SNES Consoles Speed Up Over Time: APU Frequency Boosts by Up to 182 Hz After 35 Years

Alan Cecil, a security consultant and the brains behind the TASBot (Tool-Assisted Speedrun robot), made an intriguing discovery about Super Nintendo consoles that’s causing quite a stir. According to a report from 404 Media, the SNES, beloved by many retro gaming enthusiasts, operates with a Sony SPC700 APU — that’s the component responsible for audio processing — originally rated at 32,000 Hz. However, something curious happened back in 2007: SNES emulator developers realized these chips actually ran a bit faster, closer to 32,040 Hz. To avoid glitches in games, they had to adjust their expectations accordingly.

At the heart of this discovery is the SPC700 coprocessor, which sets its pace using a ceramic resonator ticking away at 24,576 Hz. The catch? This component doesn’t always behave perfectly. It’s quite sensitive to heat and other environmental factors, which could tweak its performance over time.

Fast forward to this year, and in February, Cecil shared his thoughts on Bluesky using the TASBot account, asking SNES users for their help in gathering some real-world data. The preliminary results are pretty telling: as these consoles age, the frequency of the SPC700 seems to inch up. So far, the highest reported frequency is 32,182 Hz. While this increase remains under 1% of the original specification, it could still mess with game audio or cause certain titles to misbehave.

For speedrunners, this seemingly minor change could spell trouble. While the SPC700’s main job is audio processing — theoretically of no concern to gameplay unless you’re mission-centric about sound — it also influences how efficiently the game data is processed during transitions between stages. This can be critical for those striving for world records or building bots that rely on pinpoint timing. As gameplay shifts swiftly from one level to the next, that marginally quicker APU could lead to shorter loading times.

For your average gamer, this might not be noticeable, but for speedrunners, it could turn the tables on established records. Human players, however, often won’t experience a difference, given the small performance boost. “We don’t yet know how much of an impact it will have on a long speedrun,” Cecil points out. “We only know it has at least some impact on how quickly data can be transferred between the CPU and the APU.”

The challenge is more palpable for TASBot’s precision playthroughs, which demand accuracy down to the millisecond. Cecil continues to gather insights, examining how time continues to mold these classic machines. Understanding these changes offers a chance to better emulate and preserve the iconic games that defined our youthful gaming experiences for future generations.