help with setup

[zell2002]

my setup:
AMD Athlon 64 x2 dual core 5600+ 2.80ghz
3gb ram
64bit win7
Geforce 9500gt

and i set my plugins etc... up following the guide at : http://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-Official-...ide-v0-9-7

Am i wrong in thinking my computer can handle this emulator?
would a 3.4ghz make that much of a difference ?

ive tried MGS3ubsistence and Odin Sphere - my thinking was one is super bad ass graphically and the other is 2d sprites....

both play quite similar, they sort of jutter/lag - especially the sound.
it doens't help changing the plugin or muting. I have tried the speedhacks too - they don't change much if anything.
they aren't too far from playable, but with that slight lag, it makes it almost impossible to properly play

is there anything I could do to help? ie would more ram work? i am using 3x1gb sticks, how ever i have just ordered 2 x2gb sticks

buying a new graphics card/processor is out of the question unfortunately

any tips or ideas, or information would be much appreciated

[jesalvein]

what do the EE% & GS% say when you get those slowdowns ?
could you pelase post the results per game ?

[Shadow Lady]

PCSX2 settings? Plugin settings? What do the EE/gS% numbers in game window say when you get slowdowns?
Try enabling/disabling the "allow 8-bit textures" option in GSdx for Odin Sphere. Try setting the synchonizing mode in SPU2-X to "Async" for MGS3.

You are correct in that your PC is not that powerful and you may not get the results you want in the end with it.
More RAM probably won't make a noticeable difference, you should be set with 1-2GB already.
MGS3 is one of the most heavy games and Odin Sphere is not quite just "2d sprites".

[recoder]

MGS3 is very CPU and GPU demaning. Not every latest CPU can handle that at constant full speed.

Turn on the frameskip to constant and set it to 1, 2.

[zell2002]

i wouldn't say my pc isnt "that powerful" - it is having problems with a ps2 emulator, but that is a heavy load. it runs fine with other power hungry software.
i will post my settings n figures this evening, ive orded some extra ram - but apparantly that shan't do the trick, and maybe I should look at a new pro' & mobo ...

[zell2002]

ok so here is MGS 3:
fps: 25
EE: 70-80%
GS: 70% ish

------------------------
EE/IOP:

EE - Recompiler
IOP - Recompiler

EE/FPU :

Round Mode - chop/zero
Clamping mode - normal

------------------------
VUs:
VU0 - microVU recompiler
VU1 - micorvu recompiler

vu0/vu1 advanced recompiler option:
round mode - chop/zero
clamping mode - normal

------------------------
GS:
framlimiter:

Disable Framelimiting : unchecked

frame skipping: disabled (tried at "constant skipping 1,2 and 2,1 - but impossible to play too juttery)

Use synchronized MTGS : unchecked
Disable all GS output: unchecked

------------------------
Speed Hacks:
Enabled : unchecked

- have tried different variations but nothing seems to happen (better or worse)

*****
ive just noticed in the console window im getting an (error 5) msg about not being able to commit changes to the confi files in 'C:\users\name\doucments\pcsx2\inis\pcsx2_vm.ini
i imagine this isnt helping either lol
why is it having a problem their?

[miseru99]

Your pc isn't just not powerfull, it's simply weak(considering emulation). Athlon 64 is already a good deal of even 30% slower than Athlon II and Athlon II/Phenom II(no difference in pcsx2) cpu's which are still the fastest of what you can get from AMD to use with PCSX2 are another 30% slower than intel cpu's which are recommended to use with pcsx2. Also your GPU is at most good for native res and in lots of games it'll not even be enough for full speed in native probably(through ofc in 2D games it'll be opposite as they're very light).

Soo in the end overclocking A64 will not really give you much, especially not in a demanding game like MGS, in Odin Sphere it might, althrough I'm unsure of it's requirements, not all 2D games are ultra-light.

If your EE/GS% are reaching 100% it's bottleneck from your cpu soo speedhacks possibly can help you, worth to try also SuperVU as it sometimes is faster, if none of them reach 100%, most likely it's a bottleneck from GPU soo decreasing internal res from GSdx options could help you.

By the info you added of MGS3 it shows you're limited by GPU most likely that's why speedhacks doesn't help you at all, but CPU limitation goes just after that soo you can't speed it up much anyway. At max you could get to like maybe 28fps, not really worth trying, but you would need to start from GSdx config and decreasing your internal res, check native or if it was, uncheck it and select custom internal res of very low values like 400x400 or lower(really crappy graphics). If then EE/GS% would hit 100% speedhacks could help, but then probably not too much anyway.

You still could play lighter games at full speed, but really forget about this one before major upgrade.

[zell2002]

fair points. i guess il just wait until i upgrade my whole comp - its been a time coming. just feel bad on this setup its served me well with 3d game and model development, and tv editing and audio post processing
im really surprised how it's causing me so much grief - but i guess its too be expected when attempting to emulate a whole console...
oh well!

its just so hard to find an affordable copy of mgs subsistence (ie playable game camera ), ahhh! cheers for the help geez!

adios, for now

[miseru99]

Good choice, but don't be too fast with eventual upgrade through, Bulldozer from AMD can mess over cpu market, even looking at very sceptical or intel-fanboy point of view if it wouldn't be a speed revolution like claimed by amd fanboys and some non official benchmarks it will surely mess around cpu prices. It's worth waiting a bit. Potentially in a year you'll be able to get cheaply a cpu which allows playing most ps2 games without much work:].

[zell2002]

ok cheers for the advice. i have been an avid amd user since i was a kid. they used to be the processor for gaming. but it seems intel has over taken. not possible for amd to better ?