Question about improving performance!

Melhisedek · February 14th, 2003

Hi guys,
I thought of installing VBA 1.4 on my brothers PC and giving him some games to play but when I tried to play it was really slow (Harry Potter 2, LOTR: TTT) which he would like to play.
I checked the "Speed toogle" in menu but it won't stay on ( and it is not giving great . Next time i start VBA it's not on

Is there anything I can do with with those "frameskip" and "throttle" or something ?
I would like to hear all possible ways of improving performance right now it's on 60-70 % ...
On to specs:

Compaq:
AMD K6-II 450 MHz
196 MB SDRAM PC 100
8 MB ATI RAGE ( I have o/c this one but it wasnt too much of a help

)
Win2k SP 3
2Gig free on HD ( 8 Gig HD )

Is there any other emu that is faster or ?
Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
Thanks in advance!

**Kane** · February 14th, 2003

Hmmm... it may just be that your CPU don't have the bessecary oomph, but try making sure that this option is on

**Kirby** · February 14th, 2003

MMX technology was claimed to be supported for AMD processor with this version, but I really don't see any difference in speed.

His video memory is only 8MB, could it really help? Or just try a high frame skip. Or you can even try the automatic frame skip, but that really doesn't work that great.

btw - Is that the watermark theme you're using Kane?

**Kane** · February 14th, 2003

>btw - Is that the watermark theme you're using Kane?

No, it's called Whistler 2250 advanced (Professional). I like it's clean looks.

>His video memory is only 8MB, could it really help? Or just try a high frame skip. Or you can even try the automatic frame skip, but that really doesn't work that great.

Yes, as using system memory for overlay is normally very slow in comparison.

Melhisedek · February 14th, 2003

I'll will try this as soon as I get home form work!
Is there any other emu that is faster perhaps ???

Thank you guys !

**Kirby** · February 14th, 2003

BoycottAdvance does seem to run a little bit faster, and has cleaner sound. Unfortunately, it's never usually updated and has horrible compatability

Melhisedek · February 18th, 2003

Well I did what you guys said and I got it up to 75% stable

Thanks a lot ! ( Whish I could find some updated drivers for this graphic card theese are from 99 i belive )

**Yeloazndevil** · February 18th, 2003

set your priority to Highest and u won't be able to get updated drivers for your ATI Rage since its outdated..........

Melhisedek · February 19th, 2003

Will try that ! And I know

I already searched the whole web in search for it... They made only one set of drivers for these cards

Really sad !

ackmondual · February 28th, 2003

hmm some of this may be recycled from above, but i suppose its worth mentioning, try any of these:

--turn frameskip up to 1 - 3. Unfortunately anything of 2 or greater makes gameplay too choppy for any typical action game
--turn down the sound frequency to 22 or even 11KHz -- will make sound effects sound even more tinny then before
--the VGA person claims that using screensize x1 as opposed to x2 or fullscreen should help, but i can't see any diff for me.
--the priority thing from abov.......
-manually adjust settings to suite the current gameplay environment
One example of this:
There's a part in of the game in Castlevania: harmony of diss. (towards the top right of the castle i think) where there's a really nice looking background of the sky, with clouds blowing from the background to the foreground. I noticed that wen i entered this area, the performance (indicated on the window title bar) would go down to 50 - 60%. turning off the background (ctrl+3 ithink) brought it up to around 85%! less things to process meant faster execution. i simply toggled that background layer back wen i exited that area

--dusn't win2000 req. a min of 256RAM? your OS may be "underpowered" if this is true, a potential source of slowdown
--u'll probably get much better performance off a faster system

I've got a
P3 550, 640MB RAM, 16MB voodoo3 3000, winXP and am only pulling 60% - 90% on frameskip1

February 14th, 2003	#1 (permalink)
Melhisedek Registered User Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 495	Question about improving performance! Hi guys, I thought of installing VBA 1.4 on my brothers PC and giving him some games to play but when I tried to play it was really slow (Harry Potter 2, LOTR: TTT) which he would like to play. I checked the "Speed toogle" in menu but it won't stay on ( and it is not giving great . Next time i start VBA it's not on Is there anything I can do with with those "frameskip" and "throttle" or something ? I would like to hear all possible ways of improving performance right now it's on 60-70 % ... On to specs: Compaq: AMD K6-II 450 MHz 196 MB SDRAM PC 100 8 MB ATI RAGE ( I have o/c this one but it wasnt too much of a help ) Win2k SP 3 2Gig free on HD ( 8 Gig HD ) Is there any other emu that is faster or ? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks in advance! Thanks in advance! __________________ Love can die, but Power is forever!

