Audio Glitches and Awkward Video Speed

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TonyTran
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Audio Glitches and Awkward Video Speed

Post by TonyTran »

I have Windows 98 installed at the emulated machine. The motherboard that I'm using is Shuttle HOT-557. I'm also using Sound Blaster 16 and Phoenix S3 Trio64. Every time I try to play a game on the emulated machine, the audio glitches and skips. The video plays at an awkward speed level because of that. I tried using other CPUs, but that didn't solve my problem. Isn't there any way to make the sound smoother and the video play normally?
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CryptidWorks
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Re: Audio Glitches and Awkward Video Speed

Post by CryptidWorks »

What are your PC specs and what CPUs have you tried to emulate?
TonyTran
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Re: Audio Glitches and Awkward Video Speed

Post by TonyTran »

CryptidWorks wrote: Tue 18 Jan, 2022 3:41 am What are your PC specs and what CPUs have you tried to emulate?
I used most Pentium CPUs and some AMD CPUs. What do you mean by "your PC specs"?
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MichaelJManley
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Re: Audio Glitches and Awkward Video Speed

Post by MichaelJManley »

TonyTran wrote: Tue 18 Jan, 2022 4:26 am
CryptidWorks wrote: Tue 18 Jan, 2022 3:41 am What are your PC specs and what CPUs have you tried to emulate?
I used most Pentium CPUs and some AMD CPUs. What do you mean by "your PC specs"?
Like what is your host's PC CPU, RAM, OS.

Like mine is an i7-10700 @ 2.90GHz, 49GB RAM, openSUSE Tumbleweed
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CryptidWorks
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Re: Audio Glitches and Awkward Video Speed

Post by CryptidWorks »

TonyTran wrote: Tue 18 Jan, 2022 4:26 am
CryptidWorks wrote: Tue 18 Jan, 2022 3:41 am What are your PC specs and what CPUs have you tried to emulate?
I used most Pentium CPUs and some AMD CPUs. What do you mean by "your PC specs"?
What Mike said

What hardware is in your actual PC you're running PCEM on
TonyTran
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Re: Audio Glitches and Awkward Video Speed

Post by TonyTran »

My CPU is AMD Ryzen 7 5700U with Radeon Graphics @ 1.80 GHz. I have a RAM of 16.0 GB and my OS is Windows 11. I have a laptop.
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CryptidWorks
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Re: Audio Glitches and Awkward Video Speed

Post by CryptidWorks »

TonyTran wrote: Tue 18 Jan, 2022 10:57 pm My CPU is AMD Ryzen 7 5700U with Radeon Graphics @ 1.80 GHz. I have a RAM of 16.0 GB and my OS is Windows 11. I have a laptop.
It sounds like you're thermal throttling because that chip should be capable of up to 4.3Ghz, about enough to do a Pentium MMX 200
Last edited by CryptidWorks on Wed 19 Jan, 2022 7:14 am, edited 1 time in total.
TonyTran
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Re: Audio Glitches and Awkward Video Speed

Post by TonyTran »

CryptidWorks wrote: Wed 19 Jan, 2022 2:32 am
TonyTran wrote: Tue 18 Jan, 2022 10:57 pm My CPU is AMD Ryzen 7 5700U with Radeon Graphics @ 1.80 GHz. I have a RAM of 16.0 GB and my OS is Windows 11. I have a laptop.
It sounds like you're thermal throttling because that chip should be capable of up to 4.3Ghz
How can I fix that?
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CryptidWorks
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Re: Audio Glitches and Awkward Video Speed

Post by CryptidWorks »

TonyTran wrote: Wed 19 Jan, 2022 2:55 am
CryptidWorks wrote: Wed 19 Jan, 2022 2:32 am
TonyTran wrote: Tue 18 Jan, 2022 10:57 pm My CPU is AMD Ryzen 7 5700U with Radeon Graphics @ 1.80 GHz. I have a RAM of 16.0 GB and my OS is Windows 11. I have a laptop.
It sounds like you're thermal throttling because that chip should be capable of up to 4.3Ghz
How can I fix that?
There's not much you can do with a laptop unless you try running it on a cooling pad

https://www.amazon.com/Laptop-Cooling-P ... 2243862011
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unreal9010
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Re: Audio Glitches and Awkward Video Speed

Post by unreal9010 »

On my Acer laptop with i5-10210U processor I was able to squeeze out more performance from PCem by switching the Windows power plan settings from "Balanced" to "Ultimate performance".
Make sure that your laptop is plugged in the whole time when you use PCem.
TonyTran
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Re: Audio Glitches and Awkward Video Speed

Post by TonyTran »

unreal9010 wrote: Wed 19 Jan, 2022 9:31 am On my Acer laptop with i5-10210U processor I was able to squeeze out more performance from PCem by switching the Windows power plan settings from "Balanced" to "Ultimate performance".
Make sure that your laptop is plugged in the whole time when you use PCem.
Did Ultimate performance help to make audio and video run smoother as well?
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unreal9010
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Re: Audio Glitches and Awkward Video Speed

Post by unreal9010 »

It certainly did help PCem to run at 100% or close to that, depending on how fast CPU I chose to emulate.
Note that the main role of the CPU capabilities of the host system is to help PCem to be able to run at 100% which means that once it reaches 100% it runs at the native speed of the emulated machine. Anything below 100% will result in various audio and video hiccups.
In order not to have performance issues emulate only the machines that could be run at 100% and not below. I also recommend not to run any software that is too demanding for the emulated machine. Running a 1999 game on an emulated P166 MMX will probably not give a desirable performance.
TonyTran
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Re: Audio Glitches and Awkward Video Speed

