Strange performance/framerate issues.

10-12-2014, 02:56 PM #1

So, pretty much every game I try to emulate has a constant stutter, the framerate dips and it's just generally unplayable, so I figured my PC is shite and I should give up... until I noticed something strange.

It only stutters before I see a new enemy/object/etc
If I replay the same level or encounter nothing new... perfect, it never flinches.
I couldn't find a single bit of info on this weird occurance and it's hard to try and troubleshoot it due to... well, it goes when I play it again.
As much as playing the same game twice in order to get rid of the issue sounds fun, I think I'll pass.

So, is this a bug or should I scrap my PC?

**JMC47** · 10-12-2014, 03:05 PM #2

It's Shader cache issues, some games are worse than others with it.

**Kurausukun** · 10-12-2014, 03:08 PM #3

Sounds to me like the shader cache. If you play around in the games for a while, it'll build up, and there will be much less stuttering as you play for longer. This is very normal, and there's no way around it, since dolphin needs to build the cache itself. Also, make sure you're using the latest dev build. If you're using 4.0.2, then you're way out of date--in the past few months alone, Dolphin has gotten at least 30% faster.

10-13-2014, 04:20 AM #4

(10-12-2014, 03:08 PM)Kurausukun Wrote: Sounds to me like the shader cache. If you play around in the games for a while, it'll build up, and there will be much less stuttering as you play for longer. This is very normal, and there's no way around it, since dolphin needs to build the cache itself. Also, make sure you're using the latest dev build. If you're using 4.0.2, then you're way out of date--in the past few months alone, Dolphin has gotten at least 30% faster.

Oh, well that's actually kinda disappointing. Is there anything I can change in my PC to make it quicker?

Going to try the latest dev ver now, thanks.

**Zee530** · 10-13-2014, 05:04 AM #5

You already have pretty good hardware, anything more would be a waste of cash.

10-13-2014, 09:05 AM #6

(10-13-2014, 05:04 AM)Zee530 Wrote: You already have pretty good hardware, anything more would be a waste of cash.

Just as a curiousity though, my HDD is extremely terrible, a 5400rpm seagate that has failed twice... are you even sure that upgrading this wouldn't allieviate the stuttering from the shader cache, even if only slightly?

**Zee530** · (This post was last modified: 10-13-2014, 11:55 PM by Zee530.)

No, but if it failed twice you should probably change it.
EDIT: If you're running your games off an external drive then importing them to your local drive might help.