Emulators running slower for unknown reason
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In my setup, I've set the render resolution to 720p, and have been able to run games with shaders, overlays, threaded video off, and the xmb menu driver instead of rgui without slowdowns. In Aria of Sorrow for the GBA, I was able to turn the frame delay option up without stuttering. But now, without having changed the settings, there's stuttering in every GBA, SNES and PSX game I've tried so far.
Has there been any updates that could cause this? I can't say for sure when this happened, since I've mostly been playing gameboy color recently, which if affected, isn't as intense of a system.
Retroarch version is 1.6.9
GBA emulator is mGBA 0.6.1
SNES emulator is Snes9x 2010 1.52.4
PSX emulator is PCSX-ReARMed r22 -
What SBC are you using? If it Requires a heatsink/fan they could have become dusty. That would cause raised heat levels and potentially throttle your processor speed down so it doesn't overheat.
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I'm using a raspberry pi 3b. I had it stuffed into a Nespi case without a fan or heatsink, so I took it out of the case to test it, but there was no change in performance. Last time I saw the overheating symbol was when I was scraping game covers a few weeks ago.
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You should probably add a small heatsink. The CanaKit one I bought had two little heatsinks for free.
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@pussyfoot I added a heatsink to my Pi 3, but it hardly had any effect. Adding a small fan (powered by the Pi) dropped average temperatures of +-65 to +-45 degrees celcius.
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My dad wants me to make another Pi-console for a friend. Instead of copying my own card, I'll try doing it from scratch using the images on the main site, test it, then update it, then test it again, and see at what point it starts to run worse, if it does.
I'll attach heatsinks to this one, but I don't think heat is the issue here.
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i having same issues with nespi case took it out the case and in different case no problems, i was getting temp gauge after 10 min temp was 82'c -85' . with the other case it 65' c . i need to sort this issue out myself , this is my next problem. could be down to you chip throttling because of heat . i am no expert tho. good luck
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I'm experiencing almost the same thing after updating to Retropie 4.3.7 and retroarch 1.6.9.
See my threadI'm suspecting the latter to be the problem. Have you tried reverting to 1.6.7? I'll try this within the next few days.
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@andershp
I'm not sure how I would revert to 1.6.7, but I would like to try if possible.I've set up the 2nd Pi, used the same video and shader settings, and everything was running as smoothly as I remember it. So I'm not crazy at least.
Retropie-Setup verson was 4.3
Retroarch version was 1.6.7
GBA emulator was mGBA 0.6.0
SNES emulator was Snes9x 2010 1.52.4I put the old sd card into the fresh Pi, and the games still stutter. So I can rule out the Pi itself as the culprit.
Then I updated the new Pi using the RetroPie-Setup option, but there's still no stuttering, so I have no idea where things went wrong.
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Maybe you should try adjusting your video memory settings, which I think are under system settings. Using a higher resolution requires more video memory. Perhaps updating it either defaulted or changed the setting.
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NESPi is a lovely looking case but ventilation is virtually non-existent. I had to drill a hole in the back on mine. Also that case makes fans sound really loud, it has the worst accoustic design ever - it doubles as an noise amplfiier :p
On Pi3 you definitely need to use a heatsink because it runs quite hot and the CPU throttles regularly without cooling. Be sure to use really thin (usually white) thermal tape, if it's more than .4mm thick it will make things worse.
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@slimy said in Emulators running slower for unknown reason:
I put the old sd card into the fresh Pi, and the games still stutter. So I can rule out the Pi itself as the culprit.
Good you found this conclusion. I was wondering if my pi suddenly died. I think I'll test tonight.
In my own situation, my pi is placed in the official pi casing, with the top off, like this:
I haven't changed this in the 6 months I have tinkered with it, and games stutter when I launch them, 1 minute after bootup. So even though active cooling could be nice, I don't believe this suddenly is the problem.
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@megatimx
Are you talking about the Memory Split option in Raspi-config? If so, It's set to the same thing on both Pis. (256) -
No issues here, as I've posted in: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/14756/retroarch-1-6-9-update-slowing-emulations-down
I did not try gba but the rest are fine. Messing around with the config will cause problems. They are already optimized.
@slimy said in Emulators running slower for unknown reason:
I put the old sd card into the fresh Pi, and the games still stutter. So I can rule out the Pi itself as the culprit.
You have to try a clean, updated, UNALTERED image to verify it's a config problem.
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@darksavior
What do you mean? I've set up a fresh retropie image on the other card, and that one is working smoothly. -
@Slimy odds are a config was screwed up in the update since so many seem to be having this issue. I know it sucks but id recommend a clean install to the sd card that's giving you issues since the other one solved the issue
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So, I've reverted back to RetroPie 4.3 and Retroarch 1.6.7 and can confirm that everything is back to normal again.
I then updated only Retroarch to 1.6.9 again (RetroPie still 4.3) and everything is terrible again. Armed Police Batrider stutters even in the menusounds.
So... Fresh install or should I just stay with 1.6.7 and wait for a fix?
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YOu can check if it's the temperature by logging on the pi while you game using ssh and checking the temperature with this command:
/opt/vc/bin/vcgencmd measure_temp
If the temperature is below 70 degrees, it's not the temperature.
You could do slight overclocking but have you tried with another microsd? Microsd going bad can sometimes load and make gameplay stutter. Happened to me a while ago. FOr the slight OC, don't overclock and CPU but you could add some memory to the GPU.
Also, does it happen on demanding emulators (like n64) or even on nes and snes. Snes should have zero problems with a stock pi. If it stuters there, you might have a bigger problem.
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@solaris said in Emulators running slower for unknown reason:
YOu can check if it's the temperature by logging on the pi while you game using ssh and checking the temperature
...but if the pi overheats within minutes of bootup, I suspect the software to be faulty, not the pi. Edit: just checked. It's 56 deg C after bootup.
Microsd going bad can sometimes load and make gameplay stutter.
But as I stated above, I just tested with the old software on the same microsd and it's all good..? After the update, it goes bad again... So the microsd is not the problem..
FOr the slight OC, don't overclock and CPU but you could add some memory to the GPU.
Again, if I can run everything neatly with the old software, I don't want to overclock just to run a newer software better...? I suspect the problem is the software then, and then I'd rather stay with the old software...
Wouldn't you agree?
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