In a surprising discovery, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) has been found to be running slightly faster as it ages, contrary to the typical expectation that electronic devices degrade over time. This phenomenon is attributed to the Audio Processing Unit (APU) of the SNES, which is responsible for handling audio data.
Why it matters: The discovery highlights the unique properties of vintage electronics and their potential for unexpected performance changes. While the impact on gameplay is minimal, it has sparked interest among gamers and speedrunners.
Technical Details: The SNES’s APU, known as the SPC700, is designed to operate at a digital signal processing (DSP) rate of 32,000 Hz, as specified by Nintendo. However, recent measurements have shown that this rate can increase over time, averaging 32,076 Hz and ranging from 31,965 Hz to 32,182 Hz when the console is warm.
The increase in APU speed primarily affects audio processing, resulting in musical notes and sounds being slightly higher in pitch. However, it is unlikely to impact gameplay significantly. The changes are very small and likely wouldn’t even affect speedrunning in a profound way.
Contribution of Aging and Environmental Factors: The aging process and environmental factors, such as temperature, contribute to the increased frequency of the ceramic resonator in the SNES’s SPC700 APU. The ceramic resonator, which sets the APU’s clock speed, tends to run faster over time and also speeds up when the console is warm. This is consistent with past evidence that ceramic resonators can run at higher frequencies when subjected to higher temperatures.
Implications for the Speedrunning Community: The potential implications for the speedrunning community are centered around the accuracy of speedruns made on older hardware. However, since the faster APU only affects audio processing and not the main CPU clock, it is believed that the impact on speedrunning is minimal. TASBot does not believe that this phenomenon would make speedruns from the last decade or so inaccurate, as the changes are limited to audio pitch and rate.
The discovery has sparked curiosity among gamers and speedrunners, with many contributing to a broader understanding of how vintage consoles perform over time. While the changes are fascinating, they are unlikely to have a significant impact on gameplay or speedrunning.
Looking ahead, this phenomenon underscores the importance of continued research into vintage gaming hardware. Understanding these changes can help in preserving the original performance characteristics of classic consoles for historical and archival purposes.
