Best Settings for Dolphin Emulator

Even though many emulators are available on the web, Dolphin has its own identity that separates it from other emulators. Dolphin is a free video game console emulator which runs on various operating systems like Linux, Windows, Android, and macOS. Dolphin was launched in 2003, and within the first few years, it became an open-source software. The reason for the popularity of the emulator is its development which has been consistent over the years. It has been using gamers around the globe for emulating games in different operating systems. Since it was open-source software, various developers could identify the issues and fix them.

Must See: Best Android Emulators For Windows PC

The emulator was launched in 2019 for macOS. With Dolphin, one can have access to titles of Nintendo’s GameCube and Wii consoles. But a few tweaks are needed to function without any issues. Do note that installing an emulator on a low-end PC will be tricky, and you may face some problems. But proper customization is required before playing games. For that, we will list out the best settings for the Dolphin emulator in this article. Before heading to that, we will list out the steps and requirements for installing the same.

Download and install Dolphin Emulator for your Windows running PC

• For this, first, download Dolphin Emulator. The latest version number is 5.0-14095, and you can download it by clicking on the link mentioned above. Do note that you need to install 64-bit Visual C++ redistributable for Visual Studio 2019 if you install beta versions. 
• Upon downloading, extract the same in any folder which you wish. Do note that you don’t need any extra applications to extract the zip file.
• Then tap on the Dolphin.exe to start the installation process.
• The best thing is that even in 2021, Dolphin supports booting game backups from DVD. Interesting, isn’t it? Also, note that the support is for backups of GameCube and Wii backups with few formats. These are elf, dol, gcr, iso, tgc, wbfs, ciso, gcz, wia, rvz, wad, dff, and m3u.
• To access backups from your hard drive, go to file and tap on the open option. Also, if you need to access the backup from DVD, head to File, then select the option Boot from DVD Backup.
• Now, let us look into the best configs aKa Settings for the same.

Best Settings for Dolphin Emulator

Settings 1

• For this, first, open the Dolphin emulator and head to Graphics. Then fill each tab with the following values.

First, we will set the values for General Tab followed by other tabs.

• For Backend, choose Direct3D 11
• Then for Adapter, set it to Intel HD Graphics.
• And Stretch to window for Aspect Ratio.
• Also, set Yes to Show FPS.
• And finally, choose the Yes for Render to Main Window option.

For the Enhancements tab, set the values which we have mentioned below.

• Starting with Internal Resolution, choose the Native/Auto option.
• Select None under Anti Aliasing and set Anisotropic Aliasing to 1x.
• Finally, choose Yes under Scaled EFB Copy.

Now, choose the Hacks tab.

• Now tick on the following items which we mention.

1. Skip EFB Access from CPU
2. Ignore Format Changes
3. Store EFB Copies to Texture Only

• Then change the Texture Cache Accuracy to Fast.
• Now, continue ticking on the following items too.

1. Store XFB Copies to Texture Only
2. Skip Presenting Duplicate Frames
3. Fast Depth Calculation
4. Disable Bounding Box

Finally, tap on the Advanced tab.

• Please do tick only on Borderless Fullscreen and leave all other things as it is. That is, do not make any changes here.

Now close the screen and then tap on Config and follow the steps.

Under, General tab, change the following things.

• Tick the box near Enable dual-core speedup and Enable Cheats.
• Now, choose the Speed limit as 100%.
• Then, tap on Auto Update Settings and select the Beta Once a month option.
• Finally, tick on Enable Usage Statistics Reporting.

Now, switch to Interface.

• Tick the box near the Always hides the mouse cursor. We recommend you guys not to change anything other than this. If you want to give it a try, you can change the settings.

Then switch to the Audio tab.

• Do note that we recommend changing the Setting only if you face any troubles with the Audio. If you don’t have any problem, leave it and switch to the next tab.

Paths

• You are not required to do anything here. Switch to the next tab.

GameCube

• Under Slot A, choose a Memory Card. Then switch to the next tab without changing any other things.

Wii

• Tick the Use PAL60 Mode option.
• Then choose the Aspect Ratio as 16:9
• Keep everything untouched and switch it to the next tab.

Under the Advanced tab, change the settings mentioned below.

• Choose the CPU Emulation Engine as JIT Recompiler.
• Now tick the box near Enable Emulated CPU Clock Override.
• Finally, set the value to 50%.

