OK, so these are the results. I've used PCPBench, SysChk and Navràtil Software System Information (the later two from Hiren's Boot CD 15.1).
PCPBench:
- PC DOSBox: 108.2 fps
- DOSBox @3000: 0.7 fps
- Wii DOSBox: 0.2 fps
- Wii "Fast" DOSBox: 0.4 fps
PCPBench /vgamode:
- PC DOSBox: 180.8 fps
- DOSBox @3000: 1.6 fps
- Wii DOSBox: 1.8 fps
- Wii "Fast" DOSBox: 2.0fps
SysChk:
- PC DOSBox: 220.0 syschks
- DOSBox @3000: 22.7 syschks
- Wii DOSBox: 6.0 syschks
- Wii "Fast" DOSBox: 6.0 syschks
Navràtil CPU benchmark:
- PC DOSBox: ~69000 Dhrystones. This is rated better than a AMD 5x86/133 (and below a Pentium 90).
- DOSBox @3000:~6840 Dhrystones. This is rated better than a 486DX/25.
- Wii DOSBox: ~5000 Dhrystones. This is rated better than a 386SX/16, nearly a 386/DX25.
- Wii "Fast" DOSBox: 6080 Dhrystones. This is rated better than a 386/DX25.
Navràtil FPU benchmark:
- PC DOSBox: ~29000 Whetstones. This is rated better than the FPU in a 6x86P120.
- DOSBox @3000: ~4740 Whetstones. This is rated better than a 387/40.
- Wii DOSBox: ~4600 Whetstones. This is rated better than a 387/40.
- Wii "Fast" DOSBox: ~4700 Whetstones. This is rated better than a 387/40.
Notes:
- PC DOSBox is my home computer, with default setup and cycles=max. AMD Phenom X4 965, 8 Gb RAM, Geforce GTX 550 Ti and running in Windows 7 64bits.
- DOSBox @3000 is DOSBox running on my PC with cycles=3000. It performs very similar to DOSBox on the Wii with cycles=auto, but I suspect that the framerate of the Wii won't be stable (because at max cycles is less powerful).
- Wii DOSBox is DOSBox on the Wii, with default setup and running with cycles=max.
- Wii "Fast" DOSBox is DOSBox on the Wii, with customized dosbox.conf. The changes include: memory downsized to 4 Mb, no scaler used, sound blaster pro 1, fast opl emulation, no tandy emulation and no disney emulation. That was done in hope that disabling things would accelerate the emulation. I've tried to set machine=vgaonly, but DOSBox shows a black screen.
- There is no such thing as dynamic core in the Wii.
- There is some discrepancy between Navràtil and Syschk results on the Wii. It seems that the Wii should perform better in SysChk (about 16 SysChks would be fine), but it throw results between 5.8 and 6.3. I have no idea why (it uses mainly "slowly emulated" instructions?).
- There is another discrepancy with "fast" profile... it seems that FPU performance should have scaled as much as CPU, but it doesn't.
- Also, it seems that FPU emulation in DOSBox Wii is faster than CPU emulation.
- NEXT STEP: Trying DOSBox into a Raspberry Pi. It's a shame that my Raspberry will arrive in July...
So it seems that anything that could run on a 386SX/16 would run fine on the Wii...but some more test would be required. In any case, don't even try to run Doom o Windows 95 (yes, I've seen Windows 95 working in a 386 machine... it doesn't run, it only crawls).
I have traveled across the universe and through the years to find Her.
Sometimes going all the way is just a start...
I'm selling some stuff!