FPS fluctuation issue
#1
I need assistance with an issue regarding the fps, ee, and gs fluctuating during gameplay.

My Specs:
Intel Core i5 2.26GHz, 3MB L3 Cache
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650
4GB RAM

Example: Running GTA:VCS, FFXII, and KH
When I run the games whether running them directly off the disc or using a Standard ISO img I created, it will function normally with stats of FPS - 59.90 - 61.25, EE 90 - 97%, GS 3 - 10%, UI 0 - 4%. However when the game starts the stats will fluctuate dropping to FPS 30s to 10s to 40s to 60s to 30s, EE 75% to 27% to 53% to 92% to 75%, GS usually sits at 0 - 10%, and UI 0 - 5%. The graphics look great but the game slows down as you move around the enviroment.

An example of this is in GTA:VCS when I'm alone in the barracks the stats are normal but when I go outside it slows down, but if I go to get a mission the cutscene will fluctuate where the characters will talk real slow, then normal, then slow again, the stats are also fluctuating as this is happening. When the cutscene ends the gameplay starts normal but fluctuates as the enviroment changes.

I have followed the setup guide and checked some posts, and I have created my pcsx2 file on a seperate drive instead of the (x86) drive. For the video I am using the GSdx with SSE4, D3D11 (Hardware), interlacing - none, did not touch d3d upscaling, hardware mode has texture filtering greyed. Audio I am using the SPU2-X but I have not touched the settings. In the emulation settings the only change I made was to the clamping for EE/IOP and VUs where they are switched to none.

Any assistance would be appreciated Smile
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#2
both your CPU & GPU are a bit weak for pcsx2, and GTA VC will need more raw power.
using some speedhacks may help a bit, but don't expect a miracle.
CPU : AMD Ryzen 7 3800X
Mobo : Asus PRIME B450-PLUS
GPU : NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070
RAM : 16 Go
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#3
I wouldn't say a HD 5650 is too weak. I think it shouldn't be a bottleneck on native res (mostly).

That i5 is a little slow, so Speedhacks, for sure. But it sounds like it might be being throttled. Are your Power Options on "High Performance"? Does your laptop get pretty hot?

KH should do fine, FFXII should be playable. I don't have VCS, but I've played GTA3 on my 2.8Ghz C2D laptop. With Speedhacks and native res, I can't quite keep full speed. Long story short: I don't think you'll get full speed on that one, but it's worth a try. Smile
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#4
That's the (in)famous turbo issue in all it's glory

The first step in trying to solve is to make windows work in "high performance" mode.

To do it go to Windows "Control Panel" and from there to "Power Options" and select High Performance

You may need to enable (unhide) additional plans to get to it.

This can reduce the issue, but the turbo still can be "fooled" by the average on the core dedicated to EE and the core dedicated to GS lead it to think the load is low and reduce the clock... what will reduce yet more the load for GS and increase EE and the average will be smaler (repeat)... those low values for GS let clear it is happening already.

PS: too sad AMD is going for this turbo curse in their newer CPUs Sad
The botton line is I5 2.26 GHz is 2.26 GHz CPU, the turbo is "overclock" and not always smart enough to know when not fallback to stock speed...
Imagination is where we are truly real
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#5
The best way to force the Turbo Boost in this case, would be to disable HyperThreading. Maybe it's an available option in his laptop's BIOS.
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#6
I don't know, but to me it's not an issue with the hyperthreading. anyway hyperthreading doesn't help in that case and would not hurt to get it disabled. I really cannot say how it would behave, if it works it would solve one the most serious issues concerning the turbo feature.

Should exist a way to remove the throttling at BIOS level, or don't go for average load but sustain the peek load.

to understand the issue let's get the worst scenery: coreA is 100% loaded and CoreB used in the same application is 0% loaded.
The throttling mechanism see the load as (100 + 0)/2 = 50% loaded... good, it's light, let's reduce the clock...

Since GS need data coming from EE, this last being "saturated" can't feed GS quickly enough, thus it becomes underloaded... the clock is reduced the EE output reduces yet more, GS becomes less yet loaded... recurs... and the issue becomes comprehensible.

PS: Only speculating here, maybe having a good video card can be a factor to help to trigger the issue, a lesser video card would keep GS higher and the average load drop smaller. In the same line of reasoning, this would be the case where increasing the graphics demand would actually make things quicker.... please don't quote this, just speculating as said.
Imagination is where we are truly real
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#7
Thanks for the assistnce, I will try those suggestions and let you know the results.
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#8
Not saying HT is an issue. It's just, the TB of that i5 he has drops HT to increase it's clock on just it's 2 cores.

The throttling would be done by Intel's Speedstep. If you could just disable it, you would always run @ max frequency. Other options would include looking into a program that allows you to customize and/or lock you CPU to a certain p-state. I've never looked into one for Core i, but I know they're out there for C2D. Just know that if you do this (disable Speedstep or lock on the highest p-state), your laptop will then always run at it's highest p-state, so it'll likely be hotter on average.

May be best to just try some simpler approaches at first. Power Options are easy to change, and disabling HT (if possible) will not hurt.
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#9
Actually the discussion brought out an interesting subject and I'm learning something with it, one is the HT feature control the throttling or is part of the mechanism that do it.

Since I don't have a CPU with turbo feature I can't test it myself, those experimenting strange situations where an external CPU clock/load monitor accuses light load and still EE is high, GS is low could try doing things to improve graphics, like for instance increasing the internal resolution and whatever else that forces the GS to get more loaded.

That is a very particular situation, doing so will not help in any other circumstances and in fact would only worsen things. The turbo issue can only arise when the load between the involved cores is too much unbalanced.
Imagination is where we are truly real
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#10
Thanks for the assistance with the setup. I have used speedhacks to get alot of the games to run. I find that I cn run the older PS2 games off the disc such as Half Life, Kingdom Hearts, and Taito Legends. The newer games I can run as Standard ISO imgs such as FFXII and Dragon Quest VIII. These have worked well because as suggested I have set the D3D upscaling to use the native resolution.

I tried running GTAIII and run into an issue where gain the game speeds up and slows down. I am starting to believe as you guys have said that it could be the processor.

Example, if you go to the southeast end of Liberty city where the firehouse and car dealership is, (I'm in a car) if you look south where there is really nothing to render the FPS is 60-61, EE is 60-72%, and GS is 6-16%. If I turn around and face the city the FPS drops to 36-48, EE 97-100%, GS is 35-51%. Now if I disable the framelifting and look south to where there is nothing to render the FPS is now 92-98, EE is 97-100%, GS is 12-15%. If I face the city the FPS is 46-49, EE is 97-100%, and GS is 42-45%. Any other suggestions about fine tuning speedhacks or other emulation settings?
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