Graphics Card for Melee Netplay?

[Sam'sAwakening]

I am looking into playing Melee netplay, but my computer needs a better graphics card. Are there any good and/or cheap graphics cards that would work? I'm looking for something under $100 if possible.

 

[Pauer]

the graphics requirements for dolphin are very low. Do you want a graphics card because the game isn't running smoothly? Try optimizing your settings according to the dolphin performance guide.
Or do you want a graphics card to play with graphics enhancements? Can you post your current computer specs?

 

[Qwerty2084]

I’m also trying to find a budget graphics card (for a computer I’m getting), mostly for other games, but for dolphin too. Which is a good cheap graphics card that can run games (and dolphin) at 1080p full HD?

 

[Sam'sAwakening]

Computer Info:

-Windows 10
-AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4600+ clocked at 2.40 GHz
-6 GB of RAM
-64-bit OS

When I look for the on board graphics card, it tells me I just have a Microsoft Basic Display Adapter. It says the chip type is an NVIDIA with total available graphics memory of 3039 MB (the dedicated video and system video memory are both 0 MB). I know it's not a high end PC, but I'm having trouble running other games that aren't that technically demanding. Any help at all would be awesome, dolphin and/or other computer knowledge.

 

[Sam'sAwakening]

The games I've tried and Faster Melee won't even start up the games I'm playing. Based on your question Pauer I'm going to guess there us an underlying issue

 

[Pauer]

Try downloading speccy and send us a screenshot of your graphics card there. The CPU you have doesn't have integrated graphics, meaning there should be a graphics card in your system.
It might be that games don't run because you don't have the correct drivers for your GPU installed or don't have requisites like directX. Try googling for drivers for your gpu or use the free version of driver booster to install the latest drivers.

 

[Sam'sAwakening]

Pauer here you go, it says checking for updates so I hope it finds something

Edit: the picture didn't upload the way I thought it would, will try to figure out the fastest way to upload it

 

[Sam'sAwakening]

After talking with some friends and having them take a look inside my machine, it seems like I do have an on board graphics card. What would be the cheapest option for both a good graphics card and the bare minimum graphics card?

 

[Pauer]

Okay, I'm not sure which integrated graphics you have now. Maybe try posting that screen shot again. You could upload it to imgur and then post the link directly or press the image button on the text editor and post the link there to post the image directly.

At the point where you're at, I wouldn't be looking for a new graphics card and rather a new processor or PC altogether. I looked at benchmarks of your processor and it doesn't seem powerful enough to run dolphin.
Now that you'd have to buy a graphics card to get dolphin to run, I wouldn't bother because I doubt that you would get it to run smoothly, which makes netplay impossible due to sync issues. (small stutters are heavily amplified during netplay)

Edit: your best bet might be buying something like this . You'd then only have to insert your old hard drive and you'll be able to use your pc like you're used to. Windows 10 will automatically adapt to the new hardware and install the necessary drivers.
You won't be able to install the ram from your previous system as it isn't compatible.

 

[Sam'sAwakening]

So would it have a graphics card in it, or something similar in terms of on board graphics? Also, would it be considered somewhat of a downgrade because the one you recommended wasn't dual core and my current one is? [Edit: if it is dual core then im dumb for nkt noticing it] Just curious, as I know a bit about computers but I'm no expert by any means.

 

[Pauer]

So would it have a graphics card in it, or something similar in terms of on board graphics? Also, would it be considered somewhat of a downgrade because the one you recommended wasn't dual core and my current one is? [Edit: if it is dual core then im dumb for nkt noticing it] Just curious, as I know a bit about computers but I'm no expert by any means.

The PC I linked has integrated graphics that will be enough to play dolphin. You're right that it isn't a dual core processor but rather a quad core processor meaning it has 4 cores! In fact each core is about as powerful as your current processor, so it's about 4 times faster. Also in dolphin, performance is determined only by the single core performance of your cpu and not the total performance.
For example, there are a number of quad core processors that would fit into your current PC's CPU socket but due to their low single core performance, dolphin still wouldn't run well despite an increase in processing power.

 

[Sam'sAwakening]

Pauer I did what you said would be best and got the PC, and I installed my hard drive into it. I'm trying to use the latest version of Faster Melee, and I get an error when I try to load a 1.02 Melee ISO. The text says "IntCPU: 00000000 at PC = 00000008 last_PC = 81200cf0 LR = 00000000" (no " " obviously), then the buttons yes or no. Yes makes the message box pop up again, clicking no makes Dolphin stop working. The box where Melee should show up is just a black box. What do I do to fix this?

 

[Pauer]

Well I googled the error and it seems like the error message is caused by an issue with a gecko code. Where did you download FM from? I would always download the versions from smashladder.com .
I would first try disabling all gecko codes and see if it works then. If it still doesnt work, try using a different version of faster melee or a version of regular dolphin and see if the error persists.
It might also be that there is an issue with your rom. Try checking the md5 hash and compare it to the ones here. Maybe your version isnt actually 1.02 . You can check the md5 hash by going into the netplay window, then select the melee rom and click "check md5" or something like that.

 

[Sam'sAwakening]

It was the version of Melee I was playing, thank you for all of your support Pauer!

 

[Pauer]

That's great to hear! So does it all work and you can play netplay now?

 

[Sam'sAwakening]

Yes I can, I've been playing a lot of netplay this whole month lol, that is again dude