Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

Problem: Dolphin slowdown and fps drop after extended play.  (Not CPU temp or low hardware related)

I have seen several post with this problem described but the post always seems to be missing helpful identification information. I'm sure my information isn't perfect, however it might help someone else working through the same issue. This post is more of a statement than a cry for help. I have search for a solution and have not found one as of yet.

My rig:  CPU: i7 4790k Intel Core i7-4790K Devil's Canyon Quad-Core 4.0 GHz Turbo set to 4.5GHz
          Ram: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB x2 = 16GB total
          GPU: GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 980Ti 6GB G1
          OS:  Windows 10 Pro x64   (Clean install only days ago in attempt to rule out other programs interfering)
          Temps: using CPUID
          Dolphinbar w/ real Wiimote + / Also used BlueSoleil with UD100 (Crap)

Dolphin Version: Tested official 5.0 and several Nightly builds up to 5.0-3614-x64 (will try today's nightly after this)
                     4.0.2 doesn't seem to have the issue, however I prefer 5.0+ for the obvious improvements.

Observations from testing (IN GAME):  Animal Crossing, Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3, and others. Haven't test all since it takes so long.
                                                   Minutes 1-5  core#0 = 10-28%  temps 45-50C  
                                                   Minutes 5-10   core#0 = 21-34% temps 52-56C  
                                                   Minutes 10-15   core#0 = 28-46% temps 54-61C
                                                   Minutes 15-20   core#0 = 40-84% temps 57-66C
                                                   Minutes 20-25   core#0 = 59-90% temps 58-66C  
                                                   Minutes 25-29   core#0 = 71-95% temps 59-66C  first slowdowns...only a few frames w/ sound stutter when cpu is around 95
                                                   Minutes 29-33   core#0 = 82-100% temps 63-70C   consistent FPS drops and frustrating
                                                   Minutes 35+   core#0 = 90-100% temps 63-70C    consistent FPS drops and completely unplayable until Dolphin is shutdown

Cpu0 remains under stress even after stopping emulation through Dolphin's stop button. Upon closing Dolphin Cpu0 instantly drops to 1-5% with idle temps.

Observations from testing (Out of Game before emulation, but with Dolphin open)
                                 Sadly this also produces the same results as above, however it takes slightly longer to reach Cpu0 100% death mode.

Dolphin Settings:
                       Tried open GL - Volken,  Native - x6, res, every enhancement/hack toggled on then off.  Dual core on then off,  All CPU emulator engine options and audio. Also toggled all Game specific options. You get the point.

I'm sure I forgot information, but it's a lot to get out. Opinions and advice are appreciated. Thanks

Which Windows 10 version are you using? The original, November Update 1511, Anniversary Update 1607, or the latest Creators update 1703?

Windows 10 Pro 1607... I'll avoid creators as long as I possibly can.

Just something to try...have you tried setting your graphics card to Prefer Maximum Performance under 3D Settings > Power Management Mode?

I'm a VR user so I'm certain that is done. I'll double down and check to make sure I have done it since my clean install of Windows. Thanks

Can confirm maximum performance was selected. My first post was long winded, but my video card likely has nothing to do with it. I say this because I can just open dolphin.exe (not playing a game) and wait 20 minutes. By this time I'll see the CPU is under heavy load. Once dolphin is close everything is immediately back to normal.

While you're at it, verify the Windows Power Management is also set to high performance.
Does anything else increase at the same time? Like memory usage or something?
Also, are you extracting the files to the same directory each time, or extracting to a new subfolder or something?
What happens if you create a blank .txt file where you have your Dolphin.exe with the name"portable.txt" (no quotes )

Ram only gets up to around 4gb of 16gb. Windows Power Management is at high performance. I have several versions of Dolphin from 4.0.3 to yesterdays development version. I've unzipped into the same folder as well as into new folders. Just added the text file and opened Dolphin. Will report back in another 10-15 minutes.

Here is a 10min and 25min screen of Dolphin running without starting a game after launch. [attachment=15969][attachment=15970]

Ok I was lazy in the last post/test and just copied the portable.txt into the new file name. I just removed the ".txt" so it would work properly. It removed my game directory BUT corrected the CPU#0 issue. What's the magic here my friend?