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## v15 released!

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SarahWalker
  Site Admin
  Posts: 1706
  Joined: Thu 24 Apr, 2014 4:18 pm

### v15 released!

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Post by SarahWalker » Sun 19 May, 2019 4:58 pm

PCem v15 is (finally!) available. Changes since v14 :

- New machines added - Zenith Data SupersPort, Bull Micral 45, Tulip AT Compact, Amstrad PPC512/640, Packard Bell PB410A, ASUS P/I-P55TVP4, ASUS P/I-P55T2P4, Epox P55-VA, FIC VA-503+
- New graphics cards added - Image Manager 1024, Sigma Designs Color 400, Trigem Korean VGA
- Added emulation of AMD K6 family and IDT Winchip 2
- New CPU recompiler. This provides several optimisations, and the new design allows for greater portability and more scope for optimisation in the future
- Experimental ARM and ARM64 host support
- Read-only cassette emulation for IBM PC and PCjr
- Numerous bug fixes

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UPerschke
  Posts: 44
  Joined: Wed 25 May, 2016 7:43 pm

### Re: v15 released!

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Post by UPerschke » Sun 19 May, 2019 5:49 pm

Awesome job, thanks ever so much!
EDIT: FIC issue moved to buglist.
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tr.StEalTH
  Posts: 21
  Joined: Sun 12 Feb, 2017 5:58 pm

### Re: v15 released!

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Post by tr.StEalTH » Sun 19 May, 2019 6:55 pm

Can you just drop this on top of v14? Or should I delete\rebuild the folder. Guess I'll do a backup and try some stuff out, thanks!
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szadycbr
  Posts: 287
  Joined: Mon 21 Nov, 2016 6:23 pm

### Re: v15 released!

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Post by szadycbr » Sun 19 May, 2019 7:00 pm

Thank You very very much!
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terub56
  Posts: 24
  Joined: Mon 23 Jan, 2017 12:31 pm

### Re: v15 released!

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Post by terub56 » Sun 19 May, 2019 7:25 pm

Thank you very much for continuing to develop this project after so many years!
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dreamer
  Posts: 37
  Joined: Wed 28 Dec, 2016 11:56 am

### Re: v15 released!

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Post by dreamer » Sun 19 May, 2019 7:50 pm

Thank you!! It's really exciting to get more commit notifications in the mail, especially after all this time where we were in the dark on the recompiler work. Was really excited to see that "Update version number to v15." Keep it up!
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Xanarki
  Posts: 5
  Joined: Tue 14 May, 2019 3:43 am

### Re: v15 released!

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Post by Xanarki » Sun 19 May, 2019 8:16 pm

I just started using PCem last week, and have been tweaking it constantly. What a nice surprise to wake up to. Thanks S.W. and everyone else that contributed to it.
I only have an I5 7400 @ 3.4GHZ, and MMX 166 runs nearly everything at 100%, so I'm excited if any optimizations were made, or if I could emulate another processor. Thanks again everyone.
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omarsis81
  Posts: 696
  Joined: Thu 17 Dec, 2015 6:20 pm

### Re: v15 released!

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Post by omarsis81 » Sun 19 May, 2019 10:09 pm

Thank you! v15 finally arrived!
One question Sarah: do you have more ideas for further optimisations?
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leilei
  Posts: 674
  Joined: Fri 25 Apr, 2014 4:47 pm

### Re: v15 released!

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Post by leilei » Sun 19 May, 2019 10:59 pm

Ciongratulations!

> tr.StEalTH wrote: ↑
> Sun 19 May, 2019 6:55 pm
> Can you just drop this on top of v14?

Should be fine, but if you have any existing '430vx' configs using IDT or Cyrix processors, you'll have to readjust them all since AMD was added to the Socket 7 list.
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SarahWalker
  Site Admin
  Posts: 1706
  Joined: Thu 24 Apr, 2014 4:18 pm

### Re: v15 released!

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Post by SarahWalker » Mon 20 May, 2019 7:35 am

> omarsis81 wrote: ↑
> Sun 19 May, 2019 10:09 pm
> Thank you! v15 finally arrived!
> One question Sarah: do you have more ideas for further optimisations?

