Why does framerate randomly drop every minute or so?

[RJay64]

Hi. For most games I try to use with SNES9x, the framerate just drops from 60 to anywhere from 8-11 for a second. Then it goes back to normal for a little bit, before another hitch happens soon afterwards.

I'm not sure if there's a pattern in games it happens with. I tested Super Mario RPG and Kirby's Dream Land 3 in recent days though and the same problem occurred. Super Street Fighter 2: The New Challengers worked okay.

Is there anything I could do in Settings to fix the problem? I don't have the strongest laptop. But this is an SNES emulator and these games are old.

[Ryan]

I don't have the strongest laptop. But this is an SNES emulator and these games are old.

The thing is, how old the SNES and games are is irrelevant. As the devs working on Snes9x continue to improve it and make it more accurate, it requires more and more CPU power to emulate at full speed. A good starting point would be to know the laptop's make/model, and current spec (what CPU, how much RAM, does it have a discrete GPU? If so, make/model?). Knowing what all options you have set in Snes9x would help too, since some things will further increase the processing power required.

[odditude]

sounds like a background app causing issues. try running windowed with Task Manager up and look for any spikes in other processes when you see the framerate dip.