Difference between revisions of "Overclocking"
(→NES: Clarified which builds of FCEUX support overclocking and how it works, with reference to Sourceforge commit page.) |
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− | Overclocking is the process by which the CPU clockspeed is increased. The reason for doing this would be to reduce slowdown in games, or to increase the | + | Overclocking is the process by which the CPU clockspeed is increased. The reason for doing this would be to reduce slowdown in games, or to increase the frame rate. However, as this is a hack and not intended by designers, it can result in many issues. Certain systems can have an overclocked CPU with few if any issues, while others can not overclock without major issues. |
==Chart== | ==Chart== | ||
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| style="text-align: center;"|? | | style="text-align: center;"|? | ||
|- | |- | ||
− | | style="text-align: center;"|[[Super Nintendo emulators|SNES]] Main CPU | + | | style="text-align: center;"|[[Super Nintendo emulators|SNES]] (Main CPU) |
| style="text-align: center;"|3.58 MHz | | style="text-align: center;"|3.58 MHz | ||
| style="text-align: center;"|Yes | | style="text-align: center;"|Yes | ||
− | | style="text-align: center;"| | + | | style="text-align: center;"|Yes |
| style="text-align: center;"|4.1 -7.6 Mhz | | style="text-align: center;"|4.1 -7.6 Mhz | ||
|- | |- | ||
− | | style="text-align: center;"|[[Super Nintendo emulators|SNES]] | + | | style="text-align: center;"|[[Super Nintendo emulators|SNES]] (Super FX 1) |
| style="text-align: center;"|10.5 MHz | | style="text-align: center;"|10.5 MHz | ||
| style="text-align: center;"|Yes | | style="text-align: center;"|Yes | ||
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| style="text-align: center;"|40-60 Mhz | | style="text-align: center;"|40-60 Mhz | ||
|- | |- | ||
− | | style="text-align: center;"|[[Super Nintendo emulators|SNES]] | + | | style="text-align: center;"|[[Super Nintendo emulators|SNES]] (Super FX 2) |
| style="text-align: center;"|21 MHz | | style="text-align: center;"|21 MHz | ||
| style="text-align: center;"|Yes | | style="text-align: center;"|Yes | ||
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|- | |- | ||
|} | |} | ||
− | <nowiki>*</nowiki>Sega Saturn has two SH-2 CPUs | + | <nowiki>*</nowiki> Sega Saturn has two SH-2 CPUs |
==NES== | ==NES== | ||
Overclocking is possible on real hardware, but doing so also speeds up the audio unless you're using a special hardware mod like the HiDefNES which does allow for overclocking without changing the audio pitch<ref name="HiDefNESoverclock">https://youtu.be/QnQuBN3iYVA?t=4m8s</ref>. | Overclocking is possible on real hardware, but doing so also speeds up the audio unless you're using a special hardware mod like the HiDefNES which does allow for overclocking without changing the audio pitch<ref name="HiDefNESoverclock">https://youtu.be/QnQuBN3iYVA?t=4m8s</ref>. | ||
− | |||
Build r3120 and above of FCEUX allow overclocking by adding extra scanlines to the PPU loop. This method doesn't cause audio distortion. It is found under the Timing menu and the number of added scanlines is user definable. <ref name="FCEUX Overclock">https://sourceforge.net/p/fceultra/code/3120/</ref> | Build r3120 and above of FCEUX allow overclocking by adding extra scanlines to the PPU loop. This method doesn't cause audio distortion. It is found under the Timing menu and the number of added scanlines is user definable. <ref name="FCEUX Overclock">https://sourceforge.net/p/fceultra/code/3120/</ref> | ||
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The main SNES CPU ran at 3.58 MHz and can be overclocked. However it causes issues. With those who have tested it, the following issues occur: | The main SNES CPU ran at 3.58 MHz and can be overclocked. However it causes issues. With those who have tested it, the following issues occur: | ||
− | * | + | * 4.1 MHz: Small amounts of sprite breakup occasionally; very little slowdown. |
− | + | * 5.1 MHz: Sprite breakup; no slowdown | |
− | *5.1 MHz: Sprite breakup; no slowdown | + | * 6.6 MHz: Color palette errors; sprites fail to render |
− | + | * 7.6 MHz: Color palette errors; sprites fail to render. Freezes after a few minutes.<ref name="SNES overclock">http://web.archive.org/web/20070629163744/http://www.undergroundcm.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15&Itemid=38</ref> | |
− | *6.6 MHz: Color palette errors; sprites fail to render | ||
− | |||
− | *7.6 MHz: Color palette errors; sprites fail to render. Freezes after a few minutes. | ||
