How to speed up the emulator?

71400 Views 37 Replies 28 Participants Last post by jonc2006, Mar 15, 2010

zidus

Discussion Starter · Feb 24, 2009

Hey,

I recently downloaded this emulator, and I got to say thanks to everyone who worked on it, it's a masterpiece!

I am relieved that I can still play my Gamecube games even tho my friend moved away without giving me back my Gamecube.

There is just one issue I have, and that's the speed of my games. For example, I will take Metroid Prime.

In closed rooms, without enemies I get a perfect speed of 50-60 FPS. But, the problem is, when I am in the overworld, or in a room filled with a lot of enemies, the speed drops down to 30FPS, sometimes even less.

Now, I can beat the game like this, it's not a problem, but it gets rather annoying on boss fights and other major events. When the boss fight is slow, the difficulty falls and there is no speed and no adrenaline. The thing that's most fun about boss fights. I think you know what I mean.

So what I wanted to ask is, what do I have to do to increase the speed of my emulator? Is it possible in the first place? When I searched for an answer, I heard several people that claimed they have a constant 60fps in Metroid Prime.

Here are my computer specs:

Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp.080413-2111)
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E7200 @ 2.53GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 2044MB RAM
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)

Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce 9500 GT
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Display Memory: 512.0 MB
Driver Version: 6.14.0011.8122 (English)
DDI Version: 9 (or higher)

What would I have to upgrade to get a good constant 60 FPS on games like Metroid Prime? Is there maybe a chance the specs are enough but I got a software problem?

Any help is appreciated.

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1 - 20 of 38 Posts

kruai

· #2 · Feb 24, 2009

Me too... I have significant problems with this game, Metroid Prime 2, and Wind Waker. But, I realize that the emulator is still a work in progress and that we're probably going to have to deal with these slowdowns for a while, which I really don't mind.
If anybody DOES get high framerates with these games (fixed audio for MP2 would be nice too) let me know as well, k?

thx

[email protected]

· #3 · Feb 24, 2009

zidus said:
I am relieved that I can still play my Gamecube games even tho my friend moved away without giving me back my Gamecube.

mmm, He legally own the console but he didn't have it already.....playing GC games using Dolphin in that statement is it illegal or not??? (I think no)

anyway, talking about your issue the slowdowns should be caused by your CPU/GPU (or the emu still doesn't support that game at full speed), your CPU run a little slow to handle high-demanding games like Metroid, that model can be OC by quite a margin if you know what you're doing and have the optimal HW.

Also your GPU is a little weak so disable AA and AF from Dolphin to avoid bottlenecking.

nosound.97

· #4 · Feb 25, 2009

Well I have the same CPU and I run games like everyone else. If there are some slowdowns there's nothing you can do or just try to overclock your CPU (not very safely I didn't try

)

jasong

· #5 · Feb 25, 2009

No it isn't possible to 'upgrade' the emulator to get 60fps. It's just a work in progress, so at the moment speed is erratic at best. Metroid Prime has generally pretty acceptable performance.

zidus

Discussion Starter · #6 · Feb 26, 2009

Thanks for the replies so far, but can anyone answer these questions:

Is it true that people run Metroid Prime without any slowdowns at all, and if yes, what part of my computer would I have to upgrade to achieve similar performance?

70597

· #7 · Feb 26, 2009

[email protected] said:
mmm, He legally own the console but he didn't have it already.....playing GC games using Dolphin in that statement is it illegal or not??? (I think no)

In the case of the Gamecube, which doesn't really have a BIOS you can dump[at least that's my understanding], I'd say it's fine as long as you're playing copies you dumped yourself from your original disks.

jasong

· #8 · Feb 27, 2009

I did answer your question. No it simply isn't possible, unless maybe you upgraded to a core i7 965 or similar. But the average PC, no way, it can't do it.

ector

· #9 · Feb 27, 2009

I don't think people are running MP with no slowdowns. My PC can certainly not do that, and it's a 3.0ghz OC Q6600. The speed is mostly acceptable though.

Silver83

· #10 · Feb 27, 2009

ector said:
I don't think people are running MP with no slowdowns. My PC can certainly not do that, and it's a 3.0ghz OC Q6600. The speed is mostly acceptable though.

got same CPU @ same speed...do have fps issues in certain areas, too

Trippin

· #11 · Feb 28, 2009

Since this thread exists...

I have the Dolphin SVN 2441 build to 64-bit computers.
I am playing Fire emblem: Path of Radiance and it has a decent FPS in the menus (22 - 26 Fps), but best when in dialogues (27 - 30 Fps). However, ingame it's roughly 11 - 14 Fps. Is there are method to speed it up? My computer specs are:

Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 2.10 Ghz.
4 GB Ram.
Nvidia Geforce 8600M GT.
Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit.

Any help is appreciated!

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tuanming

· #12 · Feb 28, 2009

3.8GHz should do the trick. 60 fps here.

70597

· #13 · Feb 28, 2009

Too bad he's on a laptop.

nosound.97

· #14 · Feb 28, 2009

Laptops' CPU usually is not very fast (saw max of 2.4 Ghz)

70597

· #15 · Feb 28, 2009

Apple offers 2.93Ghz Core 2 Duos in their 17 inch Macbook Pros.

ratero

· #16 · Mar 1, 2009

Remember to check "enable dual core" option! (if you got 2 cores of course!)
It's unchecked by default.
It'll speed up things A LOT, try check/uncheck "lock threads to cores" too.

Phil

· #17 · Mar 1, 2009

Dax said:
Apple offers 2.93Ghz Core 2 Duos in their 17 inch Macbook Pros.

It's still a mobile processor. An e7200 will have greater potential

70597

· #18 · Mar 1, 2009

Obviously, but it'd still way outperform lesser mobile CPUs.

metroidguy

· #19 · Sep 21, 2009 (Edited)

be glad your not using my computer, non enemy rooms are 15 fps, while big enemy rooms are 7-10. just be glad your getting 30 in enemy rooms

btw, my computer is one of those 2006-07 windows vista home premium, with a graphics card that hasnt been updated since i got it,(nvidia geforce 6100) half of the memory is used, 32 bit drive, 1 gig ram, so forth that makes a sucky-in-speed computer. the only good thing is that its a desktop. in fact, the fangame metroid confrontation runs at a non fullspeed with a steady 16-18 fps. oh, can anyone give me a recomendation for a dolphin that is faster for my comp? im currently running SVN R 3661, the newer one

Gareth1977

· #20 · Sep 21, 2009

metroidguy said:
be glad your not using my computer, non enemy rooms are 15 fps, while big enemy rooms are 7-10. just be glad your getting 30 in enemy rooms

btw, my computer is one of those 2006-07 windows vista home premium, with a graphics card that hasnt been updated since i got it,(nvidia geforce 6100) half of the memory is used, 32 bit drive, 1 gig ram, so forth that makes a sucky-in-speed computer. the only good thing is that its a desktop. in fact, the fangame metroid confrontation runs at a non fullspeed with a steady 16-18 fps. oh, can anyone give me a recomendation for a dolphin that is faster for my comp? im currently running SVN R 3661, the newer one

The newest revision is 4308, and given the now working Direct3D plugin you will see better performance.

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