As Dolphin currently has a multitude of different options, I thought it would be convenient to have a thread where various settings are explained. The following are based on my personal experience with the emulator as a user and guesswork, so you're welcome to point out any inaccuracies (especially with informative explanations like the one for the "Lock threads to core" option on another thread) and I'll edit the post.
* EFB scale: This affects how the screen is calculated to be displayed. I find that the recommended setting (Integral) gives the most faithful render, while Fractional, although less accurate, is easier on the fps. Integral makes a huge visual difference in games with pixelation issues like RE: TUC.
* Force Bi/Trilinear filtering: Well, forces bi/trilinear filtering. While it can smooth out some jaggies, I find that it introduces artifacts in most games (for example Endless Ocean, Rune factory, HOTD 1&2, HV:TOT, etc.) but it's needed for visual accuracy in a few others (like HV: AP).
* Anisotropic filtering: For the life of me, I can't spot any differences between x4 and x16, even in 3D games. Furthermore, I don't seem to get any fps drop with higher settings which I find rather peculiar.
* OpenCL: It uses the GPU for faster texture loading in Nvidia cards; I haven't seen any real benefit in practice.
(To be continued; feel free to chime in with any additions/corrections.)
* EFB scale: This affects how the screen is calculated to be displayed. I find that the recommended setting (Integral) gives the most faithful render, while Fractional, although less accurate, is easier on the fps. Integral makes a huge visual difference in games with pixelation issues like RE: TUC.
* Force Bi/Trilinear filtering: Well, forces bi/trilinear filtering. While it can smooth out some jaggies, I find that it introduces artifacts in most games (for example Endless Ocean, Rune factory, HOTD 1&2, HV:TOT, etc.) but it's needed for visual accuracy in a few others (like HV: AP).
* Anisotropic filtering: For the life of me, I can't spot any differences between x4 and x16, even in 3D games. Furthermore, I don't seem to get any fps drop with higher settings which I find rather peculiar.
* OpenCL: It uses the GPU for faster texture loading in Nvidia cards; I haven't seen any real benefit in practice.
(To be continued; feel free to chime in with any additions/corrections.)