[UNOFFICIAL] Laptop Performance Guide

[admin89]

Edit (01/2017) : I made an update video here , please take a look




For all i5/i7 CPU with Turbo Boost technology (i3 doesn't have turbo boost)
Keep in mind that turbo boost has nothing to do with overclocking . Turbo Boost is 100% safe by Intel
If you have slow internet connection , the images will take a while to load properly

First :
Make sure Power Plan = High Performance



Part 1 :

CPU Performance: (Show Spoiler)

Download latest Throttlestop 6.0 :
http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/2288/throttlestop-6-00/
You can use Throttlestop to control CPU frequency /clock speed manually
Choose CPU Multiplier/Ratio , Click "Turn On" and "Save"


For Example :
_I set multiplier = 15 , I have 15 x 133MHz = 1995.0MHz ~ 2.0GHz -> CPU is running at 2.0GHz . I have 31-32FPS with Dolphin



_I set multiplier = 9 , I have 9 x 133MHz = 1197.0MHz ~ 1.2GHz -> CPU is running at 1.2GHz . I have 21-22FPS with Dolphin



See the big difference , right ?
Each CPU has different clock speed , multiplier . Normally , i set multiplier = 29 -> 2.9GHz for Dolphin , 2.0GHz for PC games , lowest clock 1.2GHz for working . PC games don't need a very fast CPU to begin with , lower clock speed will lower power consumption and heat output -> CPU run cooler and battery life should be increased
You should find your "2 cores active" turbo multiplier before using this guide . Keep in mind that Dolphin is a dual core application and your maximum turbo clock is usually single core turbo , you should not use single core turbo (Just imagine how fast a single core Pentium 4 run Dolphin lol)
For Example : Google : "i7 2630MQ cpu world" , "i7 4700MQ notebook check"
This end Part 1

Part 2 :

GPU Performance: (Show Spoiler)

Most modern laptops have a dedicated GPU but dedicated GPU use a lot of power and drain battery life faster than integrated GPU
That's why Nvidia come up with Nvidia Optimus Technology which allow laptop switch GPU to save battery life (between dedicated one and integrated one) and AMD come up with AMD Switchable Graphic

Should we use dedicated GPU for Dolphin ? Depending on how cool your laptop run ...

Most multi-media laptop are not made for gaming . It will run hot and may overheat if both CPU and GPU are at maximum load

You should use Realtemp to check your CPU/GPU temp with Dolphin . 85 degree Celsius or higher is considered as overheating . A dedicated GPU will add more heat . If your CPU run too hot , you can use integrated GPU to lower the temp inside laptop

To check the temp :
_Run game in windows mode
_Wait at least 20 mins to see the temp goes up




