Not running at full speed. Is it my CPU?

[omegaham]

Hey guys, I've been messing around with Dolphin for a few days and have been frustrated by the fact that I'm unable to get full performance. Super Smash Brothers Melee only gets about 45-50 FPS, and Madden NFL 2008 chugs along at a steady 30 FPS.

Here are my specs:

CPU: Intel Core i3 3.1GHz
Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 TI
RAM: 8GB
Distribution: Lubuntu x64 (Ubuntu with LXDE instead of Unity)
Version of Dolphin: 3.5-214 (Compiled from source).

I'm willing to spend a few hundred bucks to get things better; I'm also willing to dual-boot Windows if that's what's needed. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

[LordVador]

Your CPU is a bit weak. You'll have difficulties with the most demanding games (Madden series for example)

[Shonumi]

Which i3 model do you have exactly? It could just be a matter of Dolphin settings. Try these settings and see if that makes any difference. Not knowing the exact model aside, I would expect any i3 at those speeds to be running better than what you describe for Melee. Melee isn't particularly demanding.

Your GPU shouldn't be the issue. I can max out SSBM on 4x IR and 16xQ CSAA easily while maintaining 60 FPS with my GTX 550 Ti. You could dual-boot into Windows if you wanted, but people have reported that OpenGL on Linux performs roughly on par to the Direct3D backends in Dolphin. We could always use some solid data if you're willing to do something like that.

[admin89]

If you have i3 5xx , you can overclock it to 3.4 or 3.6GHz to gain more FPS

[LordVador]

I'll bet on a 2100

[admin89]

He can install windows 7/8 64bit (must be 64bit) right now and use Direct3D9 backend -> Speed up
He will have 30 days trial to decide whenever he need to spend money for Windows or not

[omegaham]

(01-16-2013, 05:13 AM)admin89 Wrote: If you have i3 5xx , you can overclock it to 3.4 or 3.6GHz to gain more FPS

Unfortunately, I have a 2100, so there's no way to overclock.
I'm thinking about getting an i7; if my graphics card is fine, and all I need to do is throw down the 300 bucks for an i7, then I can do that. Just trying to make sure that it's the CPU before I spend that kind of money.

I'll try dual-booting Windows and seeing if DirectX 9 helps.

[admin89]

Quote:I'm thinking about getting an i7

Please don't !
i7 3770 perform the same as i5 3570 on Dolphin and those 2 CPUs won't allow you to overclock . You'll waste money
Buy Z77 mobo (prefer Asrock Z77 Extreme 3 or 4) and i5 3570k and aftermarket cooler (Thermalright Macho or Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo or whatever) . Overclock i5 3570k to 4.2GHz then you'll have extreme good performance on most games
Or you could wait for Haswell CPU (next-gen) in June-2013

[omegaham]

(01-16-2013, 11:03 AM)admin89 Wrote:

Quote:I'm thinking about getting an i7

Please don't !
i7 3770 perform the same as i5 3570 on Dolphin and those 2 CPUs won't allow you to overclock . You'll waste money
Buy Z77 mobo (prefer Asrock Z77 Extreme 3 or 4) and i5 3570k and aftermarket cooler (Thermalright Macho or Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo or whatever) . Overclock i5 3570k to 4.2GHz then you'll have extreme good performance on most games
Or you could wait for Haswell CPU (next-gen) in June-2013

Oh, I didn't realize Haswell was coming out so soon. I'll save up the 500-600 bucks to get a new motherboard and the like, I guess. Haswell won't be LGA 1155, will it?

[NaturalViolence]

No. They will be using LGA 1150.