What tests to use to make sure an overclock is sustainable?

TheBattleMaster

Pi Model: Raspberry Pi 4 Model B (2GB RAM)
Power Supply used: Raspberry Pi Official USB-C Power Supply (Black ver.)
RetroPie Version Used: Retropie 4.6 (Only updated the Retropie-Setup script)
Built From: "retropie-buster-4.6-rpi4.img" (Pre made SD Image on RetroPie website)
USB Devices connected: Afterglow PS3 USB (Wireless) Controller (And with plans to use a Mayflash F101 Arcade Stick once setup is done)
Emulator: lr-fbneo, redream
*Note: Added a GeekPi ICE Tower Fan (Low-Profile ver.)

As the tittle suggests, I want to know what are tools or tests users here use to check if the system itself (not only the game) is running ok. I want to overclock the board just enough to get more stable framerates for specific arcade & dreamcast games.

To be precise, I want to get the following games to run at more stable framerates:

Arcade
*SF III - Third Strike (sfiii3.7z): FPS goes from 60.24 - 59.85

Dreamcast (FPS for both games went from 50 to 60)

Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (.chd)
Soul Calibur (.chd)

These results are from running retropie image out of the box connected to an old office VGA Monitor I had around. (1024x768 @60hz).

Crush

@TheBattleMaster said in What tests to use to make sure an overclock is sustainable?:

stable

I found that Soulcalibur runs perfectly on stock with both redream and lr-flycast
In Marvel vs. Capcom 2 the video effects seem to causing fps hits, i don't think we can currently prevent that from happening but i got good results using arm-freq 1800, you still get the ocasional stutter in the main menu and opening cutscene but gameplay is allot smoother.

TheBattleMaster

@Crush said in What tests to use to make sure an overclock is sustainable?:

@TheBattleMaster said in What tests to use to make sure an overclock is sustainable?:

stable

I found that Soulcalibur runs perfectly on stock with both redream and lr-flycast
In Marvel vs. Capcom 2 the video effects seem to causing fps hits, i don't think we can currently prevent that from happening but i got good results using arm-freq 1800, you still get the ocasional stutter in the main menu and opening cutscene but gameplay is allot smoother.

Something I wanted to see with my original post was to get some confirmation that these games were running as expected with the pi4; and your post helped alot.
Thanks for the info!

Crush

@TheBattleMaster I justed added the SEGA Naomi system to my retropie and figured you'd like to know that Marvel vs. Capcom 2 runs perfectly smooth on that.

shavecat

@Crush
Dead or alive 2 ?
runs good ?

akamming

on a hint of another user on the forum i did a test a few weeks ago of

start the libretro version of flappy birds. It is a standard package in retropie and leave it on the start screen (yes you are reading it correct, to my surprise as well, it makes the gpu work hard and uses about 2 arm cores. If you're not sure, you can also start another emulator which uses the gpu a lot)
and on the background stress -c 4 to make sure the rest of your arm cores are working at 100% as well.
and let this run for a long periode of time.

If you don't have a stable overclock your system will overheat, reboot or freeze after some time. This is also a good way to tell if you have enough cooling.

During this test you can monitor your system by giving vcgencmd commands to check if all works well, like

vcgencmd measure_temp; measure if you'r not overheating
vcgencmd get_throttled; check if you're system does not start throttling down the clocks to prevent overheat
vcgencmd measure_clock arm (or core or v3d) to check if your clock speed is at the desired level
etc... (see official documentation )

Crush

@shavecat funny enough, that runs better on Dreamcast, i find the results really funny, as it ran virtually on the same hardware, and we're using the same emulator. (lr-flycast)
Anyways, the Dreamcast version works in widescreen and good framerate, so its not really needed on Naomi.
Naomi is just good for the titles that didn't get a dreamcast release, and Marvel vs. Capcom as it runs better and you can use codes to unlock the characters.
I used these https://www.aussiearcade.com/forum/arcade/arcade-technical-and-repair-questions/13897-how-to-unlock-all-characters-on-marvel-vs-capcom-2-naomi

shavecat

@Crush
didnt get u
so dead or alive 2 on the dreamcast
runs well ?
for me its really lag's

zerojay

@Crush said in What tests to use to make sure an overclock is sustainable?:

@TheBattleMaster I justed added the SEGA Naomi system to my retropie and figured you'd like to know that Marvel vs. Capcom 2 runs perfectly smooth on that.

It does not run perfectly smooth. The effects that happen when almost any super move or the triple team super causes the game to get very choppy at times.

Crush

@zerojay I don't get that at all on Naomi, i get it on Dreamcast though.

@shavecat said in What tests to use to make sure an overclock is sustainable?:

so dead or alive 2 on the dreamcast

Do you have internal resolution set higher than 480?

shavecat

@Crush
u right its working with the lr-flycast !
in the redream its really lag's...
thanks ! <3

TheBattleMaster

@akamming said in What tests to use to make sure an overclock is sustainable?:

on a hint of another user on the forum i did a test a few weeks ago of
...

Thanks for the info and cmds! I'll start doing some tests after I get my retropie image backed up.

@Crush said in What tests to use to make sure an overclock is sustainable?:

@TheBattleMaster I justed added the SEGA Naomi system to my retropie and figured you'd like to know that Marvel vs. Capcom 2 runs perfectly smooth on that.

Neat! Time to check some on some setup tutorials for Naomi system :D