Wiz Feedback

[badegg]

Even the best PC systems with the fastest components can realize a 10% - 20% overclocking from spec. How is the Wiz able to run at 950 MHz when it's rated at 533 MHz? Is that true O/C-ing? Wouldn't it need some cooling system that far beyond spec? What kind of RAM can keep up with the processor at that rate?

There are far from hard and fast "rules" about overclocking. Several PC CPUs have been well known for overclocking far beyond 10-20%, especially ones that aren't near the top of their binning. People have been able to overclock PC CPUs by more than 2x without using special cooling. That aside, I haven't heard of anyone who gets a 950MHz overclock, 850MHz seems more the upper limit, with 750MHz or lower being what you see for some people. When it comes to mobile solutions stock clock speeds are going to sometimes be more conservative because they're trying to achieve a lower baseline battery life.

Exophase

You got me. I don't know shit about overclocking. I managed to o/c my Turion processor in my laptop to 2.1 GHz by increasing the multiplier and core voltage until the cpu temp approached 70c (I think it got to 67c before I backed off). The keyboard was getting too hot to touch, so I figured maybe I'd just leave it fixed at the 1.8 GHz (as it was made to be). I haven't heard or seen any modern CPU being clocked 2x their base running speed. I have heard (older) Motorola 68000 and some 386 and 486's being overclocked w/o cooling. If anyone sees an i7 running at 6 or 7 GHz, post up the link!

Isn't the overclocking feature written-in to Wiz emulators to overcome software limitations? I think it's just a matter of newer versions of MAME, etc. being ported over to the Wiz for games to run better, regardless of the clock speed of the Wiz CPU. Right now it seems that digitized sounds are what slow the framrate for the games I've experienced. For example, TMNT 4-player (MAME) runs great in 16-bit color w/ 44 kHz mono sound in the 700 MHz o/c range. Same with Samurai Showdown (MAME). Splatterhouse (MAME), which is loaded w/ digital sound effects, runs slow now matter what my settings are. Same with Double Dragon. Turning the sound off completely in these games makes them run pretty good, but what fun is that? I want to hear the monsters splat against the wall as I clock 'em with a 2x4.

Personally, just to be able to play Genesis, TG-16, and some NES games makes the Wiz worth the price of admission (and its faults tolerable). I sold my PSP a long time ago, but I'll be keeping the Wiz for as long as it will boot.

 

[difuno]

Better to improve the d-pad to make FTG games playing easier, routing though the 8 directions on Wiz to make combos is extremely difficult (except up down, left right commands).

 

[strider_mt2k]

Don't know if this is the place to drop this, but I had a great experience using www.GP2Xstore.com.
My initial shipment was fast enough, but when my card slot jammed up on my they shipped me a new Wiz in no time, and over the Christmas Holiday to boot!

www.gp2xstore.com is an excellent place to do Wiz Biz in the USA.

 

[Nintendo]

Better to improve the d-pad to make FTG games playing easier, routing though the 8 directions on Wiz to make combos is extremely difficult (except up down, left right commands).

IMO, I find the d-pad awesome for pulling off combos in all the arcade Street Fighter games, let alone all the other fighting games out there. B)

 

[Audi]

yea, I must say I have no problem with moves in street fighter 2

 

[cybergenesis]

Okay I have had my Wiz for a few days now and I have mame, UAE4ALL, frodo, pocketsnes and various other emulators and games working.

I love the Wiz itself, the hardware.

Software wise I guess it is acceptable, but I am really hoping for more development within the software community.

I'd like a significantly updated version of UAE4ALL and also I would like a fully fledged frontend. The frontends you can download are useful, but not fully finished / polished.

GPH Should give some software development team some money and get them to develop a proper, fully featured Front End. I think most of us crave a better front end. I'd be willing to pay a modest price for it- $10 - $30 USD depending how good it was. One possibility is to have a GUI more like Windows Media Center, then again having a "windows" style GUI doesn't bother me.

In regards to UAE4ALL specifically I want:

* Mouse properly working with touch screen

* Somewhat better emulation (speed and compatibility)

* Ability to save states and an easy way to launch states as an alternative to loading the .adf files.

* An option to speed up disk loading, but the ability to turn it off in case it crashes some games.

* Would be awesome if you could create a sort of launcher application where you could manually specify whether to load adfs or a savestate (using a savestate you can avoid all the nonsense such as cracktros / selecting languages, initial loading etc). Would also be good if you could edit general information about each title and link to a game manual where needed.

Overall Wiz rating: Really love it. I am hanging on further software developments.. This device however is best for emulation and handheld enthuisasts, as it is too technical for non-technical users to use, well unless they are willing to do a lot of learning.