First post, by feipoa
- Rank
- l33t++
I have often wondered what is the slowest 486 CPU which will play full scale mp3s in Windows without skipping using Winamp. I am using the Windows NT Taskmanager in Windows NT 4.0 to monitor CPU load. I have SP6a, the 6a SRP, and all post-SRP updates installed on my 486. I am using a DTK PKM-0033S motherboard with 1024 KB cache, 128 MB memory, and a SCSI HDD. Sound card is an AWE64Gold ISA.
Winamp settings:
- Use Winamp 2.05. This was the latest version I could find which functions with DirectSound in NT4.
- Turn off the spectrum analyzer (sucks up CPU)
- Turn off scrolling filename (sucks up CPU)
- Set Decoder Mode: i486
- Quality: Full
- Decoder Output: Stereo, 16-bit
- Buffer size: 128 KB
Results with an IBM 5x86-100HF at 100 MHz (BTB and LINBRST off. All other settings enabled):
- Using the Waveout plug-in 1.0: CPU load varies between 73 - 82%, with an average of 77.5%
- Using the DirectSound plug-in 0.72 beta: CPU load varies between 84 - 92%, with an average of 88%
EDIT: Added Windows 95c results using Wintop as the CPU load checker. Wintop shows the %idle, so I took 100-%idle.
- Using the Waveout plug-in 1.0: CPU load varies between 74 - 77%, with an average of 77.5%
- Using the DirectSound plug-in 0.72 beta: CPU load varies between 78 - 81%, with an average of 80%
So we did not reduce any CPU load using Windows95 compared to Windows NT, except when using DirectSound output.
Plan your life wisely, you'll be dead before you know it.