Emulation Optimization?

Dark-Talon · September 20th, 2001

Okay, my computer isn't the greatest, first of all:

System Specs:
Intel Celeron 366
98 megs ram
Windows ME (system restore disabled)
Guillemot Maxi Gamer Phoenix (Voodoo Banshee chipset) using 1.04 banshee reference drivers (not Guillemot's drivers) to avoid menu glitches in certain games.
Hercules Game Theatre XP
A random 8-button controller with Saitek drivers
http://members.home.com/dark-talon/8button.zip
(If anyone needs 8-button drivers for a generic controller, try these above provided by Saitek. They're posted on my @home space and I personally vouch that they don't contain any viruses)

EPSXe plugins used:
Lewpy's 3dfx/Glide³ GPU 1.35
Null2's Audio Driver 1.3
ePSXe CDR ASPI core 1.4.0.

Okay, now on to the problem. When I play games, they run perfectly until XA audio is introduced, in both movies and in gameplay--it stutters about every two seconds or so. I've heard from many people that this is just something that they've had to deal with, but short of buying a new computer (or using my playstation), is there any way to prevent this from happening, or lessen the occurance of it?

Thank you,

Dark-Talon

September 20th, 2001

I would say to consider trying another SPU. Pete's Direct Sound SPU vers 1.11 is an excellent choice and from what I have seen, XA music plays excellently with it. Iori's latest SPU version 1.48 (I think it is 1.48 or mybe it is vers. 1.49) is also excellent and XA music plays well w/it as well. Why not give one of these a try and see what you think. Best of luck.
sincerely,
sx/amiga

ebola · September 20th, 2001

im kind of wondering how you can even run playstation on a celeron 333. how slow is it? the reason i'm asking is because i have a pretty fast system but a crappy graphics card. right now a celeron @ 952 mhz. graphics card is a diamond viper 550.

this weekend I'm getting a new p3 1ghz cdo. should speed things up slightly. i still need to get a new graphics card.

Dark-Talon · September 20th, 2001

Actually, believe it or not, it runs as smooth as silk in game.. I've been playing Tenchu 2, Breath of Fire IV, Harvest Moon and Castlevania: SoTN mostly and the only time I have a problem is with XA audio, which is just a stutter (comparable to how the PSX stutters during FMVs when it gets too hot, or when it's a bit older)

ebola · September 20th, 2001

haha. i have to flip my psx upside down so it reads cds correctly since the shocks are dead on it. i have the first psx. i bought it at walmart about 6 years ago or whenever it came out for $300.

oh yea. kind of proves my point. its more about what graphics card you have than what processor.

dirk_gently · September 20th, 2001

He's got a voodoo banshee. Is that proving your point? And if you're going to invest in a new component this weekend, why go from a 950 cellery to a 1Ghz P3? Why not go with a GeForce2 GTS or Ultra? That would certainly help a lot more than a 50Mhz improvement...

Dark-Talon · September 20th, 2001

It's really rather amazing.. With my PoS computer, I've been able to run games that my friends (with upper end machines) couldn't run for some reason or another.. But despite my luck with this machine (and only spending around $20 for the processor about 2 years ago) I think it's time to move on. I've already invested in a Cambridge SoundWorks surround and a Game Theatre XP, so I'm pretty happy with my audio configuration. I got a TDK Velo CD burner, which I'm also happy with.. But as far as what I need, I was thinking that I'd go for a P4 processor and a Hercules 3D Prophet III.. I'm sure that'd get me the speed boost I'm looking for. Anyone out there on a P4 or using a 3D Prophet III? Basically, I'm just looking for some comments about them before I go blow a bunch of cash.. Anyone have either good or bad experiences with them?

Thanks,

Dark-Talon

TuDWoWBaN · September 21st, 2001

because, Dirk, there isn`t anything as a "celeron @ 952 mhz". Well, it would have to be overclocked. By the way, a Celeron is waaaay slower than a Pentium chipset. I would know, since I work with building computers. A Pentium 1ghz could easily be overclocked (using a new fan and mabye some Goop - cooling paste). I bet the Celeron is a 700mhz. So he would actually be upgrading his processor power by 300mhz, AND get a chipset that is 20-30% faster.

dpence · September 21st, 2001

Right Click My computer, select properties (Device manager) then go to your cdrom settings and select(Put a check beside) DMA.
pauses every 2 seconds are always DMA related or just bad cdrom drives.

Dark-Talon · September 21st, 2001

I used Pete's midas plugin with XA smoothing, and it works flawlessly.. I'm so happy!

**Zephon** · September 21st, 2001

Dark-Talon, you were saying about buying a P4, right? I really think you should get an Athlon, the performance is great and is MUCH cheaper than Intel's cpus. Wait a bit for the Athlon Palomino and Pentium4 Northwood to be released(end of year), and check a comparison between them.

