Duimon - HSM Mega Bezel Graphics and Presets - Feedback and Updates

Duimon · 31 March 2022 01:42

The i5 gives me a little concern but I think that system should run without issues. Are you using a 4K display?

In the end the Mega Bezel has always had a fairly steep hardware requirement… just the blur on the reflection alone is costly.

The cache that @HyperspaceMadness built into the shader a while back has leveled the playing field a bit but it still requires some horsepower.

That being said I can run everything up to Dreamcast and Game Cube on an i7 4790S 3.2 GHz and GTX 960 at 1080.

Realistically, that is about a $350 system.

Once Intel starts rolling out Arc iGPUs , and the next generation of Ryzen Vega is available, I think it will be fairly inexpensive to get the Mega Bezel up and running.

My answer to the obvious question is… yes I think the Mega Bezel is worth a system upgrade.

More to the point. I will try R-Type on the aforementioned box and see how it runs.

Duimon · 31 March 2022 03:08

Actually… the box with the GTX 960 is running an i7 920 @2.70 GHz.

I had absolutely no issues at all running R-Type with the ADV presets.

The i5 6400 has much better benchmarks than the i7 920 so I will assume you have other issues.

Do you have a multiple monitor setup?

Cyber · 31 March 2022 05:17

@Hari-82 mentioned Run Ahead but what about Frame Delay settings?

Hari-82 · 31 March 2022 11:19

@Duimon single Monitor @1080 60Hz, yes I think is not a “performance” issue as I said in the comment before.

@Cyber no auto frame delay and Frame Delay a 0.

the first game I tried was strikers 1945 because I know it is demanding to play it with 4 frame of run-ahead and I was pleased to see that It was working perfectly (fullspeed).

Duimon · 31 March 2022 11:21

If you haven’t already done so you can try following this guide…

https://forums.libretro.com/t/perfect-audio-video-synchronization/12072

It solved some Snes9x issues I was having.

Hari-82 · 31 March 2022 11:37

I’ll have a look!

I did some more tests and tried Strikers 1945 (4 frames run-ahead) with the ADV preset: fullspeed. I also tried x-men vs SF with the ADV preset: fullspeed. R-type: still can’t do it. I will try with a fresh instal later today…

HyperspaceMadness · 31 March 2022 12:11

Yeah, if you are getting those results then it is unlikely that it is the shader slowing it down unless the game has a much higher resolution than the OTHERS. I say this because the game emulation is processed on the CPU and the shader is processed on the GPU

Hari-82 · 31 March 2022 12:41

Ok so I did some more tests. I delete all fbneo’s config (include per game cfg) and r-type goes back to fullspeed (I tried with the STD and ADV preset): no audio/video slowdown/pacing issues. FPS reported by RA around 55 (correct) The problems comes when I set Sync to exact framerate:

without shaders (or with Potato presets) all is good: FPS reported by RA around 55 (correct)
with STD or ADV preset the reported FPS goes to 50: pacing issues and audio are bad.

I tried Dodonpachi: Sync to exact framerate ON -> no problem with STD or ADV presets, FPS reported around 57 (correct).

Sync to exact framerate OFF -> no problem with STD or ADV presets, FPS reported around 60

Something fishy with the framerate/pacing of r-type, with Sync to exact framerate and STD or ADV presets it seems its capping to 50 FPS (50 Hz?).

note: v-sync was ON in all the tests

As a side note/question: before updating RA to 1.10.2 I could set Max swapchain to 1. now, after the update, minimun value is 2.

SiriusVI · 9 April 2022 09:50

Is there any way to add this to Dolphin Standalone? I prefer the Standalone Dolphin for Wii Games.

Duimon · 13 April 2022 01:13

The reflection shader… no… the overlay graphic… possibly Rocketlauncher. I’m not sure how well it succeeds sizing the standalone window. (I think I used the widescreen hack and no overlay in the past.)

Duimon · 12 April 2022 23:52

I have been very busy doing hardware tasks lately. I finished building my backup/4K vertical PC (With it’s new RTX 3050 .) It is now safely back in it’s box and taped up until I get some work done on my office.

I put together my second Linux server. (In one of two new, matching 4U Rack-mount chassis.) I had some issues getting Debian to work but switching to Ubuntu went really smooth.

It’s main function will be as a NextPVR server back end for the network, but I installed a GUI OS and have a wall mount monitor and keyboard arm going in so it can be used as a desktop in the server closet. (I will be using an HDMI KVM switch so I can administer my headless server without ssh if there is ever a need.)

While I was working on the server my lovely wife was having non-stop issues with the Windows 10 PC I put together for her using spare parts. (ASUS x58… GTX 960).

I decided to put together a new Ryzen 5600G system for her, so I have some new fun to look forward to.

On the graphics side of things… I did a commit to Batocera with new default bezels, (TV7) the Jakks plugnplay, and a couple of standalone bezels for XBOX and Triforce that use a 4x3 aspect with no cropping.

I plan to spend the next couple of days doing some more standalone bezels for Batocera and deciding on a path for my new Macintosh Batocera versions.

Once I get that done i will tie up any loose ends I have here and start work on the Woz! version of the Apple IIgs.

