Slow downs - EE 99% - CPU Usage 60%

[Goustoulos]

Hello everybody. 
I am using PCSX2 for years, but this is my first post on the forum.
Yesterday i decided to recomple some of the classics, so i started with the Sly series. 
The first game had some slow downs, but it was totally playable. 45 fps minimum(my discs are PAL format).
So i am now trying to get the emulator to work the second game. I am getting many slowdowns(25fps worst case scenario).
When it slowsdown EE is siting at 98-99-100%, and some times 101%. After some googling i found out that this means that cpu isnt capable of full speed. 
According to HWmonitor, my cpu usage wont go above 70% while i am playing. And my GPU usage wont go above 95%(not when my game slows down tho). So this seems strange. Shouldnt my CPU be on, like, 100%?
Is there anything i am missing? Changing the resolution is pointless. I get the same FPS with Native resolution, and x8 Native(I usually play on x4)
My CPU is a Xeon X5460 OC'ed at 4Ghz(its a bit faster than a Q9650 when on stock 3.16Ghz Speed) and my GPU is a 5870.
Here are some screenshots of my settings

Thank you!

ps. forgot to mention that i am using SSEE4 instructions plugin!

[jesalvein]

Sly series are demanding and your CPU's STR is below 1400.
That EE% near 100% clear ly shos your CPU is struggling.

1 - try making an iso off you disc.
2 - enable recommended speedhacks
3 - set ee cycle rate to 1

That should help a bit

[Goustoulos]

Sly series are demanding and your CPU's STR is below 1400.
That EE% near 100% clear ly shos your CPU is struggling.

1 - try making an iso off you disc.
2 - enable recommended speedhacks
3 - set ee cycle rate to 1

That should help a bit

Thanks for the reply man!

It seems weird to me, because i think i used to have the same frames with my old Q6600. Which is waaaaay slower than my current Xeon.
Plus, as i said my CPU usage wont go above 70%. I tried to change the priority to high, from task manager, and i didnt notice a diference. 

1- I did. I used Power-ISO and my own disc. Thats how i ripped all of my games, and they work like a charm!
2- I already have all the recommended speedhacks enabled
3- I get a small fps boost.
I did post all of my settings on my original post
Sorry for my bad english!

ps. i have no idea what CPU str is. But it can handle GTA V and Doom

[refraction]

Are you using the MTVU speedhack?

Also don't compare PC games to emulation, it's very silly, PC gaming is almost completely dependent on GPU power, not CPU power, where emulation is pretty much completely reliant on CPU power and barely on GPU, it's the complete opposite

[jesalvein]

Thanks for the reply man!

It seems weird to me, because i think i used to have the same frames with my old Q6600.

maybe it was on an old, less accurate build. that would explain...

Plus, as i said my CPU usage wont go above 70%. I tried to change the priority to high, from task manager, and i didnt notice a diference. 

pcsx2 uses 3 cores with MTVU hack.
Means the left 30% are from your nearly unused core

ps. i have no idea what CPU str is. But it can handle GTA V and Doom

Single Thread Rating
Doom and GTA V aren't emulated games. Which is a completely different matter

[Goustoulos]

Are you using the MTVU speedhack?

Also don't compare PC games to emulation, it's very silly, PC gaming is almost completely dependent on GPU power, not CPU power, where emulation is pretty much completely reliant on CPU power and barely on GPU, it's the complete opposite

Thanks for the reply!
I am using MTVU because it says ''recommended if +3 cores'', and i have 4(no ht).
I might be wrong, but i think that GTA V and Doom are games that also stress the CPU. Not only the GPU. 
I know that CS GO is CPU intensive (because Source engine), and i play Competitive matches with 260-300fps(depending on the map).
So i think that my CPU is not that slow. Of course i dont expect a 8 year old CPU to be a beast performer.


Edit: So i should disable MTVU. Ok! Thanks!

[Blyss Sarania]

I might be wrong, but i think that GTA V and Doom are games that also stress the CPU. Not only the GPU. 
I know that CS GO is CPU intensive (because Source engine), and i play Competitive matches with 260-300fps(depending on the map).
So i think that my CPU is not that slow. Of course i dont expect a 8 year old CPU to be a beast performer.

Those games somewhat stress the CPU but not nearly as much as emulation of a console like the PS2. Also in PC games when you run out of CPU you might drop some FPS but still be full speed, in emulation you will actually slow down the game. It's completely different.

[Goustoulos]

Ok i see my false thought. Thanks!
Disabling MTVU made no difference.
Playing arround with EE cyclerate, made no difference
Setting VU Cycle Stealing on 3, made my game run on 100% speed(50fps), but my game starts glitching when moving fast(kinda like those weird 3d anaglyph pictures/videos)
So i guess i should stick with my old config and just be patient on the 30fps parts of the game?

[refraction]

MTVU made no difference because you have "SuperVU" set for your VU's. Change it to microVU for both and the speed boost will happen.

Also change your rounding for the EE back to "Chop/Zero" and clamping back to normal, you will get alsorts of bugs playing with that if you aren't sure what you're doing.

Also in the GSDX settings your asking a bit much of your GPU. Tick "allow 8bit textures" set the internal resolution to Native x2 or x3 (id recommend x2 for this game) and turn of anisotropic filtering

Once you've done all that, bring that EE slider under speedhacks down to 0 or 1 at most, same with VU Cycle stealing

[Goustoulos]

Thanks for the reply, once again!
I changed every setting you told me to. The game runs at 5-8fps(without EE and VU speedhacks).
If i tick the allow 8bit textures box, my fps wont go above 10. If i max out all the speedhacks, i get about 25fps.
I knew that my GPU was slow, but daaamn.
Anyway, i will be playing using my old config. 30fps at some parts, and 50 on the rest of the game is good enough for me. I just hoped for something better. Seems to me like i wont get anything better with this old af rig.
Thank you everone!