Sheepshaver faster on faster machines?

About SheepShaver, a PPC Mac emulator for Windows, MacOS X, and Linux that can run System 7.5.3 to MacOS 9.0.4.

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feinberj_sheepshaver
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Sheepshaver faster on faster machines?

Post by feinberj_sheepshaver »

I've been using SheepShaver for quite a while, and one thing I have noticed is that it "feels" more or less the same, in terms of speed, regardless of what machine is the host. For example, I installed it on a 2008 MacBook with 6Gb RAM running Catalina (using OpenCore Legacy Patcher). That machine is a real slug - it takes a few minutes after booting before CPU usage drops below 100%. But when I launch SheepShaver, OS 9 boots right up just as fast as it does on a 2013 Retina MacBook with 16Gb RAM. Also running apps such as Photoshop, etc, don't seem any faster on the 2013 than on the 2008 laptop.

Is there an "actual" speed multiplier option? For example when I run vMAC, I can tell it to run 2x, 4x, 8x (and so on) faster. When I do that, programs really do run twice as fast, 4x, and so on.

Thanks,

John Feinberg
Montclair, NJ
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Ronald P. Regensburg
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Re: Sheepshaver faster on faster machines?

Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

Which SheepShaver build do you use?

SheepShaver will run faster on host machines with faster CPU, but the difference may only be noticeable when the difference between the host machines is significant.

There is a setting to make the emulated machine present itself as if it has a faster CPU, but that is just a figure, it does not make the emulated machine any faster. This setting will only work with 16 January 2019 and later SheepShaver builds. See the advanced features section in the setup manual for explanation about why and how.

To have the best performance, make sure JIT Compiler is enabled.
feinberj_sheepshaver
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Re: Sheepshaver faster on faster machines?

Post by feinberj_sheepshaver »

I am using v2.5. JIT Compliler is enabled. Speed seems roughly the same on my (normally) unbearably slow 2008 macbook, 2013 retina MacBook Pro, and a beefy 2010 Mac Pro. It is a puzzle!
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