Game Running Slowly

If your games are stuttering, running slowly, or experiencing frame drops, here’s how to improve performance.

Quick fixes

1. Close other applications

Background applications consume CPU and memory that Playback needs:

• Close web browsers (especially with many tabs)
• Exit other games or demanding applications
• Check for software updates running in the background
• Close streaming software (OBS, Discord® streaming)

2. Connect to power (laptops)

Laptops throttle performance when running on battery:

• Connect your power adapter
• Check your power plan is set to “High Performance” or “Best Performance”
• Avoid power-saving modes while gaming

3. Disable High Fidelity Mode

High Fidelity Mode significantly increases CPU usage:

1. Go to Settings > Emulator
2. Find High Fidelity Mode
3. Turn it Off

This mode improves audio and video quality but can cause issues on modest hardware.

Adjust performance settings

Enable frameskip

Frameskipping helps maintain smooth audio when your system can’t render every frame:

1. Go to Settings > Emulator (or the Performance section)
2. Set Frameskip to Auto or Auto (Threshold)
3. If using Auto (Threshold), start with 33% and increase if needed

Enable Idle Loop Removal

This optimization reduces CPU load during game idle states:

1. Find Idle Loop Removal in performance settings
2. Enable it

Recommended for older hardware, laptops, and single-board computers.

Reduce rewind buffer

Large rewind buffers consume memory and CPU:

1. Go to Settings > Emulator
2. Reduce Rewind Buffer Size (try 32 MB)
3. Or disable rewind entirely if not needed

System-specific solutions

Windows

Update graphics drivers:

1. Open Device Manager
2. Expand “Display adapters”
3. Right-click your graphics card > Update driver
4. Or download directly from NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel

Check power settings:

1. Open Settings > System > Power
2. Select “Best performance” mode
3. For gaming laptops, check manufacturer software for performance modes

Disable Game Bar and overlays:

1. Open Settings > Gaming > Game Bar
2. Turn off “Record game clips”
3. Disable overlays from Discord, GeForce Experience, etc.

macOS

Check Activity Monitor:

1. Open Applications > Utilities > Activity Monitor
2. Look for processes using high CPU
3. Quit unnecessary background apps

Ensure adequate cooling: MacBooks may throttle when hot. Use on a hard surface and consider a cooling pad.

Linux

Check CPU governor:

cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_governor

For best performance, set to “performance”:

sudo cpupower frequency-set -g performance

Close compositors: Desktop compositors can impact performance. Try disabling effects or using a lightweight window manager.

Raspberry Pi

For Pi 4 and Pi 5:

• Use official power supplies (inadequate power causes throttling)
• Ensure adequate cooling (heatsinks or active cooling)
• Don’t overclock unless you have proper cooling
• Use the ARM64 AppImage build

Steam Deck

• Make sure you’re in Desktop Mode for best Playback performance
• Close other running games
• Check battery level — performance drops at very low charge

Performance tips

If you’re experiencing slowdown with mGBA or bsnes, try the optimization steps above. These cores are designed for accuracy and work well on most modern hardware.

For very low-power devices like older Raspberry Pi models, consider using an external emulator with your personal game backups instead.

Hardware considerations

Minimum requirements

Check that your system meets the requirements on our Downloads page. Playback requires a reasonably modern computer — systems over 10 years old may struggle.

Integrated vs dedicated graphics

Playback doesn’t require a powerful GPU, but very old integrated graphics may cause issues. Ensure your graphics drivers are up to date.

RAM

Playback uses modest RAM, but if your system has less than 4 GB total, performance may suffer. Close other applications to free memory.

Still having issues?

If performance remains poor after trying these steps:

1. Enable Verbose Debug Logs in Settings
2. Reproduce the performance issue
3. Send the log file to support

Include your system specifications and which games are affected.