hey guys.....

just wondered if anyone uses any software to improve performance for PCSX2.....
i personally use the following software which makes a BIG difference (for my setup anyway) : -
process tamer (vista) - force pcsx2 exe in realtime for a noticeable difference
ramcleaner (vista) - flush/clean before use of PCSX2 and every time you boot a new game

what i'm wondering.... is there any software that overclocks cpu's for example? or regulates windows better etcetcetc......

Software that overclocks CPUs exists, but is:
1. Incompatible with a lot of CPUs
2. Unstable
3. Can cause many problems, such as overheating
4. Inaccurate
These programs are NEVER recommended, if you want to overclock you should do a lot of research, possibly upgrade your cooling solutions, and then overclock through the BIOS. It's a very time-consuming and fragile thing to do in order to get a stable overclock. (took me a CPU fan upgrade and about a week of tweaking to get my CPU from 2.4GHz to 3.4GHz fully stabilized) Anyway, without modifying or upgrading hardware, there are few quick fixes to improve your computer's performance. (especially ones that cause notable changes in PCSX2) As always, clean up your hard drive, (as in dump that extra 30 or so GB of crap you don't need anymore) prioritize your RAM usage and close all unneeded programs, maybe run a virus scan or two. Otherwise, look into overclocking or upgrading.

A lot of the windows "Tweak" programs don't really make a difference at all. Obviously if your system is extremely bogged down with 50 startup items and a hungry antivirus then it will definitely make a difference, but that can all be done manually anyways.

PCSX2 is mostly CPU limited, so overclocking can be a cheap and effective way of gaining a good amount of extra speed. But, like 'With Teeth' said, it requires extensive knowledge and preparation to do it properly and safely. (It took me a good 2 weeks to get my stable OC) A lot of newer motherboards come with software overclocking tools that somewhat work ok, but you'll never a good overclock without manual BIOS tweaking.

You probably won't gain much from this, but you can try manually tweaking your windows services. (Computer management-->Services)

Services list:
XP: http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm
Vista: http://www.blackviper.com/WinVista/servicecfg.htm

Or you can try this free app that attempts to automagically disable services to optimize for gaming
http://www.theorica.net/gamexp.htm

But beware it may disable some things you actually need, or it may not disable enough services that you don't actually need.

With that said, Ccleaner is a useful free app to clear out your "crap" but as i said above, you probably won't notice any difference.

at the very least star you've helped me clean out my pc so mega thanks for that!!

i see peeps specs in their sigs and it makes me dream!! for example star...... thats some serious hardware......... ouch!
incidentally star would gamexp work reasonably well under vista and could i reverse any changes i make with it!!!??????

much appreciation!