Multi-core becomming status quo

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.mame (More info?)

Both Intel and AMD are soon to be releasing multi-core CPUs.
These may be entirely outclassed by the new 'Cell' processor which will be
used in the PS3. It may (through emulation) be able to blur the line
between platforms and OSes. Anyone care to comment on how MAME may be
affected (down the road) by this new trend in CPU architecture, which may
make single-core software design philosophy a thing of the past for many
projects?

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[Mike]

Archived from groups: alt.games.mame (More info?)

On Mon, 07 Feb 2005 22:20:16 -0600, Cerian Knight wrote:

> Both Intel and AMD are soon to be releasing multi-core CPUs.
> These may be entirely outclassed by the new 'Cell' processor which will be
> used in the PS3. It may (through emulation) be able to blur the line
> between platforms and OSes. Anyone care to comment on how MAME may be
> affected (down the road) by this new trend in CPU architecture, which may
> make single-core software design philosophy a thing of the past for many
> projects?

The question about dual core is asked on the MAME.net boards quite
frequently. From what I gather, the answer is the same as for multiple CPU
systems: multi-threading the emulation is currently not really on the
plate, the overhead from keeping the different CPUs in sync is likely to
give more of a performance hit than you'd gain in the first place, and
lastly - yet most importantly - it's quite a task rewriting MAME and nobody
can be bothered to do it right now.

Mike

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.mame (More info?)

Cerian Knight's last words before the Sword of Azrial plunged through his
body were:
> Both Intel and AMD are soon to be releasing multi-core CPUs.
> These may be entirely outclassed by the new 'Cell' processor which will be
> used in the PS3. It may (through emulation) be able to blur the line
> between platforms and OSes. Anyone care to comment on how MAME may be
> affected (down the road) by this new trend in CPU architecture, which may
> make single-core software design philosophy a thing of the past for many
> projects?

Soon? AMD already has them

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.mame (More info?)

Cerian Knight thought about it a bit, then said...
> Anyone care to comment on how MAME may be
> affected (down the road) by this new trend in CPU architecture, which may
> make single-core software design philosophy a thing of the past for many
> projects?

I can see advantages if/when then separate emulated board components
(CPU, Graphics, Sound) are separated into separate threads that can be
run concurrently, but keeping everything in sync is going to be a
problem.

This would particularly help games that had a 3D graphics subsystem,
such as NFL Blitz, but it isn't going to be an easy rewrite...

--
Kevin Steele
RetroBlast! Retrogaming News and Reviews
www.retroblast.com

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.mame (More info?)

Hi,

> Anyone care to comment on how MAME may be affected

I remember a short discussion on Aaron Giles site, and he should know,
but I could not find it right now.

Ciao, MM
--
Marian Aldenhövel, Rosenhain 23, 53123 Bonn. +49 228 624013.
http://www.marian-aldenhoevel.de
"Wir brauchen keine Opposition, wir sind bereits Demokraten."

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.mame (More info?)

reverse wrote on 07. February 2005:
>
> Both Intel and AMD are soon to be releasing multi-core CPUs.
> These may be entirely outclassed by the new 'Cell' processor which will be
> used in the PS3.

So does IBM, based on a Power CPU.
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[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.mame (More info?)

Andreas Kohlbach <ankman@email.com> gyrated his joystick in a pattern
that spelled out:

> reverse wrote on 07. February 2005:
>>
>> Both Intel and AMD are soon to be releasing multi-core CPUs.
>> These may be entirely outclassed by the new 'Cell' processor which
>> will be used in the PS3.
>
> So does IBM, based on a Power CPU.

I believe that is the 'Cell'.

http://www.blachford.info/computer/Cells/Cell0.html

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[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.mame (More info?)

Mike <mdh@deadspam.com> gyrated his joystick in a pattern that spelled
out:

> On Mon, 07 Feb 2005 22:20:16 -0600, Cerian Knight wrote:
>
>> Both Intel and AMD are soon to be releasing multi-core CPUs.
>> These may be entirely outclassed by the new 'Cell' processor which
>> will be used in the PS3. It may (through emulation) be able to blur
>> the line between platforms and OSes. Anyone care to comment on how
>> MAME may be affected (down the road) by this new trend in CPU
>> architecture, which may make single-core software design philosophy a
>> thing of the past for many projects?
>
> The question about dual core is asked on the MAME.net boards quite
> frequently. From what I gather, the answer is the same as for multiple
> CPU systems: multi-threading the emulation is currently not really on
> the plate, the overhead from keeping the different CPUs in sync is
> likely to give more of a performance hit than you'd gain in the first
> place, and lastly - yet most importantly - it's quite a task rewriting
> MAME and nobody can be bothered to do it right now.

It would have to be a tangent build. Eventually it will be needed, is my
guess. Emulating a subsystem, such as the Voodoo2, or other specialized
hardware in its own processor presents no overwhelming syncronization
problems in a shared memory architecture. The overhead you speak of already
exists under the current emulation in keeping the various virtual pieces of
hardware (CPU, sound and video) in sync. Much of this overhead would
actually be eliminated by giving each CPU its own piece of hardware to
manage.

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