Final Fantasy X NTSC running real-time (59.94 FPS) on latest beta using Pentium 4 HT
#1
Wink 
I used to think of it as impossible to run FFX at full speed on my Intel Pentium 4 541 Prescott 3.2 ghz @ 3.93-4.25 ghz, by just enabling all the speedhacks and using Divine GS plugin and SPU-2X (Nearest for fastest audio processing) I am getting anywhere from 56-75 FPS and even in battles and during in game sequencies and CGI cutscenes I'm getting consistent framerate. I'm running the game with an internal res of 1600x1200 and it looks very smooth, I'm using either VU compiler, and I'm using the FFX videos fix but I'm not sure what the EE timing hack would really change.

I have an eVGA (Nvidia) 8600GT 256MB DDR3 SSC @ 713/1782/882 (1784 effective) mhz and 2x2GB of G-Skill Pi Black Series 4-4-4-12 @ 980 - 1060 mhz. I also have a Asus P5KPL-CM @ 980 - 1060 mhz FSB.

The point is that now PS2 is playable at nearly half the previous requirement (a 2 ghz Core 2 duo, instead just a 2.8 ghz single core Core 2 could suffice) with a little bit of tweaking. My P4 @ 4.3 ghz (highest reached) with HT (30-50% improvement at times, 50% in PCSX2) is equal to one core of a Core 2 around 2.9-3.1 ghz depending.

I love the development work on PCSX2! I believe there has been a lot done to optimize it so that PS2 emulation as a whole could come from a dream to an easy possibility (it's almost analogous to running Crysis at low/mid settings at this point, which is something almost everyone can do). I'm going to post some videos on YouTube of the wondrous gameplay of one of my favorite PS2 games. FFX is the first I've ever played and I've spent over 700 hours altogether playing it on the original PS2, I used to have a strategy guide for it and FFX-2 which I also got into. I have a collectors edition tin case copy of FFXII laying around that I might start getting into later.

I was considering upgrading my CPU so I could finally play FFX and other games, but now I guess the only point would be to exceed 60 FPS or for games that have not had much optimization for them in PCSX2.

Let's hear it for the one of the or the lowest requirements to play PCSX2 games *ever* achieved! Biggrin

By the way I already have plenty of screencaps, and the game looks amazing if you have a good video card, crank the internal res up to 1920x1440 or 2560x1600 maybe even with some anti-aliasing.

Just to have the game running 30-40 FPS at first I couldn't believe it, but 60-75?!? On a 'slow' Pentium 4 [albeit with HT to speed things up]?!? Holy ....

I still have to play around with the flush to denormals, extra and the positive/negative options on the recompilers to see what's optimal.
CPU: Pentium D 'Presler' 915 2.8 ghz 2x2MB L2 @ 3.5 ghz
GPU: eVGA [Nvidia] 8600GT 256MB SSC DDR3
Tested: FFX, FFX-2, FFXII, MGS3, KH, KH2, The Hobbit NTSC
PCSX2 FTW! Biggrin
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#2
Tongue 
[Image: DXSnapshot0000275.jpg]
[Image: DXSnapshot0000276.jpg]
[Image: DXSnapshot0000277.jpg]
Proof! Laugh
CPU: Pentium D 'Presler' 915 2.8 ghz 2x2MB L2 @ 3.5 ghz
GPU: eVGA [Nvidia] 8600GT 256MB SSC DDR3
Tested: FFX, FFX-2, FFXII, MGS3, KH, KH2, The Hobbit NTSC
PCSX2 FTW! Biggrin
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#3
I am testing GSDX SSE2 and a few other things, I'm able to sustain close to 60 FPS regardless. Fiddling with the recomplier settings doesn't change the framerate more than losing a few frames, the speedhacks make the game much more playable by increasing the framerate 80-100%.

On second note, some of the speedhacks are ineffectual, though others work fine.
CPU: Pentium D 'Presler' 915 2.8 ghz 2x2MB L2 @ 3.5 ghz
GPU: eVGA [Nvidia] 8600GT 256MB SSC DDR3
Tested: FFX, FFX-2, FFXII, MGS3, KH, KH2, The Hobbit NTSC
PCSX2 FTW! Biggrin
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#4
I think you should stop.You just TRIPLE posted!!!
I'm inactive on this, dedicating most of my time to osu!
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#5
yeah..
spamming ur own thread is badddd...
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*Mio sees a ghost for the first time*
Mio: Aaaaaaah!! x_x
Seriously, the way she acts, you'd think she grew up with ghosts.
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#6
Oh my, that shows how bad the Pentium 4s were...Aren't you afraid of it burning up or dying from electromigration (also known aus sudden northwood death syndrome)? Since this is a 775 socket CPU, consider upgrading to a Core2Duo.
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#7
Pentium 4 is almost exactly half the speed of 1 core of a Pentium Dual Core at the same frequency, and slightly less than half 1 core of a Core 2 Duo at the same frequency (my processor has half the cache, but if it had 2 MB cache it would preform about 70-75% of a Pentium Dual Core or Core 2 Duo)

Thus if I had a Core 2 duo and overclocked it to 4 ghz, I could get up to 250 FPS without the frame limiter almost everywhere I went. A Core 2 Duo @ 4 ghz would give me about 440-450, but it depends.

