Upgrading my HTPC - Best bang for my buck?

[gimme_vidyagames]

Ok, so I changed the ratio for each of my four cores to 36, and disabled AA, and I believe the performance is a bit better, but still stutters. Is there any way to verify that turbo mode is actually engaging?
My HTPC could probably use some more ventilation, so I may upgrade to a roomier case which will permit some proper case fans. I'll also be able to fit in a full-size GPU, so I'll be able to upgrade to a GTX 960.

[admin89]

Quote:Is there any way to verify that turbo mode is actually engaging?

Try CPU-G

[gimme_vidyagames]

Ok, CPU-G shows core speed at 3469.625 MHz, which is obviously higher than 3200, so it seems that I'm running at a higher speed now. MP2 Echoes does seem to reflect this, but still having some stuttering.
Could my problem by caused by the CPU throttling due to heat? My fans don't seem to ever really mad out, so I'm not sure how likely this is.

[Helios]

is the metroid stuttering periodic? if so, it's shader compilation and will go away as you play as shaders get compiled and cached to disk.

[gimme_vidyagames]

(02-18-2017, 02:07 PM)Helios Wrote: is the metroid stuttering periodic? if so, it's shader compilation and will go away as you play as shaders get compiled and cached to disk.

No, the stuttering happens pretty much constantly. Every five seconds or so during normal gameplay. I've been playing through the same area after making configuration changes to have a baseline for the stuttering, so any shaders relevant to that area should already be cached, right?

[Helios]

mm, should be yeah. Unless you're changing graphics backends, which then you'll be generating new shaders specific to that backend.

[tecfreak]

You could also try a recent dev build.
I've checked out the dolphin master yesterday and compiled it myself (I am also on Ubuntu x64) and got a nice speed up compared to 5.0 - 6min 39sec instead of 7min 46sec with the dolphin benchmark.
My i3 4130 runs at 3.4GHz and I have a GTX 1050 Ti LP which is overpowered for that purpose imo. It runs at 3xIR with 4xMSAA and the GPU utilization stays below 20% most of the time. I am playing Zelda TP atm. and it runs perfect.

[gimme_vidyagames]

Ok, I've tried running the latest dev build, no noticable difference.
I had V-sync enabled, disabled it and saw an improvement in stuttering, but of course I'm getting some really weird screen tearing now. Looks like a ripple moving up the screen, rather than tearing that you might see in a PC game. Still getting stuttering though, and often in the same places, even after running the game again without making config changes (to allow shader cache to be built). For example, when I load a save in MP2 and the save station lasers move across Samus' armor, it always stutters for about 3/4 of a second in the same place.
Sorry if this is starting to sound like a game-specific troubleshooting thread - it's just the MP2 is a good benchmark for my system as a whole.