Now, close the tab and open a game and check if it works without any issues. You can check the FPS to see if, after changing the Settings, it worked or not. We mentioned one of the best Settings for the Dolphin emulator. Apart from the mentioned values, you can also experiment few things. But make sure to read the description of things before you change.

Settings – 2

Open Dolphin and then tap on Graphics.

Under the General tab, change the values as mentioned below.

• Choose Direct3D 12 under the Backend option.
• Also, tap on Intel (R) HD Graphics under the GPU Adapter option. Please do note that you can tap on the GPU which your PC has.
• Now, tick the box near V-Sync, Use fullscreen, Show FPS, Auto Adjust Windows Size.
• And under Shader Compilation, make sure that you select the Synchronous option, which is set by default.

Coming to the Enhancements tab, set the values as said below.

• Choose 2x Native (1280x 1056) for 720p as under the Internal Resolution option. And None under Anti Aliasing.
• Set 16x for Anisotropic Filtering.
• And make sure to tick the boxes near the following option.

1. Disable Copy Filter
2. Widescreen Hack
3. Force 24-bit Color
4. Arbitrary Mipmap Detection

• And do not make any changes to the Stereoscopy option.

Switch to Hacks

• Here, you are required to tick on the square boxes which you can find near these options.

1. Store EFB Copies to Texture Only.
2. Ignore Format Changes.
3. Store XFB Copies to Texture Only.
4. Vertex Rounding.
5. Save Texture Cache to State.

• Change Texture Cache Accuracy to Fast.

Now, to the final tab, i.e., switch to the Advanced tab.

• Like other tabs, check the boxes near the following options.

1. Backend Multithreading
2. Enable Progressive Scan.

• Do not make any changes to other options.

Once you have changed, close the Settings window and test if it works without any problems on your PC.

Settings – 3

Open Dolphin and tap on Config

Under General tab

• Tick near the following options.

1. Enable Dual Core (speedup).
2. Enable Cheats.
3. Allow Mismatched Region Settings.
4. Change Discs.

• Set Speed limit as 100%

Now, move to the next tab, i.e., to Interface.

• Use Built-In Database of Game Names
• Download Game Covers from GameTDB.com for Use in Grid Mode.
• Hotkey requires Window focus.
• Inhibit Screensaver During Emulation.
• Confirm on stop.
• Use Panic Handlers.
• Show on-screen display
• Show Active title in the Window title.

Move to Audio Tab

• Do Enable Audio Stretching if you have audio issues.

Skip Path & Gamecube tab and choose WII

• Tick near Use PAL60 Mode and Allow write to SD card.
• Also, tick near the Wii Remote Rumble option. And move the IR sensitivity slider to the right.

Leave the Advanced tab as it is, and close and open Graphics.

General Tab

• Select Vulkan as Backend.
• Enable Show FPS and V Sync.
• Under Shader Compilation, tap on the Asynchronous option.

Now, move to the Enhancements tab.

• Set Anisotropic Filtering to 16x’=.
• Set Internal resolution according to your monitor.
• Choose Post-Processing Effect as FXAA
• Tick near the following options.

1. Scaled EFB copy.
2. Force Texture Filtering.
3. Per-Pixel Filtering.
4. Disable copy filter.
5. Force 24-bit color.
6. Arbitrary Mipmap detection.

Skip two other tabs, i.e., skip Hacks and Advanced and close the window. Then check if it works or not.

Settings – 4

Open Dolphin and tap on Configs

First, tap on the General tab, and change the following settings.

• Tick near the boxes of the following option

1. Enable Dual Core
2. Enable Cheats

• And set the Speed Limit to 110%

Close that windows and head to Graphics

Under the General tab, make sure to change the Settings.

• Choose Direct3D 11 under the Backend option.
• Then select Adapter as Intel(R) HD Graphics or the Graphics card present in your PC.
• Set the Aspect Ratio as Force 4:3
• Tick near the Use Fullscreen, Show FPS options.
• And under Shadow Compilation, tick only the Synchronous option.

We know that we haven’t made any changes in this fourth best Settings, but it will fix the issues and improve your gaming session. The size of the game also plays a significant role in the smoothness of the gameplay. 

Make sure that there isn’t any process running in the background while opening Dolphin Emulator. That’s it; we have listed four different Settings for you guys. You can try any one of them and customize it according to your preference. Please do share the article with your friends.

Related: 10 Best PlayStation Emulator For Android