New Gp2x Mk2 Review.

[OMars]

The GP2X has rejected 266mhz cpu's in it, after some lengthy experiments and a poll on here the guaranteed speed of them seems to be 240mhz.

Gamepark clocks it down to 100mhz in the menu and to 200mhz on running an app.

However most units can do 250-266mhz without issue. Infact a lot of you can reach speeds higher than that.

The new unit contains the same chipset.

The new joystick is better, but i've had daveC's cap for a long time now and that cleared up most of the problems for me. I should imagine the rotated version does solve the diagonal bias even if you use the old cap however.

NAND size? :huh:

 

[Epicenter]

Mine works at 266MHz as DOCs suggests.

Didn't care put it higher as power consumption was going too high. So at 280-300MHz it would be really bad.

MMSP2 at 200MHz isn't that bad imho, pretty solid SoC imho.

Power consumption should be very low even overclocked-- the ARM9 series is a very power-efficient chip. Hell, I routinely play through a whole game like Metal Slug at 300 MHz and don't put much of a dent in my batteries..

 

[EvilDragon]

no, he changed a resistor, but thats only for flickering/brightnes, dosnt have anything to do with "scanlines".

Well, it does have a bit... using the new resistor, you can change the settings in the LCD menu and go more left (which reduces scanlines but enhances flickering).
With the old resistor, it flickers as hell, so you need a setting far to the right, which make the scanlines issue worse.

 

[Radek]

Mine works at 266MHz as DOCs suggests.

Didn't care put it higher as power consumption was going too high. So at 280-300MHz it would be really bad.

MMSP2 at 200MHz isn't that bad imho, pretty solid SoC imho.

Power consumption should be very low even overclocked-- the ARM9 series is a very power-efficient chip. Hell, I routinely play through a whole game like Metal Slug at 300 MHz and don't put much of a dent in my batteries..

It is! But keep in a mind in cmos power consumption will increase at least lineary with clock rate. I can get ~3 hours at 200MHz but ~1 hour at 266MHz. Perhaps my NiMH don't have so good voltage curve as yours, I don't know.

no, he changed a resistor, but thats only for flickering/brightnes, dosnt have anything to do with "scanlines".

Well, it does have a bit... using the new resistor, you can change the settings in the LCD menu and go more left (which reduces scanlines but enhances flickering).
With the old resistor, it flickers as hell, so you need a setting far to the right, which make the scanlines issue worse.

Ha! By damaging the ribbon cable to the LCD I figured what trace it is!
And lowering brightness will decrease effects of interlacing - the GP2x's screen is to bright imho.

And I'm somewhat sceptical about the new LCD screen. It's all is looking as the problem at encoding video signal for me than LCD display issue. However as I can see interlacing (sometimes) in my digital cameras' LCD it's probably just common thing. In GP2x the refresh timings weren't set to optimally so it was apparent.

Wasn't someone claiming that it can be observed in the GBA's screen as well?

 

[meancode]

As previously mentioned by a few distributors inc me there is a new GP2X MK2 shipping in May. I have had a beta one for about a week now.

The main change is that it has a new screen, the previous manufacturer did not cooperate with GPH very well so they have sourced another screen from a local provider.

I've also managed to get them to rotate the stick 45 degrees.

The new screen is OK, it does not have the perfect viewing angles of the current one, but it isn't interlaced in 2.0, seems to run all current software with no issues. I'm looking into if you can plug and play the screen into the old GP2X.

The screen is sharp but I'd kinda got used to the old one, it had a nice effect of smoothing the images - stuff now looks pixelated again, took a whlie to get used to. The viewing angle isn't as good (ie if you tilt it too far the image fades away.).

Anyway after millions of questions seen on here and sent to me and other distributors i've made this review of the scene and of the new GP2X MK2:

http://craig.gp2x.de/review/GP2XReview.html

Any questions? (go on, flood me).

-Craig

Great review. One question.

From 200 to 240 Mhz?

