So is it upgrade time?

[ESRaistlin]

First off all - a huge thanks to all of those who put in time and work to put this emulator and community together. I'll be hoping to donate in the future for sure. Since my PS2 phatty has ongoing DRE issues, and my PS3 phatty YLOD'd on me and my current PS3 doesnt have BC this was my next best hope (aside from dropping cash on a used slim model) to enjoy some of my PS2 games.

I'm excited to try out some of the cheat options here pretty soon but I've found that my FPS drops a bit causing audio and video lag. I tried going through other threads but haven't found any way to improve the stuttering. I wanted to ask: based on my current set up will I need to upgrade my PC or could there be some tweaks available to get a better experience?

Game examples:
Final Fantasy X: I generally can get 60FPS with normal gameplay and FMV cutscene's are smooth until any NPC's come on screen.Then my frame rate drops to 35 - 45FPS which gets pretty laggy on video and sound.

Final Fantasy XII : FMV cutscene's are smooth but once again when there are more than one player or character on screen, framerate drops to 29 - 40 FPS. If I move the camera away from these people - the framerate goes up.

Megaman Anniversary Collection : Framerate is solid 59 - 60fps but jumping and timing seem to lag slightly.

Medal Of Honor: Frontline : Framerate varies between 28 - 39FPS. Cutscenes Lag a bit as well. I can get steady 55 - 61 FPS if I run around staring at the ground though!

Killzone : couldn't get above 10FPS. Unplayable with some graphic problems as well - vertical lines running through part of the screen.

So, what specs am I trying to run with? Nothing really impressive I'm afraid:
Win 7 64bit
AMD Phenom 2.3Ghz Triple Core
NVidia GeForce 8400GS 256MB Dedicated

So - are there any tips and tricks that could help? Or is it time to upgrade?

Thanks for the feedback!

[jesalvein]

defnitely time to upgrade.
especially your GPU which is really weak for pcsx2

[rama]

You can try to run your games in native resolution if you're not already doing that. It will help your graphic card a little.
I'm afraid most of your lag is from the CPU though. You can look into oerclocking or much better: Replacing with something
Intel and 3GHz+.

[DaTankAC]

If all else fails...

http://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-Low-end-P...0-settings

[ESRaistlin]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Much appreciated. I figured it would be the case. I got this PC around 2008 I think. Its still solid for basic picture/video editing, streaming and business use applications but it may be time to start looking at building something newer.

Thanks again!