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| emulation_benchmarks [2026/01/17 16:40] – appledog | emulation_benchmarks [2026/01/27 06:44] (current) – appledog |
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| Therefore, let us attempt to allow emulation of modes and time periods -- NOT of hardware itself. The 8516 has a decent period-accurate "feel" ISA that should allow easy porting and in theory would be an excellent target for a C compiler. Those aren't going to be issues. The issues are going to be forcing programmers to comply. Therefore, when being considered for a "Gold Star" award by the SD-8516 foundation (I just made that up) programs must conform to the following specs: | Therefore, let us attempt to allow emulation of modes and time periods -- NOT of hardware itself. The 8516 has a decent period-accurate "feel" ISA that should allow easy porting and in theory would be an excellent target for a C compiler. Those aren't going to be issues. The issues are going to be forcing programmers to comply. Therefore, when being considered for a "Gold Star" award by the SD-8516 foundation (I just made that up) programs must conform to the following specs: |
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| | == Other Fantasy Computers |
| | * SD-8516 clocks in at 125 MIPS on an i7-12700K (Geekbench 6 baseline 2500) |
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| | On the same computer, |
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| | * SD-8510 runs at 4.5 MIPS |
| | * XR/Station running ASIX, dhrystone 2.1 shows 9.75 VAX MIPS |
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| == The Chart | == The Chart |
| Legend: | Legend: |
| * <fc green>Green: The SD-8516 is capable of emulating this level of performance on an i7-12700 (Geekbench 6 baseline).</fc> | * Green: The SD-8516 is capable of emulating this level of performance on an i7-12700 (Geekbench 6 baseline). |
| * <fc gray> Gray/Italics - The SD-8516 is //almost// capable of this performance.</fc> | * Light Gray: Although the SD-8516 cannot currently emulate this level of performance, it is expected to once graphics acceleration is emulated. |
| | * Dark Gray: The SD-8516 cannot emulate this system. This is almost always because it is slower than 50% of the required speed. For example, it is unlikely to achieve Dreamcast-level performance even on the new M5 Pro Max chips (4000+ single core). This level of performance would require a C rewrite and some form of multithreading. |
| | * Red: The system is unlikely to emulate this level of performance because it's advanced hardware. It is possible that a C rewrite would get close, but would require enthusiast hardware. These benchmarks are for GB6 baseline systems. |
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| ^ Year ^ System ^ CPU ^ Width ^ Approx MIPS ^ RAM ^ Graphics ^ Audio ^ Notes ^ | ^ Year ^ System ^ CPU ^ Width ^ Approx MIPS ^ RAM ^ Graphics ^ Audio ^ Notes ^ |
| | <fc green>1977</fc> | Atari 2600 | MOS 6507 | 8-bit | 0.30 | 128 B | 160×192, ~128 colors (TIA tricks) | | No framebuffer; cycle-exact emulation needed | | | @green:1977 | Atari 2600 | MOS 6507 | 8-bit | 0.30 | 128 B | 160×192, ~128 colors (TIA tricks) | | No framebuffer; cycle-exact emulation needed | |
| | <fc green>1979</fc> | Intellivision | CP1610 | 16-bit | 0.35 | 1 KB | 159×96×16 | | 16-bit CPU but very slow clock | | | @green:1979 | Intellivision | CP1610 | 16-bit | 0.35 | 1 KB | 159×96×16 | | 16-bit CPU but very slow clock | |
| | <fc darkgreen>1980 | VIC-20 | MOS 6502</fc> | 8-bit | 0.45 | 5 KB | 176×184×16 | | Simple video chip; CPU-bound | | | @green:1980 | VIC-20 | MOS 6502> | 8-bit | 0.45 | 5 KB | 176×184×16 | | Simple video chip; CPU-bound | |
| | <fc darkgreen>1981</fc> | BBC Micro | MOS 6502 | 8-bit | 1.00 | 32 KB | 640×256×2 | | 2 MHz CPU; very tight timing | | | @green:1981 | BBC Micro | MOS 6502 | 8-bit | 1.00 | 32 KB | 640×256×2 | | 2 MHz CPU; very tight timing | |
| | <fc darkgreen>1982</fc> | ColecoVision | Z80 @ 3.58 MHz | 8-bit | 0.58 | 1 KB + 16 KB VRAM | 256×192×16 | | Same VDP as MSX | | | @green:1982 | ColecoVision | Z80 @ 3.58 MHz | 8-bit | 0.58 | 1 KB + 16 KB VRAM | 256×192×16 | | Same VDP as MSX | |
| | <fc darkgreen>1982</fc> | C64 | MOS 6510 | 8-bit | 0.36 | 64 KB | 320×200×16 | SID | VIC-II steals cycles--slower than VIC-20 CPU-only | | | @green:1982 | C64 | MOS 6510 | 8-bit | 0.36 | 64 KB | 320×200×16 | SID | VIC-II steals cycles--slower than VIC-20 CPU-only | |