February 14th, 2003	#3 (permalink)
Kirby Politically incorrect FTW Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Massachusetts, USA Posts: 8,455	MMX technology was claimed to be supported for AMD processor with this version, but I really don't see any difference in speed. His video memory is only 8MB, could it really help? Or just try a high frame skip. Or you can even try the automatic frame skip, but that really doesn't work that great. btw - Is that the watermark theme you're using Kane? __________________ AMD Athlon64 X2 4400+ Toledo, Nvidia GeForce 7950GT SLi, 2GB PC3200 2-3-2-5, ABit AN8-SLi, Sound Blaster X-FI XtremeMusic

February 14th, 2003	#4 (permalink)
Kane 邪魔ゎ指せない Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Gosport, England Posts: 26,255	>btw - Is that the watermark theme you're using Kane? No, it's called Whistler 2250 advanced (Professional). I like it's clean looks. >His video memory is only 8MB, could it really help? Or just try a high frame skip. Or you can even try the automatic frame skip, but that really doesn't work that great. Yes, as using system memory for overlay is normally very slow in comparison. __________________ >Site Live< Pop over to my site for help with setting up PSX emulators. Help for the Final Fantasies and other RPGs avalaible Celes: (Desktop) Athlon 64 X2 4200+, 2Gb 400MHz DDR Ram, MSI K8N Platinum, GeForce 8800 GTS 320Mb, 500Gb RAID HDD, Vista Business Erika: (MCPC) Athlon XP 2400+, 1Gb 400MHz DDR Ram, geForce 6800 256Mb, 80Gb Hdd, XP 2005 MCE Kimiko: (Desktop 2) Athlon 64 3000+, 512Mb 400MHz DDR Ram, Asus K8V, geForce 6800 128Mb

February 14th, 2003	#5 (permalink)
Melhisedek Registered User Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 495	I'll will try this as soon as I get home form work! Is there any other emu that is faster perhaps ??? Thank you guys ! __________________ Love can die, but Power is forever!

February 14th, 2003	#6 (permalink)
Kirby Politically incorrect FTW Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Massachusetts, USA Posts: 8,455	BoycottAdvance does seem to run a little bit faster, and has cleaner sound. Unfortunately, it's never usually updated and has horrible compatability __________________ AMD Athlon64 X2 4400+ Toledo, Nvidia GeForce 7950GT SLi, 2GB PC3200 2-3-2-5, ABit AN8-SLi, Sound Blaster X-FI XtremeMusic

February 18th, 2003	#7 (permalink)
Melhisedek Registered User Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 495	Well I did what you guys said and I got it up to 75% stable Thanks a lot ! ( Whish I could find some updated drivers for this graphic card theese are from 99 i belive ) __________________ Love can die, but Power is forever!

February 18th, 2003	#8 (permalink)
Yeloazndevil :3 Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 10,147	set your priority to Highest and u won't be able to get updated drivers for your ATI Rage since its outdated..........

February 19th, 2003	#9 (permalink)
Melhisedek Registered User Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 495	Will try that ! And I know I already searched the whole web in search for it... They made only one set of drivers for these cards Really sad ! __________________ Love can die, but Power is forever!

February 28th, 2003	#10 (permalink)
ackmondual Registered User Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: U.S.A., Earth Posts: 139	hmm some of this may be recycled from above, but i suppose its worth mentioning, try any of these: --turn frameskip up to 1 - 3. Unfortunately anything of 2 or greater makes gameplay too choppy for any typical action game --turn down the sound frequency to 22 or even 11KHz -- will make sound effects sound even more tinny then before --the VGA person claims that using screensize x1 as opposed to x2 or fullscreen should help, but i can't see any diff for me. --the priority thing from abov....... -manually adjust settings to suite the current gameplay environment One example of this: There's a part in of the game in Castlevania: harmony of diss. (towards the top right of the castle i think) where there's a really nice looking background of the sky, with clouds blowing from the background to the foreground. I noticed that wen i entered this area, the performance (indicated on the window title bar) would go down to 50 - 60%. turning off the background (ctrl+3 ithink) brought it up to around 85%! less things to process meant faster execution. i simply toggled that background layer back wen i exited that area --dusn't win2000 req. a min of 256RAM? your OS may be "underpowered" if this is true, a potential source of slowdown --u'll probably get much better performance off a faster system I've got a P3 550, 640MB RAM, 16MB voodoo3 3000, winXP and am only pulling 60% - 90% on frameskip1 __________________ NES --> FCE Ultra \|\| SNES --> ZNES \|\| Gameboy, Gameboy Color, Gameboy Advance --> VisualBoy Advance \|\| N64 --> Project 64 General Arcade --> MAME \|\| Capcom Arcade --> Kawaks \|\| NeoGeo --> NeoRage Atari --> ?<can't remember>? \|\| Genesis --> Gens \|\| Game Gear --> Meka \|\| PSX --> ePSXe "Do you know the difference between an error and a mistake? Anyone can make an error, but that error doesn't become a mistake until you refuse to correct it." -Grand Admiral Thrawn Handspring Visor -> Handspring Visor Neo -> PalmOne Zire 71 -> PalmOne Tungsten T3 + Tapwave Zodiac 2

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