Hacking Optimised Switchroot Dolphin for Performance

[Basketto]

I've had several requests and certain amount of disbelief, when I manage to get certain dolphin games running at favourable speeds. So I thought I would share a video with my settings(all provided in the YT video Description) with a base Template I have been using, along with the version of Dolphin.
The games running are at 200% resolution EFB scaled. Everything is done with regular performance mode(no 2ghz patches), the only modification being used is that I flashed install files with the Memory overclock from ZachycatGames Q-tips guide(coreboot-oc) replacing the official. I'm not sure how much memory overclock will benefit, but swapping out the official coreboot for the one provided in Q-tips is something everyone should be capable of if they wish to. Game speed FPS are all shown in the top left.



If your having problems with speeds in other games after using the template, I suggest methodically lowering the emulated clock speeds until you find the best value. Hopefully this will help a few people out. If anyone else has specific settings they wish to share everything is welcome.

 

[Prb]

I've had several requests and certain amount of disbelief, when I manage to get certain dolphin games running at favourable speeds. So I thought I would share a video with my settings(all provided in the YT video Description) with a base Template I have been using, along with the version of Dolphin.
The games running are at 200% resolution EFB scaled. Everything is done with regular performance mode(no 2ghz patches), the only modification being used is that I flashed install files with the Memory overclock from ZachycatGames Q-tips guide(coreboot-oc) replacing the official. I'm not sure how much memory overclock will benefit, but swapping out the official coreboot for the one provided in Q-tips is something everyone should be capable of if they wish to. Game speed FPS are all shown in the top left.



If your having problems with speeds in other games after using the template, I suggest methodically lowering the emulated clock speeds until you find the best value. Hopefully this will help a few people out. If anyone else has specific settings they wish to share everything is welcome.

I've been told that this heats up the switch fan
Like a jet engine can you tell me if this is the case
Does the fan spin at high speed hot hot hot ?
That was one of the problems with the older version of switchroot the oc

 

[Basketto]

After running that video my switch fan was still well under 50 degrees.
If your very worried you can always change the thermal paste, but it isnt necessary.
None of the temperatures you reach though will damage your switch. It is designed to take much higher overclocks & temps.
Even with 2100 overclock CPU, which basically lets you run Rayman Origins fullspeed at 50fps, your still well & truly safe.
The battery might get worn slightly faster, but realistically so will demanding switch games, which are more gpu demanding. The switch battery is not hard to replace either if that time ever comes. However up to this point, I still know of noone that has ever fully consumed a switch battery.
Also my fan was fine to answer your second part, Ive had it go off much worse inside horizon. You can listen to the video though & judge, my phone was less than 6 inches away for that recording.

 

[Tu40k]

After running that video my switch fan was still well under 50 degrees.
If your very worried you can always change the thermal paste, but it isnt necessary.
None of the temperatures you reach though will damage your switch. It is designed to take much higher overclocks & temps.
Even with 2100 overclock CPU, which basically lets you run Rayman Origins fullspeed at 50fps, your still well & truly safe.
The battery might get worn slightly faster, but realistically so will demanding switch games, which are more gpu demanding. The switch battery is not hard to replace either if that time ever comes. However up to this point, I still know of noone that has ever fully consumed a switch battery.
Also my fan was fine to answer your second part, Ive had it go off much worse inside horizon. You can listen to the video though & judge, my phone was less than 6 inches away for that recording.

A word on that overclock info... from my understanding, based on wiiuepiccpu's comments in this thread, the Erita soc was never designed to take that kind of power draw. Anything Above 1500 is apparently pushing it, so 2100 is likely very dicey. It has nothing to do with cooling ability, just soc ability and I doubt that switchroot is more power-friendly than HOS, though I could be wrong.

Great video though. Hopefully a version of switchroot is in the works for Mariko units, which have more than enough overclock capability in comparison.

 

[Basketto]

A word on that overclock info... from my understanding, based on wiiuepiccpu's comments in this thread, the Erita soc was never designed to take that kind of power draw. Anything Above 1500 is apparently pushing it, so 2100 is likely very dicey. It has nothing to do with cooling ability, just soc ability and I doubt that switchroot is more power-friendly than HOS, though I could be wrong.

Great video though. Hopefully a version of switchroot is in the works for Mariko units, which have more than enough overclock capability in comparison.

