GPU refuses to go full throttle

[AutoFire]

I have run into a truly aggravating issue. My GTX 750 Ti simply refuses to go into full power when I try to play Metroid Prime 3. The end result is that it instead runs so poorly that MP3 lags even at 1x IR.

Complication: I do have Dolphin set to "Prefer maximum performance" in the nVidia Control Panel.

Using the latest Windows driver (344.11 at time of writing).

[ThePokeman92]

(10-21-2014, 12:52 PM)AutoFire Wrote: I have run into a truly aggravating issue. My GTX 750 Ti simply refuses to go into full power when I try to play Metroid Prime 3. The end result is that it instead runs so poorly that MP3 lags even at 1x IR.

Complication: I do have Dolphin set to "Prefer maximum performance" in the nVidia Control Panel.

Using the latest Windows driver (344.11 at time of writing).

Are you sure Dolphin isn't making use of an integrated GPU if you have one? I've had Dolphin do that for me on my Sandy Bridge processor before, using the intel graphics instead of radeon. The solution was to double-check both Dolphin's graphics setup as well as my video driver to ensure the right GPU is being used.

[KHg8m3r]

Unless he has the video cable not plugged into the motherboard video output but is in the 750 Ti, then he is running off the 750 Ti.

But the OP should check under the Nvidia Control Panel to make sure you have a profile set up for Dolphin to use maximum power

[Link_to_the_past]

Do you have periodic lags or constant slowdown? The first is due to shader cache generation at first play and it is normal with dolphin, subsequent runs alleviate it.

[Zee530]

Also try using GPU-Z to confirm how much of the card is being used.

[AutoFire]

My monitor cable is plugged into the video card, not the motherboard.

Unfortunately, it is constant slowdown that is happening.

I can confirm that the GPU is not running at anywhere near full strength (135Mhz when the max is 1019Mhz) despite Dolphin having a max performance profile in the Nvidia Control Panel.

As far as I can tell, this has nothing to do with potential GPU overheating: Temps top out at around 30°C even under full load.

The strange thing is that the GPU will kick into gear (though only temporarily) if I open Dolphin's graphics config. I don't know if this is helpful at all.

[Link_to_the_past]

Set max performance for everything in the general settings and not just for dolphin, also try restarting windows (i had that issue once in the past and restarting windows alleviated it).

[AutoFire]

Found the problem: for some reason, the Nvidia Control Panel will not save my settings, meaning that every time I change power management to "Prefer maximum performance" it reverts to "Adaptive" after I close the window.

[KHg8m3r]

That's weird. Did you click the apply button at the bottom of the page?

[AutoFire]

Yeah. It just reverts right back when I close the window anyway.