Marty:CPU Upgrade

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486 CPU Upgrade

Marty uses a 386 CPU clocked at 16mhz (from a nearby 32mhz clock. Divider is set by 2) running on a 16bit BUS on the motherboard. What this means is that with a 486 CPU upgrade there are almost changes or enhancements to gameplay. For a very small handful of intensive schmups such as Tatsujin Oh it might improve gameplay but marginal at best.

It also runs a tremendous risk of damaging the motherboard when removing a CPU with 100 pins. Advanced users only.

However, if you wish to proceed there is a known good example from Deunan.

Two methods can be used to remove the CPU. Chipquick method is recommended for anyone skittish about using hot air. EEVBlog on Youtube did a very good guide with Chipquick which you can find here

The second method can be hot air provided you have experience in removing large ICs such as Saturn/Dreamcast BIOS chips for example. If you upgrade the CPU it is recommended after the operation is confirmed to add a heatsink. The 486 CPU runs hot in Marty. A low-profile heatsink such as one meant for a Raspberry Pi is recommended due to the metal shielding inside Marty making space limited above the CPU.

The other way to upgrade the CPU on Marty is using a clip-on CPU upgrade meant for old 386SX motherboards. These clips generally run very high and are known in the retro computer scene as being unreliable.


Other applications of 486 Upgrade

With a 486 inside Marty you can enable the 1kb of cache inside the CPU provided you make a program or force it with ODE. However when you enable this many games break such as gamepad input not working, mouse input not working anymore and sound breaking to name a few.


References

https://gdemu.wordpress.com/2018/05/31/motherboard/

https://nfggames.com/forum2/index.php?topic=7148.0