We are dropping x64 PCSX2 Playground builds!

[cman]

I don't agree with you, most of the people nowadays have a 64 bit processor (at least if they pretend to run pcsx2) and if they use linux, they should have a 64-bit version, because it will never be a disadvantage (until now ).
What i don't understand is why people stick using windows 32-bit versions, i have vista 64 bit and it doesn't give me any problem, if you have a 32 bit OS then you run only 32-bit apps, so what the 64-bit exists for??.

Also i want to say pcsx2 is still very slow, in my laptop with a corel 2 duo, 2.4 GHz and 4MB caché, i can not run any game full speed, if now it is decided not to use all the power of my micro then i think i will never see it full speed!.

This is just my opinion, i respect your decision and i will support this emu and you people anyway!.

[bigmehdi]

As bigfoot29 said, that's fine to stick now with 32 bit, but there'll be a time where everyone will switch to 64 bits.
So ensure that everything you code now, won't make the transition to 64 bits too difficult.

[Air]

As bigfoot29 said, that's fine to stick now with 32 bit, but there'll be a time where everyone will switch to 64 bits.
So ensure that everything you code now, won't make the transition to 64 bits too difficult.

That's the whole problem with x86 vs. x64, when it comes to recompilers (which Pcsx2 is). If we could make it so the two codebases were relatively interchangeable, we would. But we can't! The memory models are far too different. In order to convert to optimized x64 some 80% recompiler needs to be rebuilt from the ground up. The only things that would remain similar are the base instruction emitter and the constant propagation and register allocation logic.

So yeah, when the time comes to switch to x64, it will be a chore. There's no way to avoid that. If it wasn't, then it'd mean it would be possible for us to maintain reasonably functional parallel branches now (and we can't).

[bigmehdi]

@Air,
I think lot of people wouldn't hesitate to switch to 64 bits if it was a requirement for pcsx2. Just look at the "Dolphin x64" beta emulator. When it was first announced, it had a big performance advantage over the 32 bit version, and lot of people installed a 64 bit os, just to run this emulator.
However, after that , performance for 32 bit version has been improved too, and the incentive to use the 64 bit version became weaker.

If that's too much work to maintain 32 bits & 64 bits version, it might be wiser to drop 32 bits versions instead. Although, a performance advantage might be necessary to justify that.

[Krakatos]

Bigmhedi, you do not understand. If we were to drop 32bit, no computer with a 32bit os installed would be able to use pcsx2. This is not an option, 90% of the operative systems out there are 32bits, and maybe 50% or more or the cpus are 32bit only.

Doing something like this would mean restricting the pcsx2 userbase to 10% of what it is now.

Instead, all 64bit OS can use a 32bit software.... I'm sure you see the difference.

[Air]

@Air,
I think lot of people wouldn't hesitate to switch to 64 bits if it was a requirement for pcsx2.
[...]
If that's too much work to maintain 32 bits & 64 bits version, it might be wiser to drop 32 bits versions instead. Although, a performance advantage might be necessary to justify that.

I have a 32-bit cpu and I have no plans to upgrade it soon. It's serving its purpose for me nicely at this time. So it's either 32 bit, or I'll have to go work on something else. You decide.

[veeeight]

Well, actualy i think that this is main problem of pcsx2 that it haven't been projected for 64-bit architecture, PS2 cpu is 64-bit of course, how much power of pc cpu it takes to count 64-bit data from PS2 games by 32-bit pcsx2 program. What for, when pcsx2 could use same data without counting it for 32-bits?

[bigmehdi]

@Air,
I think that people are reluctant to switch to 64 bits .
Hence, It's hard to predict when 64 bits would become mainstream.
It's clear that the next OS, windows 7, is not a memory hog, when compared to Vista. Probably, we' ll have some years (2 years ? 4 years ? who know ?), where 64 bits is not unavoidable. Also, when 64 bits would become mainstream, you might not anymore be working on pcsx2 anyway.

If you think that 64 bits version is more troubles than anything else,
then go ahead drop it. After all you are one of the developers, and I think it's the developer that decide first before users, depending of what he can do.

Also, why not build a new rig ? You can't collect some funds for this ?
It's a pity you don't have a true C2D, especially for a developer of pcsx2 (Isn't it the official recommendation ?).

[Air]

Well, actualy i think that this is main problem of pcsx2 that it haven't been projected for 64-bit architecture, PS2 cpu is 64-bit of course, how much power of pc cpu it takes to count 64-bit data from PS2 games by 32-bit pcsx2 program. What for, when pcsx2 could use same data without counting it for 32-bits?

The PS2 is actually 128bit architecture, technically... although many of base EE opcodes are 64 bit. All of the 128 bit stuff is done on SSE, which is nearly the same performance on 32 or 64 bit architecture (x64 has more SSE regs, which is a minor help) -- and the bulk of PS2 emulation is centered on those 128 bit operations. The second main component to emulation (and cause of slowness) are 64 bit memory operations. Those are done using the MMX registers on 32 bit, and would use the native cpu registers on x64. Performance is the same in either case.

The x64 would have a small advantage in doing 64 bit math operations, but those only account for a very small fraction of the typical PS2 cpu workload. 90% of the cpu workload is SSE operations and memory operations, and x64 is not much of an advantage in those cases.

On the other size, x64 recompiled code requires at least one extra opcode and allocated register for every memory operation. That's pretty significant. It also uses a lot more code and data thanks to the 64 bit pointers and extra memory opcodes, and that hurts cache performance.

Finally, under Linux in particular, the ABI for x64 is incredibly lax. The emulator would have to save/flush ALL the SSE registers every time it made any sort of system or kernel call. That's annoying. -_- So yeah, in the long run x64 really doesn't offer much of a net performance advantage to PS2 emulation. It helps in some ways, and hurts in others. The only tangible advantage is the ability to run the emulator on Linux without developing a life-threatening migrane headache.

[KingdomKey]

<---total noob
I do not understand anything you guys are talking about XD
Care to clarify?