testing for low-spec desktops/laptop machines

[Carlos Nazareno]

Hi guys!

What technique do you use to test for lower-spec machines?

My problem is that my quad-core runs too fast to gauge acceptable
performance for targeted slower machines when working in Flash 3D.

What I'm doing instead is to run Flash inside linux inside a VM inside
my workstation to slow it down.

This is less than optimal and is a bit of a hassle though.

Short of looking for 2nd-hand older PCs, what do you guys do?

A nice-looking alternative starting to pop up would be to buy an Android
Froyo device, then to run SetCPU on it to dynamically underclock it and
benchmark for different sub-1GHz CPU speeds...

Thanks in advance!

-Naz
--
Carlos Nazareno
http://www.object404.com
http://twitter.com/object404
--
Core Team Member
Phlashers: Philippine Flash Actionscripters
http://www.phlashers.com
--
"if you don't like the way the world is running,
then change it instead of just complaining."

[Steve D]

Are you looking for something like http://www.hpaa.com/moslo/ or
http://www.cpukiller.com/index.html ?

I haven't used either of these, but they might do what you need.

A long time ago I used a similar utility called Turbo, which was actually
capable of slowing a cpu, despite its name, to run old DOS games on a single
core cpu. But, with some searching, I see that turbo doesn't work well with
dual core cpus. Perhaps one of the above utilities will.

Post by Carlos Nazareno
Hi guys!
What technique do you use to test for lower-spec machines?
My problem is that my quad-core runs too fast to gauge acceptable
performance for targeted slower machines when working in Flash 3D.
What I'm doing instead is to run Flash inside linux inside a VM inside my
workstation to slow it down.
This is less than optimal and is a bit of a hassle though.
Short of looking for 2nd-hand older PCs, what do you guys do?
A nice-looking alternative starting to pop up would be to buy an Android
Froyo device, then to run SetCPU on it to dynamically underclock it and
benchmark for different sub-1GHz CPU speeds...
Thanks in advance!
-Naz
--
Carlos Nazareno
http://www.object404.com
http://twitter.com/object404
--
Core Team Member
Phlashers: Philippine Flash Actionscripters
http://www.phlashers.com
--
"if you don't like the way the world is running,
then change it instead of just complaining."
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Papervision3D mailing list
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[Carlos Nazareno]

Thanks for the tips, Steve!

Tried out CPUkiller trial, it did work at slowing everything down,
however, it wasn't quite working right as my in-SWF FPS meter still
showed 50-60fps (despite the fact that my app was then running at around
10-20fps).

My FPS meter works correctly though when run inside a VM, so CPUkiller
doesn't do the job for me.

I tried out MoSlo yeaaars ago before WinXP became popular to slow down
emulated DOS games, but I haven't tried it out lately. Unfortunately,
moslo does not have a trial/evaluation version so I can't check to see
if it serves our needs.

So you guys, what techniques have you guys actually tried/currently use?

Thanks!

-Naz

Post by Steve D
Are you looking for something like http://www.hpaa.com/moslo/ or
http://www.cpukiller.com/index.html ?
I haven't used either of these, but they might do what you need.
A long time ago I used a similar utility called Turbo, which was
actually capable of slowing a cpu, despite its name, to run old DOS
games on a single core cpu. But, with some searching, I see that turbo
doesn't work well with dual core cpus. Perhaps one of the above
utilities will.

--
Carlos Nazareno
http://www.object404.com
http://twitter.com/object404
--
Core Team Member
Phlashers: Philippine Flash Actionscripters
http://www.phlashers.com
--
"if you don't like the way the world is running,
then change it instead of just complaining."

[Stig Kristiansen]

I have been using "RightMark CPU Clock Utility, version 2.30.1" on my
Laptop. It is running Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz.

I have no idea if this will work on a desktop computer at all.

*BEWARE* The following might actually hurt your computer! Continue on
your own peril :-)

That said, I have seen a few freezes after playing to much with the cpu
multipliers and other settings but nothing a reboot did not fix.

The utility might seem a bit cryptic at first but it gives you fine tune
control on all the parameters that control the clock speed of your CPU.
I have been able to reduce the clock speed all the way down to about 100
Mhz.

But be aware that a modern CPU running at a low frequency is not the
equivalent in power to an old CPU that used to run at the same speed.
But it should give you a ballpark idea about performance.

Another trick that is useful to emulate single core CPU:

Just add one extra line to your boot.ini file:

[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect /usepmtimer
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional (1 core only)" /numproc=1 /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
/usepmtimer

Just copy the standard boot line and add the numproc parameter and you
may want to increase the timeout value.

Switching between single or dual core can now be done at boot time.

*** This works with XP, I have not tried this with Vista/Win7 ***

Post by Carlos Nazareno
Thanks for the tips, Steve!
Tried out CPUkiller trial, it did work at slowing everything down,
however, it wasn't quite working right as my in-SWF FPS meter still
showed 50-60fps (despite the fact that my app was then running at
around 10-20fps).
My FPS meter works correctly though when run inside a VM, so CPUkiller
doesn't do the job for me.
I tried out MoSlo yeaaars ago before WinXP became popular to slow down
emulated DOS games, but I haven't tried it out lately. Unfortunately,
moslo does not have a trial/evaluation version so I can't check to see
if it serves our needs.
So you guys, what techniques have you guys actually tried/currently use?
Thanks!
-Naz

Post by Steve D
Are you looking for something like http://www.hpaa.com/moslo/ or
http://www.cpukiller.com/index.html ?
I haven't used either of these, but they might do what you need.
A long time ago I used a similar utility called Turbo, which was
actually capable of slowing a cpu, despite its name, to run old DOS
games on a single core cpu. But, with some searching, I see that turbo
doesn't work well with dual core cpus. Perhaps one of the above
utilities will.

[Mark I. Ross]

it will definitely run slow on a froyo handset - you don't even need to
use SetCPU, it's good and slow as it is! :)

Post by Carlos Nazareno
Hi guys!
What technique do you use to test for lower-spec machines?
My problem is that my quad-core runs too fast to gauge acceptable
performance for targeted slower machines when working in Flash 3D.
What I'm doing instead is to run Flash inside linux inside a VM inside
my workstation to slow it down.
This is less than optimal and is a bit of a hassle though.
Short of looking for 2nd-hand older PCs, what do you guys do?
A nice-looking alternative starting to pop up would be to buy an
Android Froyo device, then to run SetCPU on it to dynamically
underclock it and benchmark for different sub-1GHz CPU speeds...
Thanks in advance!
-Naz

[Makc]

buy a netbook, seriously.

cheap way would be to do everything in enterframe/timer/etcf twice/3/4 times...