Trace latency on the N64

S

ShockSlayer

Probably SS
Does anyone know for sure it is exists or not?

Electric_rain and I were chatting last night and we couldn't come up with much, but I did find a few articles and junk:

Clock speed of n64's ram: 500MHz

http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=206271

http://blogs.mentor.com/hyperblog/blog/tag/trace-delay/

http://www.technick.net/public/code/cp_ ... microstrip

I figure Ram would be the most sensitive out of everything, so I was working off of there.

If anyone can offer any input that could help then please let me know.

We did throw around a few things, from what I can tell having shorter traces would not cause problems.

SS
 
I say connect the exp. pak directly to the RCP and cut off the whole section of mobo that once had the RAM chips. (and rewire some flax.)

And no, latency is not an issue on the N64 RAM because they designed the system to potentially have RAM upgrades, thus extending traces.
 
Given the fairly slow nature of n64 RAM and that of other systems of that age, it shouldn't matter much until you get into lengths greater than like 2-3 inches or so - the main problem there is signal attenuation and data noise, though.
 
We're discussing making it shorter, not longer.

Also, 2-3" would not work. Unless you mean 2-3" from the RCP and not from the original solder points.
 
Didn't Bac hit a clock trace and screw up his board? If that's true, methinks that would be the only hypersensitive trace.
 
This would be something to ask kibble about from the benheck forums, if he's around that is. He should know if there's any latency.
 
XCVG said:
Didn't Bac hit a clock trace and screw up his board? If that's true, methinks that would be the only hypersensitive trace.
Click to expand...
That was all bullflax. He just fried his board and said that's what did it.
 
I am the closest thing to an Electrical Engineer on ModRetro.
The latency caused by traces on the N64's PCB are negligible the vast majority of the time.
There is no reason for RAM to be any more "sensitive" to this latency than anything else.
99% of the failures and difficulties people have had in the past regarding this matter were NOT related to Trace Latency.

NOW, the semi-bad news.
The way the CPU and RCP talk is, in my opinion, a bit bizarre.
Understand, that the latency caused by traces really ought not effect even this.
But, variance in length could.
Between these two, pretty much the fastest communication that takes place outside of the CPU or RCP occurs.
But listen, if you are halfway decent at soldering, this should NOT be a problem.
Just be careful and kind to it.
 
Basement_Modder said:
XCVG said:
Didn't Bac hit a clock trace and screw up his board? If that's true, methinks that would be the only hypersensitive trace.
Click to expand...
That was all bullflax. He just fried his board and said that's what did it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I heard that before, but nobody actually confirmed or denied it until now. Why couldn't he just admit that he killed it?
 
XCVG said:
Basement_Modder said:
XCVG said:
Didn't Bac hit a clock trace and screw up his board? If that's true, methinks that would be the only hypersensitive trace.
Click to expand...
That was all flux. He just fried his board and said that's what did it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I heard that before, but nobody actually confirmed or denied it until now. Why couldn't he just admit that he killed it?
Click to expand...
He's an arrogant prick.
 
I know this wouldn't be related to trace latency, but wouldn't the parallel nature of the N64 BUS cause problems if bits were fed out of sync? I mean, this wouldn't affect wire length as much as a reason to keep all of the wires the same length.

Maybe I could draw up a diagram or something to explain what I'm talking about. Or maybe I don't even know what I'm talking about. I haven't investigated much of the 64's hardware specifically.
 
Atari said:
I know this wouldn't be related to trace latency, but wouldn't the parallel nature of the N64 BUS cause problems if bits were fed out of sync? I mean, this wouldn't affect wire length as much as a reason to keep all of the wires the same length.

Maybe I could draw up a diagram or something to explain what I'm talking about. Or maybe I don't even know what I'm talking about. I haven't investigated much of the 64's hardware specifically.
Click to expand...

If all the wires were the same length, give or take 1mm, that wouldn't be an issue.

This also would only really apply if all the connections did the same thing. (see- RAM)

Either way, unless the difference was EXTREME, it probably wouldn't matter.
 
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