(08-23-2016, 03:34 AM)Helios Wrote: [ -> ]Well, unless that tablet is an SD 820 with an nvidia X1 GPU mashed into it (It's not) you're not going to be seeing reasonable performance on Android Dolphin.
Yes, but won't performance improve over time due to improvements with Dolphin much like it has done on PC? Even the X1 doesn't play perfectly, so that wouldn't be a smart buy either. I'm not looking for something that will get me playable performance now, you've all convinced me that wont happen. I just think it would be wise to wait the two weeks before committing to what is almost two year old technology in the nexus 9 or the prohibitively expensive pixel c (no micro SD storage means going for the 64gb model...)
Edit: and of course no sooner than I mention the ridiculous upgrade cost for 64gb, Google releases a promotion for $75 off the 64gb model making it just $25 to double storage instead of $100. Now it's actually a potential option...
(08-23-2016, 04:16 AM)ThePokeman92 Wrote: [ -> ]Yes, but won't performance improve over time due to improvements with Dolphin much like it has done on PC?
Nope.
Not without any form of active ARM developers working on it.
(08-21-2016, 03:08 AM)Helios Wrote: [ -> ]Nothing as of right now.
Android is not in a state right now where any device comes close to running a a lot of games at full speed. The shield TV comes the closest but only with the most lightweight games.
(08-23-2016, 07:11 AM)Sonicadvance1 Wrote: [ -> ]Nope.
Not without any form of active ARM developers working on it.
Oh I see. So it's not a matter of the device being slower, you guys aren't even *developing* for ARMv8 right now? Well what everyone else is saying makes a lot more sense now with context. Sounds like Pixel C is all that's really viable then at this point save for an actual X1 Shield tablet (which has supposedly been "around the corner" for nearly a year now).
So with that in mind, is there a topic or blog post that details the current state of Dolphin on the Pixel C? I've been trying google but it's surprisingly hard to find any info on it that's recent. As a non-gaming focused device I can't imagine the performance is ideal, but does it at least hold out some hope for future use? I'll gladly pay the extra $75 (on sale) over a Tab S2/S3 for vanilla Android alone, but the potential for Dolphin is a factor too.
It runs a lower clocked X1.
So, whatever the Shield TV can do, but slower. And probably a little buggier because it doesn't have access to desktop GL like the Shield TV does and the GLES bits of the graphics backend in Dolphin, while probably working fine, isn't remotely as well maintained as the desktop OpenGL backend in general.
The Shield TV can only play a small handful of games at full speed.
(08-23-2016, 09:48 AM)Helios Wrote: [ -> ]It runs a lower clocked X1.
So, whatever the Shield TV can do, but slower. And probably a little buggier because it doesn't have access to desktop GL like the Shield TV does and the GLES bits of the graphics backend in Dolphin, while probably working fine, isn't remotely as well maintained as the desktop OpenGL backend in general.
The Shield TV can only play a small handful of games at full speed.
Right, as an Android device I'm not expecting 100% performance and reliability, I'd just like to maximize chances of good performance down the road with the tablet I will be buying now. I don't suppose this outlook changes with the introduction of the Vulkan API in Android N, or is it too soon to tell? I believe that's finally been officially released, meaning it should be made available for the C soon and a dev preview has probably been out for a bit.
Too soon to tell.
The Vulkan backend isn't even done. And it still doesn't solve the four big problems.
1. Mobile drivers are buggy (Read some stuff that even the Vulkan support for Adreno does weird things)
2. Nobody's working on Android Dolphin specifically. Graphics bugs are slow to be fixed, ARM64 JIT optimizations are only happening a few times a year, and they're small perf increases
3. Mobile CPUs are slow. Sure they're clocked to fuck-ghz but they're still not really efficient enough to run enough worth buying a device for Dolphin
4. Mobile SoCs overheat like hell. The SD 820 got a little better about it but it still throttles like crazy.
The last two are hardware problems that cannot be solved by any current device out on the market now, or in the near future.
(08-23-2016, 10:24 AM)Helios Wrote: [ -> ]Too soon to tell.
The Vulkan backend isn't even done. And it still doesn't solve the four big problems.
1. Mobile drivers are buggy (Read some stuff that even the Vulkan support for Adreno does weird things)
2. Nobody's working on Android Dolphin specifically. Graphics bugs are slow to be fixed, ARM64 JIT optimizations are only happening a few times a year, and they're small perf increases
3. Mobile CPUs are slow. Sure they're clocked to fuck-ghz but they're still not really efficient enough to run enough worth buying a device for Dolphin
4. Mobile SoCs overheat like hell. The SD 820 got a little better about it but it still throttles like crazy.
The last two are hardware problems that cannot be solved by any current device out on the market now, or in the near future.
Thanks, I appreciate the perspective. I won't hold my breath either way, but I'll keep an eye and ear out with whatever I wind up buying, and maybe plan to upgrade in 2-3 years instead of 3-5 if development takes off at some point.