Over the past few decades, gaming has grown and evolved in many different ways. And the sheer number of games people can play today is insane to think about.
Over the years, we have had massive blockbuster releases and excellent games flown under the people’s radar. But with modern technology and the dedication of the various programmers, game emulation has come a long way.
You don’t have to spend a lot of money on old game hardware and old games as long as you have a decent device. Dolphin is one of the most developed and best working emulators. Learn more about the best laptop for dolphin emulators!
What Is Dolphin Emulator?
Dolphin Emulator is a video game console emulator for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android to play Gamecube and Wii games.
Games for Gamecube and Wii cannot be played for systems such as Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android on your computer.
However, to do so, we have a Dolphin Emulator that emulates or imitates as Gamecube or Wii environments, so games for other video game consoles on your computer can be played.
Another instance of a popular emulator for video games is PCSX2, which can play PlayStation 2 games on your computer.
On the Wikipedia page, you can read more about Dolphin Emulator by clicking here.
Best Laptop for Dolphin Emulator
Dolphin is a Nintendo Gamecube and Wii emulator. Two consoles with many classics that should be played at least once by every single gamer there.
But Dolphin can be a little difficult to run sometimes, and you need to ensure you have a decent device to run it.
Dolphin Emulator Laptop Buyer’s Guide
Don’t worry, if you’ve come so far down the list and you still have no idea which laptop you want! We will give you some extra advice in this section to help you with your purchase.
What you’ll need to run Dolphin
Dolphin is constantly updated and tweaked, as most emulators you will find. The emulator is therefore optimized continuously for less powerful machines and newer hardware. But you still have a few things to know before you try to use it.
First, the exact requirements you need to work on Dolphin are not very demanding. As long as you have a relatively modern PC/Laptop, it should work well.
However, every game has different system requirements, and it can be not easy. It means some games can perform flawlessly, and others won’t work very well.
If the game you’ve got doesn’t work correctly, you have to do some research and troubleshoot your own. And get ready to mess with the settings of Dolphin to get the exact experience you want.
Choose a laptop that suits your lifestyle.
One of the main aspects of buying a new laptop or some tech is how it fits your everyday life. Is it a little bit backward to spend your hard-earned cash on something that makes your life difficult?
You must, therefore, carefully consider whether a new laptop fits into what you are doing. If you are travelling a lot and using a laptop on the go, you don’t want anything large and bulky.
You want to get a lightweight, portable laptop with good battery life. But if you need a machine to work from home but don’t want to stick to a desk with a computer, your choice may be a bit freer.
Try to get a laptop that packs a lot of power and does not fear a bigger screen. Battery life here is less of a problem if you are home because it can be loaded at any time.
Tips Regarding to the Best Laptop for Dolphin Emulator:
- Reminder: Privacy is illegal. To work with Dolphin, you will need to get your copies of the games you want to play.
- Make sure you have a proper controller to play your games. Gamecube games have been specially designed for a controller. It is not recommended when you can use a keyboard as an input device.
- Dolphin has many settings to change the visuals of your games. So, if you wanted, technically, you could play Gamecube games in 4K. However, be warned that many of these features are very intensive and can significantly reduce performance.
- If you mainly use the laptop in your home, make sure you have a large screen laptop. The larger the screen, the easier the games to play. But if you’re looking for anything more portable, try to get a smaller laptop with a good screen.
Acer Aspire 5 – Best Laptop for Dolphin Emulators
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 3200U
- RAM: 4GB DDR4
- Storage: 128GB SSD
- GPU: Vega 3 Graphics
- Display: 15.6 inches Full HD
- Battery: Up to 7.5 hours
We have a laptop for the first option on this list to appeal to people who want to save money. We went to this Acer laptop for its affordability and pleasant design. Acer laptops typically fit into any workplace.
They are simple in style, but they look professional, and this laptop is no different. Of course, this might be pretty boring for some people to look at. You may want to look at our other options if you look for something a little more exciting to look at.
But let’s get to what type of experience when you try to use the laptop. We have here a 15.6″ 1080p screen first, perfect for playing and watching things.