There are Pentium 4s that are 2x2 MB L2 with 2 cores with HT, at my frequency (4.25 ghz) it would equal a Core 2 Duo @ 3.2-3.3 ghz, it would just need a lot of wattage. It makes sense why Intel decided to improve their architecture and instruction sets while focusing on less power consumption and more efficient heat dissipation without solely raising clock-speed.

You could say Core 2 Duo only does twice the work because it does twice as many instructions per clock cycles as Pentium 4, but then again a Pentium 2 at 2 ghz performs 4/5ths of a P4 at 4 ghz, and a Pentium 3 at 1.8 ghz beats a Pentium 4 at 4... so it happens to be a particularly inefficient processor.

I'm not increasing the voltage beyond 1.4v (I can't, actually), and temps are under 100 F (I've got a tower aluminum CPU cooler with 6 copper heat pipes and pure copper base, I'd get 2/3 the highest temperatures of my P4 if I had a Core 2 duo).

On Final Fantasy 12 I'm only getting about 55 FPS with the speedhacks (at 4.25 ghz, but FFX runs at or above 60), GPU usage is also up another 10-15%. This seems to be a slightly more difficult game even for the PS2, as polygon count had to be sacrificed for some of the lighting effects. It might just be the beginning of the game that's a bit slow though, because I notice the speed always varies on location and what you happen to be doing.

If anything, the point is that Pentium 4 happens to work, thus even the slowest of dual core processors should be reasonable (think 1.6 ghz).

It feels good to finally play FFX again, I lost my disc a lot time ago and even though I still have my PS2 the only decent games I have are MGS3 (disc is scratched Sad ) and FFXII. I might try MGS3 to see if it runs close to or at realtime, if it does then this is awesome.
Ace Combat 4 is another game I would like to test, but I don't have a real-world copy of it anymore, ah well...

Anyways as far as proportions go, these numbers look great for modern processors. I'd like to see how i7 performs with PCSX2. It would be interesting if this emulator supported unlimited threading or just more than a few CPUs.
CPU: Pentium D 'Presler' 915 2.8 ghz 2x2MB L2 @ 3.5 ghz
GPU: eVGA [Nvidia] 8600GT 256MB SSC DDR3
Tested: FFX, FFX-2, FFXII, MGS3, KH, KH2, The Hobbit NTSC
PCSX2 FTW! Biggrin
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#8
(07-22-2010, 01:21 PM)Dangerousd777 Wrote: Thus if I had a Core 2 duo and overclocked it to 4 ghz, I could get up to 250 FPS without the frame limiter almost everywhere I went. A Core 2 Duo @ 4 ghz would give me about 440-450, but it depends.

I'm not increasing the voltage beyond 1.4v (I can't, actually), and temps are under 100 F (I've got a tower aluminum CPU cooler with 6 copper heat pipes and pure copper base, I'd get 2/3 the highest temperatures of my P4 if I had a Core 2 duo).

Performance increase is not linear (well it is in some applications), so you wouldnt get exactly 250fps as you imagine. You would get a lot less. Not to mention that your monitor has a refresh rate of 60Hz (120Hz in the best case scenario if you still have a very good CRT monitor) so anything more then 60fps doesnt have any positive effect.

Also , I think you dont really understand the electromigration problem. When using frequencies over ~3.9GHZ, the atoms in the processor start to fall apart. Your CPU will stop functioning sooner or later, no matter the voltage. Even with superior cooling, your max working frequency will decrease over time and one day your pentium wont boot at all. If you dont plan to buy a new PC in the next few years I suggest you downclock to 3.8GHz.

Im guessing it will last 1-2 years of 24/7 usage and 4-5 years if you use it a few hrs daily on 4.25GHz.
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#9
True, it would be more like 190-200 FPS for the dual core and 360-380 for the quad (which are what people might be getting now)

I'll probably be replacing my CPU within 3 months but just as a note under the right conditions (like proper cooling) a processor can last indefinitely.

Under the wrong conditions, like excessive voltage and heat, a processor might last a week or two at best.

The advantage is the longer I wait, the lower the cost on Core 2 Duos and everything else, by the time this processor dies they probably wouldn't even really sell Core 2 Duo much anymore.

I've had my Pentium 4 for 3 years, and I've only OC'd it starting from 3.5 ghz up to 4+ for about 2 years, so it's got a ways to go.
CPU: Pentium D 'Presler' 915 2.8 ghz 2x2MB L2 @ 3.5 ghz
GPU: eVGA [Nvidia] 8600GT 256MB SSC DDR3
Tested: FFX, FFX-2, FFXII, MGS3, KH, KH2, The Hobbit NTSC
PCSX2 FTW! Biggrin
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#10
All people think if they OC their CPU's to 4-5Ghz they will be god and play any game on pcsx2 with 200-300fps but they are wrong
and having 4 cores wont do a thing PCSX2 will use only 2 Smile
I'm inactive on this, dedicating most of my time to osu!
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