Post by TonyTran »

So are you suggesting that I have to use a CPU with slower speed for my emulated machine?
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unreal9010
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Re: Audio Glitches and Awkward Video Speed

Post by unreal9010 »

Your CPU has a PassMark Single Thread Rating of 2631. I wouldn't go above Pentium 200 in your case.
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xenaretos
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Re: Audio Glitches and Awkward Video Speed

Post by xenaretos »

On a desktop system, based on my Ryzen 2600x experience (and it has a slightly lower single thread rating), I'd say Pentium 233MMX should be fairly stable. On a laptop, though, it might not be quite as stable under load.
TonyTran
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Re: Audio Glitches and Awkward Video Speed

Post by TonyTran »

unreal9010 wrote: Mon 24 Jan, 2022 8:10 am Your CPU has a PassMark Single Thread Rating of 2631. I wouldn't go above Pentium 200 in your case.
I did use CPUs lower than Pentium 200 from Pentium 75 to Pentium 166 but they have similar results (awkward video speed and audio glitches).
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unreal9010
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Re: Audio Glitches and Awkward Video Speed

Post by unreal9010 »

Are you using the latest version (v17) of PCem? Also, what game is giving you awkward video and audio glitches?
TonyTran
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Re: Audio Glitches and Awkward Video Speed

Post by TonyTran »

I'm using v17. Windows 98 and the games I run on it (including Putt Putt Joins the Parade and Magic School Bus Explores the Rainforest) gave me problems.
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unreal9010
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Re: Audio Glitches and Awkward Video Speed

Post by unreal9010 »

Have just tried Putt-Putt Joins the Parade and a bunch of MSB demos that came bundled with my Windows 95 installation CD on an emulated PII 233.
They work as they should and the PCem speed is at 100% or close. Something must be bottlenecking your CPU.
TonyTran
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Re: Audio Glitches and Awkward Video Speed

Post by TonyTran »

So how do I reduce the load on my CPU? What OS did you try the games on?
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unreal9010
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Re: Audio Glitches and Awkward Video Speed

Post by unreal9010 »

Windows 10, i7 6700 @ stock speed. Note that my CPU has lower PassMark ST rating than yours.
Try, for example, any of the first five Need for Speed games to see if it makes any difference.
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unreal9010
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Re: Audio Glitches and Awkward Video Speed

Post by unreal9010 »

Make sure that you are not running any applications that take too much CPU resources. As suggested before, the power plan settings shall be set to maximum performance mode and let the laptop be plugged in the whole time when using PCem.
TonyTran
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Re: Audio Glitches and Awkward Video Speed

Post by TonyTran »

unreal9010 wrote: Sun 30 Jan, 2022 6:13 pm Windows 10, i7 6700 @ stock speed. Note that my CPU has lower PassMark ST rating than yours.
Try, for example, any of the first five Need for Speed games to see if it makes any difference.
I meant what OS for your emulated machine.
TonyTran
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Re: Audio Glitches and Awkward Video Speed

Post by TonyTran »

unreal9010 wrote: Sun 30 Jan, 2022 6:20 pm Make sure that you are not running any applications that take too much CPU resources. As suggested before, the power plan settings shall be set to maximum performance mode and let the laptop be plugged in the whole time when using PCem.
The only power plan I can find on my laptop is Balanced, so I set the minimum and maximum processor state to 100% for when the laptop is plugged in.
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unreal9010
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Re: Audio Glitches and Awkward Video Speed

Post by unreal9010 »

TonyTran wrote: Sun 30 Jan, 2022 6:51 pm
unreal9010 wrote: Sun 30 Jan, 2022 6:13 pm Windows 10, i7 6700 @ stock speed. Note that my CPU has lower PassMark ST rating than yours.
Try, for example, any of the first five Need for Speed games to see if it makes any difference.
I meant what OS for your emulated machine.
Windows 95. Shouldn't make that much difference.
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unreal9010
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Re: Audio Glitches and Awkward Video Speed

Post by unreal9010 »

TonyTran wrote: Sun 30 Jan, 2022 7:00 pm
unreal9010 wrote: Sun 30 Jan, 2022 6:20 pm Make sure that you are not running any applications that take too much CPU resources. As suggested before, the power plan settings shall be set to maximum performance mode and let the laptop be plugged in the whole time when using PCem.
The only power plan I can find on my laptop is Balanced, so I set the minimum and maximum processor state to 100% for when the laptop is plugged in.
What's the maximum speed that your CPU can achieve when running PCem?
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unreal9010
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Re: Audio Glitches and Awkward Video Speed

Post by unreal9010 »

Also, what percentage is PCem at (can be seen in its top bar) when you're emulating either Pentium 200 or Pentium 75 and are running the game?
TonyTran
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Re: Audio Glitches and Awkward Video Speed

Post by TonyTran »

While emulating both CPUs, the percentage is mostly in the range of 70%-100% and it rarely got higher than 100%. While running the game, the percentage dropped below 70%.
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unreal9010
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Re: Audio Glitches and Awkward Video Speed

Post by unreal9010 »

Do you have SMT on or off? What kind of render driver are you using in PCem?
TonyTran
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Re: Audio Glitches and Awkward Video Speed

Post by TonyTran »

My number of logical processors are twice the number of cores. How can I find the render driver that I'm using?
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