PQ2 on X Scale device?? How will it run??

[randall]

[szalajko]

[En_garde]

[James S]

[Guest]

[NinthOption]

[James S]

Their called Mobile Dockers ...

[NinthOption]

[(TSC)Bender]

[NinthOption]

[Guspaz]

I know this question has been asked umpteen times before, but here it is again.

Why is Quake so slow on the PocketPC?

I fully understand that one can't compare clockspeeds directly and assume a parity; a 400Mhz XScale is not the same as a 400Mhz 486.

However, from what I understand the XScale is a RISC processor, which from what I know generally means it runs faster clock for clock than a CISC processor (Anecdotal evidence: MC68040 vs PowerPC 601). The 486, which I am making my comparison, is a CISC processor.

So, why then, does a 66Mhz CISC CPU (486) run Quake much much faster than a 400Mhz RISC (XScale)?

I have read that neither the PocketPC OS nor the software that runs on it has been optimized at all for the XScale CPU (Reminds me of how the 601 emulated '040 code, and the lack of 601 code lead to the '040 being faster in lots of stuff for a short while). However, this would lead me to believe that, with XScale optimizations, Quake on the PocketPC could significantly outperform a 66Mhz 486.

So, could someone clear this up for me? Is the XScale just such a weak processor that even at 400Mhz it is no match for an ancient CPU running at 17% it's clock speed? Or is it the lack of optimizations? And then would extensive optimizations clear up this performance gap and lead to a framerate several times higher than current ones?

Thanks for your time people, I know this has been asked before.

Regards, Guspaz.

[NinthOption]

7 things:

The 486 only got to 85mhz

RISC isn't always faster than CISC

The 68k's and 3/486's had FPU Co-processors in them

The XScale has little or no Cache

Even though I know you know MHZ isn't everything I think I need to make it more clear: Clock speed means NOTHING. It's like RPM's in a car. The only thing it is useful for is comparison within identical CPU cores. Just like diiferences in a car's RPM's, it only translates to MPH on the same car. You can't compare Civic revs to F-50 revs.

Quake only ran about this fast on 486's if at all. The pentium had been out 4 years when Quake was released.

Yes PQ isn't compiled for XScale

Quake itself is just a nativly x86 game. Even Carmack the greatest coder on earth found one of his biggest challeges of his career getting quake to run on Power PC. Afterwards he declared he would never, ever do a mac port again it was such a pain in the ass. I wouldn't expect Dan East(or anyone!) to fair much better.

[Robotbeat]

[NinthOption]

Still he's no Carmack, No one compares to him save Linius.

[Robotbeat]