FPU Libraries, which is best!?

[ryan2k1]

Hi there again!

I'm considering to buy the HSMath libraries to improve the flot's however i'm using amigaos 39 and i'm in doubt!

which FPU support libraries should i use :
HSMath or amiga os's or something else.

br.
Brian

[NightShade737]

Remember, if you are using a 040 or 060 there are also other options, such as CyberPatcher, Oxypatcher and on top of all of these combined, it is also worth looking on AmiNet for "MuTools".

[ryan2k1]

Yo!

I have tried the mutool and it's slow compared to what i use with my BPPC.

Is the hmath package worth bying?

[NightShade737]

To be honest, I have noticed very little to no difference with all of the different patches and libs, so I am not the best person to ask. But I am waiting for someone who is up on the subject to comment.

I saw benchmarks comparing Cyberpatcher, Oxypatcher and HSMathLibs, and CyberPatcher seemed to win the most, Oxy improved from default on a few tests, and HSMathLibs did NOTHING. The only time it did win was by huge margins, on the tests included with the libs themselves, which is why I don't trust them.

But as I said, I think we better wait for an expert to tell us the truth...

[ryan2k1]

Yeah! it may seem so :-(

A real FPU is best.

Don't waste your money. If some app was really that FPU
intensive, it wouldn't use libraries at all, it'd use
direct FPU instructions.

[NightShade737]

erm, you need to have a look at what HSMathlibs and the others actually do. It isn't that simple, and you DO need an FPU anyway.

[Kent]

I'm curious.  Can you install HSMathLibs along side Oxypatcher?  If I was using a say IFX hooks quite a bit, wouldn't the FPU driven hooks improve with both HSMathLibs as well as Oxypatcher?  I may just be too far away from the Amiga scene to really know, been years since I've worked with a REAL Amiga system.  Right now the only thing stopping me from purchasing HSMathLibs is the payment options (not fond of sending cash in the mail and wire transfer is not an option imho). Oh yeah, this is for an 030 @ 40MHz in a 2000.

:pint:

[billchase]

I don't believe an 030 is supported by Oxypatcher even
with a FPU.  Even if it does work, Oxypatcher was designed
with the 040/060 FPU in mind.  Supposedly, the 040/060 fpus
are missing certain instructions available on a geniune
68k fpu.  Oxypatcher patches these instructions to speed
up their emulation.  I believe these instructions are
natively supported by the 68882/68881 fpus. The speed difference
is more noticable on an 060 vs the 040. The HSMathlibs I
believe are a replacement for the standard OS math library
files.  I have not read anywhere that says you can't use
both.

C Snyder

[Kent]

AH!  So the Oxypatcher would do nothing for the 030.  But what's the change in speed vs the OS3.9 030 math libraries?

:pint:

[Motosampy]

I'm using Blizkick and HSMathlibs (Blizzard 040/40) and I have never regreted that I registered HSMathlibs. The difference is not huge, but noticeable. I'd say do support Amiga programming and register HSMathlibs, it's worht it !

- Sami

Ps. MuTools does not work properly in my system, it screws up gfx drivers (P96)...

[Kent]

Motosampy wrote:
I'd say do support Amiga programming and register HSMathlibs, it's worht it !

I'm all for supporting Amiga programmers.  My only problem boils down to two registration methods where the first one isn't guaranteed and the second costs me $60 up front at my bank.  If Matthias offered a secure digital means, I'd drop the registration money his way in a heartbeat.

:pint:

[Damion]

Billchase is 100% correct, Oxypatcher and HSMathLibs serve
separate purposes. About performance, there are some tests
which come with the MathLibs package, that you can run to
measure the difference (not anything insane, but "it's there").

Both Oxypatcher and the Phase5 tool are essentially
the same...so I'd say stick with the (free) latter if
you already got it.

HSMathLibs etc. replace the mathieee* libraries.

But most floating point applications come with a seperate
FPU version anyway. The only time the mathieee libraries
will be used is if you have an app compiled explicitly
for integer-only processors, in which case the compiler
links in stubs for those libraries, and doesn't generate
real FPU instructions.

For instance: HSMathLibs will make absolutely no difference
to Voyager image decoding, or WarpDT, or much else. One
thing you might notice is that if you use Cinema4D, it has
a tiny speedup with the HSMathLibs, but only if you
neglected to install the special 68040 version.

[Erwin-K]

Hi All,

Just dug out the package for Oxyron Patcher. Lucky I happened to see it yesterday. :-)

The package says "Requitements: 68040/68060 processor and at least Kickstart 2.0"

I used it for a time. On the Lightwave 4.0 Texture Examples scene it increased speed about 10%.

I stopped using it for two reasons. There was a story (Not confirmed, AFAIK.) going around that it didn't work quite right with some piece of software I use. Also, it reqires a an entry at about the second line of the base startup sequence. I'm not too comfortable with that.

Best,

Bob Kennedy