Two CPU question (not dual cores).

[Aterxerxes]

I've looked in on this project every few months and I finally have a computer that is (somewhat) able to handle the emulation.
My main goal is to get Final Fantasy X and XII to work at normal speeds. (60fps)

I took screenshots of CPU-Z. Here they are:

CPU Tab
[Image: CPU.jpg]
Caches Tab
[Image: Caches.jpg]
Mainboard Tab
[Image: Mainboard.jpg]
Memory Tab
[Image: Memory.jpg]
SPD Tab
[Image: SPD.jpg]
Graphics Tab
[Image: Graphics.jpg]

I also took a screenshot of GPU-Z:
[Image: GraphicsCard.jpg]

I have two CPUs NOT a single CPU with dual cores as I hope the next two pictures illustrate:

System Properties Window
[Image: SystemProperties.jpg]

Device Manager Window
[Image: DeviceManager.jpg]

I can only achieve about 50%-70% of the 60fps rate that I desire.

I have the files from the beta here.
Build 1888.

I guess I have two questions:

1) I've banged my head against this for about 4 days now (in my spare time) and used every combination of options available to me and am wondering if there's something I'm missing here as far as configuration options

2) I have seen that there is dual core processor support, but is there dual cpu support (Two separate central processing units on the motherboard)?

I realize that windows xp is able to somewhat load balance, but I've been really trying to find a way to get that extra boost to get the emulation smooth through most areas.

Just in case this will help I have a dell Optiplex GX-280.

Please know that I tried everything that I could think of before posting here on the forums.

If there is a simple solution such as: get the latest svn. I would really appreciate it if someone would compile it for me. (Otherwise I'll buck up and deal with it.)

-Aterxerxes

[Koji]

Very first picture... There are 2 things of importance about it. #1 is the fact that it only shows 1 physical CPU (you can't change processors in the drop down menu) #2: It says that your one singular processor only has 1 core (IE a single core processor) but that it has 2 threads (IE that means it's hyper threaded)

The two pictures you say "prove" that you have two processors shows nothing. The first one says that you have a Pentium 4 CPU at 2.8ghz that's running at 2.79ghz. The second one shows that each thread has it's own driver... which isn't surprising.


So... To answer your first question, you have not missed anything. You have a slow sub-par 2004 PC that is not capable of running PCSX2 at full speed.

And to answer your second question, that particular option of PCSX2 doesn't care if you have 2 cpus, or a dual core cpu, or even a SINGLE core CPU. All it does is seperate how the emulator works onto 2 seperate threads. Many PC games use more than one thread, and also work fine on single core CPUs...


Your PC is to slow to play most PS2 games full speed on this emulator no matter HOW you look at it.

[boogerthe2nd]

You don't have 2 CPUs, and you don't have 2 cores. You run 2 threads on a single core on a single CPU, as above. Hyperthreading won't give you any decent increase in performance over non-hyperthreading for PCSX2, unless you use software mode which is out of the question here. Basically, you're down to a single core CPU at 2.8Ghz with a low-end video card, when the recommended requirements for PCSX2 are a Core 2 Duo at 3.2Ghz with at least a 9600GT (more than two times more powerful than your current video card).


The only motherboards that support 2 CPUs are for servers, and usually cost a crap-load. No consumer hardware allows for 2 separate CPUs, and no way you're getting it in a Dell Optiplex. If you don't believe it, open up your case and check to see if there's 2 CPU sockets. There won't be.

For comparison, my old Pentium 4 Northwood @ 2.55Ghz with a 7600GS (which is around the same/slightly better performance than 8400GS) gets 30-40FPS with speed hacks, so your getting about as much as you can out of your system.

[Air]

I've had a pair of Dell Optiplex GX280's. Here's the scoop:

* Hyperthreading helps. Depending on game it can help a lot (up to 35% increase in fps). Most games are only going to be about 10-15% faster tho.

* FFX is limited by your CPU. It relies heavily on "denormal" SSE operations, which are not very fast on a P4. Little or nothing anyone can do about that.

* FFXII is limited by your GPU. It relies heavily on pixel fill rates of the video card, and the on-board video of a GX280 has the fill rate of a rotting turtle carcass.

With a good video card upgrade FFXII might be able to get to 60fps fairly consistently (barring the uber-slow opening stages). I'm not entirely sure. In my GX280 days there wasn't VU Cycle Stealing yet, and VU Skip didn't work at all on FFXII, so I was pretty well out of luck. Furthermore, my GX280s were 3.2ghz models.

Is your GX280 the full tower model or one of the Slim models? if it's a Slim you're really screwed. Dell totally foobar'd the design of those things, and it has only a 160watt power supply (PSU). Modern video cards alone eat anywhere from 130 to 200watts, let alone your CPU, which consumes just over 100watts under load with HT enabled. In short: upgrading anything would lead to rapid multiple hardware failures.

[Aterxerxes]

>< Thanks for pointing out my iD10T errors. I guess I need to upgrade or see if there will be a speed hack that can help in the future. Just makes me wonder two things...

1) I tried using gsdx sse3 and pcsx2 reported an error (said my cpu didn't support it) even though it shows that my cpu supports it (see 1st picture).

2) Why does my device manager show 2 cpus?

...strange.

Thanks for the responses again.

-Aterxerxes

[princep]

Isnt SSE3 is supported on dual core and higher only?

[Aterxerxes]

Air, thanks for the response.
I am wondering about the hyperthreading, are you talking about enabling an option in pcsx2? If so, which one?
The video card that I have is an MSI in a PCI slot. I had that installed because the one onbaord did indeed "have the fill rate of a rotting carcass".
I have the tower model of the optiplex gx280.
I'm still holding out hope that FF XII might be workable somehow, but I think that FF X might be beyond hope with my current system.
-Aterxerxes

[Air]

P4 supports SSE3.

Core2's added SSSE3.

GSdx requires the latter for it's SSSE3 build.

The third 'S' is not a typo. It is intel's cruel joke to make us all look dumb when we can't figure it out. The third 'S' stands for Supplementary, presumably because the idea of using something sensible like "SSE3.1" was too obvious and convenient.

[Aterxerxes]

That clears things up about the ssse3. Thanks
-Aterxerxes

[Air]

I am wondering about the hyperthreading, are you talking about enabling an option in pcsx2? If so, which one?

It's a BIOS option. It's enabled, as according to your CPU-Z (the "2" threads readout).

Edit: and that's why you have 2 CPUs in your task manager. Hyperthreading is a method of filling the instruction pipeline of the CPU with a second thread when the main thread stalls for any reason (typically due to mispredicted branches, uncached memory accesses, or PCI bus reads/writes).