This particular screen is vibrant and beautifully coloured. Then we have 4 GB of RAM that is definitely at the bottom. You have to run Dolphin at the very least, so you can stutter from here and there.
The Processor is an AMD Ryzen 3 3200U and is a lower-end CPU again. You may have problems with some games, but you should be okay as long as you double-check. The GPU is an AMD Radeon RX Vega 3, and you really ought not to have too many problems.
You’re not going to play modern games, but Dolphin should work well. And if you’re someone who travels extensively on his laptop, he’s got about seven hours of battery life.
It should last quite well, but take the charger if necessary. All in all, for anyone who wants to spend not too much money, this is a fantastic budget option.
Pros
- Affordable
- Great Screen
- Good Battery Life
Cons
- Low Spec
- Boring Aesthetics
Lenovo IdeaPad 3 – Best Laptop for Dolphin Emulator
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3500U
- RAM: 8GB DDR4
- Storage: 256GB SSD
- GPU: AMD Radeon Vega 8
- Display: 14.0″ FHD 1920 x 1080
- Battery: Up to 5 Hours
We have a laptop; next, that’s a bit of a step up in several ways. We went from Lenovo to this laptop for its great specs at a reasonable price. Lenovo rarely does anything super fancy with her products, aesthetically speaking.
They have a very simplistic style and attitude to the things they produce most of the time. This laptop is no different, but because of that, it looks great. The colour of the case, dark blue in contrast to the grey keyboard, looks fantastic and stands out.
This laptop also has a lot of fun under the hood. Starting with the screen, It has a 14″ display of 1080p outputs. It looks great, but it’s not the giant screen you could ever get.
If you emulate Gamecube and Wii games, however, the screen size and resolution should not matter. It has 8GB of memory to work with for the RAM. What we want to do for dolphins is to function smoothly. It also means that Windows also works smoothly and nicely.
It has an AMD Ryzen 5 3500U for the CPU, which is still at the bottom of our laptops. You cannot run applications that need a lot of power to work correctly. But it should be the best laptop for dolphin emulators. The GPU is an AMD Radeon Vega 8, nothing extraordinary, so don’t expect modern games to be played here.
Finally, the lifetime of the battery is around 5 hours, which isn’t so big. It will also be a little shorter if you spend a while on it, so keep this in mind. It is another big laptop that still fits into the affordable range.
Pros
- Affordable
- Good Screen
- Good Aesthetics
Cons
- Low Spec
- Average Battery Life
Acer Nitro 5 – Best Laptop for Dolphin Emulators
- CPU: 9th Gen Intel Core i5-9300H
- RAM: 8GB
- Storage: 256GB NVMe SSD
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650
- Display: 15.6″ Full HD IPS
- Battery: Up to 8-hours
We have a laptop, which is perfect for anyone who wants something in the mid-range. We’ve gone for this Acer laptop for its outstanding aesthetics and good gaming features. We mentioned earlier how many Acer laptops tend to look a little boring.
This kind of laptop refutes that. It’s the unique laptop look on the list so far. The colours here are striking, and the black case contrasts coolly with the red-light keyboard. The corner corners also contribute to a distinct silhouette of the laptop.
Let’s look at how this laptop is doing now. We will start with a 15.6″ display of the 1080p output screen. It is another great look, perfect for playing games or watching movies, although it makes your laptop a little heavy.
The colours are vibrant, and every detail you need can be seen. We have to work with 8GB again for the RAM, and this is the kind of ballpark that you want.
It will ensure that Windows is running smoothly and that any games you play on Dolphin can work 100% fast. However, it would help if you also had a good enough CPU to keep the Intel i5-9300H up and do it well.
The GTX 1650 should also allow you to play some more in-depth games in the last decade. So you should be covered for old and new games there. The lifetime of the battery here is also quite good, and it takes about 8 hours. All in all, this is a lovely mid-range laptop and certainly worth your time.
Pros
- Good Spec
- Great Screen
- Cool Aesthetics
Cons
- Heavy
- Won’t Play Modern Titles
HP Envy 17 – Best Laptops for Emulators
- CPU: Intel i7-10510U 4-Core (10th Gen)
- RAM: 64GB
- Storage: 1TB m.2 SATA SSD + 1TB HDD
- GPU: GeForce MX250
- Display: 17.3″ Touch Full HD (1920×1080)
- Battery: Up to o10+ Hours
HP is never behind anyone. They always give their competitors fierce competition & HP rarely produces powerful products.
