Emulator Development Potential


christo930

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2004
Messages
1,095
Location
Pennsylvania, USA
I've been thinking about the possibility of getting a new handheld and I'm not sure which one is for me. For one, I was very disappointed when I "upgraded" from the gp32 to the gp2x because I really don't think it's a significant upgrade for the price. I feel the same way about the wiz. I was going to get one, but when it came out it was found out that it really wasn't worth 200 for people who already have a gp2, at least till this point. The Pandora is simply out of my price range and I would rather buy a UMPC for that price range. This largely leaves me the Dingoo and the PSP. The Dingoo might have some appeal,but is anyone working on an Amiga emulator and if so, would it be any faster than a gp2x? I would really like very accurate A500 capability. Is anyone working on such a beast? Is there anyone knowledgeable in the subject to say if it is technically possible? How about Dosbox? Is anyone working on a port and again, if it was ported would it be faster than the gp2x and if so, by how much? How does the PSP stack up in this area? Is Mame faster on the Dingoo than the gp2x? What about PSP? I know that the Dingoo is clocked at 400mhz, but I have no idea how that stacks up against the gp2x which uses a different architecture. Any ideas on raw power between the gp2x and the Dingoo? I believe the PSP uses the same chip as the gp2x but is clocked significantly higher, does that translate to faster emulators? What about screen quality? Which of the 3 have the best screen? Mind you, I am referring to the gp2x, not the wiz.

Thanks,

Chris
 
christo930 said:
I've been thinking about the possibility of getting a new handheld and I'm not sure which one is for me. For one, I was very disappointed when I "upgraded" from the gp32 to the gp2x because I really don't think it's a significant upgrade for the price. I feel the same way about the wiz. I was going to get one, but when it came out it was found out that it really wasn't worth 200 for people who already have a gp2, at least till this point. The Pandora is simply out of my price range and I would rather buy a UMPC for that price range. This largely leaves me the Dingoo and the PSP. The Dingoo might have some appeal,but is anyone working on an Amiga emulator and if so, would it be any faster than a gp2x? I would really like very accurate A500 capability. Is anyone working on such a beast? Is there anyone knowledgeable in the subject to say if it is technically possible? How about Dosbox? Is anyone working on a port and again, if it was ported would it be faster than the gp2x and if so, by how much? How does the PSP stack up in this area? Is Mame faster on the Dingoo than the gp2x? What about PSP? I know that the Dingoo is clocked at 400mhz, but I have no idea how that stacks up against the gp2x which uses a different architecture. Any ideas on raw power between the gp2x and the Dingoo? I believe the PSP uses the same chip as the gp2x but is clocked significantly higher, does that translate to faster emulators? What about screen quality? Which of the 3 have the best screen? Mind you, I am referring to the gp2x, not the wiz.

Thanks,

Chris
I would guess wait then. There are rumors of Dingoo making a different but incompatible model (different CPU). If they do the current one will probably be discontinued if past performance is any indication. That will probably mean stuff may not advance much after that.

If you are really that much against the Wiz (which probably does have the best screen of the bunch) then I would say go for PSP. At least you know that is not here today gone tommorow like these Chipods tend to be.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
There are no such rumors. Gemei A330 is not an indication of anything like that. Gemei makes about a million different models, many of which I'm sure are not the least bit compatible with each other. What Dingoo decides to stick with is something else entirely. So long as Gemei keeps making A320s then there will be Dingoo A320s.
 
christo930 said:
This largely leaves me the Dingoo and the PSP. The Dingoo might have some appeal,but is anyone working on an Amiga emulator and if so, would it be any faster than a gp2x? I would really like very accurate A500 capability. Is anyone working on such a beast? Is there anyone knowledgeable in the subject to say if it is technically possible?
Amiga emulation on the Dingoo would be possible but it probably won't be faster than the GP2X.
The main reason is Cyclone - which is the ARM only M68000 CPU emulation code.

christo930 said:
How about Dosbox? Is anyone working on a port and again, if it was ported would it be faster than the gp2x and if so, by how much? How does the PSP stack up in this area?
This is an interesting question. The PSP and GP2X both have dyna-recs. The PSP version is pretty fast, I've used it extensively. A Dingoo version of DosBox would be nice if it could use the existing PSP-based dyna-rec.

christo930 said:
Is Mame faster on the Dingoo than the gp2x? What about PSP? I know that the Dingoo is clocked at 400mhz, but I have no idea how that stacks up against the gp2x which uses a different architecture. Any ideas on raw power between the gp2x and the Dingoo?
The GP2X version of MAME will be faster for games that use M68000/Z80 CPUs. The reason being Cyclone and DrZ80 assembler cores.
The Dingoo does a pretty good job at handling other CPU types and would probably be faster than the GP2X when emulating these games.

christo930 said:
I believe the PSP uses the same chip as the gp2x but is clocked significantly higher, does that translate to faster emulators? What about screen quality? Which of the 3 have the best screen? Mind you, I am referring to the gp2x, not the wiz.
The GP2X and PSP have vastly different CPUs.
The GP2X/Wiz and Pandora all use the ARM family of CPUs and are all pretty much compatible.
The PSP/Dingoo use the same family of CPUs.
Clock-for-clock, ARM seems to be faster than MIPS.
I own all three handhelds and IMHO the Dingoo has the best screen. Fast refresh, excellent contrast and excellent viewing angles.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
So does this mean you are adding Dosbox to your list Slaneesh?

Please let it be so, given that you are one of the few genuine code masters working on the little baby eating brick...
 
Back
Top