[UNOFFICIAL] AMD/ATI GPU Performance Guide feat. Dolphin

[kirbypuff]

Updated to v0.978
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* AF: More info + tips & tricks
* Misc. fixes

[kirbypuff]

Updated to v0.985
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- Various additions, corrections, improvements and some cleanup.

[kirbypuff]

Updated to v0.989
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- Updated the section "For Advanced Users Only"
- More additions, corrections and some cleanup

[kirbypuff]

(12-29-2014, 01:54 AM)Anti-Ultimate Wrote: For Linux, just get an NVIDIA card, because that's basically everything you can do if you want to improve your performance. I'm not kidding.

The (AMD on) Linux saga continues...

Things are getting better and better for AMD GPUs on Linux:
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* fglrx: The latest beta driver branch (15.200.x) has full OpenGL 4.5 support (finally).
* New patches for for the Open-Source "radeon" driver (performance and stability improvements) + a patch that reduces the GPU fan noise.
* The brand new Vulkan API (based on Mantle, with numerous improvements) is going to replace the horribly slow (on AMD) and aging OpenGL API.
* Blender was patched for vastly improved OpenCL performance on AMD GPUs. Benchmarks are showing *huge* performance gains and reduced CPU usage.
* The latest release of Ubuntu (15.04) already features most of these GPU driver improvements.
* Coming Soon: Radeon Fury/X/Nano Series with full HSA support.

[RubytheVixen]

So I'm having some issues with Dolphin on my current hardware. I have forced performance mode and done the tweak, but I'm still having a lot of rendering issues. Specifically while the game (Super Smash Bros. Melee, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl/Project M) do run at 60 FPS/100% I'm running in to stuttering, graphical tearing, etc. This means my hardware is struggling to run the game, but not quite enough to cause slowdown. This is jarring because checking GPU-Z and Windows Task Manager I'm only using about 20% of my CPU/GPU when playing. I've also been able to play these games on earlier rigs with less impressive hardware.

Pertinent info:

Dolphin build 4.0/6554 (Netplay devbuild with native Mayflash support)

http://puu.sh/iyeIG/422da25f26.jpg

Operating System
Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
CPU
Intel Core i5 4590 @ 3.30GHz 40 °C
Haswell 22nm Technology
RAM
8.00GB Single-Channel DDR3 @ 665MHz (9-9-9-24)
Motherboard
Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. B85M-Gaming 3 (SOCKET 0) 28 °C
Graphics
VX238 (1920x1080@60Hz)
2243W (1920x1080@60Hz)
Intel HD Graphics 4600 (Gigabyte)
3072MB ATI AMD Radeon R9 200 Series (Sapphire/PCPartner) 38 °C
Storage
149GB TOSHIBA MK1652GSX (SATA) 34 °C
186GB Maxtor 6L200M0 (SATA) 44 °C
Audio
AMD High Definition Audio Device

[xxtrgaxx]

(12-28-2014, 11:57 PM)kirbypuff Wrote: *Placeholder for screenshots*

When I try to Install them it says: Application install: install package failure.

[kirbypuff]

(08-01-2015, 08:08 AM)xxtrgaxx Wrote: When I try to Install them it says: Application install: install package failure.

Probably because your laptop doesn't come with AMD graphics.
That model may have NVIDIA switchable graphics or just the integrated Intel HD4400 IGP.
Check the laptop manufacturer's website for detailed specifications.

[DeeKay]

Ruby, stuttering and screen tearing doesn't exactly mean your hardware is struggling. Screen tearing can happen anytime your video card renders at frames that aren't synced with the monitor's refresh rate. Even if Dolphin is at full speed, you'll run into screen tearing unless you turn on v-sync. Turn it on if it bothers you, be warned that it can decrease performance.

Usually we see stuttering happening when Dolphin is generating new shaders to use for rendering. Once the commonly-used shaders are built, Dolphin shouldn't stutter as much. It's true that more powerful hardware can make the stuttering happen less since it simply generates the shaders faster.

Personally, I've also seen stutter happen when the game is being loaded off slower drives. Some games simply need more bandwidth than a USB 2.0 external hard drive can deliver.