Mario Kart Wii on Wiimmfi - Frame Drops, Unsure About Settings & Hardware

[~King Decimator~]

OS: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 @ 2.71 GHz & 3.3 GHz Turbo (Turbo Enabled)
GPU: GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1050
RAM: Micron 4 GB & Hyundai 8 GB (12 GB Total) DDR3L
Dolphin Version: 5.0 latest stable build

Trying to play Mario Kart Wii on Wiimmfi with custom textures in the ISO itself (of which was ripped directly from my game disc) and the Remove Game Music cheat by davidevgen.

I get at max 1 frame drop each race on both 1080p and 720p (the drops being 57 FPS, 47/48 FPS, and 30 FPS, never been below 30). This risks in me getting banned (and considering I'm someone that can hand out bans, that would look pretty silly).

I typically run the following programs when streaming:

DiscordApp with a BetterDiscord theme applied
OBS Studio 18.0.1 64-bit
Windows Media Player 12
RestreamChat

But I have had frame drops when not streaming, while running the following:

DiscordApp with a BetterDiscord theme applied
Groove Music
Google Chrome 64-bit

Current Dolphin 5.0 settings:

Spoiler:

And my NVIDIA settings:

Spoiler:

I have also tried the latest Ishiiruka build, settings:

Spoiler:

I also have a dual monitor setup, with the second monitor running off my integrated graphics (Intel® HD Graphics 530), so I don't know if that is hindering performance.

I would like the smoothest (streamable) gameplay possible without going below 720p resolution (though I would prefer 1080p). Any and all suggestions are welcome.

[KHg8m3r]

Switch to the OpenGL backend, as it is faster than D3D on Nvidia hardware. Also grab the latest dev build of Dolphin.

[~King Decimator~]

Switch to the OpenGL backend, as it is faster than D3D on Nvidia hardware. Also grab the latest dev build of Dolphin.

I tried OpenGL on the latest stable build. I still had better performance with Direct3D 11 and 12 (with 11 slightly edging out 12). I also tried it on Ishiiruka and had the same results.

With the latest dev build, OpenGL and Direct3D 11 had identical performance and Direct3D 12 trumped them. However, my frame rate was still not suitable for online play. I have a feeling I just have unoptimized settings.

This graphics card and processor combo isn't too weak to run this game at (minimum) 720p without any kind of overclocking, right?

[KHg8m3r]

Do you have the latest Nvidia graphics drivers? Do you have Window Power Management set to High performance? Do you have a profile set up for Dolphin in the Nvidia Control panel to use Maximum power?

[~King Decimator~]

Do you have the latest Nvidia graphics drivers? Do you have Window Power Management set to High performance? Do you have a profile set up for Dolphin in the Nvidia Control panel to use Maximum power?

I have driver version 378.92, which is the latest.

These are my Power Management settings:






My NVIDIA settings are in the second spoiler and they are only set globally. I have not made a profile for Dolphin.

[~King Decimator~]

Turning PCI Express > Link State Power Management off in Power Options helped me a lot, the GPU is now boosting beyond its default clock speed when necessary. I'm now getting near-perfect gameplay online with OpenGL and Direct3D 11 (Direct3D 11 is still slightly smoother for me though).

I can say my issue is solved, but if anyone has anymore settings suggestions feel free to post.

[KHg8m3r]

After testing on my on computer, that indeed causes problems. However, if you use the default High Power Plan it turns it off by default.

[leolam]

Note: shader compilation stuttering is still going to be a problem when going online. If you have mkw-ana running, you will notice that *any* frame drop can easily result in having over 100ms of lag at the end of the race.