Way of the Samurai - Odd Slowdowns

[phillypls]

Hi everyone, this is my first thread as a member here. I've been eying this emulator for a while and I decided to try it out on my computer to see if it could even handle it (I doubted that it could at first).

Much to my surprise, it runs one of my favorite games, Way of the Samurai, at full speed, but I have a weird issue where some parts of the game run at full speed, but sometimes those very same parts play pretty slowly and I'm not sure why. At first, I thought this could be due to CPU load, but I'm monitoring its temperature and it's not approaching the max at all.

I'm running the game on my 2016 MacBook 12", m3 model. My specs are as follows:

CPU: Intel Core m3 @ 1.1 GHz (though Windows reports 0.90 GHz)
GPU: Intel HD Graphics 515 1536 MB
RAM: 8 GB
OS: Windows 10 using Boot Camp

I have speed hacks enabled; specifically, I have the EE rate reduced by 50% (the slider is all the way to the left). I am also currently using DirectX11 hardware mode.

Any insight into this would be much appreciated. Honestly, I'm shocked that the game is even playable on this computer. I guess that's a testament to just how capable these m-series processors are. 

[Ulblast]

Your CPU is pretty weak but yeah I am surprised by the fact that the game runs at playable speeds at any point using that processor.

[avih]

Core-M3 is not such a terrible CPU. Some games would definitely be playable on it, especially with some speedhacks and native resolution, but occasional slowdowns are definitely to be expected.

[phillypls]

Core-M3 is not such a terrible CPU. Some games would definitely be playable on it, especially with some speedhacks and native resolution, but occasional slowdowns are definitely to be expected.

I see. It's strange because I was just playing a part of the game that I had experienced a major slowdown in before, but right now it played perfectly fine. I hope it's an emulator issue, because the game is otherwise playing perfectly fine!

Also, slightly off topic, but how can I better understand the EE and GS values? I notice that when the game does slowdown, it's usually the EE value that is approaching 100%.

Another update: I'm playing through the same part of the game I mentioned above, and it's acting slow again... What could cause this inconsistent performance between different executions of the same part of the game? Both of my cores are at a relatively low temperature (~60 degrees Celsius) compared to the max (100 degrees).

[avih]

I see. It's strange because I was just playing a part of the game that I had experienced a major slowdown in before, but right now it played perfectly fine. I hope it's an emulator issue, because the game is otherwise playing perfectly fine!

Also, slightly off topic, but how can I better understand the EE and GS values? I notice that when the game does slowdown, it's usually the EE value that is approaching 100%.

Another update: I'm playing through the same part of the game I mentioned above, and it's acting slow again... What could cause this inconsistent performance between different executions of the same part of the game? Both of my cores are at a relatively low temperature (~60 degrees Celsius) compared to the max (100 degrees).

It's called thermal throttling. Your CPU runs at 0.9 GHz by default, but can speed up to 2.2 GHz for short durations when needed. However, if it keeps being needed, then this causes the CPU to heat and therefore after a while (typically about 30 seconds or so) it gets back to slower speeds. And then it start all over again. That's how CPUs work these days, especially mobile (laptops, ultrabooks, etc) CPUs where the difference between the slow and fast parts can be very big.

The EE% represents how much the emulator is using the CPU (and the GS is the GPU - the graphics). So when the EE% value is near 90-100% it means your CPU is the limiting factor.

There's not much you can do about it other than maybe enabling some speed hacks - start by trying preset 4 or so, but do note that these are hacks afterall, which could also have negative effects on emulation (including on speed).

[phillypls]

It's called thermal throttling. Your CPU runs at 0.9 GHz by default, but can speed up to 2.2 GHz for short durations when needed. However, if it keeps being needed, then this causes the CPU to heat and therefore after a while (typically about 30 seconds or so) it gets back to slower speeds. And then it start all over again. That's how CPUs work these days, especially mobile (laptops, ultrabooks, etc) CPUs where the difference between the slow and fast parts can be very big.

The EE% represents how much the emulator is using the CPU (and the GS is the GPU - the graphics). So when the EE% value is near 90-100% it means your CPU is the limiting factor.

There's not much you can do about it other than maybe enabling some speed hacks - start by trying preset 4 or so, but do note that these are hacks afterall, which could also have negative effects on emulation (including on speed).

Ah, I see. Thank you for this explanation! Could one solution be to play the game with a fan on my computer or by using a cooling pad?

[avih]

It probably wouldn't make much difference. But you could try and report back.

[phillypls]

It probably wouldn't make much difference. But you could try and report back.

This is what I feared. Well, at least it runs full speed for a bit! I guess I should play in short bursts rather than for longer sessions.

Thank you again for your help!