Performance Settings

The Performance settings help you get the best gameplay experience on your hardware, from high-end gaming PCs to modest laptops and single-board computers.

Idle loop removal

Some game code contains “idle loops” — sections where the CPU runs at full speed but nothing actually happens. Enabling this feature optimizes these loops, reducing system load and improving performance.

Recommended for: Older or less powerful hardware, laptops on battery power.

Frameskip

Frameskipping balances visual smoothness with audio quality. When the system can’t maintain full speed, skipping frames prevents audio issues like crackling or stuttering.

Frameskip modes

• Off — No frames are skipped. Best for powerful systems.
• Auto — Skips frames dynamically based on system needs.
• Auto (Threshold) — Skips frames when audio buffer falls below a set percentage.
• Fixed Interval — Skips a set number of frames consistently.

Frameskip threshold

When using Auto (Threshold) mode, this percentage determines when frames are skipped:

• Higher values = more frame skipping, less audio crackling
• Lower values = fewer skipped frames, possible audio issues

Frameskip interval

For Fixed Interval mode, this controls how many frames are omitted:

• 0 — 60 fps (no skipping)
• 1 — 30 fps
• 2 — 15 fps

When to adjust performance settings

Consider adjusting these settings if you experience:

• Choppy or stuttering gameplay
• Audio crackling or popping sounds
• High CPU usage or system heat
• Poor battery life on laptops

Recommended configurations

High-end desktop

• Idle Loop Removal: Off
• Frameskip: Off
• All quality settings at maximum

Standard laptop

• Idle Loop Removal: On
• Frameskip: Auto
• Default quality settings

Raspberry Pi or low-power devices

• Idle Loop Removal: On
• Frameskip: Auto (Threshold)
• Frameskip Threshold: 50% or higher
• Consider disabling High Fidelity Mode in Settings > Emulator

Tips

• Start with default settings and only adjust if you notice issues
• Performance settings can be changed during gameplay
• Close other applications if experiencing performance problems
• For Game Boy® games, most modern systems need no performance tuning