What Are My Limits

[jackmaldow]

I've been using pcsx2 for a while, trying a lot of games, just to understand what are my limits on this emulator. The last game I tried was Zone of Enders, I got between 40-60 fps (Most of the time 40). I'm still using xp, so I don't have any advantages of win7. My hardware:

CPU: AMD Phenom II X2 550 (2CPUs) - 3.01 GHz
GPU: Radeon 4850 HD (512 mb)
RAM: DDR2 (4096 mb)

So with the win7, could I get full speed, And what is my limit? Which heavier games I can play with this hardware and win7?

[Koji]

Your limit is that you're playing ZoE in an emulator

No seriously, that game is easily one of the hardest to emulate... Even people with the most up to date hardware have issues with it.

[jackmaldow]

Well, it's good news (at least for me ), I do not have any problem with not being able to play it at all, just trying to learn my limits. Well GOW, MGS, DMC, ZOE, I think these are the games I will not be getting full speed. Can you give me more names, I think I will be able to get full speed with most of the games (except these). By the way, I've been talking about this all the time, but with the newer releases of pcsx2, will we able to play these heavier games even with the low specs?

And thanks for information.

[tuanming]

Use speedhacks if you want more speed. Pcsx2 has gone through a tons of changes and it's very likely that it very close to reaching its limit as far as speed improvement goes. If you want more speed, then get better hardware and/or use speedhacks!

[jackmaldow]

Use speedhacks if you want more speed. Pcsx2 has gone through a tons of changes and it's very likely that it very close to reaching its limit as far as speed improvement goes. If you want more speed, then get better hardware and/or use speedhacks!

I'm already using speedhacks, but thanks for your advice. Since I'm not interested in most of the heavier games, I don't see a reason get better hardware. I just need to know which games I can't play.

And a lot of people have been asking about this, but I couldn't find a proper explanation. Why does pcsx2 run slower then other console emulations (such as dreamcast, gamecube or x-box)? I mean, they can run properly on even lower specs, on full speed with %95 of the games. Is it something that will be fixed trough the time? Or, Will all the pcsx2 users have to get better hardware?

[Koji]

The problem is the complexity of the system. The PS2 may not look more graphically impressive than the GCN or x-box... but it's inner workings are very complex and timing dependent and NOT pc like at all.

If you want something to compare it to, look at the difference between the PS1 and The Sega Saturn. They could output very similar graphics, but the SS is literally magnitudes harder to emulate because of the complexity of the parts and how it interacts with each other... it was also why it was so hard to program for it.

Funny thing is, it's because of how complex and hard to program for the SS was that the Dreamcast was the exact opposite, using well known and programmed for (at the time) mobile processor and a version of mobile windows as it's OS.

[jackmaldow]

Well that is a good answer, but doesn't this mean, trough the time the developers will know more about these "complexities" and make pcsx2 work better with lower hardwares?

EDIT: I would really like to see some names of the games that I won't be able to play for a while.

[b1naryatr0phy]

Well that is a good answer, but doesn't this mean, trough the time the developers will know more about these "complexities" and make pcsx2 work better with lower hardwares?

I'm not sure if that's a fair statement, understanding an obstacle doesn't always make it easier to solve because you have to understand that programmers are confined to the restraints of the programming language being used.

Also, if a piece of hardware simply can't handle something, than it can't. One can't force hardware to operate beyond it's true physical maximum output.

[refraction]

Try a game on 0.9.0, then try the latest buildbot beta. As you will see, it's far quicker now than it was back then, this is due to us "optimizing" the emulation process to death There isn't a great deal of room left!

[jackmaldow]

Try a game on 0.9.0, then try the latest buildbot beta. As you will see, it's far quicker now than it was back then, this is due to us "optimizing" the emulation process to death There isn't a great deal of room left!

Well, that's a shame, then there is no point in waiting for further developements (for me), And we can still do nothing about non-backwards compatible ps3's. Well, damn you Sony! For making things harder for us .

Btw, actual purpose of this thread was to find out about my limitations, I really need to know the game titles that I will not be able to play at full speed (still hoping they're not too many )

And, I'm still considering upgrading my system to win7 from xp. This is not a very easy thing for me. So I'm going to do it, but, what kind of advantages does it provide me? I mean, am I going to be able to play Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne at 4x resolution and full speed, Will I get full speed from Digital Devil Saga? Because I really don't want to change my software, just for 2fps's. Will dx10 make a huge difference on emulating.

I would be very thankfull if someone would fully answer, all these questions.

Thank You.