Nvidia Hybrid problems

Onryebread · 08-15-2013, 04:31 PM #1

I have a laptop with the Nvidia hybrid power saving thing (not sure what the technical name is) and I'm having problems getting dolphin to use the correct graphics card. I have changed it in the nvidia control panel to use the 650M graphics card instead of the "power saving" intel 4000 integrated one. When I start Dolphin, I can go to graphic config and see that it is using the 650M, but when I close the dialogue box for graphics config and open it back up, it changes back to the Intel 4000. When I try to change it in the dropdown menu in config, it only shows one of the two GPUs, whichever one it was showing when you first open it up. I don't know exactly why it is doing this as it seems to happen random, but more often than not. The major problem is when it uses the integrated GPU, I get like 8fps in all games. When it is running on the Nvidia GPU, it runs smooth as butter and it's oh so delicious. Any info on this would be helpful.

Onryebread · 08-15-2013, 06:05 PM #2

Upon further investigation, it seems I can get a game to run smooth for a while, but after awhile, it stutters like mad at random. This happens every 3-5 minutes and only lasts about 10 seconds. The game I'm testing, if it changes anything, is Xenoblade Chronicles.

**admin89** · 08-15-2013, 06:37 PM #3

Your CPU is not fast enough to run Xenoblade with latest Dolphin
Latest Dolphin is much more demanding than older Dolphin version such as Dolphin 3.5 145

Onryebread · 08-15-2013, 06:37 PM #4

I seem to have resolved this problem... I just switched from direct3D 11 to OpenGL and it seemed to fix it for some reason...

**admin89** · 08-15-2013, 10:34 PM #5

That's weird . OpenGL is the slowest video backend

Onryebread · 08-16-2013, 08:35 AM #6

You said my processor was too slow... what do you think a good speed to run this game on would be? Just curious.

**mbc07** · (This post was last modified: 08-16-2013, 09:48 AM by mbc07.)

Check your temperatures, sounds like overheat issue...

(08-16-2013, 08:35 AM)Onryebread Wrote: You said my processor was too slow... what do you think a good speed to run this game on would be? Just curious.

This game (alongside with Super Mario Galaxy, The Last Story, Hyrule Field @ Zelda Twilight Princess) are one of the most demanding to emulate, an i5 3570k @ 4.2GHz-4.5GHz or an i5 4670k are needed, specially if you're going to use EFB to RAM or LLE audio...

Onryebread · (This post was last modified: 08-16-2013, 10:34 AM by Onryebread.)

(08-16-2013, 09:37 AM)Jhonn Wrote: Check your temperatures, sounds like overheat issue...

(08-16-2013, 08:35 AM)Onryebread Wrote: You said my processor was too slow... what do you think a good speed to run this game on would be? Just curious.
This game (alongside with Super Mario Galaxy, The Last Story, Hyrule Field @ Zelda Twilight Princess) are one of the most demanding to emulate, an i5 3570k @ 4.2GHz-4.5GHz or an i5 4670k are needed, specially if you're going to use EFB to RAM or LLE audio...

I'll check my temps. I don't think it's getting that hot as my fan kicks in harder on other games outside of Dolphin. But it's worth a shot if it would let me know at least why it's happening like this.

I am new to using forums in general and don't really know how to change the title of the post because I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with the integrated/dedicated GPUs now. But either way, I've improved the problem somewhat, somehow. I really don't know how I did. But it only slows down every minute or so for about 10 seconds at a time. When it's not slowed down, I get perfect, smooth gameplay and sound. It's tolerable for a normal playthrough, but I had planned to LP it and this quality simply will not do. But I digress.

I'm currently not using EFB to RAM, and I'm using HLE audio. Sorry about the long-windedness of it all. It's just how I am.

Another update: I have drastically improved the issue by selecting the "DSP on dedicated thread" in the DSP settings menu.

**pauldacheez** · 08-16-2013, 11:19 AM #9

admin89, according to JMC47's tests DX11 is usually slowest and GL is in-between or fastest. He's got a 3570k and a GTX 760

Onryebread, when using OpenGL on a Nvidia GPU, check "Hacked Buffer Upload" in Graphics > Hacks for an absolutely-free speed boost that has nearly no chance of breaking anything (unlike everything else in that Hacks pane).

**admin89** · (This post was last modified: 08-16-2013, 12:13 PM by admin89.)

OpenGL is fastest ? You gotta be joking Big Grin

His card is probably in 2D mode when he use Direct9/11 . It's a known issue for some Nvidia 600/700 cards
On my test : AMD 5770 from a friend , Nvidia 9800GT , Nvidia GT 540M . I admit that my test is not done with latest Dolphin (because I did it a few months ago)
OpenGL is the slowest backend (Sorry but "Hacked Buffer Upload" doesn't speed up anything )
Mario Kart and Mario Sports Mix are exceptional cases . These games run faster with Direct3D11 (Direct3D9 is slower in this test) . However most games run faster with Direct3D9