Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

Computer:

Dell Inspirion 7000 (7537)
Windows 8.1
CPU: Intel Core i7-4500U 1.8ghz turbo up to 3.0ghz
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M

I've tried so many things to get games to run without lagging on my computer (dropping down to 80%), but absolutely nothing is working. Here's a list of everything I've done:

- Updated all drivers
- Changed power to High Performance
- Changed all the minimum cooling state stuff in power options
- Tried using the least possible configuration (1X IR, no AA, etc)

I've been monitoring my CPU with CPU-Z. It averages around 2700 MHz when I'm on Chrome right now or doing other stupid stuff. My CPU temperature has been steady at 50 degrees C.

I've tried both Wind Waker and Soul Caliber II and both start lagging after a bit. This is what I notice:

- My CPU downclocks almost immediately to around 1900 MHz when something strenuous is going on. This is when the lag kicks in. Thing is, my CPU temperature only bumps up to 53 degrees C at most.
- My GPU is not the problem, NVIDIA inspector says it never has a load more than 20% (but it is getting engaged because it only starts having a load when I play the game)

What I tried to do to fix it:
- I tried disabling SpeedStep in my BIOS, but that didn't fix the problem
- I disabled dual core in Dolphin's settings. This actually helped a little bit, but it still slows down.

I'm not sure what's going on, and I'm pretty sure my computer is capable of handling these games. Any suggestions?

Try looking into a program called ThrottleStop. It might be able to force a Turbo Boost for you.

I was hoping there was a program like this, but unfortunately after turning it on and messing around with the options, it isn't forcing the turbo boost. Speed stays how it was, and changing any options only makes gameplay slower and clock speed lower.

One thing I noticed though was that it says the "Max" temperature for my CPU was 64 degrees C on my first two cores and 62 on my other two. Are these just the max they have reached? Or are these hard maxes that my computer won't let my computer go past?

That's just the max temperature that the program has seen a CPU core reach, not the upper limit a CPU can sustain before you should worry (that's generally ~100C and greater, though the high 90s isn't exactly safe territory if you care about long-term stability...)

Intel, however, has designated the i7-4500U an Ultralow Volatage CPU, so while it can clock up to 3.0 GHz, more often than not you won't hit that mark, at least not while gaming under Dolphin. ULV CPUs from Intel are designed with power and thermal constraints in mind. If you're going to be doing a CPU intensive task (which Dolphin is), ULV CPUs aren't going to let you ramp up the CPU's clock because that would raise the temperature, which goes against what it was designed for. In Intel's (rather capitalistic) opinion, if you want more thermal headroom to up the CPU's clock, you'll have to pay for a model that doesn't adhere to the principles of ULV.

Don't be fooled; the CPU knows what it's doing. It's throttling down because Dolphin will cause it to generate inordinate amounts of heat without proper cooling, and per the 4500U's design, it's not going to let that happen.