Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance - am I limited by GPU?
#1
I followed the Wiki page on setting up PCSX2, downloaded the latest build as recommended by a user on another thread from the buildbot page. My specs are as follows:
~ AMD FX-6300
~ Nvidia GTX 670
~ 8 GB RAM


I tried loading Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance because I used to love playing on my PS2, but unfortunately after tinkering it still seems to run at nearly half speed in certain scenes. So far I tried the following, which were typically recommended in other threads I searched, but I still have some questions as to whether I need to adjust some more settings or if I just need a better GPU since my GS percentage is hovering near 100% when it's lagging.

~ GSdx SSE4.1
~ OpenGL hardware mode -- I saw this recommended for this game, is that right?
~ Allow 8 bit textures
~ Fast texture invalidation

These were the main things I tried, and yet during the original tavern scene it runs around 2/3 speed since it appears the GS number is hitting 100%. If I talk to someone it's fine (even if fireplace is in the background) but zoomed out its not.

Am I simply using the wrong settings or am I just GPU stuck? Thanks for any advice!


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#2
Check using a hardware monitoring program how your system's reasources are being used. It might actually be that your GPU is not getting enough information fast enough to keep up.
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#3
(08-18-2017, 05:51 AM)TkSilver Wrote: Check using a hardware monitoring program how your system's reasources are being used.  It might actually be that your GPU is not getting enough information fast enough to keep up.

TkSilver, thanks for the comment. What exactly do you mean the GPU might not be getting info fast enough? I don't really know how I can check that since I don't know what I'm looking for.
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#4
I think a GTX 670 should be able to handle up to 3x Native resolution (4GB variant might even manage 4x) in that scene without causing drops below 60 FPS. CPU is much more likely to be the limiting factor.

Do you have all of the [Recommended] speedhacks enabled? MTVU is a bit odd in the Snowblind Engine games, some people get slightly better performance with it turned off.
Windows 10 Home 64-bit | Intel Core i7 4770 @ 3.4GHz | MSI GeForce GTX 1070 Ti Titanium 8GB
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#5
Quote:it appears the GS number is hitting 100%
It is the activity of emulating the GS on the CPU side. So you're CPU suffer a hard time.

Quote:~ GSdx SSE4.1
~ OpenGL hardware mode -- I saw this recommended for this game, is that right?
~ Allow 8 bit textures
~ Fast texture invalidation
Yes. Try to play with blending accuracy. Basic might give you better performance (otherwise disable it).

Reducing upscaling could also help to reduce a bit the CPU load.
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#6
(08-18-2017, 02:15 PM)gregory Wrote: It is the activity of emulating the GS on the CPU side. So you're CPU suffer a hard time.

Yes. Try to play with blending accuracy. Basic might give you better performance (otherwise disable it).

Reducing upscaling could also help to reduce a bit the CPU load.

Okay I will try blending accuracy, I'm pretty sure I have mtvu off already but will double check. I will check task manager to see how my CPU is doing, I was under the impression GS numbers were more closely related to how your GPU is handling the graphics load. Thanks again for the help I will let you know if I figure anything out!
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#7
Quote: I was under the impression GS numbers were more closely related to how your GPU is handling the graphics load
No. The number is the active cpu active time / thread time. Low value mean that you're CPU is idling (could be the EE thread is too slow, or that your GPU is indeed too busy). I'm not sure there is an easy way to query a relevant value for GPU activity.
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#8
(08-18-2017, 05:56 AM)dabomb18359 Wrote: TkSilver, thanks for the comment. What exactly do you mean the GPU might not be getting info fast enough? I don't really know how I can check that since I don't know what I'm looking for.

Basically since emulation is not like running a native PC game, what the game needs to display or to be calculated by the graphics backend needs to first be translated by the CPU to something a modern graphics solution would understand first.  On top of that the other info like general inputs, tracking the movement of enemies (ai), and other information the GPU needs to calculate what to draw also requires the CPU to process that information and pass along the data needed.

As far as looking up the information it is just like what you would do if finding a bottleneck anywhere else.

Load up afterburner (or you can pick something else), monitor the heat and the usage of each core of your processor (heat for each core is really only necessary if you think there is an issue) and your GPU.  Also VRAM usage can help diagnose issues if CPU usage and GPU usage are lower then expected but the game still has issues with speed.
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#9
You are very likely CPU bound and overcloking that 6300 would help a bit but even then. I had to overclock my i5 3570k to 4.2ghz for decent speeds int he Snowblind engine games. So yeah might not be much you can really do for the speed other than overclock if you haven't already.
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