Any tips please for running winuae on slow laptop

[kirk]

Hi all,
my new lappy specs are --
processor is amd athlon neo mv-40 1.60 ghz, single core
2.00 gb ram
windows 7 home premium (i miss xp big time !)

this laptop will not run some A5oo games without scratchy sound, e.g, agony.

im using winuae 1.5.3 with all the usual suspects turned off, like cycle exact etc.
also ive turned off all windows 7 fancy crap like aero etc (im using dull classic mode).
i would love some expert tips as to how to eek out every last bit of performance by tweaking various options etc in winuae options.

i know im gonna get lambasted for using such an old winuae, but im happy to use newer versions if maybe i can get a little bit more performance (this laptop bitch seems about 10% short of the grunt to run agony perfectly, the scratchy sound is not too bad, but i want it perfect !).

ive enclosed my agony config for some kind soul to help me tweak a likkle bit more out of my setup.
cheers

[FOL]

Originally Posted by kirk

Hi all,
my new lappy specs are --
processor is amd athlon neo mv-40 1.60 ghz, single core
2.00 gb ram
windows 7 home premium (i miss xp big time !)

this laptop will not run some A5oo games without scratchy sound, e.g, agony.

im using winuae 1.5.3 with all the usual suspects turned off, like cycle exact etc.
also ive turned off all windows 7 fancy crap like aero etc (im using dull classic mode).
i would love some expert tips as to how to eek out every last bit of performance by tweaking various options etc in winuae options.

i know im gonna get lambasted for using such an old winuae, but im happy to use newer versions if maybe i can get a little bit more performance (this laptop bitch seems about 10% short of the grunt to run agony perfectly, the scratchy sound is not too bad, but i want it perfect !).

ive enclosed my agony config for some kind soul to help me tweak a likkle bit more out of my setup.
cheers

Alter frameskip to 2 or 3. Also maybe avoid Fullscreen.

I had winuae running very decent on my 10 year old laptop. Even played CD32 games on it too.

[s2325]

500MHz should be enough for most (ECS) games.

[TCD]

Should be similar to the issues with an Atom processor : http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=45633

[Toni Wilen]

lores and non-doubled and let the display card do the scaling (but I don't support old versions)

[Photon]

Yes, Normal or Scanlines will save quite a bit of CPU time. On my laptop, setting a lower fullscreen resolution gives a boost (even though I can run it fine in full resolution). As Toni said, "let the gfxcard scale it".

Also, setting Active window process priority to "Below Normal" prevents stutter in general, and audio stutter too, because it leaves some CPU-time for the audio card and OS

I do recommend XP for anything performance related, especially if you have 2GB ram.

I run XP on my laptop, Thinkpad T40 with Pentium M @ 1.3 GHz and 1.25 GB ram. It runs even a 'heavier than most games' demo perfectly in cycle-exact A500 mode. - But Agony could have a heavy copperlist that affects performance.

I had some performance trouble with one version, but that was because I didn't make a clean install I think... some DirectX or gfxcard/config-junk that needed to be re-created maybe. I'm running latest beta-version now, upgraded from latest stable installer.


To sum up my rant
- don't use old configs
- download latest stable installer, install in an empty folder, put the kickstart there
- start with quickstart, let it boot, save the config as 'Agonyconfig'. Quit WinUAE.
- Start WinUAE and double-click the Agonyconfig and set this:
--line mode Normal
--Fullscreen resolution 800x600
--Filter: Direct3D, 'FS' (if you want to stretch it to screen edges that is )
--sound settings - choose the name of your audiocard, not default device.
--Misc: Priority Below Normal


Please let me know if this solves the problem - I think it will be fine despite Win7 (I don't know if you are at or below minimum specs on the Win7 box, though )

[kirk]

Thanks all, some great advice there, im gonna try implement asap.

yep, i agree with s23, i too used to run winuae fine on my donkys old p500, but these new cut down processors seem to be a step back (the low voltage ones at least), maybe its lack of cache or fsb, i aint a clue.

in reply to cd, i read that atom thread when it orig posted up (in fact i even offered my tuppence worth on the topic cos i ran winuae fine on the atom powered samsung nc10 i was then using), but this amd athlon neo mv-40 1.60 ghz seems to be even less capable than the atom (i have read it underperforms a 1.4 ghz intel alternative, but im no expert).

toni's "let the display card do the scaling" reply has deffo got my attention, im gonna faff with that 2nite.cheers.

re photons brill list, shall try all the points you mentioned 2nite.also, i agree, i would like xp on this lappy (even dual boot would be nice), but i think getting the xp drivers for the msi x410 would be hard, at the very least.at least win7 is better than vista.
I do like the sleek looks of the msi x410, and it was on offer at argos, but i actually miss my samsung nc10 atom powered netbook, it crapped all over the msi when it came to running winuae.
im staggered that photon had no speed issues on a 1.3 lappy (intel better ?), maybe the points raised by him will help me achieve similiar results on my underpowered pancake.

re fol's reply, frameskipping is not an option for fussy me, and for some reason windowed mode runs a lot slower than fullscreen mode on my lappy.

