Dolphin on a Microsoft Surface Pro 1

[MosquitoSmasher]

So i have the very first Surface Pro and for a few days now i've been trying things out, and strangely enough games like Mario Galaxy perform quite decent actually while using a decent resolution as well. But a game like Mario Sunshine has a lot more trouble running smoothly. I also noticed that while using Dolphin, eventually the fans inside the Surface are clearly having a hard time and they get really loud. The tablet itself becomes warm, never hot. Yesterday however Mario Sunshine simply crashed and i wasn't even able to return to the desktop. So i press and hold the power button and i push it again and then i saw a picture of a thermometer, which basically meant the Surface did definitely become too hot.

But there's more, while using Dolphin 4.0.1 it just crashes to the desktop after a while with no reason given. This happened with multiple games now. A friend recommended me to start using a different version of it called Ishiiruka, and while that one has not crashed any game to the desktop yet.....i still can't get things to run entirely smoothly. Mario Sunshine for example seems to run ok with the default settings, but eventually still bogs down. So does the music, it starts to go slower and i start hearing crackling in the music and sound. It's a mixed bag really. It seems smooth and then when i use the water weapon it just bogs down. What are the recommended settings to let things run as smoothly as possible, while it still looks good? And can i do anything about those crashes back to the desktop so i can use the normal Dolphin again?

This is what i'm working with:

http://www.phonearena.com/phones/Microsoft-Surface-Pro_id7190

[JosJuice]

Dolphin 4.0.1 over 2 years old by now. You should use the development builds instead. https://dolphin-emu.org/download/

[MosquitoSmasher]

(12-29-2015, 07:33 AM)JosJuice Wrote: Dolphin 4.0.1 over 2 years old by now. You should use the development builds instead. https://dolphin-emu.org/download/

Thanks man. I tried the latest version with Sunshine using the default settings, it runs quite smooth, but with side borders though and resolution and everything on auto. The Surface's fans did start to blaze again, and i think it's a good idea to keep a lookout on that. Is there a way to check what the temperature is? Because i certainly don't want my Surface to die on me. I noticed that the default setting is using OpenGL, but isn't Direct3D beter for my PC?

That being said....as soon as i start the game, things go lightning fast, the intro screen with the Nintendo logo is insanely fast, it's like it's uptempo and only until i get into real gameplay it stays like that. Really odd.

OpenGL is much better for Sunshine now compared to Direct3D, the latter makes it a slideshow. Galaxy 1 for some reason is just slow as hell with OpenGL. The issue that cutscenes and main screens are in uptempo persists too. Tried out Galaxy with Direct3D now too, just as slow. This is very strange, cause with the much older versions of Dolphin and Ishiiruka Galaxy ran surprisingly well.

[Kurausukun]

Turn your aspect ratio to "stretch to window" rather than auto to get rid of letterboxing. Also, make sure the framelimit is set to auto.

[MosquitoSmasher]

Doesn't seem to make any difference for Galaxy. It's weird as hell how incredibly slow it is now with Direct3D while it was SO much smoother with the older versions and OpenGL was a no go with the older versions. OpenGL is faster now but in general it's a world of difference. At least Sunshine performs better than on the older versions, but still far from smooth. Maybe emulators for Wii and GC are just not meant for the old Surface Pro.

[mbc07]

Leave Aspect Ratio on Auto and enable "Crop" to get rid of the black bars...