Andy Chandler wrote: > On 12 February 2005 15:42, Jason Thacker wrote: > > "main processor is a 400MHz+ XScale CPU running embbedded Windows CE. > > How would this compare, roughly, to an x86 processor in terms > of processing power?
The 400MHz XScale is exactly what's in my iPAQ 2210, which already runs SimCoupe quite well. It's still a little underpowered for the full experience though, only being able to update about half the SAM display every frame in extreme demo cases. It still seems pretty impressive for such a small device, considering it's running the same cycle-accurate emulation as normal desktop machines. The iPAQ is only drawing a 240x320 display too, and generating a full size/resolution 640x480 would eat another slice of the CPU time. > To emulate an OCS / ECS Amiga takes some serious CPU cycles while > AGA is still sluggish without some seriously powerful PC hardware > even now. I'd also be very surprised if the 400MHz XScale was up to a semi-accurate Amiga emulation, even to a Fellow level of accuracy. UAE definitely still struggles on modern system if you turn the features and accuracy up. > If CPU power wasn't hugely important, you could probably > build a slightly larger, but still silent version, using the > ITX boards from VIA I've got an older EPIA 5000 mini-itx setup, which is completely fanless (external PSU). That would almost certainly be up to full-speed SimCoupe emulation, as well as any other 8-bit or below. Hooked up to a small LCD display you'd have a fairly compact system able to run quite a few different emulations. I'm not completely sure what the overall aim of the idea is - is the size/portability of the box an issue? Or is it to run as many in a common framework? The MESS project already covers the latter, though not to a very accurate enough level for many (especially the SAM). The Russian Sprinter setup might be appealing for someone wanting to do it in a slightly more hardware way too. I've tended to be a fan of separate emulators, mainly because each author is only concentrating on one system. Combined emulators are convenient, but you don't usually get the best experience. Just my opinion, of course :-) Si
