Dolphin: what PC you need to emulate GameCube / Wii
Dolphin is a GameCube / Wii emulator (2003); FPSHQ load rating: medium (50/100). 1,584 of 1,965 catalogue GPUs (81%) pass the GPU minimum (score 1,400), and 322 of 456 CPUs pass the CPU minimum (score 2,800). The most affordable suitable GPU is Zotac Trinity GeForce GTX 1650 Super.
Key figures
Unique FPSHQ metrics from this page's data
Can my PC run this emulator?
Which GPUs run Dolphin: headroom over the minimum
GPU score ÷ the emulator's minimum score. ×1 — minimum, ×1.4 — comfortable at native resolution, ×2.2 — you can render at 2–3× resolution. Popular catalogue GPUs.
Official Dolphin requirements
| CPU | x86-64 / ARM64, high IPC / clock · 2+ cores / 4 recommended |
|---|---|
| GPU | any modern discrete / Intel Iris Pro · 1 GB VRAM or more |
| RAM | minimum 2 GB, recommended 4 GB |
| Graphics API | Vulkan, OpenGL 4.4, Direct3D 11.1/12, Metal |
| OS | Windows 10+, Linux, macOS 11+, Android 7+ |
| License | GPL-2.0 |
| Platform | GameCube / Wii (2001) |
| Status | active |
| Official site | dolphin-emu.org |
Requirements come from the project's official documentation (check date below). FPSHQ scores are our synthetic performance scale used to match against the catalogue. · Data updated
Suitable GPUs by tier
At the minimum (×1–1.4)
Comfortable (×1.4–2.2)
Headroom for 4K rendering (×2.2+)
CPUs: headroom over the Dolphin minimum
CPUs that pass the Dolphin minimum
Which GPU do I need for Dolphin?
The minimum GPU score for Dolphin is 1,400 (FPSHQ scale). The most affordable suitable card is Zotac Trinity GeForce GTX 1650 Super; rendering at 2–3× resolution needs ×2.2 headroom — the Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 6600 XT level and up. The project officially requires: any modern discrete / Intel Iris Pro · 1 GB VRAM or more.
- min GPU score
- 1,400
- min CPU score
- 2,800
- of catalogue GPUs pass the minimum
- 81%
- RAM
- 2–4 GB
Frequently asked questions
Which GPU do I need for Dolphin?
Which CPU do I need for Dolphin?
How much RAM does Dolphin need?
Which operating systems does Dolphin support?
Can my PC run Dolphin?
Is Dolphin still updated?
Methodology and sources
This page uses the FPSHQ database: the GPU and CPU catalogue with synthetic benchmark scores, official game system requirements, FPS measurements from users of the FPSHQ app and the FPSHQ performance model. Calculated values are estimates, not a measurement of your exact configuration: the real result depends on drivers, settings and the rest of the hardware. More about the methodology →
- official Dolphin documentation (Oct 3, 2026)
- methodology