Homebrew Discussion Switch overclocking released (improved N64 & PSX emu)

[bi388]

AutoRCM + Overclocking = Battery will last about 1hour max

AutoRCM doesnt affect battery life at all

 

[m4xw]

Then you hadn't read enough.

True, even more funny because the switch port outperforms Xbox360 and PS3 in regards of libretro.

 

[comput3rus3r]

The CPU has a base clock of 1.9Ghz.
So the switch CPU is heavily underclocked to begin with, it's lifespan wont be reduced.
Battery drain isn't much more on these clocks either, but I agree. This feels like cheating to me too

Why would Nintendo make their console less powerful if not to mitigate heat damage to the switch's housing?
Why do you think that switches come from factory already bent? I'm sure during testing Nintendo saw how much the switch case was being warped and thus the decision to underclock the cpu to minimize damages ie. bending and cracking. Also anytime you increase heat lifespan is reduced regardless of what the base clock is. You can keep it stock and if you leave your switch in the sun lifespan is reduced.

 

[m4xw]

Why would Nintendo make their console less powerful if not to mitigate heat damage to the switch's housing?
Why do you think that switches come from factory already bent? I'm sure during testing Nintendo saw how much the switch case was being warped and thus the decision to underclock the cpu to minimize damages ie. bending and cracking.

Because playtime

 

[Beware]

CPU OC does not affect any framerate in any game I've tested. It does affect loading times and general menu navigation around Horizon. Korok Forest doesn't feel any different, still get big framerate drops. Maybe GPU OC will offer better perf there though.

 

[comput3rus3r]

Because playtime

playtime doesn't answer the fact that switches come from factory already bent and also doesn't explain why switch's housing cracks.

 

[DaniPoo]

Why would it affect the battery that bad?

Well it's like if you run a car super fast compared to super slow, it will consume the gas faster.
It's also more likely that a car will encounter technical problem faster if it's always is being pushed to the limits.

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CPU OC does not affect any framerate in any game I've tested. It does affect loading times and general menu navigation around Horizon. Korok Forest doesn't feel any different, still get big framerate drops. Maybe GPU OC will offer better perf there though.

If the CPU is the bottleneck in emulation (Which is the case for N64) then overclocking will absolutely give it a boost.
(It's not going to be enough in all cases, dynarec could provide an even bigger boost if the dynarec is good)

I remember Daedalusx64 for PSP once had a completely different dynarec then what it has these days, they completely rewrote it to gain more speed.
On top of that it was possible to overclock the PSP and I remember different emulators making use of the 'Media Engine' (Some kind of co-processor for media playback). Also some homebrew managed to temporarily shut down certain system services in order to free up more memory.
Developers for the PSP used every trick in the book.

The current state och the Switch is not quite there yet (Not that there is that much stuff to experiment with, but still)

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Yes - FYI, Beware's battery is now swollen (and pushes the backplate) because of extensive use of OC in Lakka.



Yes, depending on how much you OC - 1.5GHz should be safe, 1.9GHz should not

That's scary. Makes sense though, the Switch docked (and fully charged) can draw up to 11W (+ 1W when the JoyCons are being charged), in handheld mode the screen adds a lot of additional power consumption, it's unsure exactly how much but I would guess it can easily add another 5W. Not sure how much the battery is rated for, different batteries and different chemistries have different maximum power consumption ratings, but if the battery is getting warm when playing and not charging you know it's probably drawing too much and will shorten the battery life.
17W at a (worst case scenario) almost depleted battery at 3.1V adds up to 5.5A, which isn't an insane amount - there are far more power hungry devices such as power tools, RC controlled cars, drones etc. and e-cigs, but they also use batteries with higher-than-average maximum power consumption ratings. Nintendo would have likely looked at the highest recorded power consumption in testing, and, adding a decent margin, choose a battery to fit those requirements. Some batteries might only be rated for 5A, some might be lower, some go up to 30A or even higher.

Worst case scenario an overloaded battery can actually explode, but it's not likely it would be overloaded to that degree unless there was a short. And the protection circuit in the battery, or on the circuit board itself, would shut off if there was a short.

 

[the_randomizer]

The CPU has a base clock of 1.9Ghz.
So the switch CPU is heavily underclocked to begin with, it's lifespan wont be reduced.
Battery drain isn't much more on these clocks either, but I agree. This feels like cheating to me too

And yet, heat will still be an issue, thermal throttling, etc can't be good.

 

[m4xw]

And yet, heat will still be an issue, thermal throttling, etc can't be good.

No, not really. The fan will spin more to combat it.
It doesn't really get any hotter on my tests.
If your switch gets crazy hot its most likely that their shitty default thermal paste isn't making good contact.

 

[the_randomizer]

No, not really. The fan will spin more to combat it.
It doesn't really get any hotter on my tests.
If your switch gets crazy hot its most likely that their shitty default thermal paste isn't making good contact.

Eh, I guess, probably won't bother for a while TBH.

 

[m4xw]

Eh, I guess, probably won't bother for a while TBH.

That's your choice, nothing wrong with it.
From a technical standpoint there is no reason for fear at those clocks.
But cheating is cheating

 

[the_randomizer]

That's your choice, nothing wrong with it.
From a technical standpoint there is no reason for fear at those clocks.
But cheating is cheating

I'd rather the emulators get as optimized as much as possible, i.e dynarec, before resorting to overclocking. Seems a bit unnecessary, no?

 

[Vieela]

Will this enable me to fry an egg on the Switch?

But for real though, does this damage the console much?

 

[m4xw]

I'd rather the emulators get as optimized as much as possible, i.e dynarec, before resorting to overclocking. Seems a bit unnecessary, no?

Dynarec is not a optimization by definition.

Seems a bit unnecessary, no?

I am a engineer, what can I say. My job is to make it work.
Those clocks do not pose a problem.
Keep in mind we don't overclock GPU etc.

 

[natinusala]

I'd rather the emulators get as optimized as much as possible, i.e dynarec, before resorting to overclocking. Seems a bit unnecessary, no?

Go on then, write a dynarec and claim that bounty

To all the people whining that overclocking shouldn't be necessary and that emulators should be optimized instead : DO IT

A dynarec is 16k lines of code. Overclocking the console is a shitty 1kb IPS patch to change a constant in a system service.

 

[the_randomizer]

Go on then, write a dynarec and claim that bounty

To all the people whining that overclocking shouldn't be necessary and that emulators should be optimized instead : DO IT

A dynarec is 16k lines of code. Overclocking the console is a shitty 1kb IPS patch to change a constant in a system service.

No shit, Sherlock, and there's already a bounty in the process is there not?

 

[chrisrlink]

watch them switches catch fire or explode boy a $300 bomb/shit in a paper bag on fire would be fun to watch on YT all joking aside i worry about this

 

[ShadowOne333]

watch them switches catch fire or explode boy a $300 bomb/shit in a paper bag on fire would be fun to watch on YT all joking aside i worry about this

I'd watch that.
Let me know once those vids hit YT, I'll subscribe for sure!

 

[Twistedziefer]

people seem to forget that the switch is underclocked and the overclocking is actually just removing the underclock and that is stable. Its not gonna blow up your switch.