Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

So I have gotten a new system and I'm trying to run Super Mario Galaxy with the settings for best speed, only I am using LLE on Thread and Lock Threads to Cores, and I have also unchecked Skip EFB Access from CPU so I can pull stars. I get 60 fps sometimes, but most of the time, when there are lots of planets visible on screen, it slows to 38-45. Here is my system:

Intel Core i5 3570K @ 4.2 GHz (I've also tried 4.4 with the same results basically as 4.2).
nVidia GeForce GTX 550 Ti, 1 GB GDDR5 VRAM (Not OC'ed)
16 GB DDR3 RAM @ 1600 MHz

Given that the change from 4.2 -> 4.4 did nothing, I would assume that the GPU is the problem? Or do I just need to OC the CPU more? Is it even possible to get full speed when lots of polygons are on screen?

I can still return the GPU if necessary to get a better one, but I would prefer to find a solution with my current system set up. I am using the most recent, non-beta drivers for the 550 Ti.

I also tried using No Audio Output, but the results were the same...

EDIT: sorry, forgot revision: Dolphin 3.0-735, Dolphin 3.0-745 (Misc Opts, I was just checking this one out), Dolphin 3.0

You should be getting fullspeed constantly with your system.
What settings exactly are you using ? Ir ? AA ? set ir to 2x and disable AA,if you are still having problems its not your gpu.
Disable lock thread to cores,why did you enable that ?
Try enabling vbeam emulation.
Disable efb copies to ram.
Maybe something is wrong with your system,if you just bought it you maybe missed some step.
Did you install mainboard drivers ? Latest directx ? Did you try playing pc games do they perform well ?
Run 3dmark and on results page it should tell you if you pc is perform as it should or not.

Well, I did what you said (set IR to 2x, which didn't change anything from 1x, so I guess the CPU is still the bottleneck -_-). Disabling Lock Threads to Cores didn't seem to make it go faster, and I never enabled EFB --> RAM so that isn't the issue.

Dolphin 3.0 is faster in some places of the game (like the starship), but in others it is exactly the same. I'm using this one right now. VBeam didn't do anything. The same speed issues occur in Super Mario Galaxy 2 as well.

So then the problem is in my hardware?

EDIT: Yes, I installed the mobo drivers and all other drivers. The only PC game I have to test is StarCraft II, so I'll have to install that. I'll run 3dmark now.

It may be a while, because it is still downloading... 15 min remaining.

Please list your exact settings (screenshots preferred).

I couldn't get them all to show up here, so I posted up a .7z

Nothing seems wrong with your settings and your maching is more then capable. I never played SMG but I did play SMG2 and it never droped below 48 fps for me,and I have i5 2400 and 460 gtx.
If its your hardware,it can only be its faulty,it cant be its not fast enough
What does 3dmark say ?
Also,can you provide screenshoots of SMG2 when it slows down to 38 fps

So, where exactly in the game do you get the slowdown?
Please post a screenshot, I want to reproduce this on my end.

Here is the place in SMG2 (look in attachments)

I'll run 3dmark now. There are only so many things I can do at a time, so I couldn't do that while taking screens, etc.

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3dmark 11 keeps giving me a "3dmark gui has stopped working" error. The only thing is, I am using Windows 7 x64 and the directx runtime installer says that I'm up to date. Most results online are for vista.

This is the very first level by the way (of smg2).

Well that is interesting because I get like 30 FPS on my computer and yours is way better XD

I get around 48-49 there and I have 3.2 sandy bridge so I would say something is definitely wrong with your system.
I am also using windows 7 x64.
Just the fact that 3dmark wont work also point out that something is wrong