Problem with framedrop

[murloc]

Hello, I have a problem with some games slowing down from 60FPS to 30fps randomly. The game plays fine for 30 seconds for example then I get the framedrop and recovers after 3-5s. On other games I only get the framedrop in long intervals like 1h and it recovers within 1-2s. The game I am trying to play is Guitar Hero 3. I have used both the official PCSX2 1.2.1 (r5875) and the latest orphis build (v1.3.1-658-g95e1cd9). I am using the default settings that came with PCSX2. I only changed my GS settings into AVX(since my CPU supports it) and audio to xaudio.



Here are my specs:

CPU: Intel® Core™ i5-2450M CPU @ 2.50GHz
RAM: DDR3 6GB
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 525M (Yes, its a laptop)

After trying the game and searching a bit I decided to enable MTVU. I did not see much change. I still have the framedrop issue. I use the Iso mode and Iso Selector.

Any advices to fix the framedrop issue? Thanks for your time and this amazing emulator.

P.S. I managed to play and beat Okami (thanks) and only got the framedrop issue on two fights which are Orochi and Owls (Lechku & Nechku). I also played FF10 without any issues until I met Yuna (I stopped playing after that).

[Nobbs66]

Well, I wouldn't say your laptop is exactly great for PCSX2, especially for something like GH3.


Anyways, try enabling speedhacks, just start with the ee cyclerate hack and do not max them out unless it's a last resort. Also, what are your CPU and GPU temps when you have some slowdown?

[ssakash]

what are the EE and GS values during slowdown ? most probably a GPU bottleneck

[murloc]

Thanks for the replies.

Well, I wouldn't say your laptop is exactly great for PCSX2, especially for something like GH3.


Anyways, try enabling speedhacks, just start with the ee cyclerate hack and do not max them out unless it's a last resort. Also, what are your CPU and GPU temps when you have some slowdown?

I will try the hacks in a bit. As for the temperature readings. I think you are onto something. I took a screenshot of the temps. The GPU is at 70c max (between 63-70c). Though, the CPU is at 89 and up to 98c. I have not seen a high temperature reading such as this one. I tried monitoring the framedrop and noticed the peak in temperature at 98c. When I play intensive games such as Far Cry and similar games it is always the GPU that is at 90c not the CPU. Does PCSX2 rely on the CPU more?

what are the EE and GS values during slowdown ? most probably a GPU bottleneck

1 and 2 when the emulator framdrops into ~30 fps. 3 when it is running smoothly. I took the above values as I was playing the song. I also noticed this on song start:



It does not bother me at all since guitar bar is showing properly. Thanks again for the replies.

[Nobbs66]

Yeah, it seems to be thermal throttling and yes PCSX2 is extremely heavy on the CPU

[murloc]

I tried changing my EE Cycles to 2 and 3 and the temperature still reached 95c. I also tried the changes suggested by the other thread (Rounding: Nearest and Clamping: None) to lower the temperature without luck . Is there any way to to make PCSX2 use the GPU instead?

Edit: What is interesting is that Guitar Hero 1 runs smoothly with few slowdowns (fps drops to 50fps and I only hear the song just being out of tempo for 1-2s).

[Nobbs66]

By default it is using the GPU. The best things you can do are to get a cooling pad for the laptop, play on your PS2, or get a new computer

[murloc]

Sadly my PS2 died more than a year ago. I guess I can enjoy the lighter games until I get a better PC. I wanted to play Okami again and I beat it on PCSX2 so I am very glad. I tried playing it before on a 0.x.x version but I could not play it at all. The 1.2+ versions are huge progress. Thanks for your time and effort.

[omnikam]

Thanks for the replies.


the CPU is at 89 and up to 98c. I have not seen a high temperature reading such as this one. I tried monitoring the framedrop and noticed the peak in temperature at 98c. When I play intensive games such as Far Cry and similar games it is always the GPU that is at 90c not the CPU. Does PCSX2 rely on the CPU more?

WTF? 98c? Um id say you have a major thermal cooling issue
Most likely you need to repaste your cpu and gpu, and clean vents
My laptop with 100% cpu usage for 3 hours straight wont go past 63c
98c is concidered near death, no wonder you get slow downs