**kairi00** · September 21st, 2001

Quote:

Originally posted by TuDWoWBaN
because, Dirk, there isn`t anything as a "celeron @ 952 mhz". Well, it would have to be overclocked. By the way, a Celeron is waaaay slower than a Pentium chipset. I would know, since I work with building computers. A Pentium 1ghz could easily be overclocked (using a new fan and mabye some Goop - cooling paste). I bet the Celeron is a 700mhz. So he would actually be upgrading his processor power by 300mhz, AND get a chipset that is 20-30% faster.

Plus, a Celeron 700MHz is slower than a P3 700MHz. Architecture differences....

dirk_gently · September 21st, 2001

Nice to hear that you "work with computers". How proud you must be.

All I was saying is that if he's using a voodoo banshee, then it's certainly his biggest bottleneck. A video upgrade (even to GeForce2 MX) would help more than a processor upgrade.

Quickdart · September 27th, 2001

You can actually run ePSXe on a suprisingly slow processor. I was playing Star Ocean 2 on an AMD K-6 266, 96MB RAM, and a VooDoo 3 2000 for about 6 months.it ran at about 50 FPS fairly steady. So a good video card can really make up for a crappy processor.
Now I'm one of the 'near 1Gz' crowd, with my Duron 800, and yes the only reason I bought it was to play PSX games

(and Dungeon Keeper II + Black and White)

vivrantpig · September 27th, 2001

u lucky ppl i got a celeron 900

im thinking about getting a whole bunch of ram to speed it up a lil tho

maybe a new video card too... hmmmm...

Fou-lu · September 27th, 2001

Well, since this has became a hardware thread anyway, i'll fire up one post too.
FINALLY, i'm back to the board! My old mobo did crash even with animated gifs! I couldn't post anymore... But I got a Asus CUSL2-C without modem and audio onboard (and a AGP4X instead of a AGPpro but, hey!) and now my system is rock solid! Even the Zsnes emu (kept crashing with mode 7 sequences) now runs smothly. So the point in this. Don't buy a P3V133 from Asus, it's known that this chipset (Via Apollo 133) is buggy anyway. But as for the rest, I'm really happy to be with you guys again...

It's been a tough week...

September 20th, 2001	#1 (permalink)
Dark-Talon Registered User Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 6	Emulation Optimization? Okay, my computer isn't the greatest, first of all: System Specs: Intel Celeron 366 98 megs ram Windows ME (system restore disabled) Guillemot Maxi Gamer Phoenix (Voodoo Banshee chipset) using 1.04 banshee reference drivers (not Guillemot's drivers) to avoid menu glitches in certain games. Hercules Game Theatre XP A random 8-button controller with Saitek drivers http://members.home.com/dark-talon/8button.zip (If anyone needs 8-button drivers for a generic controller, try these above provided by Saitek. They're posted on my @home space and I personally vouch that they don't contain any viruses) EPSXe plugins used: Lewpy's 3dfx/Glide³ GPU 1.35 Null2's Audio Driver 1.3 ePSXe CDR ASPI core 1.4.0. Okay, now on to the problem. When I play games, they run perfectly until XA audio is introduced, in both movies and in gameplay--it stutters about every two seconds or so. I've heard from many people that this is just something that they've had to deal with, but short of buying a new computer (or using my playstation), is there any way to prevent this from happening, or lessen the occurance of it? Thank you, Dark-Talon

September 20th, 2001	#5 (permalink)
ebola Registered User Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Chanhassen, MN Posts: 900	haha. i have to flip my psx upside down so it reads cds correctly since the shocks are dead on it. i have the first psx. i bought it at walmart about 6 years ago or whenever it came out for $300. oh yea. kind of proves my point. its more about what graphics card you have than what processor. Last edited by ebola; September 20th, 2001 at 14:15.

September 20th, 2001	#6 (permalink)
dirk_gently Registered User Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: NC Posts: 68	He's got a voodoo banshee. Is that proving your point? And if you're going to invest in a new component this weekend, why go from a 950 cellery to a 1Ghz P3? Why not go with a GeForce2 GTS or Ultra? That would certainly help a lot more than a 50Mhz improvement... __________________ Config: Athlon 1.4, GF2 GTS 64MB, 512MB RAM, DX8, Win2K Pro, SBLive!, PSJoy Converter /w Dual Shock

September 21st, 2001	#8 (permalink)
TuDWoWBaN Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: Norway Posts: 6	... because, Dirk, there isn`t anything as a "celeron @ 952 mhz". Well, it would have to be overclocked. By the way, a Celeron is waaaay slower than a Pentium chipset. I would know, since I work with building computers. A Pentium 1ghz could easily be overclocked (using a new fan and mabye some Goop - cooling paste). I bet the Celeron is a 700mhz. So he would actually be upgrading his processor power by 300mhz, AND get a chipset that is 20-30% faster.

September 21st, 2001	#10 (permalink)
Dark-Talon Registered User Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 6	Fixed it! I used Pete's midas plugin with XA smoothing, and it works flawlessly.. I'm so happy!

