Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

Full Version: Why can't I select my AMD graphic card?
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michelfnrc

Hi there!

I'm having some issues with Dolphin 4.0 and Mario Kart Wii.
I'd like to know why can't I select my AMD Radeon HD 8800M card in graphics configuration?

My notebook specs (it's a Samsung AtivBook 6):
- Windows 8 x64
- Intel i5-3230M @ 2.60GHz
- 8 GB RAM
- AMD Radeon HD 8800M 2GB

I've already tried to change the power saving settings and I've set everything to maximum performance, but it still doesn't appear in the "Adapter" list.

I'm adding 2 prints to show what I'm talking about.

Could someone please help?

Many thanks!
It's a known issue, manually add Dolphin to AMD Control Center and select the high performance mode and Dolphin will use your HD 8800M card, even if it's not shown in the graphics config window...

michelfnrc

(03-20-2014, 02:49 PM)Jhonn Wrote: [ -> ]It's a known issue, manually add Dolphin to AMD Control Center and select the high performance mode and Dolphin will use your HD 8800M card, even if it's not shown in the graphics config window...

Thanks Jhonn. But is it normal for Mario Kart to run at 70-80% of real speed, even with a dedicated graphic card? (using direct3d11)
(03-21-2014, 01:52 AM)michelfnrc Wrote: [ -> ]Thanks Jhonn. But is it normal for Mario Kart to run at 70-80% of real speed, even with a dedicated graphic card? (using direct3d11)

Yes, for your CPU. Keep in mind that for Dolphin, the GPU determines how high you can raise your Internal Resolution and Anti-Aliasing settings. If these settings do not bottleneck your performance (which unless you set them really high, it should not be in your case) then the rest of your performance is CPU-based for the most part. If your CPU generates too much heat (likely when running Dolphin) it will throttle its speed. If your CPU is running at 2.6GHz, that's too slow for MK Wii to run at fullspeed. Your Turbo Boost clock rate for dual-core mode is 3.0 GHz iirc, and that's still fairly low for MK Wii as well, so even under the best circumstances, your laptop is simply too slow to run this game (Dolphin is a very demanding application). So in short, there's nothing unexpected about those result, given your hardware.

michelfnrc

(03-21-2014, 02:18 AM)Shonumi Wrote: [ -> ]
(03-21-2014, 01:52 AM)michelfnrc Wrote: [ -> ]Thanks Jhonn. But is it normal for Mario Kart to run at 70-80% of real speed, even with a dedicated graphic card? (using direct3d11)

Yes, for your CPU. Keep in mind that for Dolphin, the GPU determines how high you can raise your Internal Resolution and Anti-Aliasing settings. If these settings do not bottleneck your performance (which unless you set them really high, it should not be in your case) then the rest of your performance is CPU-based for the most part. If your CPU generates too much heat (likely when running Dolphin) it will throttle its speed. If your CPU is running at 2.6GHz, that's too slow for MK Wii to run at fullspeed. Your Turbo Boost clock rate for dual-core mode is 3.0 GHz iirc, and that's still fairly low for MK Wii as well, so even under the best circumstances, your laptop is simply too slow to run this game (Dolphin is a very demanding application). So in short, there's nothing unexpected about those result, given your hardware.

I see. Well then, I think I'm going to stick with direct3d9 then, it's quite accurate to the game speed. Thanks you both for your help! =D