Speed trouble with an i7
#1
Hi all !

I've bought a new PC last week. It's equipped with an i7 2630QM (almost like an i7 940 dixit benshmark) and a nVidia GT 540M. It's great only with pcsx2's speed ...
I can play to Alien VS predator well (50FPS, i'm frensh ^^) but some games, like Dragon quest 8 or worst => shadow of the colossus are so so soooo slow ...

The EE is near 3% and GS near 100% (on drakengard 1). I have activate all speed, i let the default option for the others but it's still slow (i havent win just 1fps with the speed hack). I use the GSDX with sse4.1 0.1.16 with direct 3D10 in native resolution. The windows's task manager said that only 15-20% of my processor is used.

If someone could help me, it'll be nice Smile

Owh, and "Champions return to arms" bug, the screen if cut into 2 part. It's my fault or the game is no emulate yet ?


Ps: sorry for my so bad english :x (if i make major mistake, tell it to me ^^")

PPs: of course, i dont spit on staff's work ! it's a good (and hard i suppose ^^) to developp an emulator, it's just a question :x
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#2
Hello.

Dragon Quest 8 and Shadow of the Colossus are kinda heavier games. Don't be disapointed if they don't quite reach full speed. There may still be hope for better speed, though.

Drakengard appears to be limited by your GPU. So if you're already using native res, it's possible that it's not gonna get better.

Champions games (along with any of Snowblind's games) are very broken. Don't bother trying it with current revisions.

Perhaps you should focus on one game at a time. This could get complicated if trying to cover all games at once,

- Make sure you're using the GSdx plugin for SSE41.
- Make sure your laptop's Power Plan is set to "High Performance".
- To report your EE% accurately, disable all speedhacks first.
- Watch for the EE% to peak near or at 100% when slow-down occurs.
- Post screen shots of your PCSX2 settings. Emulation Settings (EE/IOP, VU and Speedhacks) and GSdx (Video) Settings.
- Be more specific about the "soooo slow" FPS.

BTW - Your English isn't perfect, but I can read it. Most importantly, I can totally understand you. Smile
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#3
GS 100% means that he Graphics Synthesizer thread is being maxed out. This is either caused by certain games making way too many D3D calls (Xenosaga series) or more often, your GPU causing slowdowns. Especially in the case of Dragon Quest 8 you're going to need to use native resolution.

Also note that your CPU is only a 2ghz processor with the potential to boost to 2.9ghz... This could also lead to additional slowdowns. Make sure your laptop is set to performance instead of power saving or balanced power setting.

(edit) Note to self, make sure to reload the page if you're going to watch TV while replying Wink
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#4
Hmm, does your laptop have Optimus? Is there a way to force it to use Nvidia graphics for PCSX2?
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#5
Good call, ilovejedd. It does kinda seem like his GPU is under-performing for a GT 540M.

And Koji, I'd bet his CPU will run at 2.6Ghz (when not in power saving modes). Just a hunch. Wink
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#6
It run to 2.8GHz at max, but the 2 cores used are just at 30 to 40% of their power, so it's ok Smile

But i think it's the graphic card oh the i7. I dont have optimus (it's an option that cost more than 100€, too many for me) but if there is a way to force the "intel HD grahics family" to be off, tell me ! Laugh

Maybe if i stop his driver ? But perhaps my pc will crash ? Sad
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#7
(05-21-2011, 09:53 PM)Armasounet Wrote: It run to 2.8GHz at max, but the 2 cores used are just at 30 to 40% of their power, so it's ok Smile

That acts of Turbo always intrigue me. Does that load from PCSX2 stay strictly on 2 cores? It spreads across all 4 cores for me, preventing it from getting the 2 thread boost one would expect. It's still faster on 4 threads @ 3.4Ghz rather than on 2 threads @ 3.6Ghz, though.