September 20th, 2001	#2 (permalink)
sxamiga Guest Posts: n/a	I would say to consider trying another SPU. Pete's Direct Sound SPU vers 1.11 is an excellent choice and from what I have seen, XA music plays excellently with it. Iori's latest SPU version 1.48 (I think it is 1.48 or mybe it is vers. 1.49) is also excellent and XA music plays well w/it as well. Why not give one of these a try and see what you think. Best of luck. sincerely, sx/amiga

September 20th, 2001	#3 (permalink)
ebola Registered User Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Chanhassen, MN Posts: 900	im kind of wondering how you can even run playstation on a celeron 333. how slow is it? the reason i'm asking is because i have a pretty fast system but a crappy graphics card. right now a celeron @ 952 mhz. graphics card is a diamond viper 550. this weekend I'm getting a new p3 1ghz cdo. should speed things up slightly. i still need to get a new graphics card.

September 20th, 2001	#4 (permalink)
Dark-Talon Registered User Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 6	Actually, believe it or not, it runs as smooth as silk in game.. I've been playing Tenchu 2, Breath of Fire IV, Harvest Moon and Castlevania: SoTN mostly and the only time I have a problem is with XA audio, which is just a stutter (comparable to how the PSX stutters during FMVs when it gets too hot, or when it's a bit older)

September 20th, 2001	#7 (permalink)
Dark-Talon Registered User Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 6	It's really rather amazing.. With my PoS computer, I've been able to run games that my friends (with upper end machines) couldn't run for some reason or another.. But despite my luck with this machine (and only spending around $20 for the processor about 2 years ago) I think it's time to move on. I've already invested in a Cambridge SoundWorks surround and a Game Theatre XP, so I'm pretty happy with my audio configuration. I got a TDK Velo CD burner, which I'm also happy with.. But as far as what I need, I was thinking that I'd go for a P4 processor and a Hercules 3D Prophet III.. I'm sure that'd get me the speed boost I'm looking for. Anyone out there on a P4 or using a 3D Prophet III? Basically, I'm just looking for some comments about them before I go blow a bunch of cash.. Anyone have either good or bad experiences with them? Thanks, Dark-Talon

September 21st, 2001	#9 (permalink)
dpence Registered User Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: USA Posts: 1,119	Right Click My computer, select properties (Device manager) then go to your cdrom settings and select(Put a check beside) DMA. pauses every 2 seconds are always DMA related or just bad cdrom drives.

September 21st, 2001	#11 (permalink)
Zephon Key To The Universe Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Stratosphere Posts: 2,706	Dark-Talon, you were saying about buying a P4, right? I really think you should get an Athlon, the performance is great and is MUCH cheaper than Intel's cpus. Wait a bit for the Athlon Palomino and Pentium4 Northwood to be released(end of year), and check a comparison between them. __________________ But there is someone who remembers you Someone waiting for a sign that leads the way to you There is someone who will die for you Keep that in mind when the hope fails

September 21st, 2001	#13 (permalink)
dirk_gently Registered User Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: NC Posts: 68	Nice to hear that you "work with computers". How proud you must be. All I was saying is that if he's using a voodoo banshee, then it's certainly his biggest bottleneck. A video upgrade (even to GeForce2 MX) would help more than a processor upgrade. __________________ Config: Athlon 1.4, GF2 GTS 64MB, 512MB RAM, DX8, Win2K Pro, SBLive!, PSJoy Converter /w Dual Shock

September 27th, 2001	#14 (permalink)
Quickdart Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: Nova Scotia, Canada Posts: 78	You can actually run ePSXe on a suprisingly slow processor. I was playing Star Ocean 2 on an AMD K-6 266, 96MB RAM, and a VooDoo 3 2000 for about 6 months.it ran at about 50 FPS fairly steady. So a good video card can really make up for a crappy processor. Now I'm one of the 'near 1Gz' crowd, with my Duron 800, and yes the only reason I bought it was to play PSX games (and Dungeon Keeper II + Black and White)

September 27th, 2001	#15 (permalink)
vivrantpig (>^_^)> KIRBY Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 2,609	u lucky ppl i got a celeron 900 im thinking about getting a whole bunch of ram to speed it up a lil tho maybe a new video card too... hmmmm... Last edited by vivrantpig; September 27th, 2001 at 03:17.

September 27th, 2001	#16 (permalink)
Fou-lu Junker daughter Join Date: Jun 2001 Posts: 2,289	Well, since this has became a hardware thread anyway, i'll fire up one post too. FINALLY, i'm back to the board! My old mobo did crash even with animated gifs! I couldn't post anymore... But I got a Asus CUSL2-C without modem and audio onboard (and a AGP4X instead of a AGPpro but, hey!) and now my system is rock solid! Even the Zsnes emu (kept crashing with mode 7 sequences) now runs smothly. So the point in this. Don't buy a P3V133 from Asus, it's known that this chipset (Via Apollo 133) is buggy anyway. But as for the rest, I'm really happy to be with you guys again... It's been a tough week...

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