Ok specs first:
Windows 8 Pro x64 (I suspected this was to blame, however running in XP or 7 compatibility mode doesn't help)
Dolphin: 4.0-0 and 3.5-367
AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz eight-core
G.Skill 32GB (8GBx4) RAM
GTX 660 Ti in 3-way SLI (NVIDIA 3DTV Play activated but disabled, NVIDIA Control Panel settings on/off/low/high/etc)
ADATA 128GB SSD main drive (dolphin installed here)
6TB of HDDs (games are here)
Issues:
Sound crackling (obviously I've read about HLE vs LLE, LLe on thread, etc)
Sound skipping/cutting in and out (different from the crackling)
opening developer animations & cutscenes (interlacing and split into 3 overlapping images, Capt America for sure + others)
random FPS drops for no apparent reason (ie no new polygons being loaded, no explosions, no scene change, no scene pop-ups)
Settings:
I have literally tried over a dozen Dolphin Config & Graphics "these settings are best/work for me" setups. Outside of these, I have disabled 3DTV Play; I have tried reducing NVCP's Manage 3D Settings/Global Settings; I have tried turning off every AA/AF etc enhancement in NVCP's Global Settings; I created a custom Program Setting for Dolphin and have set most everything off/low/medium/etc. I have also tried running in XP & 7 compatibility modes. I have run in OpenGL, DX9 (3.5-367), and DX11. I have tried Dolphin at 720p, 1080p, 1440p, 1800p, and 1890p. Regardless of resolution, I get almost exactly the same fps at those resolutions, which leads me to believe I have a non-hardware related bottleneck. In New Super Mario Bros. I get solid fps at all resolutions with almost zero sound issues. Mostly the same with Mario Kart Wii. I had issues with audio on Just Dance but somehow managed to fix that while trying different audio settings. Regardless of resolution or dolphin settings, I always have issues in Captain America, Goldeneye, and Metroid. Even with no AA/AF and @ 720p w/ all global NVCP AA/AF settings off. In Mario Bros I get 60 fps at 1890p with NVCP FXAA/AF/AA/and Transparency AA. So what the heck gives? I'm so confused about what I am doing wrong. Until I can get this figured out I'm pretty much stuck.
Why I posted in Hardware Forum:
Once I can get several Wii games running, I intend to start a "Dolphin on powerful PC" blog and upload game settings + gameplay videos on youtube/my blog/the dolphin wiki. I own a Wii, a ton of games, and currently have roughly a dozen or so on my PC with intentions of transferring the others (Dolphin 4.0 and balance board games = epic win!) over but until I can get some decent settings figured out I'm done with that headache (btw I love the forum's anti-piracy stance) and am trying to focus on getting this running to a point where I can tweak a couple settings here and there for each game with good results. I currently am working on another blog specifically about optimizing PC games for UHD and 4k resolutions, generally getting great results (50-60 fps avg in 3360x1890 w/ AF and multiple AA settings in NVCP) with those games (3840x2160@30hz isn't so great except with RTS and some RPG games, but 60fps at 1890p on HDMI 1.x is pretty sweet), and I realize that emulating is a whole different beast than running native PC games. That being said, I have hardware that is running: BF3, Crysis 3, Amazing Spider-Man, Batman Arkham Asylum, Arkham City, Spec Ops: The Line, Metro 2033, Mirror's Edge, and others at 1890p at 60+ fps averages with AF and multiple AA settings... So even though my specific issues may or may not be OS or software related, the fact remains that I have fairly high-spec PC hardware and am having major issues with Dolphin. Which drives me nuts considering I see youtube videos of gameplay that look and sound great, even though some vids have much older hardware listed in their specs.
Why I'm asking for help:
I want to start a written blog and video blog series about transferring, setting up, and playing Wii games in UHD resolutions with Dolphin, but I can't get consistent enough results myself to warrant doing a blog about it. Please help me to help others not already playing with Dolphin.