(05-21-2011, 09:53 PM)Armasounet Wrote: But i think it's the graphic card oh the i7. I dont have optimus (it's an option that cost more than 100€, too many for me) but if there is a way to force the "intel HD grahics family" to be off, tell me ! Laugh

Maybe if i stop his driver ? But perhaps my pc will crash ? Sad

If your laptop doesn't have Optimus, then it's not dynamically switching GPUs on you. This would leave your integrated GPU of your i7 unused.
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#8
I've succeded to play drakengard quite well by update the processor new driver Laugh the EE is near 90% and GS near 25%, i have to enable "clamping mode full" in order to see something, if i dont enable this, i cant see nor the hero neither enemys (without speed hack). I'm also in "High performance mode" and i verify that the processor was able to use all his power.

There is one probleme left: why when i start a new game, the GS is near 100% (so really slow, about 50% of speed) : there is juste some writing and a old man who speaks ...

Also, with that clamping mode, the graphism are ugly: the map disapear sometimes o_O (2sec all the 5 seconds ! ). Is there an option to repair that ??


Ps: maybe it's time to overclock my dearest GT 540m with evga precision ? ^^

PPs: please, tell me if i do some big mistakes in english ! I need to improve myself in english Tongue2

PPPs: how can i give you a reputation point ? Laugh
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#9
(05-22-2011, 12:10 AM)Armasounet Wrote: There is one probleme left: why when i start a new game, the GS is near 100% (so really slow, about 50% of speed) : there is juste some writing and a old man who speaks ...

Ok. When the GS% does max out, it means your GPU is putting out the best it can. If the speed is still slow, then it's a common sign that your GPU isn't strong enough. Overclocking your GPU may help a bit, but in my experience it usually just helps you run at a little higher res. In the end, higher clocks cannot fully compensate for other features that higher-end cards have.

(05-22-2011, 12:10 AM)Armasounet Wrote: Also, with that clamping mode, the graphism are ugly: the map disapear sometimes o_O (2sec all the 5 seconds ! ). Is there an option to repair that ??

Well, unfortunately hacks may come with side effects, even when they're needed to fix something. I can't test that game myself and tell you for sure what it takes (or if it's possible) to fix that side effect. I could only suggest trying some other things in the EE/IOP and VU section of Emulation Settings. In the GSdx setting: software rendering would probably look right, but may be slower (increase the SW threads to use all of your CPU cores). Maybe look into enabling the hidden hacks of GSdx (covered in the configuration guide), and trying the Alpha or Offset hacks. I'm really just throwing out some ideas at this point. Smile

One thing you can consider, is that sometimes you can't get everything perfect. If one thing fixes problem "A", but causes problem "B", you may end up where doctors like to put their patients with medication (take this for "A", which causes "B", so take this for "B", which causes "C". Etc...). Not saying to give up, but just mentioning it.

(05-22-2011, 12:10 AM)Armasounet Wrote: PPs: please, tell me if i do some big mistakes in english ! I need to improve myself in english Tongue2

Honestly, you do very well with English. The closet thing to a big mistake you've made was slightly mis-spelling a couple words, but not bad enough to prevent me from understanding you. You put "graphism" instead of "graphics" and "juste" instead of "just". I knew exactly what you meant, though. That's what counts. Wink

(05-22-2011, 12:10 AM)Armasounet Wrote: PPPs: how can i give you a reputation point ? Laugh

Click on the little button on the bottom my post. The button with the green + (right next to the "Find" button). Smile
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#10
Hum, what do you mean when you say "the SW threads to use all of your CPU cores" ? What is "SW threads" ?? I also dont find the "hidden hacks" (config guide is in the 0.9.6 version, i'm in 0.9.9 r4660 Sad )

And it's strange, GPU-Z said that my graphic card was at 40/50% of his full power but "GS" in PCSX was at 100%. I think, it's the integrated graphic card again ... i hate her >.<

When i run PCSX2, the log says "Loading plugins..." and then "NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M (8.17.12.7061)" so he recognize my real graphic card ... so why he doesnt use it at full power T_T

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