What Is Your Average Overclocking Speed?


My Gp2X still stable until 275Mhz, but I can do a maximum of 279Mhz .
I can do the same O.clocking with my 1300mAh batteries or my 2800mAh ones.
 
With 2500mAH energizer batteries, I usually oc at 260. Squidges emulator runs most games fine with that, and I haven't really played much else that would require alot of power
 
Crazy Goat posted on Apr 1 2006 at 11:06 PM said:
I haven't bothered with OC'ing yet - but it runs PERFECTLY stable at 266 in GNGeo2x, or whatnot, the Neogeo emulator.

You're overclocking then. :p The ARM920T is, according to Craig, rated for 250 MHz.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
So i've been told, it does seem correct as there is the odd person who cannot go above 250mhz... I think the 266mhz version is slightly more expensive.
 
According to the MMSP-2 datasheet (MP2520F):

Code:
Dual 32bit CPU 400+ (Main Processor, Coprocessor) Embedded Architecture
- Main Processor used for Operating System & System Control, Audio Processing: ARM 920T CPU (200MHz,
>220MIPS), 16KB I-Cache + 16KB D-Cache + MMU
- Coprocessor used for Video Header Parsing, Video Post Processor Control: ARM 940T CPU (200MHz,
>220MIPS), 4KB I-Cache + 4KB D-Cache

It's very likely, though, that they all run at 250 MHz (as far as we know) because they were all able to run at 250 MHz, but 200 MHz models were better sellers. So, they were marked down. This is very common in the PC microprocessor business, too-- most people won't buy a >$900 Athlon 64 FX chip so the chip is marked down from say, 2.8 GHz, to 2.0 or 1.8 GHz and given half the cache and is sold as a 3000+, or a 3200+ etc. but the chip can still run stably at its orignal maximum tested speed of 2.8 GHz without incident. Very likely the same case with these 920T's rated for 200.
 
So, the OC'ing situation is the same with the GP2X as it was with the GP32? Are there any places that offer GP2X's guaranteed to OC to a certain speed (Similar to how it was done with the GP32 during the days of GBAX.com)? The reason I ask is that I suddenly very interested in getting a GP2X (Mainly because of the new version of GNGeo), but it seems that everbody always has their GP2X OC'd pretty high the whole time when running the emu or reporting how fast it runs (It seems most people were OC'ing it to 260-280mhz). For this reason I'm curious as to whether Craig or GP32z will offer GP2X's that are guaranteed to OC to something like 280-300mhz (300 is what I'm hoping for as I really don't want to compromise again this time around when it comes to emulation).
 
Comprimise 'again'? Did you have a lot of problems with speed on your GP32? The GP32's ARM9 was a meager 133 MHz, so a lot of emulators just didn't run well unless you got away with a substantial overclock close to 200 MHz .. out of the box the GP2x runs at 200 MHz, and they should all run at ~266 MHz. You should have enough power to run about anything. Most units seem to make it to 280 MHz, and that is fast enough for most everything. Sure, going to 290-300+ provides a boost but it's not so substantial that you should consider any less a deal-breaker.
 
Heh, by compromise I meant how the GP32's capabilities and emulators were exaggerated. A few years back when I got the GP32 I was expecting full speed Genesis, SNES, and even GBA emulation (With all the other stuff also complete and perfect). However, when I got it I realized that the SNES emulation was unplayable (Snes9xGP) and Genesis/GBA emulation were pretty much nonexistent. Eventually Genesis was perfected (Though I still had some compatibility issues), but of course SNES emulation wasn't. And GBA is completely out of the question. I also expected to OC pretty high, but when I got mine I could only go to 156 and had to get the voltage mod to OC just to 166 (While a lot of others were OC'ing to 180-200). So, in this respect, I had to compromise.

