Dolphin used to run fine... now it doesn't.

[mcmmaster]

Not noticing any improvement after enabling OpenMP, testing with Sonic Colours in 3.0 and it dips between 25-30 while playing

[Garteal]

What are your settings currently?
Do you get these slowdowns all the time, or during specific events/effects like explosions?

[mcmmaster]

I've uploaded screen shots of my settings in previous posts, i'd say there more or less the same settings now. Just experimenting with different builds with minor changes in the settings and i'm not seeing any improvement.

With Sonic Colours it can stay at 30FPS when standing still but when running through stages its constantly shifting between 25-30... Xenoblade Chronicles seems to be dead on 30FPS when roaming and using the menu's but when it comes to battles i get these sudden freezes when i attack, then comes the small dips in FPS 25-30... Kirby Epic Yarn seems to be the closest to running at a constant 60FPS when proceeding through the levels but when it comes to running through the stages i get a couple of FPS dips 57-60.

Using 3.0 atm, been going through different builds all day and i'm not noticing any major improvements.

[LordVador]

Sonic Colors/Xenoblade are 30 fps max games so you can't go beyond this.
They are demanding games. Speed drops are normal even with your CPU

[rpglord]

Are you sure these games worked before differently on same computer ?
Did you check fps then and were they always at 30/60 fps ?
Maybe you just think it works differently now if you didnt really pay as much attention to fps before as you are now

[Garteal]

OK, going by the settings in your previous post, you'll want to do the following:
- Disable Cache Display Lists.
- Raise your IR to x4, set AF to x16.
- Enable Fog (it doesn't hurt performance and will make your game look like it should)

The 6xxGTX do not exit their idle clocks when playing games with Dolphin.
Several users have reported that the latest drivers should fix it, so update if you haven't already.
You can also turn on (some) AA and set the Texture Cache to safe.
Monitor your GPU clocks with GPU-Z and check if they exit their idle clocks, and if they're stable.

[mcmmaster]

Thanks for the help Gatreal, just tested it out in 3.0 and i don't think there was much improvement.
Clocks when not running Dolphin
http://oi46.tinypic.com/24ee5vc.jpg
Clocks when running Epic Yarn, it seemed more stable after putting texture cache to safe but i did notice these minor 1/2 fps drops when running through the stage.
http://oi45.tinypic.com/hswfp2.jpg
Clocks when running Sonic Colours didn't seem to budge at all, the part where they are high was just the opening sequence i think. When running through the stages getting 2/3 fps drops at times.
http://oi47.tinypic.com/20h3v5z.jpg

Now that you mention it that it might be the GPU not throttling and kicking into gear, i did actually have a different graphics card when i used to play No More Heroes 2 & Sonic Colours at 100% but i didn't think it was worth mentioning because they were both HD 6970, just the one i had after had different clocks speeds and a better fan system so maybe the clocks weren't throttling after i changed.

Basically had a standard AMD Radeon HD 6970 2GB http://0.tqn.com/d/create/1/0/V/S/7/-/amd-radeon-hd-6970-video-card.jpg (without any extra clocking or fans) when i got my PC and it used to run Dolphin games without any FPS drops, after a few days i got these graphical glitches all over the screen and contacted the retailer i bought it from and they said it was just a faulty one. So after getting a Direct CU II ASUS HD 6970 2GB sent as a replacement i started to notice FPS drops, i figured it was more or less the same card with extra clocks/fans so i didn't think it could be the reason for the FPS drops... but now that Gartel mentioned that the problem i might be having is because the clocks aren't throttling then that might have just been the problem all along.

From them images i've just shown i guess the clocks aren't throttling then, and yes my graphics card is updated to the latest drivers.

I'm 100% certain rpglord i was able to run games with no FPS drops, i probably wasn't able to check every game back then because i only had the graphics card for a few days when it used to work, but i was certain NMH2 and Sonic Colours ran at 100%.