> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/dolphin-emu/dolphin/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# System requirements
> Hardware and software requirements for running Dolphin Emulator on desktop and Android
Dolphin is a demanding emulator that requires modern hardware to run GameCube and Wii games at full speed. This page details the minimum and recommended requirements for each platform.
## Desktop platforms
### Operating system
* **Windows**: Windows 10 1903 or higher
* **Linux**: Most modern distributions (Ubuntu 20.04+, Fedora 35+, etc.)
* **macOS**: macOS 11.0 Big Sur or higher
* **Other Unix-like systems**: Not officially supported but might work
### Processor
* **CPU with SSE2 support** (required)
* **Dual-core processor** at 3 GHz minimum
* **Not older than 2008** for acceptable performance
While Dolphin can technically run on older CPUs with SSE2, performance will be severely limited. A CPU from 2008 or older will struggle with most games.
### Graphics
* **Direct3D 11.1** (Windows) / **OpenGL 3.3** (all platforms) capable GPU
* At least 512 MB VRAM
* Integrated graphics from 2012 or newer
### Memory
* **2 GB RAM** minimum
* **4 GB RAM** recommended for comfortable operation
### Storage
* **50 MB** for Dolphin installation
* Additional space for games (1-8 GB per game depending on format and compression)
### Operating system
* **Windows**: Windows 10 21H2 or Windows 11 (latest updates)
* **Linux**: Latest Ubuntu LTS, Fedora, or Arch Linux
* **macOS**: macOS 12 Monterey or higher
### Processor
For full-speed emulation of most games:
* **Modern quad-core CPU** at 3.5+ GHz
* **Strong single-thread performance** (more important than core count)
* Examples of recommended CPUs:
* Intel Core i5-8400 or newer
* AMD Ryzen 5 3600 or newer
* Apple M1 or newer (macOS)
Dolphin primarily relies on single-thread performance. A faster dual-core CPU often outperforms a slower quad-core or hexa-core processor.
### Graphics
* **Direct3D 11.1 / OpenGL 4.4** capable GPU (or newer)
* **Vulkan support** for best performance
* **2 GB VRAM** or more for high internal resolutions
* Examples of recommended GPUs:
* NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 or newer
* AMD Radeon RX 560 or newer
* Intel Iris Xe Graphics or newer
* Apple Silicon integrated GPU (M1/M2/M3)
For 4K internal resolution (6x Native) or higher, use a modern mid-range or high-end GPU like NVIDIA RTX 3060 or AMD RX 6600.
### Memory
* **8 GB RAM** or more
* Dual-channel configuration for better performance
### Storage
* **SSD recommended** for faster game loading
* 100+ GB free space for a reasonable game library
## Android platforms
### Minimum requirements
Android 5.0 Lollipop or higher
64-bit CPU (ARMv8 or x86-64)
OpenGL ES 3.0 or higher support
2 GB RAM minimum, 4 GB recommended
Dolphin can only be installed on devices that satisfy the above requirements. Attempting to install on an unsupported device will fail and display an error message.
### Recommended Android requirements
* **Android 10 or higher**
* **High-performance 64-bit processor**:
* Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 or newer
* MediaTek Dimensity 1000 series or newer
* Samsung Exynos 990 or newer
* Apple A12 or newer (for potential future iOS support)
* **GPU with desktop OpenGL feature support** (not just ES)
* **6-8 GB RAM** for comfortable multitasking
* **Active cooling** for sustained performance
Performance varies heavily with [driver quality](https://dolphin-emu.org/blog/2013/09/26/dolphin-emulator-and-opengl-drivers-hall-fameshame/). Devices with GPUs that support standard desktop OpenGL features are recommended for best performance.
### Android performance expectations
Even on high-end Android devices, expect:
* Lower performance than desktop equivalents
* Not all games will run at full speed
* Battery drain during gameplay
* Thermal throttling on extended sessions
* Better results with 2D games and less demanding 3D titles
## Graphics backend requirements
Dolphin supports multiple rendering backends with different requirements:
| Backend | Platform | Minimum GPU Requirement | Notes |
| --------------------- | ----------------------- | ----------------------- | ----------------------------- |
| **Vulkan** | Windows, Linux, Android | Vulkan 1.1 support | Best performance, recommended |
| **OpenGL** | All platforms | OpenGL 3.3 | Widest compatibility |
| **Direct3D 11** | Windows only | D3D 11.1 support | Reliable, good performance |
| **Direct3D 12** | Windows 10+ only | D3D 12 support | Modern API, good performance |
| **Metal** | macOS only | Metal support | Required for Apple Silicon |
| **Software Renderer** | All platforms | Any CPU | Very slow, debugging only |
| **Null** | All platforms | None | No rendering, testing only |
Try backends in this order for best results: **Vulkan** → **Direct3D 12** (Windows) / **Metal** (macOS) → **Direct3D 11** (Windows) → **OpenGL**
## Compiler requirements for building from source
### Desktop platforms
**Required:**
* Visual Studio 2022 or Build Tools for Visual Studio 2022
* Latest MSVC compiler (comes with Visual Studio)
* Windows SDK (latest version)
* Git for Windows
Other compilers might be able to build Dolphin on Windows but have not been tested and are not recommended.