− | + | Only MAME has an option to change the main CPU frequency, which requires you to enable cheats. MAME SNES emulation is very demanding by default, and activating the overclock only makes it worse. It is more stable than the real hardware while overclocked and won't exhibit the same issues, but it is still very unstable especially if you adjust the frequency multiple times. It also does not allow you to go over 200% clock speed, which isn't enough to fully get rid of slowdowns in some games. | |
− | |||
− | |||
+ | ===Super FX chip=== | ||
The first version of the chip, commonly referred to as simply "Super FX", is clocked with a 21 MHz signal, but an internal clock speed divider halves it to 10.5 MHz. Later on, the design was revised to become the Super FX GSU-2; this, unlike the first Super FX chip revision, is able to reach 21 MHz. | The first version of the chip, commonly referred to as simply "Super FX", is clocked with a 21 MHz signal, but an internal clock speed divider halves it to 10.5 MHz. Later on, the design was revised to become the Super FX GSU-2; this, unlike the first Super FX chip revision, is able to reach 21 MHz. | ||
− | The SFX chip | + | The SFX chip can be overclocked on real hardware or emulation with fewer issues than overclocking the CPU. However, tests have shown that overclocking can increase the speed of the game, in addition to increasing the frame rate and removing slowdown.<ref name="Dragon50hztest">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfNI3HpUt-4</ref> |
− | |||
− | |||
− | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfNI3HpUt-4</ref> | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
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==PC-Engine (TG-16)== | ==PC-Engine (TG-16)== | ||
− | + | The main CPU can be overclocked on real hardware but will also speed up audio.<ref>http://nfggames.com/games/pce/</ref> | |
[[Mednafen]] allows overclocking the CPU up to 100x, without affecting audio pitch, in its non-default [http://mednafen.sourceforge.net/documentation/pce_fast.html pce_fast] core via the [http://mednafen.sourceforge.net/documentation/pce_fast.html#pce_fast.ocmultiplier pce_fast.ocmultiplier] setting. | [[Mednafen]] allows overclocking the CPU up to 100x, without affecting audio pitch, in its non-default [http://mednafen.sourceforge.net/documentation/pce_fast.html pce_fast] core via the [http://mednafen.sourceforge.net/documentation/pce_fast.html#pce_fast.ocmultiplier pce_fast.ocmultiplier] setting. | ||
==N64== | ==N64== | ||
− | Some emulators like [[ | + | Some emulators like the [[Libretro|libretro]] port of [[Mupen64Plus]] have an overclocking option called "VI Refresh", and 1964 UltraFast (a very old fork of 1964) have an option to overclock the CPU. |
− | Some games (see the list below) can take advantage of overclocking and improves | + | Some games (see the list below) can take advantage of overclocking and improves frame rate, while most others (such as Super Mario 64) have built-in frame rate limiter and unaffected by overclocking.<ref>http://forum.pj64-emu.com/showpost.php?p=51810&postcount=6</ref><ref>http://www.emucr.com/2011/02/1964-ultrafast-v3.html</ref> |
===List of games that can take advantage of overclocking=== | ===List of games that can take advantage of overclocking=== | ||
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Conker's Bad Fur Day | Conker's Bad Fur Day | ||
Destruction Derby 64 | Destruction Derby 64 | ||
− | Disney's Donald Duck - Goin Quackers / Donald Duck - Quack Attack | + | Disney's Donald Duck - Goin' Quackers / Donald Duck - Quack Attack |
Duck Dodgers Starring Daffy Duck / Looney Toons - Duck Dodgers | Duck Dodgers Starring Daffy Duck / Looney Toons - Duck Dodgers | ||
Earthworm Jim 3D | Earthworm Jim 3D | ||
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F-1 Pole Position 64 | F-1 Pole Position 64 | ||
Gex 3 - Deep Cover Gecko | Gex 3 - Deep Cover Gecko | ||
− | + | GoldenEye 007 | |
Hot Wheels Turbo Racing | Hot Wheels Turbo Racing | ||
Human Grand Prix - New Generation | Human Grand Prix - New Generation | ||
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World Cup 98 | World Cup 98 | ||
</pre> | </pre> | ||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
==GameCube/Wii== | ==GameCube/Wii== | ||
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On real hardware, overclocking is possible using [http://djky2k3.tripod.com/psx_oc.html this modification]. | On real hardware, overclocking is possible using [http://djky2k3.tripod.com/psx_oc.html this modification]. | ||
− | On emulators, [https://github.com/SonofUgly/PCSX-Reloaded/releases this modified build] of PCSX-R | + | On emulators, [https://github.com/SonofUgly/PCSX-Reloaded/releases this modified build] of [[PCSX-Reloaded|PCSX-R]] as well as [http://ngemu.com/threads/pcsxr-pgxp.186369/ this fork] allow for overclocking, though most games will break past 1.5x clock speed. Recent builds of Beetle PSX (libretro fork of Mednafen's PS1 core) also support overclocking, by way of removing timing penalties instead increasing clock speed. |
