Low FPS Xenoblade Chronicles

[Altimit]

I've browsed the forum and have tried dozens of settings with varying levels of success. During cutscenes and exploring the map, I can get 27-30FPS with occasional dips into 15-20FPS every 10 seconds or so. During battle animations, the game completely freezes for a 1-2 seconds making the game unplayable. While I've tried a lot of settings, I'll post my current configuration that I've seen the best result in. Please let me know if there are any setting changes that would help or if the problem is simply my PC specs.

Information:
Running Dolphin 4.0-6215. I've tried Ishiiruka (build 349) but that seemed to perform even slower.
OS: Windows 8.1 x64
Processor: Intel Core i5 4460 @ 3.20 Ghz
Graphics: Nvidia GTX 960 2GB
RAM: 8GB DDR3
Game: Xenoblade Chronicles PAL patched to run at 30 FPS.

[admin89]

Does your CPU overheat or sth ? It seems that CPU is not running at its full strength
I swear Xenoblade run full speed on my laptop (i5 4300M @ 3.2GHz + shitty Intel HD 4600) at 2xIR . You should check your CPU temp and your CPU clock speed with realtemp when you run Dolphin
Xenoblade is not a demanding game nowadays
On my desktop , I max out the game easily (4xIR + FXAA)

[admin89]

If your graphic card does not work with Dolphin properly , you may see performance guide(Part 2) to force maximum performance via Nvidia CP

[Altimit]

Does your CPU overheat or sth ? It seems that CPU is not running at its full strength
I swear Xenoblade run full speed on my laptop (i5 4300M @ 3.2GHz + shitty Intel HD 4600) at 2xIR . You should check your CPU temp and your CPU clock speed with realtemp when you run Dolphin
Xenoblade is not a demanding game nowadays
On my desktop , I max out the game easily (4xIR + FXAA)

I just did a test, and the temp seems abnormally high. Is this normal for an i5 4460?

[admin89]

Do you apply thermal compound properly ?
Buy Arctic MX-4 and apply it on your CPU right away !!!
85 degree Celsius is dangerous for a desktop CPU . 99C will kill your CPU shortly

[Altimit]

Do you apply thermal compound properly ?
Buy Arctic MX-4 and apply it on your CPU right away !!!
85 degree Celsius is dangerous for a desktop CPU . 99C will kill your CPU shortly

!!! The heatsink wasn't pushed in all the way! Fixed it up and now it's running fantastic! Thank you so much!! I just assumed my PC wasn't up for the challenge but it turns out I installed the heatsink wrong Fortunately this is a new build and has only been running for a week. I'll get some new thermal paste as well since having it not fully attached for a week has probably made the current coating no good. Thanks again!! In a matter of minutes you solved my problem and saved me from frying my cpu and mobo.

[admin89]

Your CPU still run at 2783.56MHz ~ 2.8GHz , not 3.2GHz . You should go to your bios and configure your CPU speed otherwise some demanding games won't run well
Btw , 3.2GHz is stock speed . All i5 have turbo boost feature that auto-overclock your CPU speed . Your maximum turbo speed is 3.4GHz , it should run near that speed (either 3.3 or 3.4GHz) , not 2.8GHz

[Altimit]

Your CPU still run at 2783.56MHz ~ 2.8GHz , not 3.2GHz . You should go to your bios and configure your CPU speed otherwise some demanding games won't run well
Btw , 3.2GHz is stock speed . All i5 have turbo boost feature that auto-overclock your CPU speed . Your maximum turbo speed is 3.4GHz , it should run near that speed (either 3.3 or 3.4GHz) , not 2.8GHz

I'll take a look but I think it's just adjusting itself to it's current load. For example, right now its running under 1Ghz. Also during benchmarking it runs a lot higher

[admin89]

If your CPU is in idle mode (not running anything) , your CPU will underclock itself to lower the power consumption . This is called "Intel Speed Step"
If your CPU run at full speed all the time , you won't be happy to see your electric bill