**Build steps:**
```bash theme={null}
git clone https://github.com/dolphin-emu/dolphin.git
cd dolphin
git submodule update --init --recursive
```
Open `Source/dolphin-emu.sln` in Visual Studio and build the "Release" configuration for optimized performance or "Debug" for easier debugging.
**Required:**
* CMake 3.10 or higher
* GCC with C++20 support (GCC 10+) or Clang 10+
* Git
* Development libraries (see installation guide)
CMake will inform you if your compiler is too old.
Many libraries are bundled with Dolphin and used if they're not installed on your system. CMake will inform you if a bundled library is used or if you need to install any missing packages.
Refer to the [Building for Linux wiki](https://github.com/dolphin-emu/dolphin/wiki/Building-for-Linux) for detailed dependency lists per distribution.
**Build steps:**
```bash theme={null}
git clone https://github.com/dolphin-emu/dolphin.git
cd dolphin
git submodule update --init --recursive
mkdir build && cd build
cmake ..
make -j $(nproc)
```
**Required:**
* Xcode Command Line Tools
* CMake 3.10 or higher
* Clang with C++20 support (Xcode 12+)
* Git
**Install prerequisites:**
```bash theme={null}
xcode-select --install
brew install cmake
```
**Build single architecture:**
```bash theme={null}
git clone https://github.com/dolphin-emu/dolphin.git
cd dolphin
git submodule update --init --recursive
mkdir build && cd build
cmake ..
make -j $(sysctl -n hw.logicalcpu)
```
**Build universal binary (x64 + ARM):**
```bash theme={null}
mkdir build && cd build
python ../BuildMacOSUniversalBinary.py
```
Building universal binaries requires library dependencies for both architectures. Run `python BuildMacOSUniversalBinary.py --help` for more details.
### Android platform
**Required:**
* Android Studio (latest stable version)
* Android SDK (API level 21 or higher)
* Android NDK (latest version)
* CMake (bundled with Android Studio)
* Git
See [AndroidSetup.md](https://github.com/dolphin-emu/dolphin/blob/master/AndroidSetup.md) for detailed setup instructions.
## Performance factors
Several factors affect Dolphin's performance:
### CPU performance (most important)
* **Single-thread performance** is critical - Dolphin cannot fully utilize more than 2-3 cores
* **Clock speed** matters more than core count
* **IPC (Instructions Per Clock)** - Newer architectures perform better at the same clock speed
### GPU performance
* Important for high internal resolutions (2x Native and above)
* Required for anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering
* Affects post-processing shader performance
### Memory
* Generally not a bottleneck with 4+ GB RAM
* Dual-channel configuration helps with integrated graphics
### Storage
* SSD reduces game loading times
* Not critical for gameplay performance once loaded
### Game complexity
* 2D games and simpler 3D games run better than complex 3D games
* Some games have specific bottlenecks (physics, AI, etc.)
* Check the [compatibility list](https://dolphin-emu.org/compat/) for game-specific information
## Checking your system
To verify your system meets the requirements:
### On Windows
1. **Check Windows version**: Settings > System > About
2. **Check CPU**: Task Manager > Performance > CPU
3. **Check GPU**: Task Manager > Performance > GPU or `dxdiag`
4. **Check RAM**: Task Manager > Performance > Memory
### On Linux
```bash theme={null}
# Check CPU info
lscpu | grep "Model name"
# Check GPU info
lspci | grep VGA
glxinfo | grep "OpenGL version"
# Check RAM
free -h
# Check Vulkan support
vulkaninfo | grep "deviceName"
```
### On macOS
1. **Check macOS version**: Apple menu > About This Mac
2. **Check CPU and RAM**: About This Mac > Overview
3. **Check GPU**: About This Mac > System Report > Graphics/Displays
### On Android
Use apps like **CPU-Z** or **AIDA64** to check:
* Android version
* CPU model and architecture
* RAM amount
* GPU model and OpenGL ES version
## Optimization recommendations
If your system is below recommended specs:
Use 1x Native or 1.5x Native instead of higher resolutions
Turn off anti-aliasing, anisotropic filtering, and post-processing
Use "Skip EFB Access from CPU" and other hacks in Graphics > Advanced
HLE audio emulation is much faster than LLE
Always enable dual-core mode in Config > General
Vulkan often has better performance than other backends
For more optimization tips, see the [Quick start guide](/quickstart) performance section.