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Gauntlet Dark Legacy running slow and laggy?!?!
NightGod:
--- Quote from: krick on August 11, 2006, 08:51:23 am ---I don't believe that multiple CPUs/cores are going to solve the problem since many tasks are just not adaptable to parallelization.
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You're missing the part where they are combined on a hardware level to appear as one CPU to the processes (much like SLI video cards). Two dual-core 3Ghz procs would be about a 10Ghz proc if they were combined in this manner (since there's always some overhead with a process like this). It won't happen tomorrow, but I see it happening sooner than later.
Hockeyboy:
lol - it seems I am out of my league when it comes to processor design...truth be told, you guys are probably correct. My function is not to know all the internal workings of processors and how they would accomplish the task(s), but simply to run and maintain the machines that make them. :notworthy:
I know from much internal stuff being passed around that things will be changing - exactly when, and when these new things will be produced in volume, I have no idea. I work in the Lithography area (where the actual circuit layers are imprinted on top of the previous layers) and there is definitely some exciting and interesting new ways to produce smaller, faster, cooler chips in the near and not-so-near future.
NightGod:
--- Quote from: brophog on August 11, 2006, 12:33:02 pm ---
--- Quote ---With improvements in process technology, I'm sure we'll see power consumption go down enough for 6GHz on air to eventually be a reality.
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I don't really think so. We've been squeezing blood from a turnip for a while now in the current technology and it's amazing what they've been able to squeeze out so far. New switching technologies have been in the works for a while now, it's just a process to get them market ready.
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I hear that every five years or so, and yet someone always manages to find a way to keep Moore's law rolling. If you went back to 1995 and told them we'd be using 90nm processes to make CPUs in the early 2000s, there are some who would have laughed you out of the room.
I've learned not to doubt what billions of dollars and tens of thousands of research manhours can accomplish.
elvis:
--- Quote from: NightGod on August 12, 2006, 01:28:03 am ---I hear that every five years or so, and yet someone always manages to find a way to keep Moore's law rolling.
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Moore's law has nothing to do with clockspeed. It states that transistor density will double every 18-24 months.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore%27s_Law
Transistor density has nothing to do with clockspeed.
And at any rate, there's been a theoretical practical limit of clockspeeds being 5GHz for some time now (well over a decade). Anything faster than that becomes impractical due to electron loss on any semiconductor (eg: silicon) or conductor (copper, aluminium, or whatever else).
Fibre-optic switching faster than 5GHz would be the only sensible alternative, but you won't be seeing any processors based on that technology for some time, nor will they be anything like what we use today.
On the topic at hand: MAME is not very well optimised at all. And that's fine - it's not intended to be. MAME is designed entirely for accuracy and documentation. Playing games through it is merely a "pleasant side effect" according to the developers and designers.
If you want to play more recent games, you'll have to look at other options. Either different emulators (Kawaks, ZiNc, etc are all faster than MAME at the expense of some accuracy). Or alternatively look for a console port. Unlike the old days, console ports of modern arcade games are not bad at all. Gauntlet Dark Legacy has been ported to XBox, PS2 and GameCube. Consider putting any of those inside an arcade cabinet and playing the game that way instead. Plus that way, the developers actually get rewarded for their hard work, rather than you playing the unlicensed copyright games for free.
http://www.mameworld.net/maws/romset/gauntdl
Scroll down to "Additional Information" and look for the part that says "- PORTS -". Do the same for any other MAME game, and consider buying a console port whenever possible.
Might I remind everyone here that the only reason we have these games to emulate is because the people making them can afford to do so. Please consider buying games as frequently as possible, even if they are on offer via emulation.
brophog:
--- Quote from: NightGod on August 12, 2006, 01:28:03 am ---[I've learned not to doubt what billions of dollars and tens of thousands of research manhours can accomplish.
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You mean, like working on alternative switching technologies, like many of us have said. ;)