Overclocking the NES while maintaining audio quality...

MM007 · Post by **MM007** » Wed May 11, 2005 12:35 pm

I want to make an overclocked NES (likely using multiple crystals and a DIP switch to configure the various speeds) that soes not suffer from the normal sound problems of the NES. I am willing to build circuits and even use 2 NES motherboards and CPUs if needed. Can anyone brainstorm a good way to make this OC'ed NES with correct audio a reality?

Also, if it doesn't consume too much energy, I may even put it in a portable. ^^

Unidentified Assilant · Wed May 11, 2005 12:55 pm

Well, if you increase the fps, then the sound will increase too. Thats all I know about OC

Post by **gannon** » Wed May 11, 2005 1:06 pm

Only overclock the CPU, if you keep the PPU on the original clock it'll work fine.

MM007 · Post by **MM007** » Wed May 11, 2005 2:38 pm

gannon wrote:Only overclock the CPU, if you keep the PPU on the original clock it'll work fine.

Um...I blieve it was said that the PPU was not overclocked anyway, and I am talking about the sound not the video....I believe the sound comes from the CPU...

Post by **gannon** » Wed May 11, 2005 2:42 pm

Yeah, just looked over my nes schematics and noticed that

Kinda crappy. Looks like even with 2 processors there's not really a way.

MM007 · Post by **MM007** » Wed May 11, 2005 2:56 pm

gannon wrote:Yeah, just looked over my nes schematics and noticed that
Kinda crappy. Looks like even with 2 processors there's not really a way.

Even if I had 2 NESes with the cartridge connections both reading the same cartridge leads? Or does the read time change with the CPU clock boost as well?

Post by **gannon** » Wed May 11, 2005 5:59 pm

hmm... I'm not sure if the cpu and ppu need to talk to eachother for any of the commands to function fully. If not then you might be able to. The only problem is that the audio would be playing at normal speed so it'd still lag, and the game might go ahead of the audio.

nos_slived · Post by **nos_slived** » Wed May 11, 2005 6:29 pm

Get a second CPU, and tie it to all of the orignals connections, but use the regular clock, and only use the sound from it, not the video. Your sound may end up a little off, but what's better than hearing the SMB3 cannons fire 3 seconds after the bullet passes you

?

Post by **gannon** » Wed May 11, 2005 6:32 pm

that's exactly what we're discussing....
The problem is what I brought up in my last post.

Turbo Tax 1.0 · Post by **Turbo Tax 1.0** » Wed May 11, 2005 7:03 pm

ive been confused about this for a while

wat exactly is overclocking

Post by **bicostp** » Wed May 11, 2005 7:10 pm

Overclocking is hacking a processor to go faster than it was designed to go.

I remember overclocking my Mac IIcx. I got faster speeds by simply replacing an oscillator!

MM007 · Post by **MM007** » Wed May 11, 2005 9:51 pm

But Epicenter specificly said that the game would not go faster, just that lag would be reduced. Thus, the audio should remain in sync.

nos_slived · Post by **nos_slived** » Wed May 11, 2005 10:56 pm

It stays in sync, but is processed at a higher rate, making it higher pitched. It produces the sound more times, but a faster refresh rate, so higher pitch.

If you are talking about using 2 CPUs, I see where you are coming from, but because the data going to them is the same, the sound CPU will lag, while the video CPU won't.

I am not possitive about this, but when I re-read it, it seemed to make sense to me. Any ideas?

MM007 · Post by **MM007** » Wed May 11, 2005 11:02 pm

The sound CPU won't lag, since the game itself doesn't run faster on an overclocked system anyway. It just reduces the typical in-game lag. There is no difference in actual game speed. Overclocking it only makes it run better.

nos_slived · Post by **nos_slived** » Wed May 11, 2005 11:13 pm

If it isn't overclocked it will. It will be the same as using the sound from an NES that isn't overclocked, and the video from one that is. The game won't speed up or slow down, but the CPU will encounter lag if not overclocked.