Yes, there may be a few shortcomings, but other exceptional features still cover them. HP Envy 17, the laptop we have here, is one of HP’s best laptops for dolphin emulators yet. Envy 17 is excellent laptop work. Heavy work also means that you can play games.
Download the Dolphin Emulator easily and let the fun start. It’s entire silver, and the design is also simple. It isn’t like a funky laptop, but it opens the door for fun. Like the whole laptop, the keyboard is silver too. The laptop has a screen-to-body ratio of 86%.
It has a full-size keyboard, which is backlit as well. Also, separate keys are provided for the micro mute and the camera shutter. The screen is an IPS touch screen with a brightness of 300 nits per HP.
You can also upgrade to an Ultra HD 4k screen, but it will cost you extra. However, this one also offers the perfect gaming experience.
There is only one USB-C type port, but there is three USB-A type port with an HDMI, SD card reader, and mic/headphone jack. The life of the battery is hard to find. You are also given a 1-year warranty on Amazon.
Pros
- Plenty of ports
- Voluminous audio
- Comfortable keyboard
- Minimalist styling
- Available 4K screen
Cons
- Lacks Thunderbolt 3
- Expensive as configured
- Very heavy
- Poorly constructed touchpad
Dell G7 – Best Laptop for Dolphin Emulators
- CPU: Intel Core i7-10750H
- RAM: 32GB
- Storage: 1TB SSD
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070
- Display: 17.3″ FHD 300Hz
- Battery: Up to 7 Hours
Dell’s manufacture produces high-quality laptops. One of their reasons for the popularity is affordability. Dell provides its customers with quality that is not heavy on the pocket.
This gaming laptop here is only one example of affordable quality. The Dell G7 is an upgraded Dell G5 version with modifications, such as lighter and full metal, etc.
Since it’s a laptop, Dolphin Emulator can easily be installed and all games played. The laptop design can also be enjoyed during gaming.
For example, its blue lighting rear vent will make any gamer love it & rubber feet below might look like a bummer, but they are for the customer’s benefit.
These feet do not allow all the hot air inside your laptop to heat up. You will see a cold black aluminium surface when you open the lid & you can rest here comfortably.
It has three USB 3.1 ports and other ports such as a three-port thunderbolt and headphone jacket etc. The G7 display keeps your gamer alive while playing.
It is how good its luminosity is. However, it only produces a 62% SRGB colour gamut, which for laptops is below average.
But it’s pretty okay at this price. G7 speakers should be greatly appreciated. They can fill a room with a clear and loud sound quickly. The keyboard here is island-style in full size. The taste is large and smooth.
It is possible to perform all multi-touch features nicely. Finally, G7 is not only the best laptop for dolphin emulators, and it can be your perfect multi-task partner as well.
Pros
- Thin and light for a mainstream
- Higher-end components
Cons
- Small, inconsistent touchpad
ASUS ROG Strix Scar III – Best Laptop for Ps2 Emulator
- CPU: Intel Core i7-9750H
- RAM: 16GB DDR4
- Storage: 1TB PCIe Nvme SSD
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070
- Display: 15.6” 240Hz IPS
- Battery: Up to 7.5 Hours
Asus is a brand with a range of laptops in nearly every price range. That’s why they have affordable laptops like this one. Strix Scar III has features that are seldom available at this price. It has a somewhat “sharp” design, which is what most passionate gamers want.
The hood is grey with a brushed design of faux aluminium. One part is brushed, while the other part is straight. On the lid is a ROG logo, which is lit RGB. The copper winds at the rear come out. There are additional ports between these winds.
The most exciting part of the design is the chassis-wrapped bar, which is RGB lit. With an open lid, unlike the lid, you can see a black and grey deck. This deck consists of carbon fibre. The orange ROG keystone can also be seen on the right side of the deck.
