The FEX emulator has launched a new version, FEX-2511, designed for Arm64 Linux. This update introduces several enhancements aimed at improving performance, particularly for low-memory systems. One of the key challenges addressed in this release is the emulator's memory usage, exacerbated by its Just-In-Time (JIT) compiler and its associated lookup caches, which have historically consumed excessive RAM—sometimes exceeding a gigabyte for certain games, such as Death Stranding.
To tackle these memory overhead issues, developers have added two new options: the ability to disable the L2 cache entirely and a dynamic L1 cache that adjusts its size based on current usage. While these adjustments may occasionally lead to stuttering, they are expected to significantly lower memory consumption. Additionally, a low-latency writer-priority mutex has been implemented to decrease lock contention and further alleviate stuttering.
Apart from optimizing memory usage, the FEX-2511 release has also resolved several crashes linked to out-of-bounds branch encoding, a long-standing issue that caused instability in various games, especially those relying on x87 instructions. The stability of older titles should improve with this fix. Moreover, the update has enabled AVX (Advanced Vector Extensions) by default for 32-bit Linux emulation, potentially enhancing performance for specific algorithms, although it may cause stack overflow issues in some scenarios.
Further performance boosts have been achieved by correcting an oversight involving string instructions and optimizing x87 register exchange instructions. Additional minor bug fixes, including improvements for simultaneous use of OpenGL and Vulkan thunks, have also been implemented.
While the team continues to innovate and enhance the FEX emulator, they acknowledge that the work is ongoing, suggesting a commitment to continuous improvement and adaptation in the ever-evolving landscape of emulation technology.
As FEX-2511 rolls out, users can look forward to a more efficient and stable emulation experience, making it a valuable tool for running x86 and x86-64 applications on Arm64 Linux systems. For more details, users can visit the FEX-Emu website and read the official blog post regarding this release
To tackle these memory overhead issues, developers have added two new options: the ability to disable the L2 cache entirely and a dynamic L1 cache that adjusts its size based on current usage. While these adjustments may occasionally lead to stuttering, they are expected to significantly lower memory consumption. Additionally, a low-latency writer-priority mutex has been implemented to decrease lock contention and further alleviate stuttering.
Apart from optimizing memory usage, the FEX-2511 release has also resolved several crashes linked to out-of-bounds branch encoding, a long-standing issue that caused instability in various games, especially those relying on x87 instructions. The stability of older titles should improve with this fix. Moreover, the update has enabled AVX (Advanced Vector Extensions) by default for 32-bit Linux emulation, potentially enhancing performance for specific algorithms, although it may cause stack overflow issues in some scenarios.
Further performance boosts have been achieved by correcting an oversight involving string instructions and optimizing x87 register exchange instructions. Additional minor bug fixes, including improvements for simultaneous use of OpenGL and Vulkan thunks, have also been implemented.
While the team continues to innovate and enhance the FEX emulator, they acknowledge that the work is ongoing, suggesting a commitment to continuous improvement and adaptation in the ever-evolving landscape of emulation technology.
As FEX-2511 rolls out, users can look forward to a more efficient and stable emulation experience, making it a valuable tool for running x86 and x86-64 applications on Arm64 Linux systems. For more details, users can visit the FEX-Emu website and read the official blog post regarding this release
FEX-2511 released
A new version of the FEX emulator, FEX-2511, has been released for Arm64 Linux, featuring improvements and optimizations to enhance its performance on low-memory systems. The emulator's memory usage issues were addressed by introducing two new options: disabling the L2 cache entirely and implementing a dynamic L1 cache that grows or shrinks based on usage.Â