Yes. It's mainly a matter of time and energy, and I don't have any of the latter left at the moment!
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rex_c
  Posts: 9
  Joined: Sun 03 Jun, 2018 10:23 am

### Re: v15 released!

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Post by rex_c » Mon 20 May, 2019 1:38 pm

Thanks for version 15.
One more thing, seem forget to change the version no. here....

Attachments
    Version.jpg (64.47 KiB) Viewed 8129 times

I have nothing to lose now.
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MiraiMiracle
  Posts: 20
  Joined: Fri 06 Jul, 2018 4:42 pm

### Re: v15 released!

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Post by MiraiMiracle » Mon 20 May, 2019 3:56 pm

YES!
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SarahWalker
  Site Admin
  Posts: 1706
  Joined: Thu 24 Apr, 2014 4:18 pm

### Re: v15 released!

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Post by SarahWalker » Mon 20 May, 2019 4:59 pm

> rex_c wrote: ↑
> Mon 20 May, 2019 1:38 pm
> One more thing, seem forget to change the version no. here....

I forgot there even was an About dialogue. Fixed with a hex editor...
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gen_angry
  Posts: 78
  Joined: Sat 25 Feb, 2017 6:48 am

### Re: v15 released!

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Post by gen_angry » Mon 20 May, 2019 5:57 pm

oiiiii
Thanks update time!
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rex_c
  Posts: 9
  Joined: Sun 03 Jun, 2018 10:23 am

### Re: v15 released!

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Post by rex_c » Mon 20 May, 2019 6:57 pm

> SarahWalker wrote: ↑
> Mon 20 May, 2019 4:59 pm

> > rex_c wrote: ↑
> > Mon 20 May, 2019 1:38 pm
> > One more thing, seem forget to change the version no. here....

> I forgot there even was an About dialogue. Fixed with a hex editor...

You are so respectable
I have nothing to lose now.
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seth
  Posts: 26
  Joined: Tue 14 Mar, 2017 12:13 pm

### Re: v15 released!

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Post by seth » Mon 20 May, 2019 7:56 pm

Amazing. Thank you SarahWalker! =)
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tk421
  Posts: 51
  Joined: Sat 18 Jun, 2016 6:57 am

### Re: v15 released!

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Post by tk421 » Mon 20 May, 2019 8:48 pm

So far I think v15 is a success. I am limited in what I can do with an old AMD A8 laptop, but with a new PC I should be able to do more thorough testing of the new features.
I am glad it was not too difficult to install and run the Super Socket 7 CPUs, including the K6 line. I am sure it will work well with the Voodoo 2.
PCem continues to show great promise.
Have a good day!
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Katakis
  Posts: 97
  Joined: Thu 05 Mar, 2015 6:42 am

### Re: v15 released!

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Post by Katakis » Thu 23 May, 2019 12:37 pm

Many thanks for v15.
Given that there is a pattern now, will we expect v16 to be released on June 18, 2020? ... lol
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omarsis81
  Posts: 696
  Joined: Thu 17 Dec, 2015 6:20 pm

### Re: v15 released!

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Post by omarsis81 » Thu 23 May, 2019 2:38 pm

> Katakis wrote: ↑
> Thu 23 May, 2019 12:37 pm
> Many thanks for v15.
> Given that there is a pattern now, will we expect v16 to be released on June 18, 2020? ... lol

I don't see a pattern here.
v15 demanded much effort and time, but Sarah has not stated there's going to be another mayor task for the next release.
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ZoltanTheHun
  Posts: 5
  Joined: Sun 19 Feb, 2017 9:57 pm

### Re: v15 released!

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Post by ZoltanTheHun » Thu 23 May, 2019 8:54 pm

Thank you Sarah for the new release.
So far it seems I can emulate a P166 on a i5-4670 on 100%. On V14 the max was P133. Unfortunately this CPU is not enough for a K6. NSF3 and M1 Tank Platoon II work perfectly, maybe image quality improved. Myth is the same: ground is not rendered, and it appears to run slower then it should. I will try more programs later.
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Katakis
  Posts: 97
  Joined: Thu 05 Mar, 2015 6:42 am

### Re: v15 released!

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Post by Katakis » Thu 23 May, 2019 9:09 pm

> omarsis81 wrote: ↑
> Thu 23 May, 2019 2:38 pm
> I don't see a pattern here.

