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Dreamcast overclocking?

Started by Lucas2365, June 18, 2004, 11:42:52 AM

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Lucas2365

Had anyone here done this? Some of my DC games are really choppy and I'd like to fix this. If anyone knows where I can get pin lay outs for the CPU and had any info on how to OC the graphics chip I'd appreciate it.  

benzaldehyde

O_o

That does it...

Why do we have to overclock everything?

Now I'm going to overclock my toaster and my dog if nobody minds...

What DC games may you be making reference to? As a rule, DC games are very well designed with few problems in the frame-rate area. (Well, the good ones in any case.)

<Begin rampant speculation.>

Of course, console games may not behave in the same manner as those on a PC. They are programmed to run on a set of hardware; wouldn't changing anything dramatically alter the execution? For example, say you replaced the clock signal with a crystal resonating at twice the frequency, then wouldn't everything in the game (the frame rate, but also the music and controller polling intervals) double in speed/be halved in duration? It would be neat to see, but not really any better for playing. (Unless you want to prove how hard you are by beating Mars Matrix at 2x speed!)

<End rampant speculation.>

In any case, the DC runs pretty hot at its native 200MHz. Take a look under the hood; that's a huge heatsink. Could it really be pushed any harder?

Lucas2365

Um, most DC games have framerate problems. The ones I'm specifically trying to improve are: Unreal Tounry, Quake, Ecco, and Carrier.

benzaldehyde

Well, I guess determining the quality of frame rates is more a matter of taste. As a console guy, if a game doesn't drop below 30FPS, then I'm a happy camper. I just popped in Ecco and Quake III, and they looked great, with a nice, though not silky smooth frame rates. I'd hardly call it a problem, though.

I've just been reminded of how visually and aurally beautiful Ecco is...

As for OC'ing, I can't help. I haven't read about it being done, but who's to say it hasn't? Perhaps someone else can help?

Vertigo

QuoteNow I'm going to overclock my toaster
Fresh, hot toast in 15 seconds?
Link please  :D  

Guest_Cube

Maybe this could be put to good usefor emulation on the dreamcast, however.

Vertigo

QuoteMaybe this could be put to good usefor emulation on the dreamcast, however.
Doesn't that sort of defeat the object of emulation on the Dreamcast, in that the challenge is to get the emulators running to a decent standard on a limited system?
"My code works perfectly, as long as your Dreamcast runs at 800Mhz"