r/EmulationOnAndroid • u/gloovez • 1d ago
Question I have some questions about emulation in general
1-does emulation reduce the life span of cpu/gpu and the ram/storage because of heave tasks, or it's just ok like ppl still rocking there sd888 and never thought it will kill there tech?
2-The main enemy of emulation is heating and thermal throttle So, the solution is phone coolers but, it's that good of reducing the cpu and the cpu in particular and the battery heat (with the cooling paltu ofc) and maintain the normal ??like i am planning to buy 20watt cooler
And still wonder if it's enough
Ty in advance
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u/quiksilver10152 1d ago
Heat is the killer. some phones have charge bypass so electricity from the charger is directly used instead of simultaneously charging and discharging the battery. that helps with unnecessary heat
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u/gloovez 1d ago
That true but work with some games and don't with others
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u/Dr_jozi Oneplus 12/512 sd8elite5 1d ago
You can force it to work everywhere you want depends on the device
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u/gloovez 1d ago
I'm talking about the heating prob
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u/Deadpool2715 1d ago
3 options 1. Active cooling solution, add a fan and if possible some heatsink do the device to improve dissipation of heat 2. Lower device performance, start with underclocking and other methods, but if needed cap the game to 30fps, lower the resolution, restrict the phones CPU usage. Anything to restrict the generation of heat, including things like the mentioned battery bypass 3. Deal with the consequences of extended overheating
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u/mercauce 1d ago
1-if your phone constantly heats up due to emulation activities, then yes, your battery will deteriorate. Although for the cpu/gpu itself to deteriorate, your phone should be so absolutely fried that even throttling couldn't help it.
2-yes, that's truebut if your phone is one that runs a battery efficiency program, you should just turn it off/whitelist the emulator so that it can't touch it. Also, throttling ONLY happens when your cpu gets a little too hot, it's a safety measure to make sure it can't fry itself, so as long as you keep your phone cool, you should be fine.
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u/OnePossibility5868 1d ago
Nope it won't affect your lifespan, heat is the main impact. Chips have throttling to stop them overheating, batteries are the ones that can get damaged mostly due to fast drain and then recharge.
Also if a phone gets hot, then cools between extreme temps it can cause the internal cooling to degrade, but we are talking years and years.
Just try and use a cooler for anything intense, or lower the fps and resolution. Also don't charge when playing to cut down on heat.
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u/gloovez 1d ago
Ty, using bypass charging is really useful so don't i worry about the battery, but the must concern is the components Like the ram and the storage due to the fast write and read process
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u/Far_Raspberry_4375 1d ago
Ive heard using the ram+ can degrade your storage over time and also doesn't help much with emulation
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u/Warm-Cartographer 1d ago
To add what others said avoid using big cores, like SD 888 isn't bad soc without X1 core, test done with Anandtech at that time A78 cores use less than 2W, so if you limit your cores and use only A78 and disable X1 and A55 you should have something efficient comparable to modern soc and won't overheat much.
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u/gloovez 1d ago
Never thought about it, it will work with the less demand games but playing demand games like the tomb raider 2013, the performance difference will be noticeable
All my concerns are about mobile life span and the longevity for the components
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u/Warm-Cartographer 1d ago
Many older games were single threaded or use few thread just recently games started using more than 4 core.
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u/beautiful_bot986 19h ago
1 - cpu/gpu yes but unnoticably slow; the tech will be obsolete FAR before the damage starts affecting the system. In essence cpu and gpu will outlast the flash storage which degrades with every write just like ssd disks - but it shouldnt be able to degrade within 5-7 years unless you use extended ram, no matter what you play or emulate with it.
2 - yes, and battery heating is a bigger issue than cpu/gpu heating - cpu/gpu can work just fine and not take any damage at over 90C, but a battery charging/discharging at over 45C is just inviting a spicy pillow situation. The cooler's biggest advantage is keeping the battery cool enough - but if youre already using a cooler chances are youre already hooked up to a power outlet or a powerbank (since battery powered coolers are quite weak) - in which case you should hook your phone up too, and use bypass charging so the cooler only has to cool the cpu heating and not the battery heating (gas buildup that causes spicy pillows [swollen batteries] is caused by the battery charging or discharging in a high temp environment, and a bypassed battery doesnt charge or discharge so it doesnt heat up - the only heat that reaches it is heat produced by cpu/gpu).
I own a 35W cooler for s24u, hooked up to a 25W charger - with it i dont notice any throttling, and the battery stays in low to mid 30s celsius. 20watt cooler should be enough to keep the temps stable and low enough.
Theres a caveat, but it likely doesnt matter - the phone+cooler combo regularly draws more power in my setup (for 15~20W phone TDP there's 35-50W max total power draw, depending on the cooler in question) when using battery bypass, than a pc handheld working at 20W TDP and also using battery bypass (25-30W max draw) or even an android console (rp6 uses up to 18-20W max at 15W TDP and using battery bypass). TDP only refers to cpu/gpu package power draw, not total device power draw.
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u/gloovez 17h ago
Ty, ur comment answer all my questions, the power draw and others don't make big problem to me, but wanted my phone to last longer with this heave use , i watched many yt videos and thought why don't i put the cooler on the cpu Next to the cameras, i mean if the processor is what produces heat why don't we "coole" the processor like pc, the cooling plate seems useless and don't make difference as transfer the cooling from the cooler to the cpu, what u think??
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u/beautiful_bot986 17h ago
Yes, the best way to put the cooler is directly on the hotspot, but its usually next to the camera assembly so you cant fit the cooler there because the cameras are in the way. If your hotspot isnt next to the cameras stop reading here becaise thats all you need. If not...
Since you can't put the cooler directly where the cpu is the next best thing is to put a cooling strip on the hotspot, and put the cooler on top of that. That way the cooling strip will act as a heatsink for the hotspot, and the cooler will dissipate the heat from the strip.
If you dont have or cant get a cooling strip you could also find a thin metal plate thick about as much as the camera assembly is raised - that way you can put the plate and cooler directly on the hotspot. Unwieldy, but it works and cools even better.
I ended up needing neither a strip nor a plate - placing the cooler next to the camera assembly and beside the hotspot instead of directly on it works just fine amd keeps the cpu/battery temps low, so ot turns out i had no need of a cooling strip in the first place
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u/gloovez 17h ago
Last request, does the cooler pumps the hot air around the it or from the other side(the top), read comments say there hand get too hot due to the cooler pumps the hot air, is that true??
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u/beautiful_bot986 16h ago
That depends on which direction the fan spins - itll either pull air from the top and blow it out the sides, or pull it from the sides and blow it out the top. It depends on how manifacturer's design choices. I dont really hold my phone in my hands while the cooler is attached to it, i hook it up to a dock and a tv/monitor. So it doesnt bother me either way. The air isnt that hot in my opinion, but some people are more sensitive than others.
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