The date of the releases so far was:
April 20, 2018
May 19, 2019
I thought there must be some kind of pattern there. As for the release, I may be right, I may be wrong.
Besides I was joking, hence the "lol" at the end.
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CryptidWorks
  Posts: 21
  Joined: Fri 26 Apr, 2019 7:11 am

### Re: v15 released!

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Post by CryptidWorks » Sun 26 May, 2019 3:59 am

I seem to running a 166Mhz Pentium S with a Voodoo in a usable state on an i5-6600k@4.2Ghz.
Out of curiosity how much does extra cores/thread help PCEM? I plan to upgrade to Ryzen 3600 when they launch since a quad-core is an aging platform for gaming and I'm curious how it would effect PCEM performance.
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SarahWalker
  Site Admin
  Posts: 1706
  Joined: Thu 24 Apr, 2014 4:18 pm

### Re: v15 released!

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Post by SarahWalker » Sun 26 May, 2019 7:04 am

Not a lot for the most part; the main CPU load is the CPU emulation, and that's strictly single threaded. The only reason to go past 4 cores is if you want to emulate a Voodoo 2 SLI setup, as the Voodoo emulation can use up to 3 threads per card.
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CryptidWorks
  Posts: 21
  Joined: Fri 26 Apr, 2019 7:11 am

### Re: v15 released!

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Post by CryptidWorks » Mon 27 May, 2019 12:22 am

> SarahWalker wrote: ↑
> Sun 26 May, 2019 7:04 am
> Not a lot for the most part; the main CPU load is the CPU emulation, and that's strictly single threaded. The only reason to go past 4 cores is if you want to emulate a Voodoo 2 SLI setup, as the Voodoo emulation can use up to 3 threads per card.

This disappointing but understandable since it's hard to multi-thread emulation of components that were originally single-threaded.
On another note is there a plan to eventually let the problem use more of the CPU? On mine hang-ups and speed drops can happen even though I'm not even hitting 60% usage on any of the cores. Seems to be caused mostly by the emulator reading data from my optical drive so I'm tempted to try ripping my games to ISOs when I play them in PCEM.
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Cheez
  Posts: 21
  Joined: Tue 19 Dec, 2017 4:08 am

### Re: v15 released!

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Post by Cheez » Mon 27 May, 2019 6:13 am

> CryptidWorks wrote: ↑
> Mon 27 May, 2019 12:22 am

> > SarahWalker wrote: ↑
> > Sun 26 May, 2019 7:04 am
> > Not a lot for the most part; the main CPU load is the CPU emulation, and that's strictly single threaded. The only reason to go past 4 cores is if you want to emulate a Voodoo 2 SLI setup, as the Voodoo emulation can use up to 3 threads per card.

> This disappointing but understandable since it's hard to multi-thread emulation of components that were originally single-threaded.
> On another note is there a plan to eventually let the problem use more of the CPU? On mine hang-ups and speed drops can happen even though I'm not even hitting 60% usage on any of the cores. Seems to be caused mostly by the emulator reading data from my optical drive so I'm tempted to try ripping my games to ISOs when I play them in PCEM.