==PS2== | ==PS2== | ||
− | On original model PS2s you can overclock by a small amount without too much problem, the biggest issue will be sped up audio. Slim model PS2s use the GPU's | + | On original model PS2s you can overclock by a small amount without too much problem, but the biggest issue will be sped-up audio. Slim model PS2s use the GPU's clock rate as a base for the CPU (multiplying the GPU's clock by 2), so overclocking the CPU will also overclock the GPU resulting in many visual problems.<ref name="PS2OC">http://nfggames.com/forum2/index.php?topic=2220.0</ref> |
− | All recent builds of PCSX2 have a speed hack that allows you to increase the EE cycle-rate without having any effect on the audio, although it does still break a few games most of them run fine and with less slowdown. The emulator also has a speed hack called VU Cycle Stealing, which allows for increased GPU performance at the cost of CPU cycles. It gives an incorrect FPS readout, though. | + | All recent builds of [[PCSX2]] have a speed hack that allows you to increase the EE cycle-rate without having any effect on the audio, although it does still break a few games most of them run fine and with less slowdown. The emulator also has a speed hack called VU Cycle Stealing, which allows for increased GPU performance at the cost of CPU cycles. It gives an incorrect FPS readout, though. |
==PSP== | ==PSP== | ||
− | [[PPSSPP]] allows over/underclocking of the main CPU. Due to Sony underclocking the CPU to 222 MHz then removing the underclock in a later firmware update to allow it to run at 333 MHz<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Portable_hardware#Technical_specifications</ref> (and thus not having games closely tied to | + | [[PPSSPP]] allows over/underclocking of the main CPU. Due to Sony underclocking the CPU to 222 MHz then removing the underclock in a later firmware update to allow it to run at 333 MHz<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Portable_hardware#Technical_specifications</ref> (and thus not having games closely tied to clock rate), overclocking the system (and emulating an overclocked system) results to next to no ill effects. |
+ | |||
==Neo Geo== | ==Neo Geo== | ||
− | Final | + | [[Final Burn Alpha]] allows for overclocking of Neo Geo games. MAMEUIFX (aka MAME32FX) also allows for overclocking.<ref>http://mame32fx.altervista.org/home.htm</ref> All Neo Geo should run at full speed when overclocked. |
==Sega Genesis== | ==Sega Genesis== | ||
− | The original hardware can be overclocked leading to faster/smoother gameplay. <ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVrElANZg2M</ref> | + | The original hardware can be overclocked leading to faster/smoother gameplay.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVrElANZg2M</ref> |
− | Most Genesis emulators don't allow overclocking. The [[Genesis Plus GX]] | + | Most Genesis emulators don't allow overclocking. The [[Genesis Plus GX]] developer, for instance, says that implementing overclocking is "not easy to add without potentially break other things. <ref>https://code.google.com/p/genplus-gx/issues/detail?id=223</ref> |
[http://aamirm.hacking-cult.org/www/regen.html Regen] allows overclocking in the dev build version.<ref>http://segaretro.org/Regen</ref> Games with sprite flicker, like Altered Beast, and games with slowdown, like Rambo III or Mega Man: The Wily Wars, play perfectly with Regen's "Overclock M68000" setting at 732 (1.5x original speed). The game speed and audio are unaffected by overclocking. | [http://aamirm.hacking-cult.org/www/regen.html Regen] allows overclocking in the dev build version.<ref>http://segaretro.org/Regen</ref> Games with sprite flicker, like Altered Beast, and games with slowdown, like Rambo III or Mega Man: The Wily Wars, play perfectly with Regen's "Overclock M68000" setting at 732 (1.5x original speed). The game speed and audio are unaffected by overclocking. | ||
==3DO== | ==3DO== | ||
− | Standalone Windows version of 4DO allows up to 400% of the original 3DO clock speed, making some low | + | Standalone Windows version of 4DO allows up to 400% of the original 3DO clock speed, making some low frame rate titles such as Doctor Hauzer more playable. The libretro version of 4DO does not seem to contain overclocking features. |
==References== | ==References== |
Revision as of 07:02, 12 September 2016
Overclocking is the process by which the CPU clockspeed is increased. The reason for doing this would be to reduce slowdown in games, or to increase the frame rate. However, as this is a hack and not intended by designers, it can result in many issues. Certain systems can have an overclocked CPU with few if any issues, while others can not overclock without major issues.
