GPU Bottleneck?

[anaid]

Hi Guys:

My system specs are as follows:
CPU: Core 2 Duo 2.5 GHz
Ram: 2 GB
GPU: nVidia GT 8600M
OS: Mac OS X 10.9

I am currently using build 4.0-414, release 4.0 and release 3.5. I am using default setting with all versions of Dolphin.

I am trying to run Super Smash Bros Melee. But for some reason when I am using build 4.0-414 and release 4.0, I can see that my CPU utilization is only at about 75%, as a result I am only getting 30 FPS and very very choppy audio.

However, when I am using release 3.5, my CPU utilization is at 90%-100%, giving me a good 50-60 FPS and smooth audio.

I looked at the video card specs page, my nVidia GT 8600M should be more than enough to run the game at 1xIR and no filters or post-processing.

Any idea what the problem might be?

[DJBarry004]

If your GPU pertained to the GeForce 9xxx series and above, you could use Vertex Streaming Hack.

Also, your CPU is kind of slow. But even being slow it shouldn´t give you speed issues.

[anaid]

If your GPU pertained to the GeForce 9xxx series and above, you could use Vertex Streaming Hack.

Also, your CPU is kind of slow. But even being slow it shouldn´t give you speed issues.

Yah, I know my CPU is not fast. But at least dolphin should be using 100% of my CPU. I don't see what is preventing it from fully utilizing my CPU. Because with release 3.5 it would fully utilize my CPU. Any ideas on what tests I can run to pin point to solve this problem?

[admin89]

You do know Core 2 duo technology is so old (2009) , right ? Compare to latest gen CPU , Core 2 duo is just like Pentium 4
Latest Dolphin is whole lot more demanding than older version like Dolphin 3.5 ( accuracy = loss performance )
Your GPU - GT 8600M is fine for 2x Internal Resolution (720p) . Maximum Anisotropic Filtering : 16x should be do-able even on a weaker GPU like intel GMA4500
Your CPU is too weak for most game . Get a better system (recommend : 4th gen Core i5/i7 like i5 4670k desktop or i7 4700MQ mobile ) if you want to use latest Dolphin !

[Sonicadvance1]

Those years of Macbooks are actually pretty terrible when it comes to bandwidth limitations. The GPU is connected via either a PCI or a PCI-E 1x bus depending. This has severe bandwidth limitations just due to that interface.

[anaid]

Those years of Macbooks are actually pretty terrible when it comes to bandwidth limitations. The GPU is connected via either a PCI or a PCI-E 1x bus depending. This has severe bandwidth limitations just due to that interface.

Hey Sonicadvance1, good point about the graphics card bandwidth, I never thought about it from that perspective. But I checked my macbook pro, based on system information, it says that it uses a PCI-e 16x connection.

Any other thoughts or tests, to figure out what is limiting the performance?

---

You do know Core 2 duo technology is so old (2009) , right ? Compare to latest gen CPU , Core 2 duo is just like Pentium 4
Latest Dolphin is whole lot more demanding than older version like Dolphin 3.5 ( accuracy = loss performance )
Your GPU - GT 8600M is fine for 2x Internal Resolution (720p) . Maximum Anisotropic Filtering : 16x should be do-able even on a weaker GPU like intel GMA4500
Your CPU is too weak for most game . Get a better system (recommend : 4th gen Core i5/i7 like i5 4670k desktop or i7 4700MQ mobile ) if you want to use latest Dolphin !

Hey Admin89, actually my laptop is a early 2008 model .

I get where you are coming from, I am by no means trying to say that my laptop setup is even up-to-date. But here is my thought process, and why I am confused.

I have a desktop running Core i3-3225 with only the integrated Intel HD 4000 as graphics. Even with my desktop setup, the CPU would need to run as 100% capacity with all 2 (4 virtual) cores.

Now we look at a less powerful Core 2 Duo T9300 with a nVidia GT 8600M. According to what you said and what the graphics card guide showed, it should be more than enough to run Dolphin at 1xIR with no filters and post-processing.

If the graphics card is not limiting Dolphin, then what is preventing dolphin from utilizing the full CPU potential.

Unless the CPU is more than capable of processing all the needs of Dolphin with capacity to spare. Which I really doubt a 5 year old duo core processor is more powerful than and 1 year old "quad" core.

Yah,

[admin89]

That Core i3 is also a dual core with Hyperthreading (2 cores / 4thread s). Dolphin is a dual core application , dolphin doesn't give a damn about Hyperthreading
Your laptop has CPU bottleneck while your desktop has GPU bottleneck (Intel GPU suck). At 1x Internal Resolution , The i3 should perform much better than Core 2 duo but neither of your system have enough juice to run latest Dolphin

[anaid]

That Core i3 is also a dual core with Hyperthreading (2 cores / 4thread s). Dolphin is a dual core application , dolphin doesn't give a damn about Hyperthreading
Your laptop has CPU bottleneck while your desktop has GPU bottleneck (Intel GPU suck). At 1x Internal Resolution , The i3 should perform much better than Core 2 duo but neither of your system have enough juice to run latest Dolphin

Your latter statement is true, the desktop i3 indeed perform better than the laptop Core 2 Duo. But your statement about CPU bottleneck in my laptop, is there anyway to confirm that? Because the CPU utilization monitor sure tells a different story....

[Anti-Ultimate]

You can't measure how good Dolphin will perform with CPU usage.

Dolphin needs a good IPC (Instructions per cycle). Your CPU has a pretty low IPC compared to newer i3, i5 and i7 Processors.
That's why it is so slow, and not because "Dolphin isn't making it run at 100% load".

[KHg8m3r]

Older versions are not as precise as the latest versions, thus they aren't as demanding.
However, you may be able eek out a couple more fps by changing some things up in your settings. Please post pictures of your graphics config pages?