Thanks for the Kudos on the video!
As for the clock speeds, a bunch of developers tested up to 1785 cpu(even labled as maximum performance)without issues on lakka long ago.
The Mariko units are just better optimised, the battery life should outlast the erista weather or not you overclock. I don’t think the benefits will be as large if mariko eventually does get dual boot as part of that optimisation is specifically for HOS.
People on Erista have been using the overclock feature over a measure of years now, Ive still yet to come accross anyone damaging the hardware & you can be sure their are those that constantly use higher OC for games/programs higher fps, I already know other youtubers that do on a regular basis.
Unless your melting your switch(which is easily avoidable) slightly faster battery degradation is the more than likely outcome.
Either way for both erista/mariko it is a question of years.
From my experience aswell(so far), upping the clockspeeds on android doesn’t seem heat up the switch or get the fan going anywhere near as much as on CFW, or Lakka.
Even Zelda BotW now officially boosts to 1700 OC over short spans on OFW, not to mention already being pretty taxing on the GPU. That alone speaks leagues in itself about what the erista can handle.
Im not saying something might not go wrong ,
Just that nothing has been reported so far on any forum, yt vid, or by any other means i know, so its fair to say they are extremely low odds.
Sadly, I cannot see android/ubuntu/lakka coming to Mariko either. SX Core/lite units are a rarity compared to hacked erista, the chips are pretty much outlawed in most countries now among resellers, & are more expensive as a package even if you don’t have to pay soldering.
Unless something as convenient as fusee gelee happened on Mariko(more chance of winning the lottery ), I somehow can’t see those older developers porting something for a minority of homebrewed units, especially when all those developmers have erista models.

 

[ZachyCatGames]

Thanks for the Kudos on the video!
As for the clock speeds, a bunch of developers tested up to 1785 cpu(even labled as maximum performance)without issues on lakka long ago.
The Mariko units are just better optimised, the battery life should outlast the erista weather or not you overclock. I don’t think the benefits will be as large if mariko eventually does get dual boot as part of that optimisation is specifically for HOS.
People on Erista have been using the overclock feature over a measure of years now, Ive still yet to come accross anyone damaging the hardware & you can be sure their are those that constantly use higher OC for games/programs higher fps, I already know other youtubers that do on a regular basis.
Unless your melting your switch(which is easily avoidable) slightly faster battery degradation is the more than likely outcome.
Either way for both erista/mariko it is a question of years.
From my experience aswell(so far), upping the clockspeeds on android doesn’t seem heat up the switch or get the fan going anywhere near as much as on CFW, or Lakka.
Even Zelda BotW now officially boosts to 1700 OC over short spans on OFW, not to mention already being pretty taxing on the GPU. That alone speaks leagues in itself about what the erista can handle.
Im not saying something might not go wrong ,
Just that nothing has been reported so far on any forum, yt vid, or by any other means i know, so its fair to say they are extremely low odds.
Sadly, I cannot see android/ubuntu/lakka coming to Mariko either. SX Core/lite units are a rarity compared to hacked erista, the chips are pretty much outlawed in most countries now among resellers, & are more expensive as a package even if you don’t have to pay soldering.
Unless something as convenient as fusee gelee happened on Mariko(more chance of winning the lottery ), I somehow can’t see those older developers porting something for a minority of homebrewed units, especially when all those developmers have erista models.

There was no proper testing done until recently, it was literally just “Nvidia allows it so it must be fine”.
That said, 1785/768 CPU/GPU are the highest speeds considered “fine” and are the new defaults for docked in Android and Ubuntu.
Anything higher will throw you into “your device’s lifespan will be reduced significantly” territory.

Mariko’s improvements are all in hardware and makes a drastic difference (literally, Mariko at 1785/921 is estimated to use about the same amount of power as Erista in handheld, and fully clocked Mariko (1963/1267) seems to be about the same as Erista docked, it’s insane).

CpuBoostMode increases the CPU clock to 1785MHz, yes, but it also reduces the GPU clock to 76.8MHz.

Linux/Android will be a thing “eventually”.

 

[Rahkeesh]

There was no proper testing done until recently, it was literally just “Nvidia allows it so it must be fine”.
That said, 1785/768 CPU/GPU are the highest speeds considered “fine” and are the new defaults for docked in Android and Ubuntu.
Anything higher will throw you into “your device’s lifespan will be reduced significantly” territory.

Does this mean that 1020/842 is considered problematic now for Erista? Or even 460 GPU from battery?

 

[ZachyCatGames]

Does this mean that 1020/842 is considered problematic now for Erista? Or even 460 GPU from battery?

1020/8xx is fine if you're on a charger, I meant 768 is the highest "safe" GPU speed if you want to use 1785 CPU.

1020/460 on battery is definitely fine, it's been a official performance configuration since before launch.
1785/460 on battery is probably not great though.

 

[Basketto]

There was no proper testing done until recently, it was literally just “Nvidia allows it so it must be fine”.
That said, 1785/768 CPU/GPU are the highest speeds considered “fine” and are the new defaults for docked in Android and Ubuntu.
Anything higher will throw you into “your device’s lifespan will be reduced significantly” territory.

Mariko’s improvements are all in hardware and makes a drastic difference (literally, Mariko at 1785/921 is estimated to use about the same amount of power as Erista in handheld, and fully clocked Mariko (1963/1267) seems to be about the same as Erista docked, it’s insane).

CpuBoostMode increases the CPU clock to 1785MHz, yes, but it also reduces the GPU clock to 76.8MHz.

Linux/Android will be a thing “eventually”.

