Slow Performance FFX - Not sure why

[usafltg]

Hey guys,

So, I've been fooloing around with configuration settings for over a couple of months now, trying to get good performance on my PC for FFX. What's frustrating, is that I am basically getting "close to exactly" the same performance settings running on my high-end desktop PC, as I am my Laptop...

I've got the latest DX, and the latest drivers for my graphics card etc. I've also tried both 0.9.6, and 1888 releases with the latest plugins. If I turn on the EE hacks (1.5x cycle rate, Status Flag Hack, VU Cycle Stealing at max) and the CPU codes for microVU0, microVU1. Use GSDx 2404 (MSVC 15.00 SSE2) 0.1.15 with Direct3D9 (Hardware), D3D Internal Res at 512 x 512. OVERCLOCK the CPU from 3.4GhZ to 3.56Ghz, and the GPU from 560 x 725 to 600 x 800...........

I can "MAYBE" get 42 - 42 fps if I'm lucky depending on the screen. It's like anytime there's anything 3D on the screen, regardless of my specs... it says "screw you video card... I feel like lagging today..."

Below are screen shots taken of my specs, and screen shots of emu of FFX:

Operating System is: Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit

CPU Info:


CPU Cache Info:


Motherboard Info:


Memory Info:


Memory Speed Info:


Graphics Info:


Graphics Overclocking Info:


The short of it:
eVGA nVIDIA geForce 7950 GT - OC'd
Intel P4 550 (Prescott) Socket 775 (LGA) 3.4GhZ MMX, SSE 1, 2, and 3- OC'd 3.463 (currently, can go higher)
3 GB Dual-DDR2

The Result:



I'm just not sure what I'm doing wrong..... ???

[arquliz]

There should be no need for speed hacks.
Your cpu-z says you should be able to use gsdx sse3, therefore you should use it instead of sse2 (not that it should do that big a difference but its better)

Try updateing your gpu driver.

Code:

www.nvidia.com

I will post a screenshot of my settings where i get over 150 fps with my i7 920 at 2.6 ghz in a sec.

[rama]

Use sVU instead of mVU, it's a little faster.
Other than that, your "high end pc" is a little old I'm afraid. Like 4 years too old

What's hurting most is that pentium4, which is only a single core.
PCSX2 greatly benefits from a dual core cpu..

[arquliz]

oh, i didn't notice that it was a single core. sorry
just ignore my post.

[usafltg]

Well the P4 I have is a hyperthreaded core. So "logically" it has 2 cores but not physically. It's still slower than a Dual Core Proc. HOWEVER, if you look at the CPU Utilization % when PCSX2 is running... it doesn't get above 59% - 65%. Even when the graphics are intense. So this is still confusing.

Also, my CPU doesn't support SSSE3... only SSE3. There is a difference. Unless there is a Graphics Plugin for SSE3 that I don't know about?

Also, I'm not sure if there's anyway I can "force" some directX 10 for my video card. My geForce 7950 GT already has the latest drivers from nVidia. However, I don't believe nVidia supports DX 10 with my card. Only 8xxx series cards have the ability to use DX 10.

So again... any other thoughts here? I can't honestly believe that my CPU is the culprit here.... doesn't make any sense...

[GamerGeek]

HOWEVER, if you look at the CPU Utilization % when PCSX2 is running... it doesn't get above 59% - 65%.

By this do you mean the CPU% in the Pcsx2 titlebar or in the task manager?

[usafltg]

[quote='GamerGeek' pid='98392' dateline='1266524540']

By this do you mean the CPU% in the Pcsx2 titlebar or in the task manager?

I'm talking in the Pcsx2 titlebar....

I'll check the taskbar in a second here....

[GamerGeek]

Well the pcsx2 titlebar can be a little missleading its actually an indication of how well you GPU is working.

[usafltg]

Well the pcsx2 titlebar can be a little missleading its actually an indication of how well you GPU is working.

When I check the task mananger, it's between 55 - 65% utilization.

I'm still miffed... it has to be something else.... makes no sense why I can't get a full frame rate out of it....

[arquliz]

You cant force directx10 on a non directx10 card, you could try to set your settings to the same as mine and see the results (with directx9 instead of 10).
Try also closing down other applications in the background. (i used to do this on my laptop to as much speed as possible)