A pattern end result from the DSP pattern check program.

Credit score:
Allan Cecil

These warmth results paled compared to the pure clock variation throughout totally different consoles, although. The slowest and quickest DSPs in Cecil’s pattern confirmed a clock distinction of 234 Hz, or about 0.7 p.c of the 32,000 Hz specification.

That distinction is sufficiently small that human gamers most likely would not discover it straight; TASBot group member Complete estimated it’d quantity to “at most possibly a second or two [of difference] over hours of gameplay.” Expert speedrunners may discover small variations, although, if differing CPU and APU alignments trigger “fastidiously memorized enemy sample modifications to one thing else” between runs, Cecil mentioned.

For a frame-perfect tool-assisted speedrun, although, the clock variations between consoles may trigger innumerable complications. As TASBot group member Undisbeliever explained in his detailed analysis: “On one console this would possibly take 0.126 frames to course of the music-tick, on a unique console it’d take 0.127 frames. It won’t appear to be a lot nevertheless it is sufficient to probably delay the beginning of music loading by 1 body (relying on timing, lag and game-code).”

Cecil’s survey discovered variation throughout consoles was a lot increased than the consequences of warmth on any single console.

Cecil additionally mentioned the survey-reported DSP clock speeds have been additionally a bit increased than he anticipated, at a mean charge of 32,078 Hz at room temperature. That is fairly a bit increased than each the 32,000 Hz spec set by Nintendo and the 32,040 Hz charge that emulator builders settled on after sampling precise {hardware} in 2003.

To some observers, that is proof that SNES APUs initially produced within the ’90s have been rushing up barely as they age and will proceed to get quicker within the coming years and many years. However Cecil says the historic information they’ve is just too circumstantial to make such a declare for sure.

“We’re all a bunch of otherwise expert geeks and nerds, and it is in our nature to argue over what the outcomes imply, which is ok,” Cecil mentioned. “The one factor we are able to say with certainty is the statistical significance of the responses that present the present common DSP pattern charge is 32,076 Hz, quicker on common than the unique specification. The remainder of it’s as much as interpretation and a specific amount of educated guessing primarily based on what we are able to glean.”