Contents
Chart
System | Normal clock | Hardware Overclock | Emulation Overclock | Overclock levels |
---|---|---|---|---|
NES | 1.79 MHz | Yes | Yes | ? |
SNES (Main CPU) | 3.58 MHz | Yes | Yes | 4.1 -7.6 Mhz |
SNES (Super FX 1) | 10.5 MHz | Yes | Yes | 40-60 Mhz |
SNES (Super FX 2) | 21 MHz | Yes | Yes | 40-60 Mhz, |
Sega Genesis | 7.7 MHz | Yes[1] | Yes | 13.1-25.4 MHz[1] |
PlayStation | 33.8 MHz | Yes[2] | Yes | 66Mhz[2] |
Sega Saturn | 28.6 MHz* | No | No | - |
Nintendo 64 | 93.75 MHz | Yes[3] | Yes | 125-187.5 Mhz[3] |
Neo Geo | 12 MHz | Yes[4] | Yes | 14-18 MHz[4] |
* Sega Saturn has two SH-2 CPUs
NES
Overclocking is possible on real hardware, but doing so also speeds up the audio unless you're using a special hardware mod like the HiDefNES which does allow for overclocking without changing the audio pitch[5].
Build r3120 and above of FCEUX allow overclocking by adding extra scanlines to the PPU loop. This method doesn't cause audio distortion. It is found under the Timing menu and the number of added scanlines is user definable. [6]
SNES
Main CPU
The main SNES CPU ran at 3.58 MHz and can be overclocked. However it causes issues. With those who have tested it, the following issues occur:
- 4.1 MHz: Small amounts of sprite breakup occasionally; very little slowdown.
- 5.1 MHz: Sprite breakup; no slowdown
- 6.6 MHz: Color palette errors; sprites fail to render
- 7.6 MHz: Color palette errors; sprites fail to render. Freezes after a few minutes.[7]
Only MAME has an option to change the main CPU frequency, which requires you to enable cheats. MAME SNES emulation is very demanding by default, and activating the overclock only makes it worse. It is more stable than the real hardware while overclocked and won't exhibit the same issues, but it is still very unstable especially if you adjust the frequency multiple times. It also does not allow you to go over 200% clock speed, which isn't enough to fully get rid of slowdowns in some games.
Super FX chip
The first version of the chip, commonly referred to as simply "Super FX", is clocked with a 21 MHz signal, but an internal clock speed divider halves it to 10.5 MHz. Later on, the design was revised to become the Super FX GSU-2; this, unlike the first Super FX chip revision, is able to reach 21 MHz.
The SFX chip can be overclocked on real hardware or emulation with fewer issues than overclocking the CPU. However, tests have shown that overclocking can increase the speed of the game, in addition to increasing the frame rate and removing slowdown.[8]
Clock speed | Time | Increase |
---|---|---|
Normal | 1'46'02 | ------- |
50hz | 1'23'78 | 27.711%[8] |
Snes9x-Next allows for SFX overclocking, as well as bsnes-mercury, though in the latter the increase in CPU requirements can be noticeable.
PC-Engine (TG-16)
The main CPU can be overclocked on real hardware but will also speed up audio.[9]
Mednafen allows overclocking the CPU up to 100x, without affecting audio pitch, in its non-default pce_fast core via the pce_fast.ocmultiplier setting.
N64
Some emulators like the libretro port of Mupen64Plus have an overclocking option called "VI Refresh", and 1964 UltraFast (a very old fork of 1964) have an option to overclock the CPU.
