Noob having CPU/lag issues

thebdj · 12 April 2023, 16:45

Hi All,

Full disclosure, I am a complete noob to this emulation scene and I am not surprised at all that I am immediately having issues that I have no doubt you will laugh at me for. I am really keen on learning and sorting this stuff myself so please be gentle with me haha

So ... I have WinUAE. I downloaded and paid for all of the ROMs from Amiga Forever and believe I have myself set and ready to go. I followed the basics for setup from the really helpful videos on YouTube from MikeyGRetro. So far so good ...

When I select an Amiga to emulate, let's assume an A500, an A500+, an A600 or even an A1200, I have what can only be described as an epic lag issue. Everything is running hyper slow and the audio is choppy (mainly because it is running slowly and sounds rank). This happens with numerous games, so I am happy it is not a rogue ROM.

Something that is obvious to me when I run the emulator is the CPU in the bottom right showing it is running at 140-170% which feels like a reason it may be suffering!

My PC is only a few months old and is fairly beefy. Intel i7 12 Core. 32GB of DDR4 RAM. 8GB Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti Graphics card.

Obviously happy to give way more information I am likely missing from how I am emulating but any help will be much appreciated and apologies again if I am doing something really frustrating that is obvious to you all.

Cheers
Justin

Toni Wilen · 12 April 2023, 18:45

Open Paths panel before starting emulation, tick "Enable full logging" checkbox. Then load config and start emulation normally. Let it run 10 seconds or so, then enter GUI (F12), click "Save all". Attach zip file it created. File contains logs and current config which usually is enough to solve the problem.

thebdj · 13 April 2023, 13:36

Thanks for this. I believe I have captured the debug per your instruction. I have attached it here. I did look through it myself and as expected got lost very, very quickly

I really do hope I am being a complete idiot somewhere and I suspect that will be the case!

Toni Wilen · 13 April 2023, 15:53

Thanks. winuaelog.txt is missing, possible due to "data" path (which also includes config files) pointing to c:\program files. Try again but first run winuae as administrator. (right click winuae.exe -> run as administrator). Zip file should include 3 files: winuaebootlog.txt, winuaelog.txt and config.uae

Config file looks fine.

EDIT: thanks for reminding (indirectly) that Paths panel still does not have easy way to select custom path for data files

thebdj · 13 April 2023, 19:55

Glad to be of service with the indirect reminder for the Paths panel

So I ran it as an admin this time under the same conditions as before and all 3 files appear to be in the ZIP now. Hopefully this will help a little more.

Thanks so much for the assistance! Legend.

Toni Wilen · 13 April 2023, 20:11

Quote:

ActiveHeight: 2160 TotalHeight: 2250 VFreq=30/1=30.00Hz HFreq=297000000/4400=67.500KHz

Looks like desktop refresh rate is only 30Hz and probably something is forcing vsync which is not going to work.

winuaebootlog.txt shows max (4k) resolution having support up to 60Hz. (and some smaller resolutions having even 120Hz support)

Check both Windows and GPU (NVidia) control panel refresh rate settings.

thebdj · 13 April 2023, 22:44

Went straight to Display options in Windows where the refresh rate was set to 30Hz. Changed it to 60Hz and now the CPU is showing as 0% in the emulator, even when I have messed about with some setting around faster compatibility and the like. Running like an absolute dream with no issues whatsoever

So, I guess I was right it was something really simple that has made me look very stupid! Doh! But thanks so much for taking the time to look at this, interpret it and tell me where to look to sort. You have made a middle aged man very happy!

I'll start playing with the emulator now and changing things about in line with the tutorials I can find on YouTube to see if I can get a bit deeper into all of the amazing config options.

Thanks again, so much!

Toni Wilen · 15 April 2023, 10:11

Great.

This was second (or third?) time same problem has been reported. For some reason some 4k display configurations default to 24Hz or 30Hz even when 50Hz/60Hz is also supported (possibly power saving reasons?).

Perhaps this needs to be handled better in the future, even if it would look quite bad when every second frame gets dropped but at least sound would work normally.

rutra80 · 15 April 2023, 14:27

Might happen in multimonitor configurations when there is not enough link or memory bandwidth to provide 60Hz for all displays. Maybe after disconnecting the displays sometimes refresh rate doesn't recover...

