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Unfortunately my first gen i7 laptop died a few days ago, so in the interim while waiting for a possible purchase of an Alienware m17x R4 with a 3720qm (2.6Ghz/3.6Ghz) and a Mobile King 7970m Amd GCN Gpu, I had to buy an Asus G75VW with a 3610qm (2.3Ghz/3.3Ghz) and Nvidia Kepler Gtx 660m. I didn't expect it to be up to par for Dolphin Emulation, but i thought it would be ok for Pcsx2 emulation. I decided to try out my most demanding game that i plan on playing, namely Gran Turismo 3, which my previous laptop could not tackle, even with the Legendary Mtvu hack.

The first handful of Race Tracks were full speed at 3x Native Resolution with only the Mtvu Hack active, while the Ivy Bridge kept at a constant 3.1 Ghz on all 4 Cores as seen here on the Rome Circuit


[Image: granturismo3romecircuit.jpg]

Unfortunately the party was short lived as eventually I came to a track called Special Stage 5 which could not maintain full fps, regardless of the Resolution, which leads me to believe that the Cpu is at fault

[Image: granturismo3specialstag.jpg]

[Image: granturismo3specialstag.jpg]

Changing it to Native Resolution had no impact on the fps, and begrudgingly attempting speed hacks made no discernible difference. The 3610qm at a constant 3.1 Ghz should be equivalent to a stock i7-2600k, but seemingly thats not enough for this one annoying race track. There was a chance i'd keep this Asus with its subpar hardware, since its ice cold and deadly silent, sleek and sexy, and relatively cheap ($1300 as opposed to $2200 for my pimped out Alienware), however if it cant handle Pcsx2 demanding games It may sadly have to be returned to make room for the Elite heavy hitter. If anyone has knowledgeable input on the shortcoming of this particularly demanding track I'd appreciate the help.
(05-06-2012, 07:06 AM)SlickDragon Wrote: [ -> ]... The 3610qm at a constant 3.1 Ghz should be equivalent to a stock i7-2600k ...

Well, I don't quite think it exactly as fast, but it is right there by it.
I'd love to see a benchmark (of FFX-2) to compare with... Biggrin

With that track that's slow,
what all have you tried on it?

Allow 8-bit Textures?
EE or VU Clamping, or Rounding?
Maybe a little Skipdraw?
Software rendering?

If you have a save with that track accessible,
I would be happy to give it a run. Smile
(05-06-2012, 07:34 AM)Rezard Wrote: [ -> ]Well, I don't quite think it exactly as fast, but it is right there by it.
I'd love to see a benchmark (of FFX-2) to compare with... Biggrin

With that track that's slow,
what all have you tried on it?

Allow 8-bit Textures?
EE or VU Clamping, or Rounding?
Maybe a little Skipdraw?
Software rendering?

If you have a save with that track accessible,
I would be happy to give it a run. Smile

I can theoretically add to the benchmark database, however due to my pride in Gaming Laptops, I may have to wait till i have an Untouchable 3920xm/3960xm with the Mobile King 7970m (superior to Desktop Gtx 580) to make a stand for True Elite Gaming Laptop Integrity.

The problematic Track is called Special Stage 5, which can be accessed right away in Simulation or Arcade Modes, so i don't think uploading a save would be particularly helpful/necessary.

Here are a couple screenshots of my settings

[Image: settingspecialstage5.jpg]

[Image: settingspcsx2.jpg]

Clamping is all on Normal, everything is on default basically except for Mtvu enabled. All the other tracks I've tried are full fps. I may randomly use an earlier build to see if that has an impact on things, but for now im sorta stumped sadly..

Edit: Software mode on the other tracks seem to have no problem maintaining 60 Fps throughout with 5 threads set, however Special Stage 5 still can't seem to maintain full fps throughout the course on software mode, although its somewhat close in the high 40's/mid 50's.

[Image: softwaremode.jpg]
I had a little time to mess around with that track.
It definitely has a few trouble spots,
especially along the stretch with the start/finish line...

No trouble running over full speed on the rest of the track,
with a few hacks and @ 3.4Ghz.
VU Stealing did actually continue to provide more speed beyond setting it to 1,
but it did cause a false FPS reading in those trouble spots when set higher than 1.

I did also try kicking up the processor to 3.6Ghz,
but that certainly wasn't enough.

If I get a chance,
I could see what kind of clock I need for full speed. Smile
Yeh Special Stage 5 is a super demanding track, although I've come to accept the fact than a non BLCK overclocked 3610qm can't fully maintain 60fps on it. I've been playing a lot of Gran Turismo 4 instead of 3, and believe i have ideal settings that can nearly always maintain 60fps barring some troublesome stretches that dip into the high 40's to 50's (Special Stage 5 on GT4 is still demanding though hehe). As such i may just keep this cheaper but solid Asus G75, instead of forking over a hefty amount on a high tier Alienware m17x R4 as I initially planned. For only $1300 it does a pretty damn good job with Pcsx2/Dolphin emulation, and I'm excited to see that even affordable entry level Gaming Laptops are adequate. This bodes well for the majority who prefer the convenience of a laptop, but can't shell out an arm and a leg on Elite Gaming Laptops to match the highest end Desktops.