I been working on the frame handling code in the burner interface of FBA and so far 'Windows XP (32-bit / 64-bit)(SP3)' is not problematic in that aspect.
Probably you have done most of this, but just to make sure you have the following information:
For better FBA experience remember these:- Only use FB Alpha downloaded from the official website (
http://fbalpha.org/fba.php )
- Use the latest DirectX 9 Runtime for Windows XP (official releases only)
- Update your graphic card drivers constantly (visit the official manufacturer website and don't use custom driver releases or windows update generic drivers)
- When using a new FB Alpha with lot of updates involved it is strongly recommended to make a clean install (don't just copy the application executable to your old FBA directory)
- While running FBA avoid programs that may change the way Windows handle painting procedures (like Stardock's WindowBlinds for example)
FBA frame handling options:- Use Triple Buffer - This option will synchronize the frame presentation to make it accurate (This will only affect FullScreen mode)
- Use Vsync - This option will make the frame presentation accurate and will wait for the last vertical line to be drawn on the back buffer before presenting the screen (Works on Windowed mode only)
Use the following as you prefer in combination with the previous options:- Auto Frameskip ON - This will Automatically skip 'X' number of frames depending on your system features and specifications, you cannot expect this to show 60 FPS when your system cannot handle them (This may not apply to other applications since they use different codebase to work.
- Auto Frameskip OFF - When OFF FBA will draw every frame. FPS will depend again on your system features and specifications.
There is no reason to turn off
Triple Buffer,
Vsync and
Auto Frameskip unless you are using a low end system, but FBA always have been recognized for its performance on slow machines, so it would be weird that it would not work well with the systems up to date.
Another thing to consider is to try different display resolutions in combination with different refresh rates (59 / 60 hz recommended)
About Windows 7 Frame handling issues There is a current issue that have been reported many times about the 'Unwanted Frameskipping' on Windows 7 (and probably Windows Vista). I been working recently on a modification of code that will make the frame presentation almost 100% accurate on Windows 7 and even make Windows XP presentation even smother when not using Triple Buffer and Vsync.
The problems with Windows 7 seems to be the system and not the application itself. Aero Themes features and services and probably windows messages and procedures related to the newest GDI implementation on Windows 7 are without doubt making it hard for FBA to keep up.
My current goal is to investigate if there is a way to avoid unnesesary procedures like GDI painting on the screen rectangle while DirectX is handling that rectangle of the screen. Another goal is to check is there is something we could do about the Aero Style procedures as well. Im almost convinced that there may be a conflict between Windows 7 Graphic handling (DirectX 11) and FBA Graphic handling (DirectX 7 / 9).
I have done my test using the program you mentioned and it gave me similar results as MAME, no big difference on my end.
FB Alpha v0.2.97.08 system information (Tue Oct 12 19:08:30 2010).
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System information:
OS: Microsoft Windows XP Personal Service Pack 3 (build 2600)
CPU: GenuineIntel, Pentium III "Katmai"
2933 MHz, MMX, SSE, SSE2 (2 system processors)
Physical RAM: 1046956 KB (1022 MB) total, 392396 KB ( 383 MB) avail
Total RAM: 2519736 KB (2460 MB) total, 1849160 KB (1805 MB) avail
FB Alpha: 9500 KB in use (9500 KB peak, 57724 KB virtual)
Installed displays and display adapters:
Plug and Play Monitor on ATI Radeon HD 4650 (primary)
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FB Alpha information:
Built on Feb 28 2010, 19:33:46, using Visual C++ 9.0.
Optimised for i686 CPUs.
Using Unicode for all text.
Debug functionality absent.
MMX optimisations enabled.
A68K emulation core enabled for MC68000 emulation.
Musashi emulation core enabled for MC68010/MC68EC020 emulation.
I hope you can solve your FBA issues on Windows XP, soon I will be posting a Test Binary with to test a modification of the frame handling routine, so keep checking the forums for updates
.
SeeYaa!