It’s lighter than its competitors for a good-sized gaming laptop. The keyboard is also decent in size. Media dedicated keys are located just above the keyboard, and Numpad can be activated on the touchpad.
Keys are incredibly smooth to use, and the bounce is off the right amount. The touchpad is significant and essential for Windows 10.
It has four USB ports, three of which are Type-A ports, and one is Type C ports. Other ports, such as the headphone jack and HDMI 2.0B, are also included. The “shadow drive,” surrounded by an orange ROG stone, can provide personalized information.
You need an Asus account to activate it. With its brightness and lively colours, the display is excellent. It has a 240-Hz refresh rate while the answer time is 3 milliseconds! Strix Scar III speakers can be found on both sides, and the sound quality is quite good.
Pros
- Smooth 240-Hz display
- ROG Keystone is neat
- Comfortable keyboard
- Decent speakers
- Good battery life
Cons
- No webcam
- Thick chassis
Acer Predator Helios 300 – Best Laptop for Dolphin Emulators
- CPU: Intel Core i7-9750H
- RAM: 16GB DDR4
- Storage: 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD
- GPU: GeForce GTX 1660 Ti
- Display: 15.6″ Full HD 144Hz
- Battery: Up to 6 Hours
The previous generation of Acer Predator Helios 300 laptop was a massive success because it was very budget-sensitive yet still offering specs.
The Acer Predator Helios 300 iteration is also no exception. First, you get the latest Intel Core i7-9750H CPU of the 9th generation. It is a 6-core CPU with a 2.6 GHz and a Turbo boost of up to 4.5 GHz.
It makes it ideal for using Dolphin Emulator because it relies on multiple cores at higher clock speeds for each core.
This powerful Processor combines the latest Nvidia GTX 1660 Ti graphics card, a GDDR6 GPU 6GB that provides a 12 GHz memory clock and will be a joy not only to play GameCube and Wii games but run all new games without problems.
In addition, you will get 16GB 2666 MHz DDR4 and overexploitation for using the Dolphin Emulator but a good deal of help when moving on to other modern games like GTA 5, Battlefield 5, and Forza Horizon 4.
You get a 256-GB NVMe SSD drive on the storage front, pre-installed with Windows 10 Home OS, later you can even add an added M.2 SSD or a 2.5-inch SSD drive as required.
What could do much better for your gaming experience on Dolphin Emulator is that this computer features a 15.6″ full-hour display with a 144Hz refresh rate and only 3ms response time.
Where most laptops and PCs have a 60Hz standard display. Added 144Hz screen makes fast-paced games a pleasure.
Therefore if you have the budget and want to play all the recent games with Gamecube and Wii games via Dolphin Emulator, this laptop is designed specifically for you.
Pros
- Excellent 1080p gaming performance
- Room for three storage drives
- Super smooth 240Hz screen as tested
- Cleaner design than its predecessor
Cons
- So-so CPU performance
- Chassis can get toasty under load
Asus TUF FX505DT – Laptop for Emulation
- CPU: AMD Quad Core Ryzen 5 3550H
- RAM: 8GB DDR4
- Storage: 256GB Solid State Drive
- GPU: Nvidia Geforce GTX 1650 4GB
- Display: 15.6-inch FHD
- Battery: Up to 8+ Hours
If it’s a little over $1000 for a Dolphin Emulator laptop, you’re definitely in for a surprise. The Asus TUF FX505DT-EB73 comes with lots of characteristics and requirements which justify its price tag.
For the price, you receive the AMD Ryzen 7 3750H, the newest laptop processor in the arsenal of AMD that tries to stand by the top-of-the-line Intel Core i7-8750H.
It is a quad-core CPU with 8-threads and a base frequency of 2.3GHz, which can boost up to 4GHz whenever necessary. Furthermore, you receive 8GB of DDR4 memory clocked for optimum and maximum performance at 2666MHz.
In combination with powerful CPUs and efficient RAM, you will get the latest GTX 1650 GPU from Nvidia, a 4GB GDDR5 graph that will be more than sufficient for the smooth and smooth running Dolphin Emulator.
