I have been trying to play several games.
-Tales of Symphonia
- Wind Waker
- Harvest Moon
...
But I have been running into heavy frame rate lags and music popping. Some will run fine for a time then start looking up, and some are like that from that from the start. I have searched all over for suggestions and help but can't get anything to work. So I have come to see what you can recommend.
Please Help!
A couple of things: Set EFB Copies to Texture. RAM is only needed in a few games, and even when it's needed, many games automatically set this for you (via per-game .ini files) and override your current settings (e.g. Wind Waker does this). EFB2Texture has better performance so try that. If you have to use RAM, try enabling the cache. Likewise, set Texture Cache Accuracy to Fast. Many games that needs it in the middle or at Safe will automatically do so via the .ini files in your Dolphin folder. Disable the External Frame Buffer. You rarely ever need to use it.
Try switching to OpenGL. It's generally faster than D3D11 (now just called D3D in the very latest revisions), especially with Nvidia hardware and especially when you enable the Vertex Streaming Hack (Graphics -> Hacks tab, only available for OpenGL). It may speed things up for you. Also, consider upgrading to a 64-bit OS. The speed difference (on Windows at least) between 32-bit and 64-bit ranged anywhere from 20~30% iirc. As long as you have your license serial number (usually printed on a little tag somewhere on your computer), you can install a 64-bit version of Windows. There are legal downloads from Digital River available (yup, google it), but like I said, you need the serial number of a valid Windows 7 install first to activate it.
My OS is 64bit, I have made all the changes you recommended and it doesn't seem to help. The lag is just as bad. (On occasions I am getting like a 9% frame rate.) :'(
Any Advice?
(10-23-2013, 12:15 PM)Shonumi Wrote: [ -> ]A couple of things: Set EFB Copies to Texture. RAM is only needed in a few games, and even when it's needed, many games automatically set this for you (via per-game .ini files) and override your current settings (e.g. Wind Waker does this). EFB2Texture has better performance so try that. If you have to use RAM, try enabling the cache. Likewise, set Texture Cache Accuracy to Fast. Many games that needs it in the middle or at Safe will automatically do so via the .ini files in your Dolphin folder. Disable the External Frame Buffer. You rarely ever need to use it.
Try switching to OpenGL. It's generally faster than D3D11 (now just called D3D in the very latest revisions), especially with Nvidia hardware and especially when you enable the Vertex Streaming Hack (Graphics -> Hacks tab, only available for OpenGL). It may speed things up for you. Also, consider upgrading to a 64-bit OS. The speed difference (on Windows at least) between 32-bit and 64-bit ranged anywhere from 20~30% iirc. As long as you have your license serial number (usually printed on a little tag somewhere on your computer), you can install a 64-bit version of Windows. There are legal downloads from Digital River available (yup, google it), but like I said, you need the serial number of a valid Windows 7 install first to activate it.
Check your CPU and GPU temps while running Dolphin. Use RealTemp or CoreTemp and whatever Nvidia provides to give you the low-down on your GPU. Also run CPU-Z so you can see what your CPU is actually clocked at. If you could, post all of the previous programs as screenshots so we can take a look. The last thing to do is open up Task Manager and make sure nothing isn't eating up too many resources (e.g. misc. software in the background).
(10-23-2013, 02:47 PM)Shonumi Wrote: [ -> ]Check your CPU and GPU temps while running Dolphin. Use RealTemp or CoreTemp and whatever Nvidia provides to give you the low-down on your GPU. Also run CPU-Z so you can see what your CPU is actually clocked at. If you could, post all of the previous programs as screenshots so we can take a look. The last thing to do is open up Task Manager and make sure nothing isn't eating up too many resources (e.g. misc. software in the background).
I'll check but I would find it highly unlikely that it is the temperature, seeing as I have 9 fans inside my computer. Pulls only my emulated games have this problem. I can play AAA PC games on Maximum graphics (Skyrim, Crysis...) But I will check. If temp and background programs is not the issue what would you recommend next?
Before anyone answers your question let me tell you that PC games doesn´t have anything to do with Dolphin (they don´t work in the same manner).
Report your temps before we move on to the next thing please. 9 fans don't mean a thing if your thermal compound is dried out and your CPU is overheating. Dolphin is much more stressful on your CPU than other applications/games. Your 3770 should be killing these games, so the really bad performance suggests that your chip is throttling. Heat will do that.
You have an unlocked "K" sku, but you report it at stock speed in your profile. Have you overclocked this setup? What kind of CPU cooling do you have?
(10-24-2013, 07:31 AM)rokclimb15 Wrote: [ -> ]Report your temps before we move on to the next thing please. 9 fans don't mean a thing if your thermal compound is dried out and your CPU is overheating. Dolphin is much more stressful on your CPU than other applications/games. Your 3770 should be killing these games, so the really bad performance suggests that your chip is throttling. Heat will do that.
You have an unlocked "K" sku, but you report it at stock speed in your profile. Have you overclocked this setup? What kind of CPU cooling do you have?
CPU is running at 23 C - 30 C at most.
Under Dolphin gameplay load? That seems excessively low. What kind of cooling do you have? Not that low temps can cause a problem, I just want to make sure we're getting accurate info. Is it actually clocked at 3.5 as measured by CPU-Z?
As rokclimb mentioned, it would be good to verify your clocks (CPU-Z with screenshots). Sometimes GPUs aren't fully utilized while running Dolphin (as in they idle when they shouldn't). Make sure to set your GTX 660 to High Performance mode or something to that effect.