[Dunny]

I have a DualCore 1.6ghz lappy here with 2gb RAM running Vista with ATI x1250 gfx.

I run the latest betas, no problems at all - no frameskip, D3D display modes (no scalers) and get no issues with sound, and AB3D and AB3D2 are a lot smoother than they are on my A1200.

D.

[kirk]

quick update---

i might try and get rid of this underpowered amd crock, but as its not faulty i will not get a refund me thinks--

running agony in windowed mode using quickstart results in cpu usage of 125%, but fullscreen is deffo faster but is there a way to check cpu usage in fullscreen ?, cos the cpu usage and fps etc tabs are not visible in full screen, and if i minimize winuae whilst running agony and check cpu load within task manager it says 30% to 40%, but upon returning to agony the cpu struggles again

im thinking this performance issue is something to do with the amd 'power now' thingy cos i seem to only have performance related issues when running the laptop on battery power, its fine on mains power (just !, on mains power cpu usage is 85% to 100% running agony in windowed mode)

ive checked bios and there is an option to disable power now, but some say this will cause the cpu to overheat cos of constant full throttle running (this may be an issue in a slim laptop ?)

hmm, what to do ?, running winuae is priority for me, but i dont wanna cause stability/heat issues on this laptop.

[TCD]

Originally Posted by kirk

running agony in windowed mode using quickstart results in cpu usage of 125%, but fullscreen is deffo faster but is there a way to check cpu usage in fullscreen ?

Miscellaneous -> Native On-screen LEDs

[kirk]

cheers, ive just tried again now (i did try it before but i must have forgot to save the config then leds not there upon restart, im an idiot !)

just tried now, and yeah, this laptop is weedy, my best result is agony 46 fps on battery power, im gonna disable power now in bios, but i will be paronoid about overheating etc,
ah well, swings and roundabouts, its nice having a slim laptop, but its near useless for anything other than simple tasks.

[kirk]

update--

turned off that bloody 'power now' in bios and winuae/agony runs sweeeeet as a nut.

so obviously the culprit is amds power saving functions, once disabled cpu runs full pelt, but the laptop is now running max fan speed all the time, only time will tell if it overheats !

[Photon]

Ah, there you go. It had some extra powerful CPU-strangler to save battery. There's no need to worry about overheating - after all if it overheats with full power on battery, it overheats with fullpower on AC = you could never safely recharge the battery...

[FOL]

Originally Posted by kirk

update--

turned off that bloody 'power now' in bios and winuae/agony runs sweeeeet as a nut.

so obviously the culprit is amds power saving functions, once disabled cpu runs full pelt, but the laptop is now running max fan speed all the time, only time will tell if it overheats !

lol, I disabled this first day I got mine, done the same on my pc, dont see the point in it.

What about your power profile, alot of laptops have it stuck to max battery or balaced, I always jam mine on Max performance. As I dont care about battery life (very rare I use on just battery).

If its overheating, it could be the heatsink fins clogged with dirt and dust. Or if you have pets (i.e. dogs / cats) then their hair can cause problems.

[kirk]

i agree, power now is supposed to auto regulate cpu speed and squirt extra juice if an app needs it, but it dont, going from idle to an app does not cause the cpu to adjust accordingly, it just plays funny buggers and stays weedy.

cheers all

[rare_j]

Take a vacuum cleaner to your fan and vents - did wonders for my laptop. Now it never makes a peep.

[FOL]

Originally Posted by rare_j

Take a vacuum cleaner to your fan and vents - did wonders for my laptop. Now it never makes a peep.

Nothing worked with my sisters, had to pull it apart completely and clean. Then it ran flawless, like new.

[Minuous]

I'd wipe that machine and install Win98SE and WinUAE 1.4.6, it should fly.

[kirk]

man would i like to do that, sounds ruddy marvellous.
i do have win98se disc but i fear i would never find the drivers for this laptop, so things like the hdmi out and other msi specific bits and bobs would be problematic (same goes for xp drivers,which i would also like)

one can dream though !

[FOL]

Originally Posted by kirk

man would i like to do that, sounds ruddy marvellous.
i do have win98se disc but i fear i would never find the drivers for this laptop, so things like the hdmi out and other msi specific bits and bobs would be problematic (same goes for xp drivers,which i would also like)

one can dream though !

Windows update will find all the drivers for you on XP +. However only downside is you need your network / wifi drivers first, .