Ya that is a massive difference .
I did think some was in the software aswell though, I probably misread at the time.
I agree reduced lifespan is always going to happen if you work the hardware allot harder that is unavoidable, but still to date I know of knowbody that has consumed the battery.
Nintendo themselves have opted to boost the cpu as in my video above to the 1700 mark though through botw, and its almost a gaurantee they don’t take their hardware failing lightly. Dolphin emulation while definately needing the CPU upgrade, doesn’t use anywhere near the GPU required for most switch games.The benchmarks switchroot provide aswell only increase the limit, it only uses what it requires.
As for mariko support, the last I heard from the switchroot devs, their were no plans going forward to support Mariko.
If youve had other positive updates on that matter it is great news!!! The last I heard it sounded a long way away off if they were going to make an attempt at all of a port. Would be a huge plus if it came in the future.

 

[ZachyCatGames]

Ya that is a massive difference .
I did think some was in the software aswell though, I probably misread at the time.
I agree reduced lifespan is always going to happen if you work the hardware allot harder that is unavoidable, but still to date I know of knowbody that has consumed the battery.
Nintendo themselves have opted to boost the cpu as in my video above to the 1700 mark though through botw, and its almost a gaurantee they don’t take their hardware failing lightly. Dolphin emulation while definately needing the CPU upgrade, doesn’t use anywhere near the GPU required for most switch games.The benchmarks switchroot provide aswell only increase the limit, it only uses what it requires.
As for mariko support, the last I heard from the switchroot devs, their were no plans going forward to support Mariko.
If youve had other positive updates on that matter it is great news!!! The last I heard it sounded a long way away off if they were going to make an attempt at all of a port. Would be a huge plus if it came in the future.

If you use high clocks without a charger regularly it will destroy your battery.
With a charger battery stuff is mostly whatever (unless you’re running a burn test or smth, in which case “haha 30W+ power consumption go brrr” and you get gross battery drain even with a charger, but most aren’t doing that so meh).

From my understanding, once hekatf is ready getting Android/Linux running on Mariko should be relatively “simple” shrugs.
The big issue currently is coreboot being a pain in the ass, which hekatf will solve.

 

[fox87]

Lets revive this dead thread. I was using your setup yesterday on my mariko model and it ran just as nice as in the video. now i am wondering tho, if there is dolphin versions giving even better performance by now as this thread is 2,5 years old
Are you still playing around with those things @Basketto ?

 

[Gheovgos]

Lets revive this dead thread. I was using your setup yesterday on my mariko model and it ran just as nice as in the video. now i am wondering tho, if there is dolphin versions giving even better performance by now as this thread is 2,5 years old
Are you still playing around with those things @Basketto ?

i'm not Basketto, but I'm playing around those things too. I suggest you to try dolphin for handled or dolphin-mod with his settings + perfomance mode. I honestly love them because I had better perfomance, and in dolphin for handled you can lower internal resolution below x1.0 for some more fps.
It is not related to Dolphin, but I tried AetherSX too (PS2 emulation), if you pick pal bios + select the lower profile when setting the emulator, you can achieve an excelent emulation speed. At moment I tried God Of War, God Hand and Silent Hill 2 and all of those are emulated perfectly, 50-60 fps circa with 100% emu speed

 

[Morricorne]

i'm not Basketto, but I'm playing around those things too. I suggest you to try dolphin for handled or dolphin-mod with his settings + perfomance mode. I honestly love them because I had better perfomance, and in dolphin for handled you can lower internal resolution below x1.0 for some more fps.
It is not related to Dolphin, but I tried AetherSX too (PS2 emulation), if you pick pal bios + select the lower profile when setting the emulator, you can achieve an excelent emulation speed. At moment I tried God Of War, God Hand and Silent Hill 2 and all of those are emulated perfectly, 50-60 fps circa with 100% emu speed

Interesting SH2 GOW can be run in 50/60 fps on Switch android? Need to try this

 

[nWo]

That's awesome. I tried switchroot a couple of years ago, but I was quickly let down. This look great but sadly I don't have much time to get everything right. Is there any chance that you could make a "ready-to-install" package or something like that? I know is asking too much, but maybe luck will smile on us.

Having said that, it looks awesome. Thanks for sharing the video.

 

[captansam]

i'm not Basketto, but I'm playing around those things too. I suggest you to try dolphin for handled or dolphin-mod with his settings + perfomance mode. I honestly love them because I had better perfomance, and in dolphin for handled you can lower internal resolution below x1.0 for some more fps.
It is not related to Dolphin, but I tried AetherSX too (PS2 emulation), if you pick pal bios + select the lower profile when setting the emulator, you can achieve an excelent emulation speed. At moment I tried God Of War, God Hand and Silent Hill 2 and all of those are emulated perfectly, 50-60 fps circa with 100% emu speed

Where did you get dolphin for hand held or dolphin-mod + how do you enable performance mode in dolphin?

Also where did you get an updated copu of AetherSX as well?