Read first: Will PCSX2 run fast on my computer?

[TopGun1986]

Hi Granville

Regarding the 9800 GT, I have that GPU in my rig and it plays PS2 games beautifully.
I think without a doubt that it will give it a boost.

[Franpa]

CPU @ 99% = you need a better CPU! Quad core processors are the best thing since sliced bread for PCSX 2.

For the video card, make sure to get a Dual Slot card that vents hot air out the back of the case.

[Demi-God]

Hello everyone
i recently changed my Pc spec (actually only the cpu xD) btw, i wanted to ask what you think about it and about a problem i have, hoping you can help me

Pc Specs:
MoBO: Asus P5SD2-VM
Ram: 2Gb, 2x 1024 DDR2
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 @ 2,80 Ghz
GPU: Nvidia GeForce 8400GS 512Mb
now... what is wrong with my system? if the problem is gpu, wich one is the best for pcsx2, considering the ones i can mount on my Mobo?

About the problem i have:
With the new processor and, pcsx2 r-1888 i could run perfectly accel 2 with sound too, even if with sound sucks a bit then i tryed shin megami tensei: lucifer's call, and it have a lot of graphic error but still good speed, then i tryed FFXII....

My pcsx2 config now:
Graphic: GSdx 1873 (MSVC 15.00, SSE2) 0.1.15:

Resolution: 1024x768 60hz
Renderer: Direct3D9 (hardware)
Interlacing: (none)
Aspect: 16:9
D3D internal res: native
Texture filtering, Logarithmic Z, 8-bit textures, Alpha correction (FBA) and windowed are checked the others aren't

Sound: SPU2-X 1.20
Everyhting on reccomended

Cpu settings: everything at left checked, at right i have: Frame Skip, and detailed settings on 0

Speed Hacks: 2x cycle, Esc Hack, Emotion Engine ( the 3 options are checked), Vector unit ( first option checked, min/max hack unchecked, and default on VU cycle stealing)

Advanced: round modes are both on Chop/zero, Clamp modes bothare on none, and then both denormals are zero and flush to zero are checked

now that you know my config, here's the problem:
in FFXII with this config i play at 48+ fps most the time at 50 fps, but there is a lot of error, starting from opening movie, when i open maps there is a bad slowdown, then when i close map, a huge error on screen with consecutive slowdown, before it resolve automatically, when i open menu huge slowdown again, when i try to go on equip worst slowdown, while killing monster at desert or other part it's all at 50 fps... and that is strange. anyway i checked pcsx2 site, and compatibility list, and i saw : PAL FFXII Playable pcsx2 0.9.4, i downloaded it ( the pcsx2 0.9.4) and game now have less errors, opening map doesn't give problem, niether equips, but now i run game at 30+ fps, and it's kinda slow, what can i do?

Sorry for long message, and mistakes on word sometimes, i'm not english so.. i do what i can P
Thx in advice, i really hope you can help me

[Roofus901]

Good lol! That one is more than $40 cheaper! Thankies! Will I really get a huge speed boost by upgrading to a 9800GT? Currently, some games struggle even at native resolution on my PC, CPU always goes up to 99%, and at higher resolution it's even worse.

Sry for the late response, the answer is definately m8, 9800gt's are just awesome, i've got a gts250 which is nothing more than a rebuild of the 9800gt really and games for me have rocked improvements. Now don't get me wrong, some games still run slowly, but the ones that ran slow before now run almost normal, my fps is generally 43-60 in the games that I play. So give the 9800gt a shot, you won't be disappointed.

[Granville]

I've looked at it, and i might not be able to install the Geforce 9800gt in my PC. I won't be able to upgrade the PSU, which is a Dell one. I may be stuck with the Radeon 5750, which i know consumes very little power. I'm unsure if i can even run THAT on my PC, i currently have a 4350.

[rama]

That'll be a problem indeed. I hear DELL PSU's are generally very borderline specified.
And according to wikipedia, the 4350 draws 18W while the 5750 draws 77W.
(At 77W, it probably even needs a PCI-E power connector, which the PSU might not even have.)

[skythra]

Hi!

I have a windose xp sp3 system with this spec

e2180 1.8 OC'd at 3.0ghz (2mb cache)
nvidia 9800gtx
4gb ram (3.6 visible to xp)

My question is, I've had this CPU OC'd for 2 years now (varying between 3.6ghz and 3.0 depending on summer or winter, in the southern hemisphere) and I'm considering replacing it. I'm on the old mobo configuration of being stuck with no iX stuff, so i was considering either:

Q9400 with a 6mb cache @ 2.66 - $233.00
Q8400 with a 4mb cache @ 2.66 - $185.00
E8400 with a 6mb cache @ 3.0 - $193.00
E7500 with a 3mb cache @ 3.0 - $145.00

Now price is one factor. From a PCSX2 perspective, how relevant is cache compared to raw clockspeed. How relevant is the extra two cores.

Please keep in mind that whatever i end up with will be overclocked to within an inch of stability. I've still got a trusty water cooling setup. So no matter what the C2D is going to clock much higher than the quads. But for each we are looking at $50 for 2-3mb cache difference.

So unless PCSX2 gets about another huge boost from large cache compatibilities (which many games do get a big boost, my cpu when running at 3.6 with only 2mb cache was getting significantly owned by a 3.0 with 8mb cache) I'll probably get the significantly cheaper version's of each cpu. Also will a quadcore at say 2.80-3.0 beat out a dualcore at 3.6 in PCSX2? If so by how much? $50 dollars of performance as much?

Currently I'll be leaning towards Q8400 with a 4mb cache @ 2.66 - $185.00 as the good trade off between all 4 of the CPU's from a price perspective. But if anyone has some more good tips that'd be pretty rad

Thanks in advance.

[rama]

Unless the cache isn't reduced too much (more than halved, compared to the original design of that CPU), it doesn't matter much for pcsx2.
Expect a 5 to 10% slowdown at max from a reduced cache size.

This means you might want to stay away from the Q8400, as it has considerably less cache than normal.
The 9400 is a good buy (if a tad expensive right now) if you want a quadcore CPU.
The 7500 is just an okay chip, imo. It largely depends on how far it overclocks, so if you're guaranteed a 4.2Ghz sample, go for it!
If you want mostly a pcsx2 performer, then go with the E8400. Overclock to 4.0 to 4.5GHz (mine is at 4.12Ghz now), and it'll be
good for all games that run without emulation problems currently. And I mean really good.

[skythra]

So you'd say the E8400 @ 4.0ghz-ish would be better than the Q8400 @ 3.0-3.2ghz?

From an article or two i can see that

core voltage up to 1.45V bought us another 11% taking the chip up to 3.36GHz

from this site.

They are very similarly priced.

Note that most of the other games I play already play fine at 1680x1050 and thats mostly thanks to a reasonable (if old) video card.

Thanks again for your fast reply

Edit: I found the E8400 locally at the same price as the Q8400. $183 for either. Its simply a metter if the E is better than the Q for PCSX2.

[Zeydlitz]

E8400 is much better than Q8400. Almost 15% better. For some programms E8600 (that's E8400 + 0.33GHz) is No1 even compared with i7-975XE.