I've said this in multiple threads so far, no idea if you were one of the ones I said it to, but I once had an issue where CD reads would cause extreme PCem slowdown and stuttering. I never did find what caused it, but I solved it by starting over with a fresh new PCem and machine configuration. I kept the drive image, of course.
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CryptidWorks
  Posts: 21
  Joined: Fri 26 Apr, 2019 7:11 am

### Re: v15 released!

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Post by CryptidWorks » Mon 27 May, 2019 10:44 pm

> Cheez wrote: ↑
> Mon 27 May, 2019 6:13 am

> > CryptidWorks wrote: ↑
> > Mon 27 May, 2019 12:22 am

> > > SarahWalker wrote: ↑
> > > Sun 26 May, 2019 7:04 am
> > > Not a lot for the most part; the main CPU load is the CPU emulation, and that's strictly single threaded. The only reason to go past 4 cores is if you want to emulate a Voodoo 2 SLI setup, as the Voodoo emulation can use up to 3 threads per card.

> > This disappointing but understandable since it's hard to multi-thread emulation of components that were originally single-threaded.
> > On another note is there a plan to eventually let the problem use more of the CPU? On mine hang-ups and speed drops can happen even though I'm not even hitting 60% usage on any of the cores. Seems to be caused mostly by the emulator reading data from my optical drive so I'm tempted to try ripping my games to ISOs when I play them in PCEM.

> I've said this in multiple threads so far, no idea if you were one of the ones I said it to, but I once had an issue where CD reads would cause extreme PCem slowdown and stuttering. I never did find what caused it, but I solved it by starting over with a fresh new PCem and machine configuration. I kept the drive image, of course.

So I should try making an identical machine with the same hardware and directing it to the same HDD image, then?
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Cheez
  Posts: 21
  Joined: Tue 19 Dec, 2017 4:08 am

### Re: v15 released!

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Post by Cheez » Tue 28 May, 2019 8:48 am

Well, You can try. It's up to you. I don't know if it'll actually fix your problem, but it fixeed mine, and if it doesn't really work you can just keep using your old one. I also have no idea if this mattered, but I created a whole new pcem folder fresh from the zip to do it. I just copied over my roms and pointed my new config to the same hard drive image.
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A. Naim
  Posts: 112
  Joined: Thu 09 Jul, 2015 5:06 pm

### Re: v15 released!

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Post by A. Naim » Tue 28 May, 2019 10:16 pm

Thank you for the emulator update.
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cjflnyc
  Posts: 5
  Joined: Mon 24 Dec, 2018 6:59 pm

### Re: v15 released!

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Post by cjflnyc » Wed 29 May, 2019 7:49 pm

Hello there, This new PCem Seems to work much better, I can emulate at PentiumMMX200 no problem and it stays at 100. But once in a rare while I get the odd stutter and drop, But much less frequent then version14 of PCem.
On my super huge host Windows computer I see PCem.exe only peak at around 6% of my CPU usage, MY computer more or less idles while running PCem (Win9x Desktop) and I would like to give it more power to make PCem work better. Is there an easy fix? Would setting something in the bios help like disable multi core if we can still do that?
Else wise great release I was waiting a while for. Thanks for the hard work!
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Xanarki
  Posts: 5
  Joined: Tue 14 May, 2019 3:43 am

### Re: v15 released!

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Post by Xanarki » Mon 17 Jun, 2019 11:33 pm

> CryptidWorks wrote: ↑
> Mon 27 May, 2019 12:22 am

> > SarahWalker wrote: ↑
> > Sun 26 May, 2019 7:04 am
> > Not a lot for the most part; the main CPU load is the CPU emulation, and that's strictly single threaded. The only reason to go past 4 cores is if you want to emulate a Voodoo 2 SLI setup, as the Voodoo emulation can use up to 3 threads per card.

> This disappointing but understandable since it's hard to multi-thread emulation of components that were originally single-threaded.
> On another note is there a plan to eventually let the problem use more of the CPU? On mine hang-ups and speed drops can happen even though I'm not even hitting 60% usage on any of the cores. Seems to be caused mostly by the emulator reading data from my optical drive so I'm tempted to try ripping my games to ISOs when I play them in PCEM.

On 2 seperate machines, I have noticed the optical drive will almost surely cause a slowdown. Making ISOs and putting it on the virtual drive is highly recommended.
I dunno why, but using an external virtual drive like PowerISO versus PCEM's gives me better performance, too.
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