So, with the GP2X, I'm going to do much more extensive research and I'm going to be a LOT more careful. There are currently 3 reasons keeping me from getting a GP2X:
1. OC issue (Issue being that the emulation scene seems to rely heavily on the GP2X's OC'ing capabilities and that I might be stuck with a 250-260mhz machine; I'd definetly pay a little bit more $ to get that extra 40-50mhz of OC'ing power to ensure that emulation will be "perfect").
2. SNES emulation (SNES emulation was a big thing with the GP32, but it just wasn't powerful enough. Then, when this thing was announced, everybody was saying things like we shouldn't have to worry about a lack of power now and that we'll get full speed SNES emulation without breaking a sweat. However, it seems like there is a lack of interest or that most of the effort seems to be placed on pushing the GP2X's limits (Neo-Geo, PS1, and Dos emulation) and not on the things that it should easily be able to do)
3. The remaining gaps (With a system of the GP2X's power and capabilities, I have rather high expectations for emulation. I'd think that it'd be no sweat to get full speed GB/GBC, SMS/GG, NES, GENESIS, NGPC, and PCE emulation, but that doesn't seem t o be the case. Instead, however, it seems like most of the emulators are only partly done to the point where it's playable and then the emu is left alone. I don't know about you guys, but after my experience with the GP32 (Which had both it's negatives and positives, though overall positive) and considering the power of this handheld, I'd expect that the above emu's would already be full speed w/sound with near perfect compatibility. The problem seems related to the issue with SNES emulation as coders aren't interested in making perfect SMS/GG, NES, NGPC, etc. emulators, but rather interested in how much they can push the GP2X and what new and innovative things they can compile. While I'm all for this, I'd also like to see the basics (Basic with consideration of the GP2X's power) things taken care of first.

I know that this may come off as a rant, but please do not interpret it that way (This is actually getting a little OT). The last thing I'd like is to get flamed; I'm just explaining my concern for OC'ing :)
 
That's far from flameworthy, hah. You probably just summed up a few other people's concerns too. Voice your concerns, or no one can reassure you or work to improve problems. :)

I said it myself earlier, you can check my post history, I forget where-- pretty much the same thing, that RIGHT NOW the focus is seeing what the GP2X can do, where the ceiling is. We know what the GP32 could do and could not do effectively, now developers are testing the water of new possibilities like emulating the SNES (which IS a loftier goal than you think, its video subsystem is fairly beefy and a pain in the ass even if its CPU is an underpowered and meager 65c816), the PSX, and an x86 PC (DOS). That does not mean no one will create a full-speed NES, SMS/GG or GB emulator that isn't half-broken and barely usable-- it just means it's not the top priority for most people since it's been done so many times before, and very effectively on the GP32.

Now, a NES, SMS/GG or GB emulator that is fast and easy to use is not a very difficult thing to accomplish, and it will happen, probably sooner rather than later. So don't blow things out of proportion and assume the GP2X will be where it is NOW say, a YEAR from now-- it's barely been out what, 4 or 5 months now? That's a miniscule amount of time. You can relax your worries because it'll be taken care of in due time.

As for GNGeo's performance, it's getting quicker all the time. Most games run at close to full speed at 266 MHz, and you can count on reaching that speed without incident, and with stability. You can probably go a bit higher and gain some performance benefits, and if you can't, lower the emulated CPU clock of the system a bit and you'll get better performance and make up the gap without a noticable decrease in game speed.

In short, you'll get what anyone else does from the emulation scene, and if you're lucky you'll get a little extra like I'm getting running at 300 MHz+, but that should by no means be treated as an 'essential'.

If GBAX wants to ship systems pre-tested to overclock to certain rates that's their discretion, though I kind of doubt they'll do it. If they do, you should expect to pay a little extra for the service .. maybe you could ask the guy who runs Gp32z.com to do you a favor for a bit of extra cash and test one or two systems for you before you order one.
 
However, it seems like there is a lack of interest or that most of the effort seems to be placed on pushing the GP2X's limits (Neo-Geo, PS1, and Dos emulation) and not on the things that it should easily be able to do)

Yup - unfortunately, we're only ever going to get what developers fancy creating - where is the incentive in polishing off an emulator to 100%? Personal pride maybe, but we can't force anybody. Or maybe devs should start charging, but that will open up a huge can of worms...

It's a pretty wierd scene - can you imagine buying a TV and not really knowing what to expect to be able to see on it?

I'm very pleased with my GP2X though - I wasn't going to bother either - I was happy with my GP32, but the opportunity came up to get one cheap, and I must say I'm glad I went with it...

It's probably worth it for MAME alone...
 
I can get 250 stable in batteries, anything more and it begins to cause artifacting on the avi I use to test. 266 or more will crash outright when I try to run most programs.
 
Back
Top