Read first: Will PCSX2 run fast on my computer?

[GamerGeek]

I havent seen much testing on these "new generation" of intel graphics though. Especially when it comes to pcsx2, it would be nice to see someone actually put up some benchmarks.

Edit: it does perform ok for pc games but that doesnt necessarily mean it would for pcsx2. I would guess slightly better than previous generation.

[Rezard]

My guess is that it would be ugly.

[Dropinbodys24-7]

I'm building an AMD Phenom x2 555 black calisto edition with a ATI HD 5450 512mb and 4gigs of ddr3 will it run decently on my rig?

[Rezard]

With a 5450, it can depend on the specs. If it's cheaper, it probably has a 64-bit memory bus (or as little as 32-bit. OUCH!). That's not gonna work too well. There are some 5450 cards made with a 128-bit bus. This isn't too bad, and could work for some games. The biggest problem with those 128-bit 5450s is that the come in a price range where much better cards are available. You should be going with something around a 5600 by that point.

As for your CPU: It's an AMD. You should be able to easily find the basic drawbacks with the use of an AMD with PCSX2 (vs Intel) if ya look around for a minute here, so I'll just leave that at that. In the end, an AMD can still be decent if clocked highly, so be sure and have a good motherboard.

[ilovejedd]

With a 5450, it can depend on the specs. If it's cheaper, it probably has a 64-bit memory bus (or as little as 32-bit. OUCH!). That's not gonna work too well. There are some 5450 cards made with a 128-bit bus. This isn't too bad, and could work for some games. The biggest problem with those 128-bit 5450s is that the come in a price range where much better cards are available. You should be going with something around a 5600 by that point.

I think reference for the HD 5450 is 64-bit. I have an HD 4550 DDR3 which is nearly the same as the HD 5450 DDR3 except it has a slightly lower core clock. I reckon 2x might be doable on some games, but you'd most likely need to resign yourself to native and even then, there may be a few games that would be GPU bottlenecked in some areas. By the way, the HD 5450 can be often found for less than $40. The HD 5670 has nearly double the price tag. I don't think there's a 128-bit HD 5450. That would already be encroaching in HD 5550/5570 territory. However, pricing for HD 5670 and HD 5570 are so close that if you don't need the HD 5570's form factor (usually half-height, single-slot), you're better off going with the HD 5670 (GDDR5, of course).

As for your CPU: It's an AMD. You should be able to easily find the basic drawbacks with the use of an AMD with PCSX2 (vs Intel) if ya look around for a minute here, so I'll just leave that at that. In the end, an AMD can still be decent if clocked highly, so be sure and have a good motherboard.

Currently, at that CPU price, he doesn't have much of a choice. Similarly priced Pentium Wolfdales (LGA-775) perform around the same or worse. There's no benchmark for Pentium Clarkdale (it'll probably suffer some performance penalty due to less cache) and Pentium Sandy Bridge, while quite promising, is not overclockable. Given the available options from Intel, it doesn't really matter which way he goes. Now if he plans on upgrading the CPU down the line, I'd suggest going LGA-1155.

[Rezard]

LOL. My mistake. I think I saw that 128-bit on a 5550 but got mixed up. I know it normally is 64-bit, but found it easy to believe they could've had a "pumped-up" variation, as opposed to that useless "dumbed-down" 32-bit version.

[phodie]

Hey guys I'm looking to buy this machine from Newegg.com, just wondering how it will do with the emulator. I'd only really want to run some JRPG's (Persona's, FF's, Rouge Galaxy, ETC) and a few 2D fighters. Can you guys give me some insight and tell me if it will be up to it?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6883227290
(incase you don't wanna click the link)

CPU : Intel Core i3 550 (3.20 ghz)
GPU : ATI Radeon HD 5450 (512mb)
RAM : 4GB DDR3
OS : Windows 7 64bit

thanks! Been reading a lot on this site, learning quite a bit.

[Rezard]

You're gonna want to get a better GPU for PCSX2. Something more around an HD 5650 would meet the "requirements" for most games.

BTW - I think that price could be beat if you built your own on Newegg. Note how the PSU isn't even mentioned, just the wattage. And what's the mobo? They're not too proud of that, either...

[Koji]

You're gonna want to get a better GPU for PCSX2. Something more around an HD 5650 would meet the "requirements" for most games.

BTW - I think that price could be beat if you built your own on Newegg. Note how the PSU isn't even mentioned, just the wattage. And what's the mobo? They're not too proud of that, either...

You assume they want to play games with scaling, for native resolution the 5450 would be fine for any game.

[Rezard]

I disagree, Koji. A fair share of games may generally be fine on native, but I feel "any game" is a bit of an overstatement. And he will see occasional slowdown, even at native resolution with some games. Just speaking from my experience with a little better GPU (and trying to consider some of the games he mentioned).

That, and I'd swear no one else here would really recommend an HD 5450 for PCSX2...

BTW - I know it's very opinion orientated, but emulating at native resolution really makes you feel like you're playing on a 10 year old system. One of the greatest benefits of PCSX2 is the way the games can look so much better. You can get native res on your PS2, without any worry of speed. But hey, that's my opinion. What matters here is his'/her's.