Question About Hyperthreading
#1
I've been using PCSX2 for the past week or so and playing Kingdom Hearts on it, and have noticed some performance issues that I'm not sure I should be having. For example, during the fight at The End of the World with Chernabog, the game noticeably lags and has crashed on a couple occasions. The emulator has also crashed unexpectedly at random times for no reason I can find.

First off, a few system specs:
Processor: Intel Core i7 Q740 @ 1.73 gHz
Video Card: GeForce GTX 260M
Ram: 4 GB
I've been running PCSX2 (0.9.7 beta) in DX10 (Hardware) mode using GDsx SSE41 plugin with speedhacks on. (It still crashes randomly even with them turned off. The game runs smoother with them turned on, as well.)

The processor has 4 cores which are hyperthreaded into 8 logical cores. Since PCSX2 only uses 2 cores, I'm wondering if it just uses two of the logical cores instead of two physical cores. I'm also not too knowledgeable on the subject, so I don't know if it would even make a difference. I'm playing on a laptop (Alienware), which I know isn't recommended, but for the most part have had a fairly smooth experience on.

So is this considered to be normal, or am I running into a problem? Any/all help is appreciated.
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#2
copy and paste the emulog.txt file. I won't be able to see the problem but someone will come by and help you
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#3
PCSX2 0.9.7.r3876 (modded) - compiled on Oct 5 2010
Savestate version: 0x8b4c0000

x86-32 Init:
CPU vendor name = GenuineIntel
FamilyID = 5
x86Family = Intel® Core™ i7 CPU Q 740 @ 1.73GHz
CPU speed = 1.728 ghz
Cores = 8 physical [8 logical]
x86PType = Standard OEM
x86Flags = bfebfbff 0098e3fd
x86EFlags = 28100000

x86 Features Detected:
MMX.. SSE.. SSE2.. SSE3.. SSSE3.. SSE4.1.. SSE4.2

Allocating memory for recompilers...

Loading plugins...
Binding GS : C:\Program Files (x86)\PCSX2 0.9.7\Plugins\gsdx-sse4-r3878.dll
Windows 6.1.7601 (Service Pack 1 1.0)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M (8.17.12.6658)
Binding PAD : C:\Program Files (x86)\PCSX2 0.9.7\Plugins\lilypad-r3878.dll
Binding SPU2 : C:\Program Files (x86)\PCSX2 0.9.7\Plugins\spu2-x-r3878.dll
Binding CDVD : C:\Program Files (x86)\PCSX2 0.9.7\Plugins\cdvdiso-r3878.dll
Binding USB : C:\Program Files (x86)\PCSX2 0.9.7\Plugins\USBnull.dll
Binding FW : C:\Program Files (x86)\PCSX2 0.9.7\Plugins\FWnull.dll
Binding DEV9 : C:\Program Files (x86)\PCSX2 0.9.7\Plugins\DEV9null.dll
Plugins loaded successfully.

(GameDB) 8934 games on record (loaded in 269ms)
(GameDB) Unloading...
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#4
You should post the emulog.txt AFTER you get a crash, that one says nothing, it's not even running a game.

You should also post your PCSX2 and plugin settings so we can help better.
Core i5 3570k -- Geforce GTX 670  --  Windows 7 x64
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#5
Hmm, I'm not sure if PCSX2 would automatically utilize a logical core (thread) rather than a physical. One thing I would say is that Hyperthreading isn't helping you with PCSX2, anyway. You could see if you can disable it in BIOS. It actually could help performance in this case. Smile

On your random crashes, are you using savestates?
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#6
And since no one mentioned it yet... hyper threading is almost certainly NOT the cause of these problems, if anything your slowdowns are more likely caused by turbo boost. As for the crashes, the emulog will help us with you on that one.
[Image: 2748844.png]
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#7
Common cause of bad performance in turbo mode able CPUs and PCSX2 is the Windows Power Save feature.
Go to it from the Windows Control Panel -> Power Option and choose High Performance Plan.
Imagination is where we are truly real
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#8
@nosisab: I make sure that the power options are all maximized when playing something. I've even gone into the advanced options and made sure that the GPU and such are at full running power.

@Koji: Turbo boost is a problem? I noticed that it's turned on in the BIOS, but I don't know what it does.

@Rezard: My BIOS doesn't have a setting for disabling hyperthreading, but it needs an update. I do use savestates, but usually as a fallback between actual save points in case of a crash.

@Shadow Lady: Oops, I feel silly Blush. Do you mean post screens of my plugin and setting windows?
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#9
Try not to use savestates. The use of them itself can cause crashes.

On the HT thing, I'm only speaking from a first-hand experience. I've seen the disabling of HT improve and stabilize an i5 before. I know it won't necessarily always be the case, but turning it off won't hurt. Plus, it may even help encourage the first stage of TB (when HT is dropped).

Always use a "High Performance" power Option, for sure. I'd even consider modifying or making a Power Plan that sets the minimum and maximum CPU usage to 100%.
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#10
Here's my plugin settings:
[Image: pcxs2settings.jpg]

It should also be noted that when I use speedhacks, I use the default settings.
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