1) Use dedicated GPU :
Install latest Nvidia driver/AMD driver

Add Dolphin.exe to the list . ̶W̶̶a̶̶r̶̶n̶̶i̶̶n̶̶g̶ ̶D̶̶o̶ ̶n̶̶o̶̶t̶ ̶s̶̶e̶̶l̶̶e̶̶c̶̶t̶ ̶N̶̶v̶̶i̶̶d̶̶i̶̶a̶ ̶G̶̶P̶̶U̶ ̶v̶̶i̶̶a̶ ̶D̶̶o̶̶l̶̶p̶̶h̶̶i̶̶n̶ ̶c̶̶o̶̶n̶̶f̶̶i̶̶g̶̶u̶̶r̶̶a̶̶t̶̶i̶̶o̶̶n̶ ̶!̶ . ̶Y̶̶o̶̶u̶̶̶̶r̶̶e̶ ̶s̶̶u̶̶p̶̶p̶̶o̶̶s̶̶e̶̶d̶ ̶t̶̶o̶ ̶d̶̶o̶ ̶i̶̶t̶ ̶v̶̶i̶̶a̶ ̶N̶̶v̶̶i̶̶d̶̶i̶̶a̶ ̶C̶̶o̶̶n̶̶t̶̶r̶̶o̶̶l̶ ̶P̶̶a̶̶n̶̶e̶̶l̶ ̶l̶̶e̶̶a̶̶v̶̶e̶ ̶t̶̶h̶̶e̶ ̶D̶̶o̶̶l̶̶p̶̶h̶̶i̶̶n̶ ̶G̶̶r̶̶a̶̶p̶̶h̶̶i̶̶c̶ ̶C̶̶o̶̶n̶̶f̶̶i̶̶g̶ ̶a̶̶s̶ ̶I̶̶n̶̶t̶̶e̶̶l̶ ̶H̶̶D̶ ̶.̶ ̶D̶̶o̶̶n̶̶̶̶t̶ ̶w̶̶o̶̶r̶̶r̶̶y̶ ̶D̶̶o̶̶l̶̶p̶̶h̶̶i̶̶n̶ ̶s̶̶t̶̶i̶̶l̶̶l̶ ̶u̶̶s̶̶e̶̶s̶ ̶N̶̶v̶̶i̶̶d̶̶i̶̶a̶ ̶G̶̶P̶̶U̶ ̶e̶̶v̶̶e̶̶n̶ ̶i̶̶f̶ ̶i̶̶t̶ ̶s̶̶h̶̶o̶̶w̶̶s̶ ̶I̶̶n̶̶t̶̶e̶̶l̶ ̶H̶̶D̶ ̶.̶ ̶M̶̶a̶̶k̶̶e̶ ̶s̶̶u̶̶r̶̶e̶ ̶y̶̶o̶̶u̶ ̶h̶̶a̶̶v̶̶e̶ ̶I̶̶n̶̶t̶̶e̶̶l̶ ̶g̶̶r̶̶a̶̶p̶̶h̶̶i̶̶c̶ ̶d̶̶r̶̶i̶̶v̶̶e̶̶r̶ ̶i̶̶n̶̶s̶̶t̶̶a̶̶l̶̶l̶̶e̶̶d̶ ̶b̶̶e̶̶f̶̶o̶̶r̶̶e̶ ̶y̶̶o̶̶u̶ ̶i̶̶n̶̶s̶̶t̶̶a̶̶l̶̶l̶ ̶N̶̶v̶̶i̶̶d̶̶i̶̶a̶ ̶G̶̶P̶̶U̶ ̶d̶̶r̶̶i̶̶v̶̶e̶̶r(fixed in latest dev Dolphin)

̶





How to know Dolphin actually uses dedicated GPU or not :





In some case , Dolphin show Integrated GPU instead of dedicated GPU , that's normal . If you are unsure about this , you can try :



2) Use integrated GPU :

[admin89]

Tips for PC gamer : when playing PC games , you should underclock CPU to reduce the heat ( You shouldn't do this if you're using emulator , video encoding or equivalent CPU intensive application)

[Zee530]

Finally! Nice guide
What about people who need both CPU and GPU at max? what can they do if their system overheats? If you can add a little section about cooling, it'd help a lot.

[admin89]

Bathe it in oil ? (Oil Cooling)

Or disassembly your laptop , remove the poor OEM thermal compound and replace it with aftermarket one such as Arctic MX-4

[mbc07]

Oh god, I'm having overheat issues since I bought my laptop! When playing Dolphin, the temps keep going up from 50 °C until it stabilize at 105 °C, but my CPU still runs at 3.2GHz... Changing thermal compound may help? Also, according to Intel ARK, 105°C is the maximum temperature for this CPU... If I keep the 105°C temperature for prolonged times, will this reduce the lifespan of the CPU?

Furthermore, nice topic!

[Starscream]

Jhonn: Yes, don't let your CPU get that hot. Stop running games until you solve your heat issues.

[admin89]

Quote:Changing thermal compound may help?

Yes , most laptop manufacturers (include apple) use cheap thermal compound which is really suck
My laptop is a multi-media laptop just like yours but thanks to Arctic MX-4 (changed to Shin-Etsu X23-7783 atm), it doesn't overheat

[Garteal]

Jhonn is from Brazil, so he'll naturally have higher temps than us. Just a thing to keep in consideration.

[mbc07]

Well, at least for now, I'll force the CPU to run at 2.7GHz, it's a little slower in Dolphin but at least the temperature got around 80-90°C... I can survive this slowdown until I order some thermal compound...

@Off-topic: right now, I have to decide between Arctic Silver 5 and Arctic MX-4... For you guys, what would you get? I read in some places people saying that the Silver 5 is better than the MX-4, and in other sites people saying that MX-4 is better than Silver 5, what do you think? Is there something better than these two? (PS: already saw the CoolLaboratory Liquid Ultra, but the whole "liquid metal" thing and the possibility of corroding some surfaces freaks me out)

[Starscream]

It really doesn't matter, either of those thermal compounds are fine. The kinds of people who like to debate about extremely small differences in thermal compound probably need to go outside for a while.