STAiNLESS · 15 April 2022 09:24

since being the very first reply in this thread, to this reply, it is absolutely mind blowing what you have achieved with this project. Incredible work my friend. Thank you for all you are doing

Cyber · 15 April 2022 11:51

If you want to try to troubleshoot these issues, feel free to elaborate. Sometimes it could be as simple as RAM throwing errors. After years of replacing bad DIMMs almost automatically, I now have a 100% success record with restoring them to full functionality using my own fine tuned reflow method. It only takes about an hour or 2 to complete the entire process including before and after cleaning. If you simplify the cleaning stages it could take less than an hour.

You seem to have a penchant for building PCs, trust me, I know the feeling.

I hold back quite a bit now because of new priorities and responsibilities but I recently did an internal upgrade of two of my systems just by swapping around some parts I had lying around. I had to give up the SLi option on my secondary gaming/HTPC PC in the process but I plan to wean myself off SLi anyway and that PC has been running single GPU ever since one of my GTX 970s started having some issues.

I’m glad to see prices and availability of parts getting closer to pre-pandemic levels. I took a stance that I’m not going to support the gouging as much as I could have avoided it. I was also turned off by nVidia’s strange product segmentation when it comes to VRAM sizes and also the side effects of high power usage due to using a different manufacturer this gen with very few smaller form factor graphics card options with enough oompfh to justify replacing my current setup.

So for my next GPU upgrade I’m looking for something at least as powerful as an RTX 2080Ti or 3060Ti with at least 11GB VRAM that can do 4K60, and not longer than 8.75".

That’s the normal max GPU length my current case can handle, which goes up to 14" if I remove the hard drive cage which also acts as a housing for the single front intake fan that the case can accommodate.

I recently got the idea of simply moving that cage and fan over to the side location which currently houses my hard drives in order to free up the extra space for a longer graphics card. This length restriction is one of the reasons I went with dual X70 series mini graphics cards for two generations instead of one large X80 card.

This is my HTPC Case here:

https://www.silverstonetek.com/legacy.php?pid=199&area=en&model=LC13-E&tno=

Duimon · 15 April 2022 12:31

The hardware is little used and rock solid. It is really just a lack of support for the x58 chipset in newer versions of Windows 10. (The issues are related to the ICH10/ICH10R storage component.)

The following generation consolidated the two North Bridge chips and has much better support.

It is likely that switching to an older version (Pre “Creators Update”.) and turning off updates would have solved the issues. (Or using a non-approved software driver.) In the end I felt she deserved something brand new. Just the speed of the M.2 drive alone will probably blow her away.

I will most likely keep the MB around for future projects. I have a twin set of components in my HTPC running Windows 7 that has been pretty much powered on for 9 years. (I was storing these parts as replacements but never needed them.)

Cyber · 15 April 2022 20:47

Sometimes the installers may not work on newer OSes so you can probably try manually extracting and installing the last version of the driver that you can find that works properly. I run into these types of issues from time to time on older stuff even with different manufacturers. Sometimes the latest official compatible driver might be buggy and you have to dig a little deeper through some trial and error in order to find the one that works.

You can try Windows 7 or Windows 8 drivers as well or even the pre Creators Update ones as you have stated.

Duimon · 15 April 2022 13:08

Nice! I am currently using this nMediaPC case.

https://www.newegg.com/black-nmediapc-htpc-6000b-atx-media-center-htpc-case/p/N82E16811204037

I’m fairly certain in will accommodate my Z170S and GTX 1070 after I finish my R&D.

I’m honestly kind of hoping it won’t. Once I get my living room painted and a new OLED TV mounted on the wall… I might like to try this case and do away with my TV stand.

https://www.newegg.com/space-gray-thermaltake-core-p-series-atx-open-frame-chassis/p/N82E16811133153

Cyber · 16 April 2022 03:15

It reminds me of this case I saw a couple years ago:

This one looks pretty elegant and stylish. Dust might be an issue over the long term though.

Duimon · 16 April 2022 18:11

Just in case everyone is as far behind as I am… there have been some new cores added to RA. a5200, (Which makes running both Atari800 and Atari 5200 ROMs a lot easier by using separate cores.) WASM-4, (Which is already on my list.) Same CDi, (Which greatly increases the CDi playable library.) Arduous, (Which has now been added to my handheld list.) and Jump 'n Bump.

Also added to my list but will just needs a TV7 Mod. (So far the games I’ve tried are fairly pointless but it runs and looks good so…)

I love the fact that advances in RA will make this a never ending project!

Duimon · 16 April 2022 17:55

Thanks to @TVsIan I will be adding the Interton Electronic VC 4000 to my MAME SL list.

It doesn’t require the traditional software list method so was missed during my search. I wonder how many other systems have been missed for the same reason.

The graphics are simple, and the game controls a bit weird, but it does have 37 games in the SL which is more than some systems.

Axymeus · 22 April 2022 14:57

I can’t get the NDS presets to work properly with the touch screen. I’m using melonDS in Touch Mode, but when the shader is applied the viewport is not aligned with the boundaries of the touch screen. So basically you need to click not where the screen is displayed but where it would be displayed without the shader, if that makes sense. What am I missing?