Emulation is slow despite very fast computer [SOLVED(?)]

TheFluff · Post by **TheFluff** » Mon May 29, 2006 10:23 pm

OK, yet another of those "OMG IT'S TEH SLOW" threads. Yes, I did search first, but I haven't managed to solve the problem despite trying various suggested solutions.

The Problem (tm):
Everything (all roms I've tested - about 10 different ones) runs slow. Very slow. About half realtime, in fact.

Computer/software information:
Windows 2000
Athlon X2 3800+
1 GB RAM
Radeon 9600 Pro AGP, 128 MB (no, I don't game much)
ZSNES 1.42 (tested with the May 27 WIP, problem still persists)

The annoying thing is that it worked before my latest upgrade (when I switched CPU and motherboard, from an Athlon XP 2400+ to the current one). I've tried most of the suggested solutions I've found on the forums - turning on triple buffering, lowering resolution to 640x480, reducing frameskip to 0 etc. - but no dice. Everything just keeps on running at a steady, but slow, pace. CPU power is very evidently not a problem, since I can run it on both my laptop and on my older CPU, and if I turn off autoframerate everything runs in at least twice realtime, even at framerate 0.

Any and all suggestions or thoughts are welcome.

EDIT: after randomly pressing a lot of buttons in the hope of solving the problem by the infinite-monkey approach, I discovered that turning on vsync seems to solve it. Why, I have no idea, since my display runs at 85 Hz and all games I tested are NTSC (60 Hz), but hey, whatever works...

adventure_of_link · Post by **adventure_of_link** » Mon May 29, 2006 10:48 pm

iirc the -6 switch was inserted because there is/was ripping and tearing occuring with some users not using a frequency of multiple of 60 (eg: 60, 120, 180, etc)

However, I can run ZSNES with little to no problem with 85, wonder why...

Clements · Post by **Clements** » Mon May 29, 2006 11:19 pm

Set CPU Affinity to one core in Task Manager.

TheFluff · Post by **TheFluff** » Tue May 30, 2006 12:09 pm

Clements wrote:Set CPU Affinity to one core in Task Manager.

Interesting tip, but it doesn't solve the problem (not without vsync, that is).

TheFluff · Post by **TheFluff** » Wed May 31, 2006 10:59 am

After even MORE experimenting and several reboots, it turns out that what actually helps ALL of the time is the -6 commandline switch in combination with having Vsync on, OR having Vsync on and running the monitor in 60 Hz. 85 Hz seems to alternately work and break randomly....

(just posting for the benefit of future help-seekers with the same problem)

Que · Post by **Que** » Wed May 31, 2006 4:18 pm

I run zsnes with 85hz. I've never run into these problems. Is this perhaps video card specific? I was thinking that maybe it's a video card speed issue? I mean the refresh of the monitor, and screen updates are handled by your video card, are they not? I have a pretty high end card, and I know AoL runs his zsnes on a decently fast card as well. hmm, food for thought.

adventure_of_link · Post by **adventure_of_link** » Wed May 31, 2006 5:12 pm

Que wrote:I know AoL runs his zsnes on a decently fast card as well. hmm, food for thought.

Yeah, but when I ran my ZSNES @ 85Hz, it is/was on my server, Windows XP and Gentoo Linux, using an Intel 84850/G/GL/PV Gfx chip.

On my laptop (the "faster card") I run at 60Hz because I mostly use the built-in screen.

TheFluff · Post by **TheFluff** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 12:58 am

I found something that might or might not be related:
http://virtualdub.org/blog/pivot/entry.php?id=106#body

I have:
- a dual-core processor
- Cool 'n Quiet activated.

What do the developers say? (I certainly don't mean to imply anything about crappy code or something, I'm just curious if this might be the cause or not.)

Post by **pagefault** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 2:41 am

You need to either get all the updates for 2000 or update to XP SP2 and get all the drivers for your mobo/chipset for ZSNES to work properly. Windows 2000 doesn't support Cool n Quiet or Intel Speedstep properly without help from updates and drivers.

Mark7 · Post by **Mark7** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 7:03 am

adventure_of_link wrote:iirc the -6 switch was inserted because there is/was ripping and tearing occuring with some users not using a frequency of multiple of 60 (eg: 60, 120, 180, etc)

However, I can run ZSNES with little to no problem with 85, wonder why...

The -6 switch is there because zsnes only perfectly smooth runs at 60, 120 180hz. With 85hz you WILL get slight hiccups.

It has nothing to do with ripping and tearing. You will still get severe ripping when you got -6 enable but vsync disabled (in zsnes or your videocard drivers).

JanErsa · Post by **JanErsa** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 9:55 pm

TheFluff wrote: Computer/software information:
Windows 2000
Athlon X2 3800+
1 GB RAM
Radeon 9600 Pro AGP, 128 MB (no, I don't game much)
ZSNES 1.42 (tested with the May 27 WIP, problem still persists)

Since you have an Athlon X2 cpu you might have bumped into the same problem as I had.
Open Control Panel and go to System,
Click the Hardware tab and open Device Manager,
Do you have a yellow question mark showing that the SM bus controller drivers are missing?
If you do, you should install new chipset drivers for your mother board (the SM bus drivers are included in the pack). I had this problem, but after installing the drivers ZSNES has run on correct speed.

My mother board is an MSI K9A Platinum. The SM bus drivers seem to have been missing on the install CD that came with the board.

creaothceann · Post by **creaothceann** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 3:36 am

ZSNES board

Emulation is slow despite very fast computer [SOLVED(?)]

Emulation is slow despite very fast computer [SOLVED(?)]

Re: Emulation is slow despite very fast computer [SOLVED(?)]