The graphics card can be used for not only all Dolphin Emulator games designed for Gamecube and Wii, but for most modern games, and you can reach 60 fps+ with a medium to a high resolution of 1080p.
Set the resolution to 1600 x 900 during new games, and you will experience gaming almost seamlessly.
The Asus TUF FX505DT-EB73 comes with a 15.6-inch Full HD with 120Hz cooling, ideal for fast-paced games without any hesitation or lags.
For this laptop the Asus TUF FX505DT-EB73 comes with 512GBNVMe SSD, 3-4x faster than standard SSD, offering lighting speed read-write performance and 10s boot time using the pre-installed Windows 10 Home OS. Asus is generous on the storage front.
Other essential features are:
- A white backlit and military keyboard.
- A thin bezel on both sides.
- A Gigabit Wifi with just 4.85lbs body weight.
Pros
- Budget gaming laptop
- 2x storage bays
- Easy serviceability
- 120 Hz display option
Cons
- Single-channel RAM
- No G-Sync
- Battery life could be better
Lenovo IdeaPad 3 – Best Laptop for Dolphin Emulators
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3500U
- RAM: 8GB DDR4
- Storage: 256GB SSD
- GPU: AMD Radeon Vega 8
- Display: 14.0″ FHD 1920 x 1080
- Battery: Up to 7.5 Hours
We’ve got the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 on number 9, and the reason we’ve picked this laptop is that it offers great specs for a reasonably affordable price. Lenovo does not like its products in terms of design.
And they essentially like rolling in a simple style and keeping things minimalist. And this laptop here shows us that, but as a result, it looks great. But many people like to go with more straightforward construction.
But this is only the design we are talking about, but this laptop certainly has some incredible features to impress you. When you look at the display, this laptop offers a 14-inch display with 1080p outputs.
This laptop includes 8 GB of RAM and AMD Radeon Vega 8 for the graphics card, making it easy to run the Dolphin and enabling you to play your favourite games in peace.
Pros
- Good performance
- Tries to avoid the typical style-free zone of cheap laptops
- Deep keyboard
Cons
- Lacks “all day” battery life
- Low-quality screen
- No USB-C
MSI GL65 Leopard – Best Laptop for Dolphin Emulator
- CPU: Intel Core i7-10750H RTX2070
- RAM: 16GB
- Storage: 512GB NVMe SSD
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070
- Display: 5.6″ FHD 144Hz 3ms
- Battery: Up to 8 Hours
We went to a laptop for the final option in this list that prioritizes performance above all else. For its excellent performance and aesthetics, we have chosen this MSI laptop. And it’s probably what you’d photograph when you think about a gaming laptop.
A laptop that looks like it’s powerful. From the backlit RGB keyboard to the logo and background pattern. It’s pretty easy to say it’s a laptop. You might want something a little more subtle, of course. But if that’s the case, it won’t be your laptop.
Now let’s talk about the exciting components of the laptop, and that’s what good is all about. Starting with the screen, we have a 15.6″ display of the 1080p outputs. It also has a 144HZ refresh rate, which helps if you play fast-paced multiplayer games.
Then we have 16GB RAM, which is a perfect memory. It should make sure your laptop runs smoothly, and you should not stutter any games you imitate.
The CPU is excellent here, too. The Intel i7-10750H is a superior laptop game processor. It means your emulator shouldn’t have any problems with full-speed running games. It makes it the best laptop for dolphin emulators. Moreover, it has an RTX 2070 GPU that runs almost any modern game without any problem.
The worst thing about this laptop is the battery, which can only last about 5 hours. But it is still an excellent laptop in all as long as you can afford it and consider the relatively short lifetime of the battery.
Pros
- Great Spec
- Good Battery
- Great Screen
Cons
- Expensive
- Below Average Battery Life
Conclusion
These are some of the best laptops for dolphin emulators, but there are few essential things to remember before you decide to buy one of the laptops, and you have to know what kind of laptop you want in your life?
Ask yourself some of these questions, as are you going to travel a lot? If so, you should buy a laptop, which is easier to carry, and not a bulky laptop.
Furthermore, if you want more performance and journey is not something you often do, it’s better to go for something more powerful. After all, it’s all about what you need on your laptop.