Lifebook UH572 too weak?

[Imuli]

Hi guys!

Dolphin is really lagging with my laptop even though it should run at least half decent. I have tried almost everything but cannot get my games work properly. I have tried to play Wind Waker and Soulcalibur II. Both run with 30fps but it drops to ~10fps like every three seconds even if I'm just standing in Wind Waker.


My computers specs are:

CPU: i7-3517U @ 1.90GHz  2.40GHz
GPU: Intel HD Graphics 4000
RAM: 4Gb
Win 7 64x

I am using Doplhin 4.0.2 and all my graphic options are set to minimum. I Updated my GPU drivers and made sure there wasn't anything wrong with Windows settings. Everything is set to maximum performance. Any ideas what may cause the lag? I still don't think my laptop is too weak. Maybe if the games were just lagging a bit, but they are unplayable.


ps. Just registered here today. The forum looks promising.

[Shonumi]

Your CPU is pretty weak. Certain games should be playable; Wind Waker shouldn't be too demanding, Soul Caliber should be at least playable if you can't get fullspeed. Your GPU is on the lower end, but it should handle 2x native resolution without a problem.

The biggest culprit I see (not related to your hardware) is 4.0.2. It's slow, and old, and slow. Did I mention it's really slow? Try the latest development revisions of Dolphin (https://dolphin-emu.org/download). It's a free speed-up.

[Imuli]

Updating to Dolphin 4.0-4879 didn't really help. Wind Waker is a bit better but still unplayable. FPS drops aren't as frequent but they still happen maybe every ten seconds. Soulcalibur II might be even more laggy now. I thought that my GPU might be the bottleneck but it seems to be the CPU. Would it help if I overclock it? It should be able to run as fast as 3.00GHz, although I don't have the nerve to go even close to that. Overclocking laptops is at least in general pretty risky business.

[kirbypuff]

Try the *latest* dev build from 5 minutes ago --> https://dolphin-emu.org/download/
It has fixes for integrated GPUs and additional performance improvements.

If you still find this build too slow, try Tino's unofficial Ishiiruka buid and make sure you enable the "Fast EFB Access" option in the graphics settings (= huge speedup for PCs with weak hardware).

[Shonumi]

The FPS drops may be because you're generating a new shader cache for the game. Play around for a bit, then see what happens. Your CPU is the bottleneck here; you can verify this by setting your IR to 1x, since an Intel HD 4000 should handle just about any game at that resolution without slowing down. If the speeds are roughly the same at 1x and 2x IR, it's not your GPU that's holding you back.

You cannot overclock that CPU. It's locked down by Intel. It's an Ultra-Low Voltage CPU, so it's not designed for speed as it has specific power and thermal ranges Intel intended the CPU to reach.

[KHg8m3r]

Yeah, the latest build has an intel driver fix in it.

[admin89]

Any i5 , i7 always come with turbo boost feature that boost up CPU clock speed automatically
In this case , your CPU can boost up to 2.8GHz with 2 active cores
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Core-i7-3517U-Notebook-Processor.74462.0.html
However , the CPU may be in idle mode for some reasons . Keep in mind that it's Ultra-Low Voltage CPU , not design for gaming
Follow the performance guide , set your CPU frequency to 2800MHz ~ 2.8GHz by changing CPU multiplier via Throttlestop (This is not overclocking btw)
https://dolphin-emu.org/docs/faq/#my-laptop-new-gpu-not-performing-well-it-should
For Example , your CPU base clock is 99MHz ~ 100 . If you set multiplier = 28 , you will have 100 x 28 = 2800MHz ~ 2.8GHz

[Imuli]

Even though it isn't technically overclocking I'm still boosting up performance and generating more heat. It may break my computer, right?

[kirbypuff]

Overclocking = running the CPU at a *higher* max. frequency (outside of the the manufacturer's specs) for that model.
This is not overclocking, just running the CPU in "High Performance Mode".

Tip: Buy a cooling pad and update to the latest dev. build to minimize heat and improve performance.

[KHg8m3r]

Also replace the shitty thermal paste on the CPU with some better stuff