Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

My configuration is the default except for resolution. I set it to Native x2 (720p). This is Metroid Trilogy, the Wii compilation.

I start Metroid Echoes and sometimes my framerate lowers in normal gameplay for one reason or the other. I was trying to tweak my settings to no avail but then I notice something. Whenever I click on graphics settings while the game is running and then close the window again without changing anything, the game will magically run at 60fps with no slowdowns. At the expense of the in-game scanner glitching out, making the game unplayable.

What's going on here?

When you open the graphics settings while a game is running, the game-specific settings are overridden by the settings that are currently set to default by the graphics options menu. You're not supposed to open the graphics settings while the game is running for exactly this reason. I looked it up on the wiki, and Metroid Prime 2 requires EFB to RAM, which is more accurate but takes more resources. So basically your computer is powerful enough to run it with the default settings, but not with the settings it requires. Sadly I don't think lowering the resolution will help you; I'm pretty sure EFB2RAM is solely a CPU task, so your CPU is your bottleneck. But just for fun, try checking the box that says "Skip EFB Access from CPU" and see if it does anything for you.

This game uses EFB Copies to RAM, which is a non-default setting for most users. This is a very demanding feature as it requires GPU syncs. By opening the graphics menu, your settings are restored, killing EFB Copies to RAM. This means some of the secondary visors won't work.

Try using the latest dev build and see if that helps your speed issues when using the game-default settings.