Read first: Will PCSX2 run fast on my computer?

[Rezard]

Any integrated graphics unit will certainly fall short of 2x scaling with most, if not all games you try.

Look to a dedicated card with at least a 128-bit memory bus width,
and the (G)DDR5 data rate, as well.

GeForce GTS cards, like the 250 and 450,
or the Radeon HD 5770 and 6770 will certainly be good.

If you want something with as little cost and/or power draw as possible,
you'd have to find a unit just shy of those above,
like a GeForce GT 240 and 440, or a Radeon HD 5570 and 6570.
They are all 128-bit, but do come in a variety of data rates.
Just make sure you are getting one that's DDR5.

[audioqueso]

Thank you for the update.
I haven't purchased a video card in years so I wasn't sure what single slot PCIe video card would suit me for what I'm trying to build.

I'm not really concern with cost. I'm more just trying to keep things in small form factor for the portability factor of it.
So no Sandy Bridge, AMD, or any of the nicer onboard gpu's will cut it, huh. Got it!
So look for a PCIe card with 128-bit bus and DDR5 memory on it.
Thank you.

[Vissari]

So, building my comp right now, just trying to get an idea.

ASRock Z77 Extreme4 (90$! Freaking steal)
i5 3570K Ivy Bridge (Hoping to OC to 4.2ghz)
GTX 560ti
16gb 1600DDR3 RAM (for video editing)

How will that handle most games?

I know it can likely run a lot of games, but how about upping the scaling?

[Bositman]

It will be fine and will probably handle x3 scaling in most games

[Vincenth]

Where does the Pentium G850 stand in regards to performance.

[Rezard]

It's a Sandy Bridge based dual core processor @ 2.9Ghz.

I would estimate it to benchmark around 55-60fps (NTSC) on the PCSX2 Benchmark,
which is pretty good, especially for a cheaper CPU.

It should do quite well with many PS2 games.
If you could swing the extra $30-$40 for an i3-2120,
I'd say do it.

[audioqueso]

If you could swing the extra $30-$40 for an i3-2120,
I'd say do it.

Glad to hear, because that's what I decided to go with; i3-2120 matched with a Radeon 6670.

[gamerish]

I'm currently in the process of buying a laptop and just want to know if either of these will be capable of playing Kingdom Hearts (it's the only thing I'll be using the emulation for) at at least average fps.

M14x: i7-3610QM (can change to the 3720QM if there will be a noticeable difference), GTX 650M, 8Gb RAM
M17x: i7-3720QM, Radeon 7970M, 8Gb RAM

The i7-3610QM is said to go up to 3.3GHz with TurboBoost while the i7-3720QM is said to be up to 3.6GHz. Will there be a noticeable difference between the two? I'd rather not OC if that's an option.

[Rezard]

With Kingdom Hearts,
both will handle it.

The 7970M would handle a higher internal resolution,
but basically in excess.

The extra 300Mhz could be considered worth it for PCSX2 otherwise,
especially since you won't be able to OC, I'm sure.

You decide if it's worth it.
The M17x is definitely better,
but both are certainly more than is needed for the likes of Kingdom Hearts...

[サイレントヒル]

Hello everyone;
I'm completely new here. I preferred to post my first post here.
I just play PS2 games easily (A few that I played) and just in some games I have a little problem in performance. Which part of my PC is weak?
My system:
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 - 2.50 GHZ
RAM: DDR3 - 4 GB
VGA: NVIDIA Geforce GT 240 - 1 GB

Thanks in advance.