Dolphin suddenly runs slower than usual

[jengatower]

Hello!
I used to have no problem with slowdowns on certain games for the two years I've been using Dolphin. It's been a little more than a month since I've used an emulator, and since yesterday I've been having trouble with games that used to run at a decent speed. For example when I run Kirby Air Ride, I get a 50% slowdown during gameplay when I used to get around 50-60 fps while running that game. The same thing happens with Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and even Bomberman Generation (the fastest running game I have).
I use a laptop, and emulating used to run faster when I plug my system in. But now it doesn't seem to have that effect anymore, even with other emulators.

I tried restarting, setting my power modes to "High Performance" as well as other modes, using the latest dev build, and clearing out my "Dolphin Emulator" file in my Documents. Nothing seemed to help.
My specs:
Operating System:
Windows 8.1 x64
Processor/CPU:
Intel i3 1.80GHz
Video Card/GPU:
Intel HD Graphics 4000
Memory/RAM:
6 GB
Dolphin Revision Currently Using:
Primarly: 4.0-9103

Suggestions would be appreciated!

[ExtremeDude2]

Have you checked your temperatures?

[jengatower]

My laptop's temperature hits around 57 degrees C when I run a game, which is around the temperature when it's idle.

[JHer]

Same here since Win 10 creator's update, unplayable now.

[KHg8m3r]

Have you tried the latest Dolphin 5.0 dev build?

[JMC47]

I had to reinstall my NVIDIA drivers after the creator update, but other than that it's still working fine on all my computers.

[jengatower]

Just tried the most latest dev build and performance is only a little better with sudden pauses, but still runs around 50% of the usual speed.
I'm also having a slowdown on another emulator I use (PCSX2) so I'm pretty sure this is a computer issue.

I still have Windows 8.1 (because I'm lame) so the creator's update doesn't apply to me.
I have an Intel processor because the laptop I have isn't a gaming system, but it did run a good number of games at a decent speed.

Is there anything I can do, or am I doomed?

[JMC47]

It'd be nice to find out what your processor is clocked at.

[jengatower]

My processor's clock rate runs at 1.80 GHz. It's an Intel Core i3-3217U.

[KHg8m3r]

I can think of a few issues (mainly relating to your computer getting older and causing thermal issues). Cause if your idle temp and game running temp are the same, you're probably overheating.

1) you need to clean your computer vents. This could be causing it to be unable to vent air, causing thermal throttling to keep it at 57 degrees since it can't go any higher. To fix this/rule it out, get a can of compressed air, and with your computer off, blow it into your fan intake. Make sure you're near a garbage can.

2) The thermal paste on your computer is going bad and can't transfer heat, causing thermal throttling, etc. This may be harder to diagnose/fix. Google how to replace paste for your computer.

3) Go to Intel's driver downloads page and get the latest driver for your Intel HD 4000 iGPU.

4) Run Dolphin in portable mode and see if that helps