Windows 8 Pro x64 (I suspected this was to blame, however running in XP or 7 compatibility mode doesn't help)
Dolphin: 4.0-0 and 3.5-367
AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz eight-core
G.Skill 32GB (8GBx4) RAM
GTX 660 Ti in 3-way SLI (NVIDIA 3DTV Play activated but disabled, NVIDIA Control Panel settings on/off/low/high/etc)
ADATA 128GB SSD main drive (dolphin installed here)
6TB of HDDs (games are here)
Issues:
Sound crackling (obviously I've read about HLE vs LLE, LLe on thread, etc)
Sound skipping/cutting in and out (different from the crackling)
opening developer animations & cutscenes (interlacing and split into 3 overlapping images, Capt America for sure + others)
random FPS drops for no apparent reason (ie no new polygons being loaded, no explosions, no scene change, no scene pop-ups)
Settings:
I have literally tried over a dozen Dolphin Config & Graphics "these settings are best/work for me" setups. Outside of these, I have disabled 3DTV Play; I have tried reducing NVCP's Manage 3D Settings/Global Settings; I have tried turning off every AA/AF etc enhancement in NVCP's Global Settings; I created a custom Program Setting for Dolphin and have set most everything off/low/medium/etc. I have also tried running in XP & 7 compatibility modes. I have run in OpenGL, DX9 (3.5-367), and DX11. I have tried Dolphin at 720p, 1080p, 1440p, 1800p, and 1890p. Regardless of resolution, I get almost exactly the same fps at those resolutions, which leads me to believe I have a non-hardware related bottleneck. In New Super Mario Bros. I get solid fps at all resolutions with almost zero sound issues. Mostly the same with Mario Kart Wii. I had issues with audio on Just Dance but somehow managed to fix that while trying different audio settings. Regardless of resolution or dolphin settings, I always have issues in Captain America, Goldeneye, and Metroid. Even with no AA/AF and @ 720p w/ all global NVCP AA/AF settings off. In Mario Bros I get 60 fps at 1890p with NVCP FXAA/AF/AA/and Transparency AA. So what the heck gives? I'm so confused about what I am doing wrong. Until I can get this figured out I'm pretty much stuck.
Why I posted in Hardware Forum:
Once I can get several Wii games running, I intend to start a "Dolphin on powerful PC" blog and upload game settings + gameplay videos on youtube/my blog/the dolphin wiki. I own a Wii, a ton of games, and currently have roughly a dozen or so on my PC with intentions of transferring the others (Dolphin 4.0 and balance board games = epic win!) over but until I can get some decent settings figured out I'm done with that headache (btw I love the forum's anti-piracy stance) and am trying to focus on getting this running to a point where I can tweak a couple settings here and there for each game with good results. I currently am working on another blog specifically about optimizing PC games for UHD and 4k resolutions, generally getting great results (50-60 fps avg in 3360x1890 w/ AF and multiple AA settings in NVCP) with those games (3840x2160@30hz isn't so great except with RTS and some RPG games, but 60fps at 1890p on HDMI 1.x is pretty sweet), and I realize that emulating is a whole different beast than running native PC games. That being said, I have hardware that is running: BF3, Crysis 3, Amazing Spider-Man, Batman Arkham Asylum, Arkham City, Spec Ops: The Line, Metro 2033, Mirror's Edge, and others at 1890p at 60+ fps averages with AF and multiple AA settings... So even though my specific issues may or may not be OS or software related, the fact remains that I have fairly high-spec PC hardware and am having major issues with Dolphin. Which drives me nuts considering I see youtube videos of gameplay that look and sound great, even though some vids have much older hardware listed in their specs.
Why I'm asking for help:
I want to start a written blog and video blog series about transferring, setting up, and playing Wii games in UHD resolutions with Dolphin, but I can't get consistent enough results myself to warrant doing a blog about it. Please help me to help others not already playing with Dolphin.