Yeah it would be good to drop frames without losing sync of everything else.

12 April 2023, 16:45	#1
thebdj Registered User Join Date: Mar 2023 Location: Norwich Posts: 4	Noob having CPU/lag issues Hi All, Full disclosure, I am a complete noob to this emulation scene and I am not surprised at all that I am immediately having issues that I have no doubt you will laugh at me for. I am really keen on learning and sorting this stuff myself so please be gentle with me haha So ... I have WinUAE. I downloaded and paid for all of the ROMs from Amiga Forever and believe I have myself set and ready to go. I followed the basics for setup from the really helpful videos on YouTube from MikeyGRetro. So far so good ... When I select an Amiga to emulate, let's assume an A500, an A500+, an A600 or even an A1200, I have what can only be described as an epic lag issue. Everything is running hyper slow and the audio is choppy (mainly because it is running slowly and sounds rank). This happens with numerous games, so I am happy it is not a rogue ROM. Something that is obvious to me when I run the emulator is the CPU in the bottom right showing it is running at 140-170% which feels like a reason it may be suffering! My PC is only a few months old and is fairly beefy. Intel i7 12 Core. 32GB of DDR4 RAM. 8GB Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti Graphics card. Obviously happy to give way more information I am likely missing from how I am emulating but any help will be much appreciated and apologies again if I am doing something really frustrating that is obvious to you all. Cheers Justin

13 April 2023, 15:53	#4
Toni Wilen WinUAE developer Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Hämeenlinna/Finland Age: 49 Posts: 26,570	Thanks. winuaelog.txt is missing, possible due to "data" path (which also includes config files) pointing to c:\program files. Try again but first run winuae as administrator. (right click winuae.exe -> run as administrator). Zip file should include 3 files: winuaebootlog.txt, winuaelog.txt and config.uae Config file looks fine. EDIT: thanks for reminding (indirectly) that Paths panel still does not have easy way to select custom path for data files Last edited by Toni Wilen; 13 April 2023 at 17:57.

15 April 2023, 14:27	#9
rutra80 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2019 Location: Poland Posts: 308	Might happen in multimonitor configurations when there is not enough link or memory bandwidth to provide 60Hz for all displays. Maybe after disconnecting the displays sometimes refresh rate doesn't recover... Yeah it would be good to drop frames without losing sync of everything else. Last edited by rutra80; 15 April 2023 at 14:35.

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12 April 2023, 18:45	#2
Toni Wilen WinUAE developer Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Hämeenlinna/Finland Age: 49 Posts: 26,570	Open Paths panel before starting emulation, tick "Enable full logging" checkbox. Then load config and start emulation normally. Let it run 10 seconds or so, then enter GUI (F12), click "Save all". Attach zip file it created. File contains logs and current config which usually is enough to solve the problem.

13 April 2023, 22:44	#7
thebdj Registered User Join Date: Mar 2023 Location: Norwich Posts: 4	Went straight to Display options in Windows where the refresh rate was set to 30Hz. Changed it to 60Hz and now the CPU is showing as 0% in the emulator, even when I have messed about with some setting around faster compatibility and the like. Running like an absolute dream with no issues whatsoever So, I guess I was right it was something really simple that has made me look very stupid! Doh! But thanks so much for taking the time to look at this, interpret it and tell me where to look to sort. You have made a middle aged man very happy! I'll start playing with the emulator now and changing things about in line with the tutorials I can find on YouTube to see if I can get a bit deeper into all of the amazing config options. Thanks again, so much!

15 April 2023, 10:11	#8
Toni Wilen WinUAE developer Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Hämeenlinna/Finland Age: 49 Posts: 26,570	Great. This was second (or third?) time same problem has been reported. For some reason some 4k display configurations default to 24Hz or 30Hz even when 50Hz/60Hz is also supported (possibly power saving reasons?). Perhaps this needs to be handled better in the future, even if it would look quite bad when every second frame gets dropped but at least sound would work normally.

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