Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

I'm using Dolphin v4.0(x64) on a Dell Inspiron 17R-SE, playing
Zelda: Twilight Princess (Gamecube)

Specs:

Intel Core i7-3630QM (2.40 - 3.40 GHz turbo)
1600x900 res screen, so don't want to go below 2x IR..
nvidia GT650M 2GB (GDDR5 version)
Win8 x64, 8GB, 1TB HDD etc.

OPENGL - 2x IR, 2x AA, 1x AF, OpenMP, Fast Depth, Vertex Hack
D3D11 - 2/2.5x Ir, No AA, OpenMP, Fast Depth, etc.
Both give the same behaviour..
I'm getting 18-25 fps in half-unlocked (half-completed) Hyrule Field.. 30fps in all other places..
With Dolphin 3.5-367, I got slightly better (2-4 fps more).

Is the processor really that weak? It's running at 3.2 GHz constantly (turbo for 3/4 cores) (periodic 5 sec throttle to 2.4Ghz every 30 secs - why? Temps are not high (75-78C at full stress prime95 at 3.2ghz)). Looking at the test systems on the wiki page for the game, there are barely any laptop i7s to compare with. The faqs on the forum (and gpu usage monitoring) show that the gpu isn't the bottleneck (I get the same fps at 2x , 2.5x, 3x IR).. (gpu usage is about 50-60%)
What can I do (any settings? I think I've gone through all of them, and common tips) to get better performance in Hyrule (game is only half done, so it's going to get worse, in Lake Hylia and other places too now.)?
I don't think there is any way to overclock this laptop (if there is, please tell me, any way to get better performance out of this laptop..).
How much of a diff is there between mine and desktop processors like i5-2500k or the others that are recommended for dolphin? (I can't build myself a gaming rig).
Also, how would Skyward Sword and Wind Waker run? What compromises would I have to make to be able to enjoy it?

Thanks.

(10-15-2013, 03:42 PM)vinaydargar Wrote: [ -> ]I'm getting 18-25 fps in half-unlocked (half-completed) Hyrule Field.. 30fps in all other places..
With Dolphin 3.5-367, I got slightly better (2-4 fps more).

Is the processor really that weak?

The game is simply very demanding at Hyrule Field. I sometimes get barely above 30~33fps there (4670k@4.1GHz). Your CPU would need more clock speed, but I just found out on the internet that your CPU can't be overclocked.

(10-15-2013, 03:42 PM)vinaydargar Wrote: [ -> ]How much of a diff is there between mine and desktop processors like i5-2500k or the others that are recommended for dolphin? (I can't build myself a gaming rig).

The difference is that those CPUs can be overclocked. It's mandatory for some games.

(10-15-2013, 03:42 PM)vinaydargar Wrote: [ -> ]Also, how would Skyward Sword and Wind Waker run? What compromises would I have to make to be able to enjoy it?

You won't have any problems with Wind Waker, it's a light game. Skyward Sword is easier to run than TP, I think. Maybe it's just because it doesn't have its own "Hyrule Field demanding zone". I've only tried the main city, though.

Use direct 3d for better speed, opengl is slower when efb to ram is used and unfortunately that is the case with twilight princess.

I have the same processor and I got 20-30 FPS all the time (even on Hyrule Field after beating the game). If you don't mind having a broken mini map, you can change EFB Copies to Texture. When I do this I get around 25-30 FPS and the game is quite playable...

Wind Waker is going to run at 30 FPS constantly without many trouble as it's a lightweight game. Skyward Sword isn't as lightweight as Wind Waker but it's less demanding than Twilight Princess...

(10-16-2013, 01:34 AM)Jhonn Wrote: [ -> ]I have the same processor and I got 20-30 FPS all the time (even on Hyrule Field after beating the game). If you don't mind having a broken mini map, you can change EFB Copies to Texture. When I do this I get around 25-30 FPS and the game is quite playable...

Wind Waker is going to run at 30 FPS constantly without many trouble as it's a lightweight game. Skyward Sword isn't as lightweight as Wind Waker but it's less demanding than Twilight Princess...

I quite rely on the minimap, so other speedups would be preferred..

Dolphin says v4 has greatly improved opengl which is now the fastest backend for nvidia cards, so I was using that.
Are you using d3d11? What internal res and AA, and other settings are you using?
Also, when you turn on wolf Link's Sense, do you get slowdowns (like, in places where without that 30 fps constant, press X and suddenly 20 fps). This happens sometimes on dolphin v4.0.

What settings do you use to get that 20-30 fps and which dolphin version?
Thanks.

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(10-15-2013, 08:18 PM)Link_to_the_past Wrote: [ -> ]Use direct 3d for better speed, opengl is slower when efb to ram is used and unfortunately that is the case with twilight princess.

Whatever I use, d3d11 or opengl, they have nearly the same performance within slightly varying resolution/AA settings. (EFB to RAM enabled in both)

I'm using Dolphin 4.0 with default settings, except that I changed IR to 2x and I'm using DX11 backend. Using also DSP HLE. I can't test right now but I don't remember of getting FPS drops when using wolf Link's Sense