Feature request: Vsync without 100% CPU usage (Windows)

Dwedit · Post by **Dwedit** » Thu May 03, 2007 8:07 pm

Is it possible to have ZSNES able to wait for VSYNC without using 100% CPU usage?
I read something on codeproject that said that the WaitForVerticalBlank directx call is basically a spinlock idle loop, and for better performance, use a 2ms multimedia timer along with GetScanLine to wait for vblank.

Why would it matter? 100% CPU usage == hot laptop.

xamenus · Post by **xamenus** » Fri May 04, 2007 4:10 am

It's interesting that you brought this up, as I have wondered about this for a long time as well. With Nestopia, I'm able to use filters, zero frameskip, vsync etc. without taking up 100% CPU, even though it is supposed to be a slower emulator than ZSNES.

creaothceann · Post by **creaothceann** » Fri May 04, 2007 7:10 am

It's not really the speed of the emulator, but what it does with the remaining time not used for emulation.

For example, "1964" uses about half the CPU time on my laptop, so the fan stays at its speed. With "Project64" the CPU load is always 100%, so the fan goes wild.

I've noticed that SNES9x doesn't use all of its time, too.