just surprised that current machines have issues like this. By now machines should be able to do 4K. I believe the Xbox 360 released in '05 can do 1080p, 7 years later a computer should at least do SD games.

I got shocked when I bought my macbook for $1700 and could only play Left4Dead (same year release) in the lowest resolutions and even then it was turning up so much heat (82C /179F) and struggling to keep up.

When I heard Macs were bad for gaming I expected that I would have difficulty running games released 2 years in the future, not same year release in 640x480 resolution

[isiolia]

I am just surprised that current machines have issues like this. By now machines should be able to do 4K. I believe the Xbox 360 released in '05 can do 1080p, 7 years later a computer should at least do SD games.

Very few PS3 or 360 games actually run at native 1080p. They just get scaled up to it.

Heck, most XBox One games don't run at 1080p native so far.

Between that, and lowered detail or framerate standards, it's not that off-base to say that low end video cards can often do as well as last-gen consoles.

That said, it's partly a matter of what focus is. The 360 was designed around running games. Software released for it was developed for, and tested on that hardware. A Macbook Air isn't made to be a gaming machine, and Intel integrated graphics are mostly there to be a good-enough solution for most uses (which they are).

The same would go for most any slate PC, convertible, Ultrabook, or whatever. You're paying for the form factor, and a power-efficient CPU/GPU combo lets them actually have battery life and stay cool enough.

It's like paying hundreds of thousands for a Lamborghini and then complaining it doesn't off-road well. Just isn't what it's made to do.

[RCBH928]

I understand but I am not asking it to run TitanFall, I want it to run the Dolphin emulator; an emulator for a machine built around a PowerPC 500mhz .

What is your opinion on the Intel Iris ? Is it bad too? I am planning to get a macbook pro next year and I expect it to at least play games on par with ps3/360 , but if it can't do that I think I will just not buy it. I will at least want games like Starcraft 2, Diablo III, and Dishonoured in 720p .