Do games slow down when going splitscreen?

[PureTryOut]

I like to play Mario Kart Wii a lot, and it has a built-in 4 man splitscreen mode.
My friends and I would like to play together but we're not sure my computer can handle it.
Does splitscreen with this and some other games cause the game too slow down, or should I not notice any performance difference?

[Shonumi]

Split-screen multiplayer modes (or just some multiplayer modes in general depending on the game) actually are more demanding than regular single-player modes. This is nothing out of the ordinary (Dolphin basically has to process more things, e.g. input, sound, graphics, game logic).

You might need to overclock your CPU to account for multiplayer on MKWii. Try raising your clock in increments and see which is stable and runs MKWii at decent speeds for multiplayer. Of course, see if you can run this game's 4-player mode on stock before attempting anything.

[PureTryOut]

Well since I have no people too play with at the moment, can I just try it out without the characters actually receiving input (4 man splitscreen on but only 1 kart to control)?
And i'm planning to overclock anyway soon (that's why I bought the i7 4770k of course), but i'm running the stock cooler at the moment, which I do really not trust with overclocking.

[Shonumi]

It shouldn't make a ton of difference if any of the four screens are receiving input or not, Dolphin will have a lot more to process regardless, and you'll see how demanding 4-player mode is anyway. You just "plug in" 4 emulated Wiimotes (or GCPads) into Dolphin and take it for a spin.

With an i7-4770K though, it's really only a question of if you need to OC, and if so, how high? Except for a few instances, there's really not a lot your CPU can't run at fullspeed when it comes to Dolphin.

[Xeno Aura]

A 4770k should handle MK:Wii fine.

My cousin uses an i5-4670 which runs MK Wii at a constant 60FPS in 1 and 2 player, and a constant 30FPS in 3 and 4 player.

MK Wii lowers the frame rate from 60 to 30 when in 3 or 4 player modes, so it's actually not as hard to run as you might first assume.

Like Shonumi said, you'd probably have a hard time finding a game that your PC had difficulty running at full speed.

[PureTryOut]

Well yes but when my game runs on 30 FPS it runs at half the speed somehow... I posted something about that earlier here.
Anyways I will try it out, but it seems promising then.

[Link_to_the_past]

You have to leave your framerate to auto since many games have variable framerate and not force 60 fps everywhere.

[PureTryOut]

Well I finally had the chance to try it today, and by turning VSync on it fixed the slow downs.
But I had a stable 30 fps with 4 man split-screen and although I hate anything lower then 60 (which is why I game on pc lol), it works pretty good!

You should try too control 3 characters with the same controls though, it's pretty funny