 

[OMars]

WTF? :blink: Isn't anybody going to answer my question? :huh:

What is the mk2's NAND size? :huh:

 

[iignotus]

WTF? :blink: Isn't anybody going to answer my question? :huh:

What is the mk2's NAND size? :huh:

Well, if you had read the article linked on the first page, you likely wouldn't have had to asked such a silly question in the first place. And I quote: "Let us first look at the specs - 240mhz dual core CPU (can be overclocked in software), 64M of RAM and 64M of NAND, 320*240 backlit LCD with custom graphics hardware and TV out."

 

[donny662]

I was surprised to see the NAND size is 64MB with all the rumors about it being just as (if not more) economical for GPH to upgrade the chips.

 

[iignotus]

I was surprised to see the NAND size is 64MB with all the rumors about it being just as (if not more) economical for GPH to upgrade the chips.

Baby steps, baby steps... especially with GPH

 

[DaveC]

It is! But keep in a mind in cmos power consumption will increase at least lineary with clock rate. I can get ~3 hours at 200MHz but ~1 hour at 266MHz. Perhaps my NiMH don't have so good voltage curve as yours, I don't know.


Ha! By damaging the ribbon cable to the LCD I figured what trace it is!
And lowering brightness will decrease effects of interlacing - the GP2x's screen is to bright imho.

And I'm somewhat sceptical about the new LCD screen. It's all is looking as the problem at encoding video signal for me than LCD display issue. However as I can see interlacing (sometimes) in my digital cameras' LCD it's probably just common thing. In GP2x the refresh timings weren't set to optimally so it was apparent.

Wasn't someone claiming that it can be observed in the GBA's screen as well?

Actually if what you say about battery life that you get when overclocking is true than the relationship actually seems non-linear, more exponential.

Which trace is it that controls brightness? I was going to put a pot on it so I can adjust the brightness of the backlight.

Interlacing? Yeah it is common on many devices. My Razr phone has the exact same interlace effect.

Craig,

Has GPH flat-out refused to replace the stick with a superior switch or a simple D-Pad? I mean, this is an improvement as it'll get rid of the Diagnol bias the stick has, and the new cap is always welcome for users who don't know of DaveC's or don't wish to buy one separately-- but it still boils down to that the switch the stick is based on is simply a very poor choice for a game system (at least, when it comes to the majority of games, emulated or not.)

The stick is not all that bad if the diagonal bias is fixed. The good thing is that it is a standard part that can be easily replaced when worn. The only problem now is a less than ideal dead zone. I am looking into a fix for that but will require you to remove the stick and mod it. *If* it works it may be available to stores and they may be able to mod units themselves and sell them that way. Also if it works I will look into getting a patent on the design. It should be pretty inexpensive too.

 

[OMars]

WTF? :blink: Isn't anybody going to answer my question? :huh:

What is the mk2's NAND size? :huh:

Well, if you had read the article linked on the first page, you likely wouldn't have had to asked such a silly question in the first place. And I quote: "Let us first look at the specs - 240mhz dual core CPU (can be overclocked in software), 64M of RAM and 64M of NAND, 320*240 backlit LCD with custom graphics hardware and TV out."

I see. B) That sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :angry:

 

[Redeeman]

i think it sucks more that the new ones apparently has faster cpu's, better screen and a fixed joystick.

when i bought my gp2x a month ago i didnt see anything about "testing version, experimental, subject to change", i bought it in the believe that it was the finished product, and now apparently if i want the version thats really good, i must buy another one.

and yes, i do notice interlacing, and i do believe the joystick isnt too terribly good.

 

[thelamer]

Shouldn't things like this be front paged ??

All we ever get is software news .

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

Well, it does have a bit... using the new resistor, you can change the settings in the LCD menu and go more left (which reduces scanlines but enhances flickering).
With the old resistor, it flickers as hell, so you need a setting far to the right, which make the scanlines issue worse.

Hm, I don't notice any flickering at all when I set it to the left. And I set it to the far left because I get the fewest scanlines there. CPU/LCD Tweaker does a much better job though anyway. I still have to try it with 2.0

 

[yaustar]

i think it sucks more that the new ones apparently has faster cpu's, better screen and a fixed joystick.

when i bought my gp2x a month ago i didnt see anything about "testing version, experimental, subject to change", i bought it in the believe that it was the finished product, and now apparently if i want the version thats really good, i must buy another one.

and yes, i do notice interlacing, and i do believe the joystick isnt too terribly good.

