Dolphin high CPU Usage

[tiftof]

Hello,

I'm currently trying to play GC games with dolphin, using my laptop, but there are periods where dolphin takes almost 50% of my CPU, which lowers the fps to an average of ~7
That's quite annoying considering the periods lasts randomly from 10sec to 3min...
When dolphin isn't slowed down, all the games I'm playing (SSBM, SSBB, Ikaruga, Pikmin 2 etc) run at a smooth 50 fps (or 60, when possible).

There's something else : when I start the game for the first time, it slows down after 10min. The next slow down happens 5 min after it, the next one after it even faster. After 30min, they last 3min and starts 1min or less after the last one... And I just can't play anymore.

And one last thing, about my computer, and I bet it has something to do with this : sometime, when I play any other recent game, it can slow down just like dolphin. But when it happens, it's the process audiodg.exe which is taking all the processor, and I couldn't find a solution either (It seems to be related to my audio driver : IDT High Definition Audio CODEC, but none of the solutions I found worked)

For dolphin, I tried everything I could :
- Disable every enhancement and options
- Disable the audio (Inside dolphin, or directly from my computer)
- Remove and reinstall audio drivers
- Update dolphin version (I tried 2, 3, the lastest revision, and revisions such as 5000, 6000, 7000... none worked)
- Other things I forgot
And again, absolutely nothing worked.

So, does anybody has any ideas on why dolphins (or any other games) hangs ?

Here're my specs :
- Windows 7 Pro 64 bits
- Intel Core i7 720QM, 1.6Ghz (2.8 Ghz with turbo boost)
- ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650
- 4Gb RAM
- 500Gb 7200rpm HDD

Thanks

PS : Sorry for my english. Hope you can understand everything !

[HawaiianPunch]

Your computer is overheating. Make sure you take breaks (pause the emulator, not the game) and get a laptop cooler if you don't already have one. Turbo-boost won't raise the clock speed if the CPU is too hot. BTW, your english is very good, don't worry about it.

[Venomx1]

(07-03-2011, 07:08 AM)HawaiianPunch Wrote: Your computer is overheating. Make sure you take breaks (pause the emulator, not the game) and get a laptop cooler if you don't already have one. Turbo-boost won't raise the clock speed if the CPU is too hot. BTW, your english is very good, don't worry about it.

what this guy said. Your CPU is overheating alot. Youll want a proper cooling unit for it or ur going burn out your Laptop.

[dannzen]

(07-03-2011, 04:33 AM)tiftof Wrote: I'm currently trying to play GC games with dolphin, using my laptop, but there are periods where dolphin takes almost 50% of my CPU, which lowers the fps to an average of ~7

think about it...

25% cpu usage while 60fps? (2.8ghz)
50%cpu usage(dolphin is using only 2 cores)(1.6ghz)
oh no my cpu is overheating

install realtemp (google it)
start dolphin(real temp runnin in background)
watch at your clock speed, and that all Thermal Status are on "OK"
let realtemp run in the background

after slow down switch to realtemp and look into Thermal Status

Quote:If your processor has reached its maximum temperature on any core it will display LOG to indicate that a thermal throttling episode has been logged.
If it displays HOT in red then that indicates that a thermal throttling is presently occuring.

if you see the hot or log status that means your cooling is not good enough
you need to clean your laptop and dont play on your bed... allways use a plain underground
but block the fans they overrun if you use a vacuum cleaner
overrun means that the bearing gets damaged...
your fan will make some unnatural noise or could die

[tiftof]

You were right, I hadn't thought about it, my laptop was clearly overheating.

I had this old everest, so I started it : in game, the temperature of the CPU was increasing to as much as 90°C (A little OMG here), and when it happened, the CPU frequency was lowered to 400Mhz (And that's hard to get more than 10fps with that ;p)

I disassembled the laptop, and cleaned all the things that has to do with the CPU.

Now it's working like a charm !
I'll look forward to buying a laptop cooler, didn't even know this kind of thing existed

Thanks you all

HawaiianPunch Wrote:BTW, your english is very good, don't worry about it.

TY !