sustained performance mode [android]

[brujo5]

New android (N+) has an option specifically for this. It's called the "sustained performance mode". It is designed to allow apps to opt into a mode that disables any unsustainable boost clocks. This is the only answer to thermal throttling (outside of hardware mods - and attaching a fan and heatsink may affect your phone's portability Smile

But I believe it's optional for vendors to implement (though it's part of the VR "daydream" stuff so some kind of implementation may be required for that certification) - and even then it's up to the vendors to decide just what is "sustainable" performance.

I had a go at setting it here: JonnyH/dolphin@283ef6d

is recommend enabling that by default, as I don't see any use case for an emulator that slows down after 60 seconds...)

Here's a video https://youtu.be/fuIMazC42aM comparison without/with sustained mode (sustained mode starts 1:30m)
Looks good as an optional feature /hacks?.
Additionally it'll be great to include VR mode to, it should get +200MHz boost

Sustained performance mode:
All CPUs are capped to ~1.2GHz
GPU frequency is capped to 315MHz

VR mode:
All CPUs are locked to ~1.44GHz
GPU frequency is locked to 510MHz
GPU BUS min_freq is raised to 790MHz

it work for dolphin emulator so it work for ppsspp to.

thanks to @JonnyH and user zxcvbad from dolphin forum.

[unknownbrackets]

I may try this when I get a new phone that supports this feature (Nexus 5 didn't get N.)

Agreed that it makes sense and will likely lead to more predictable performance with less thermal issues. Inevitably, I think some people may complain that they get lower FPS sometimes with it, though...

There's an argument to be made for a game that say, mostly is low-key gameplay (maybe a tactics rpg)... but sometimes has rendered cutscenes that take more juice. But I'm not sure any such examples actually exist. Usually it is very brief bursts of special effects, and in that case there's not enough time to spin up I'd guess.

-[Unknown]

[hrydgard]

Ah yes, I forgot about this. This definitely makes sense as an option, probably enabled by default, yes. The only issue is that it will be yet another option hard to name and explain, but should be worth it.

I'm gonna add it soon.

[unknownbrackets]

I wonder if it's worth trying VR high-performance mode (supposedly reduces latency):
https://www.reddit.com/r/GoogleCardboard/comments/518zj2/daydream_software_vrmode_hardware_high_performance/

At least during Cardboard (since it also affects notification rendering), though not sure how often people use that anyway... but it might improve performance too.

-[Unknown]

[hrydgard]

Implementation underway in #9901.

[blackman91]

Could this be made a toggable option like in RetroArch? It works slower for some and faster for others.

[hrydgard]

@blackman91 It already is, only visible where available though.