Retroarch CPU very high

Hi all,

Do you experience CPU is hot and battery drain to much when playing Retroarch, even when just open Retroarch menu (rgui theme)?
In my GS, CPU go up to > 300%. But other standalone emulator like Pcsx-rearmed when running FF IX only take 50% CPU.
I running on OS pre-installed GS purchased in Christmas (dont know how to check OS version, it not show in “About” menu) and Lima GPU driver.

Anyone know if this is ARM CPU limitation or GPU driver or Retroarch build?
Thank all.

P/S: In my laptop, Retroarch running is very low CPU load.

if you use Lima driver+sdl2, CPU cost will be very low, and never get hot.

Thank @riverscn
I tried SDL2 driver but it make RA crash.
I will try recompile RA again.
Do you have any compile flags recommended for GS?

did you use v0.3 image?

Hi @riverscn
I use pre-installed OS, dont know how to check OS version.
But in Settings, I can see “Switch GPU driver” menu.

Thank @riverscn
My Linux kernel is 4.12, so I think Im in OS v2.1. OS v3 has Linux v4.20.
I will try and report here.

Hello folks,

I’m new in the Clockwork PI-Community, but in 15 days I will be a proud owner of a Clockwork Pi <3

But what I want to ask: Whats about this issue? I want to play PlayStation games on the go… but I don’t want this battery drainage =(

How I can avoid this for a dummy?

Hi @adventureFAN
Pcsx-rearmed performance is pretty good on GS. You can enjoy 3-4hours with it.
It a standalone emulator and pre-installed.
I will try OS v3 later for Retroarch.

Thank you for the answer but I prefer retroarch because I can easily export/import my save states from the pc.

I waiting for your experience with retroarch =)

the RA one is laggy/stuttery imo. the stand alone works much better and setting up controls without touching a RA config file is nice

Hi all
After flash OS v3.0, RA perform much better. GUI only take 10% CPU, run SNEX9X core take around 70-80%.
So I think Lima driver seem work well. But it also unstable as release notes, sometime when open game, screen turn blank and need hard reset or soft reset via SSH.

2 Likes

SNEX9X 2005 plus seems ok.

After upgrading to OS v0.3 and selected Lima as the GPU driver, RetroArch only takes no more than 100% CPU!