CPU speeds

[djcouchycouch]

I don't remember where, but I read that the PC Engine can be configured to run at various speeds. It can be run up to around 7 mhz, but that most games configured it to run at around 3.5mhz to prevent potential overheating. Did any game actually run at the maximum speed? Is there a real risk to running it that fast?

[thesteve]

i thought most ran at the fast speed
its a jumper in the cart

[Arkhan]

Insanity runs at maximum speeeeeed!

No, there's not a real risk.  You can overclock a 65c02 to upwards of 10mhz without really causing an issue.   I overclocked an Apple IIc.   Same CPU.

[Black Tiger]

All I've ever heard is that virtually all PCE games ran at full speed.

Maybe you're thinking of the SNES and how several games ran at an even slower speed (if you can believe it).

[djcouchycouch]

All I've ever heard is that virtually all PCE games ran at full speed.

Maybe you're thinking of the SNES and how several games ran at an even slower speed (if you can believe it).

Ah, here's where I saw it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson_Soft_HuC6280

"The processor operates at three speeds, 1.78 MHz, 3.58 MHz (the speed that most HuCard games run at to avoid overheating the system as the Japanese version of the system was smaller than its North American counterpart) and 7.16 MHz."

[Black Tiger]

All I've ever heard is that virtually all PCE games ran at full speed.

Maybe you're thinking of the SNES and how several games ran at an even slower speed (if you can believe it).

Ah, here's where I saw it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson_Soft_HuC6280

"The processor operates at three speeds, 1.78 MHz, 3.58 MHz (the speed that most HuCard games run at to avoid overheating the system as the Japanese version of the system was smaller than its North American counterpart) and 7.16 MHz."

Wow, I guess that otherwise factual wikipedia page was bound to have at least one error.

If that were actually true, it sure wouod embarrass the Genesis.

Although it's not unusual for wiki pages to be full of crap, the PC Engine suffers much worse as it does across the interne, because it wasn't popular in outside of Japan and has many misleading negative stereotypes and rumors.

[Tatsujin]

big lol @ that wiki crap. also because it was smaller than the US counter part. Houly

[ccovell]

Yeah, that Wiki page is absolute bullcrap.  The 6280 has 2 speeds only: 1.78Mhz and 7.16Mhz.  The 6280 runs at slow speed on power-up, but ALL games immediately set it to high speed.  Slow speed is used "pretty much" only when accessing save RAM (BRAM).

[nodtveidt]

I fixed it.

[esteban]

I fixed it.

[Arkhan]

lol, besides, the HuC/PCEAS startup code fires up high speed mode immediately too. 

Why anyone would want to make a PCE game at retard speed is beyond me.

[esteban]

lol, besides, the HuC/PCEAS startup code fires up high speed mode immediately too. 

Why anyone would want to make a PCE game at retard speed is beyond me.

Jack Nicklaus Golf uses the retard speed exclusively.

AND I ACTUALLY SQUEEZED SOME ENJOYMENT OUT OF THAT GAME (back in the day when poverty was the mother of appreciation).

[SignOfZeta]

Was there ANY consumer level CPU in 1987 that was capable of overheating in regular use? Most stuff back then produced more heat from voltage regulators than from processors. Heat sinks and fans were rare.

[vestcoat]

Are you saying I don't need that liquid cooling mod for my TG16?
 

[nodtveidt]

Was there ANY consumer level CPU in 1987 that was capable of overheating in regular use? Most stuff back then produced more heat from voltage regulators than from processors. Heat sinks and fans were rare.

The only example I can think of, and it wasn't a CPU but a video circuit, was the C64... the VIC-II chip had to be heatsinked as it generated a lot of heat. The CPU, however, was always bare. I never really even saw heatsinks on CPUs until the rise of 100MHz 80486 processors.