| | <fc darkgreen>1983</fc> | NES | Ricoh 2A03 | 8-bit | 0.50 | 2 KB | 256×240×25 | 2×PWM, 1×triangle, 1×noise, 1× DMC (4-bit PCM samples)| Heavy PPU timing--emulation harder than C64 | | | @green:1983 | NES | Ricoh 2A03 | 8-bit | 0.50 | 2 KB | 256×240×25 | 2×PWM, 1×triangle, 1×noise, 1× DMC (4-bit PCM samples)| Heavy PPU timing--emulation harder than C64 | |
| | <fc darkgreen>1983</fc> | Apple IIe | MOS 6502 | 8-bit | 0.50 | 64 KB | 280×192×6 | | No sprites; CPU-driven graphics | | | @green:1983 | Apple IIe | MOS 6502 | 8-bit | 0.50 | 64 KB | 280×192×6 | | No sprites; CPU-driven graphics | |
| | <fc darkgreen>1985</fc> | C128 | MOS 8502 | 8-bit | 0.75 | 128 KB | 320×200×16 | SID | Faster CPU but still VIC-II limited | | | @green:1985 | C128 | MOS 8502 | 8-bit | 0.75 | 128 KB | 320×200×16 | SID | Faster CPU but still VIC-II limited | |
| | <fc darkgreen>1987</fc> | Amiga 500 | 68000 @ 7 MHz | 16/32 | 4.5 | 512 KB–1 MB | 320×256×32/64/4096 | Paula (DMA-driven PCM playback) | Custom chips dominate emulation cost | | | @green:1987 | Amiga 500 | 68000 @ 7 MHz | 16/32 | 4.5 | 512 KB–1 MB | 320×256×32/64/4096 | Paula (DMA-driven PCM playback) | Custom chips dominate emulation cost | |
| | <fc darkgreen>1991</fc> | SNES | Ricoh 5A22 | 16-bit | 1.5 | 128 KB + VRAM | 256×224×256 | Advanced Sample Playback | Slow CPU; complex PPU & DMA | | | @green:1991 | SNES | Ricoh 5A22 | 16-bit | 1.5 | 128 KB + VRAM | 256×224×256 | Advanced Sample Playback | Slow CPU; complex PPU & DMA | |
| | <fc darkgreen>1991</fc> | 386SX | 80386SX @ 25 MHz | 32-bit | 10 | 4 MB | 320×200×256 VGA | SB Pro | Software rendered; cache key for speed | | | @lightgreen:1991 | 386SX | 80386SX @ 25 MHz | 32-bit | 10 | 4 MB | 320×200×256 VGA | SB Pro | Software rendered; cache key for speed | |
| | <fc darkgreen>1992</fc> | Amiga 1200 | 68EC020 @ 14 MHz | 32-bit | 14 | 2 MB | 320×256×256 | Paula (DMA-driven PCM playback) | Much easier CPU than SNES to emulate | | | @lightgreen:1992 | Amiga 1200 | 68EC020 @ 14 MHz | 32-bit | 14 | 2 MB | 320×256×256 | Paula (DMA-driven PCM playback) | Much easier CPU than SNES to emulate | |
| | <fc green>1992</fc> | 486 Gamer | 486DX2-66 | 32-bit | 54 | 8 MB | 640×480×256 (S3 ViRGE) | SB16 | ~20 FPS software Quake; 3D accel emerging | | | @lightgreen:1992 | 486 Gamer | 486DX2-66 | 32-bit | 54 | 8 MB | 640×480×256 (S3 ViRGE) | SB16 | ~20 FPS software Quake; 3D accel emerging | |
| | <fc green>1994</fc> | PS1 | MIPS R3000A | 32-bit | 30 | 2 MB + 1 MB VRAM | 320×240 | SPU | Geometry-heavy; no GPU T&L | | | @lightgray:1994 | PS1 | MIPS R3000A | 32-bit | 30 | 2 MB + 1 MB VRAM | 320×240 | SPU | Geometry-heavy; no GPU T&L | |
| | <fc green>1994</fc> | Pentium 90 | 586, 90 MHz | 32-bit | 90 | 32 MB | 640×480×16M (PCI VGA) | SB AWE32 | Smooth Quake @ 50+ FPS; Win95 ready | | | @lightgray:1994 | Pentium 90 | 586, 90 MHz | 32-bit | 90 | 32 MB | 640×480×16M (PCI VGA) | SB AWE32 | Smooth Quake @ 50+ FPS; Win95 ready | |
| | <fc green>1996</fc> | N64 | MIPS VR4300 | 64-bit | 125 | 4–8 MB | 320×240–640×480 | | Hard due to RSP/RDP synchronization | | | @lightgray:1996 | N64 | MIPS VR4300 | 64-bit | 125 | 4–8 MB | 320×240–640×480 | | Hard due to RSP/RDP synchronization | |
| | <fc gray>1998</fc> | Dreamcast | SH-4 @ 200 MHz | 32-bit | 360 | 16 MB | 640×480 | AICA | Very emulator-friendly architecture | | | @gray:1998 | Dreamcast | SH-4 @ 200 MHz | 32-bit | 360 | 16 MB | 640×480 | AICA | Very emulator-friendly architecture | |
| | <fc red>2000</fc> | PS2 | MIPS R5900 | 128-bit SIMD | 40 scalar | 32 MB | 640×448 | SPU2 | Scalar MIPS meaningless; VUs dominate | | | @red:2000 | PS2 | MIPS R5900 | 128-bit SIMD | 6000 + 40 | 32 MB | 640×448 | SPU2 | Emotion Engine 6k MIPS; +40 MIPS for PS1 compat.; VUs dominate | |
| | <fc red>2001</fc> | GameCube | Gekko @ 485 MHz | 32-bit | 1125 | 24 MB | 640×480 | Flipper DSP | Dolphin emulator gold standard; clean PowerPC arch | | | @red:2001 | GameCube | Gekko @ 485 MHz | 32-bit | 1125 | 24 MB | 640×480 | Flipper DSP | Dolphin emulator gold standard; clean PowerPC arch | |
| | <fc red>2017</fc> | Switch | ARM Cortex-A57 | 64-bit | 12,000 | 4 GB | 720p–1080p | | GPU & OS dominate emulation cost | | | @red:2017 | Switch | ARM Cortex-A57 | 64-bit | 12,000 | 4 GB | 720p–1080p | | GPU & OS dominate emulation cost | |
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