Some games (see the list below) can take advantage of overclocking and improves frame rate, while most others (such as Super Mario 64) have built-in frame rate limiter and unaffected by overclocking.[10][11]
List of games that can take advantage of overclocking
A Bug's Life Aidyn Chronicles - The First Mage Armorines - Project S.W.A.R.M. Big Mountain 2000 Carmageddon Conker's Bad Fur Day Destruction Derby 64 Disney's Donald Duck - Goin' Quackers / Donald Duck - Quack Attack Duck Dodgers Starring Daffy Duck / Looney Toons - Duck Dodgers Earthworm Jim 3D Extreme-G Extreme-G XG2 F1 Racing Championship F-1 Pole Position 64 Gex 3 - Deep Cover Gecko GoldenEye 007 Hot Wheels Turbo Racing Human Grand Prix - New Generation Jet Force Gemini / Star Twins Jeremy McGrath Supercross 2000 Kobe Bryant's NBA Courtside Madden Football 64 Madden NFL 99-2002 Mario Kart 64 (Multiplayer and some tracks only) Milo's Astro Lanes Monaco Grand Prix - Racing Simulation 2 Monster Truck Madness 64 NASCAR 99/2000 NBA In the Zone 98 / NBA Pro 98 Off Road Challenge Perfect Dark Quake II Racing Simulation 2 Rakuga Kids Rayman 2 - The Great Escape Roadsters Trophy San Francisco Rush - Extreme Racing (Multiplayer only) San Francisco Rush 2049 (Multiplayer only) South Park Rally StarCraft 64 Starshot - Space Circus Fever Super Robot Spirits Taz Express Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Tonic Trouble Toy Story 2 Transformers - Beast Wars Transmetal Turok 2 - Seeds of Evil / Violence Killer - Turok New Generation V-Rally Edition 99 WCW vs. nWo - World Tour World Cup 98
GameCube/Wii
Dolphin supports overclocking and underclocking the CPU. Overclocking can remove slowdown from games that have them, pushing them closer to their actual target frame rate. It causes several issues with many games, so don't expect it to be a perfect solution.
Dolphin used to have a VBeam Speed Hack that doubled GPU clock rate. This has since been removed, as the developers found that it didn't really help in any cases.
PlayStation
On real hardware, overclocking is possible using this modification.
On emulators, this modified build of PCSX-R as well as this fork allow for overclocking, though most games will break past 1.5x clock speed. Recent builds of Beetle PSX (libretro fork of Mednafen's PS1 core) also support overclocking, by way of removing timing penalties instead increasing clock speed.
PS2
On original model PS2s you can overclock by a small amount without too much problem, but the biggest issue will be sped-up audio. Slim model PS2s use the GPU's clock rate as a base for the CPU (multiplying the GPU's clock by 2), so overclocking the CPU will also overclock the GPU resulting in many visual problems.[12]
All recent builds of PCSX2 have a speed hack that allows you to increase the EE cycle-rate without having any effect on the audio, although it does still break a few games most of them run fine and with less slowdown. The emulator also has a speed hack called VU Cycle Stealing, which allows for increased GPU performance at the cost of CPU cycles. It gives an incorrect FPS readout, though.
PSP
PPSSPP allows over/underclocking of the main CPU. Due to Sony underclocking the CPU to 222 MHz then removing the underclock in a later firmware update to allow it to run at 333 MHz[13] (and thus not having games closely tied to clock rate), overclocking the system (and emulating an overclocked system) results to next to no ill effects.
Neo Geo
Final Burn Alpha allows for overclocking of Neo Geo games. MAMEUIFX (aka MAME32FX) also allows for overclocking.[14] All Neo Geo should run at full speed when overclocked.
Sega Genesis
The original hardware can be overclocked leading to faster/smoother gameplay.[15]
Most Genesis emulators don't allow overclocking. The Genesis Plus GX developer, for instance, says that implementing overclocking is "not easy to add without potentially break other things. [16]
Regen allows overclocking in the dev build version.[17] Games with sprite flicker, like Altered Beast, and games with slowdown, like Rambo III or Mega Man: The Wily Wars, play perfectly with Regen's "Overclock M68000" setting at 732 (1.5x original speed). The game speed and audio are unaffected by overclocking.
3DO
Standalone Windows version of 4DO allows up to 400% of the original 3DO clock speed, making some low frame rate titles such as Doctor Hauzer more playable. The libretro version of 4DO does not seem to contain overclocking features.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://kyorune.com/modding/article.php?id=73
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HapnSOseDfw
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 http://www.gamesx.com/misctech/n64oc.htm
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthread.php?158016-68K-s-guide-to-overclocking-your-Neo-Geo-AES
- ↑ https://youtu.be/QnQuBN3iYVA?t=4m8s
- ↑ https://sourceforge.net/p/fceultra/code/3120/
- ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20070629163744/http://www.undergroundcm.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15&Itemid=38
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfNI3HpUt-4
- ↑ http://nfggames.com/games/pce/
- ↑ http://forum.pj64-emu.com/showpost.php?p=51810&postcount=6
- ↑ http://www.emucr.com/2011/02/1964-ultrafast-v3.html
- ↑ http://nfggames.com/forum2/index.php?topic=2220.0
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Portable_hardware#Technical_specifications
- ↑ http://mame32fx.altervista.org/home.htm
- ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVrElANZg2M
- ↑ https://code.google.com/p/genplus-gx/issues/detail?id=223
- ↑ http://segaretro.org/Regen