Consoles and hardware go through revisions all the time. Nothing new here.

On a side note: has anyone else developed a 'fondness' of the scanlines? After a while I kind of got used to it and starting to prefer it.

 

[Redeeman]

i think it sucks more that the new ones apparently has faster cpu's, better screen and a fixed joystick.

when i bought my gp2x a month ago i didnt see anything about "testing version, experimental, subject to change", i bought it in the believe that it was the finished product, and now apparently if i want the version thats really good, i must buy another one.

and yes, i do notice interlacing, and i do believe the joystick isnt too terribly good.

Consoles and hardware go through revisions all the time. Nothing new here.

nothing as much as this. its basically an entirely different product, with different cpu, differnet joystick, and different screen.

 

[Dzz]

Consoles and hardware go through revisions all the time. Nothing new here.

nothing as much as this. its basically an entirely different product, with different cpu, differnet joystick, and different screen.

Hmm, I'm not sure that is really true. I don't think the CPU has changed at all unless I missed something. The joystick is exactly the same except it is turned a little bit. The screen does have a different source but seems to be roughly equivalent -- slightly better in some ways, slightly worse in others. I bet that when people start getting the new units we'll see moaning about how they got screwed by not having the old better screen.

 

[FluffyPanda]

Consoles and hardware go through revisions all the time. Nothing new here.

nothing as much as this. its basically an entirely different product, with different cpu, differnet joystick, and different screen.

Every bit as much as this. Look at the various generations of the iPod, they don't even look remotely the same now as gen 1, they've changed shape, size, capability, capacity, etc.

GP2x hasn't had a change of CPU (they've just decided to call it 240MHz instead of 200), the screen was not to fix the "bug" (which I still haven't noticed on my 1st ed unit unless I shake it violently up and down) but rather because the old supplier fell out of favour.

The only improvement is the realigned joystick and that was a simple mistake, a bad decision based on an incomplete understanding of the part they were installing.

I don't think it's as bad as you are making out.

 

[Redeeman]

Consoles and hardware go through revisions all the time. Nothing new here.

nothing as much as this. its basically an entirely different product, with different cpu, differnet joystick, and different screen.

Hmm, I'm not sure that is really true. I don't think the CPU has changed at all unless I missed something. The joystick is exactly the same except it is turned a little bit. The screen does have a different source but seems to be roughly equivalent -- slightly better in some ways, slightly worse in others. I bet that when people start getting the new units we'll see moaning about how they got screwed by not having the old better screen.

well according to the link, it now has 240mhz dualcore cpu. and about the joystick, well, it doesent matter if its the same, the thing is, its altered so it now apparently works far better. and about the screen, it seems it now has a TFT screen, which doesent do interlacing, (somewhat like laptops), and i believe that is better than what was before, else, it would seems strange that GPH would replace them

 

[icurafu]

Consoles and hardware go through revisions all the time. Nothing new here.

nothing as much as this. its basically an entirely different product, with different cpu, differnet joystick, and different screen.

Hmm, I'm not sure that is really true. I don't think the CPU has changed at all unless I missed something. The joystick is exactly the same except it is turned a little bit. The screen does have a different source but seems to be roughly equivalent -- slightly better in some ways, slightly worse in others. I bet that when people start getting the new units we'll see moaning about how they got screwed by not having the old better screen.

well according to the link, it now has 240mhz dualcore cpu. and about the joystick, well, it doesent matter if its the same, the thing is, its altered so it now apparently works far better. and about the screen, it seems it now has a TFT screen, which doesent do interlacing, (somewhat like laptops), and i believe that is better than what was before, else, it would seems strange that GPH would replace them

they replaced them because they couldn't supply the old ones, and the new CPUs may be the same as the old ones, just being clocked to 240mhz by default. Nobody has heard word from GPH.