[Solved] Speed/fps problem - bit of a pickle

[Masato]

Hello, before I post my issues I have listed my computer specs below.

Intel Core i7 930

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Sorry, posted too early and I cant find the edit button. Let me try this again hehe...

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Hello, before I post my issues I have listed my computer specs below.

Intel Core i7 930 2.8 GHz
6GB Ram
AMD Radeon 6870 HD
64 bit Windows 7

According to my browsing around forums, my specs should be able to give me greater fps/speed than what I'm getting. Before I get flamed, I do own a Wii and ALL games I try to emulate.

I am currently trying to run Donkey Kong Country on Dolphin.

The build I have tried is given in this post:

http://forums.dolphin-emu.org/showthread.php?tid=13170

My fps seems to be around 15-19 and my speed (which I found a bit worrying) is around 35-40%. I tried a GC game and that gave me an FPS around 30 with a constant 100% speed.

I did try different builds, including the configuration for maximum speed found on the Dolphin homepage. But in spite of my tinkering around with the settings, it hasn't reflected in the game performance when trying to run Wii games. I have understood certain revisions are more compatible with certain games, but since I don't know anything about this I try to stick to the latest releases, although this may be a fault on my part. I have updated my graphics drivers, and turned off background programs to see if this helps. But nothing seems to be working. Would greatly appreciate if someone could perhaps tell me if there is something I'm missing.

[Masato]

One thing I forgot to mention is that my computer is connected to a 24" screen with a resolution of 1920x1200. I did try changing my screen resolution and dolphin resolution on fullscreen to 1280x720. Sort of a desperate attempt, but it did show an increase in the fps. It was running more in the range of 22-29 fps, although the speed did not change and the game was still slowed down.

[LordVador]

Have a look to the official thread :
http://forums.dolphin-emu.org/showthread.php?tid=13170&highlight=donkey+kong+country

[Garteal]

Lol Vador, he posted that link already up there .

Hi Masato,

Are you using build r5697?
If so... you should get Dolphin 3.0 x64 off the homepage.
What are the settings you're using? Could you give us an overview of the configuration, graphics, and audio settings?

[LordVador]

Yes I rectify

(11-25-2011, 12:12 AM)LordVador Wrote: Have a better look to the official thread :
http://forums.dolphin-emu.org/showthread.php?tid=13170&highlight=donkey+kong+country

This game is "slow". Hard to get a good speed...

[Masato]

Thank you for the link LordVador =). The reason why I am a bit sceptical of the game being the problem is because I have tried another game, Xenoblade Chronicles, and I get the same problem there with similar fps and speed values.

I am currently trying to run the games on the latest Dolphin version, 3.0-204. Is it recommended to use 3.0?

The settings I currently have are http://www.dolphin-emu.org/configuration-explanation.html but I have tried the settings given on the link that LordVador referred to.

Thanks for the help so far =).

[LordVador]

You should always use 3.0 first it's the official release. But recent builds are often better for some games so try recent builds too. You could try to put FrameLimit Off and to disable Audio Throttle if you didn't

[Masato]

I tried the 3.0 version and it seems to work better. What I also did is that I tried another game, Zelda Twlight Princess (the Wii version), and that seemed to work a lot smoother. The speed was still not 100%, but it was much better, more in the 75-95% range. The fps wouldn't go over 30 during gameplay/cinematics, but perhaps that is to be expected. It was overall quite playable. I am still a bit confused though as to why Xenoblade and DK Country would be slowed down so much.

I tried taking changing the FrameLimit to off and disabling the Audio Throttle. The FPS when playing DK country during gameplay is around 27-30 fps which is fine, but the speed is around 40-50%. For Zelda it speeds up a lot during the menus, but when entering the game it doesn't show any noticeable difference compared to having the Framelimit at auto and Audo throttle enabled. Ty for the tip though.

[Garteal]

You should have Audio Throttle enabled if you disable the FPS limit. And vice versa, disable the Audio Throttle if you put an FPS limit.

That's odd, you should be able to play Zelda fullspeed. What area's were you in when you were testing that?

Xenoblade is pretty taxing on the CPU, so you might have to overclock your CPU a bit (if you want to avoid audio issues and such, and better FPS).

Once again, could you take screenshots, or write down the settings you now have for Dolphin 3.0 x64?

[Masato]

Okay, I tried having FPS limit off and audio throttle enabled and vica versa like you said but it showed little difference when I tried Zelda.

I only tried the starting cinematic which was fine on speed until they get to the bridge scene which is when the speed drops to around 65% and then it alternates between 65-90%. Once I'm in control of Link, running outside his treehouse, the FPS is around 23-30 and the speed is again, 65-90%.

Okay, have never actually done something like that and I'd rather leave that alone, so I can probably live with not playing Xenoblade on the computer.

Sure, I have listed them below. Just listing the options I have on.

Config:

Enable Dualcore(speedup): On
Enable Idle skipping(speedup): On
Framelimit: On/Off (Have tried both alternating with the Audio throttle as mentioned earlier)

Cpu Emulator Engine:
JIT Recompiler

Lock threads to cores: On

Use Panic handlers: On

Audio:

DSP emulator engine:

DPS HLE emulation (fast)

Enable DTK music: On
Enable Audio throttle: On/Off (again, tried alternating this option with the FPS limit)
Audio Backend: DSound
Volume: 100%

Use EuRGB60 Mode (Pal60): On

Graphics Config:

Backend: Direct3D9
Adapter: AMD Radeon HD 6800 Series

Fullscreen resolution 1920x1200
Aspect ration: Auto

Show fps: On
Render to main window: On

Enchancements:

Internal Resolution: 2x Native (1280x1056)
Anti-aliasing: None
Anisotropic Filtering: 1x

Scaled EFB Copy: On

Hacks:

Ignore Format Changes: On

EFB Copies: Texture

Texture cache: Second-fastest value from the right

External frame buffer: Disable

Other:

Fast MipMaps: On
Disable Lighting: On
Disable Per-pixel Depth: On
Disable Fog: On
OpenMP Texture Decoder: On (not so sure if this should be on or not, makes sense that it should as I do have multiple cores)

Advanced:

Nothing in this menu is checked.