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Hello, all. I recently upgraded from an AMD Phenom II x2 555, which I overclocked to 4.0gHz, to an AMD Phenom II x4 850, which is at 3.3gHz.

Now, with the dual core, I could get 60 FPS on Dark Cloud. At times, it'd drop to 58, but it wasn't really noticeable.

But now, with 4 cores, it struggles at some bits with dips of about 20 frames per second. I have enabled the multi-core speed hack, but otherwise am using the same settings as I was before.

Is there a way to fix this? And out of curiosity, are cores better than a higher frequency?

Cheers. And happy holidays Laugh
Well, being a massive fan of the Dark Cloud games myself, I have noticed that setting an EE cyclerate to about 2 and VU Cycle Stealing to "Mild VU Cycle Stealing" mode (The value just before 1) often causes Dark Cloud to run much smoother for me. I suggest you try these and see if you get FPS drops afterwards.
(12-16-2012, 01:50 PM)InnocentSam Wrote: [ -> ]Hello, all. I recently upgraded from an AMD Phenom II x2 555, which I overclocked to 4.0gHz, to an AMD Phenom II x4 850, which is at 3.3gHz.

Now, with the dual core, I could get 60 FPS on Dark Cloud. At times, it'd drop to 58, but it wasn't really noticeable.

But now, with 4 cores, it struggles at some bits with dips of about 20 frames per second. I have enabled the multi-core speed hack, but otherwise am using the same settings as I was before.

Is there a way to fix this? And out of curiosity, are cores better than a higher frequency?

Cheers. And happy holidays Laugh

If you mean the MTVU, try disabling it, I could not test it with the Phenom but it does no good for the Bulldozer.

Yourself pointed the cause, since they are the same architecture the raw clock is what matters there, PCSX2 is not really multithreaded and is hungry for "per core" performance.

You should get the same overclock with the new CPU, just be aware the new cores will "help" increasing temperature and you may need better cooling than stock.

PS: I feel your pain, I still have a FX-6100 which I could easily overclock to above 4.2 GHZ with the H80 watercooler and upgraded to the FX-8150 which has greater stock clock but I can't overclock that much without getting overtemp (My country is already "hot") Smile

The point is under the games view point it was no upgrade at all for me because very, very few games would use 4 cores, less yet more than this. In your case the upgrade will be felt more easily when playing native games and securely will do it even for PCX2 if you achieve even a slight lower overclock.
If the two CPUs are of the same architecture, then it is actually a downgrade, as PCSX2 uses 2 cores.

The "multi-core speedhack" is not effective in games which have high GS percentage and/or low VU percentage. The only way to fix it is using your old CPU.
(12-16-2012, 05:00 PM)Livy Wrote: [ -> ]If the two CPUs are of the same architecture, then it is actually a downgrade, as PCSX2 uses 2 cores.

The "multi-core speedhack" is not effective in games which have high GS percentage and/or low VU percentage. The only way to fix it is using your old CPU.

or try to get the same overclock, what actually would be far better than returning to two cores, mainly for PC games. Still, PCSX2 can make use of more than two cores also even without MTVU. This is valid for hardware mode and specially valid in software mode.

Edit: well, I hope it is unlockable, otherwise would mean increasing the FSB frequency, what would give just a bit more punch.
overclock this cpu too! Tongue2
I agree with the others, overclock that thing to the same speed and you should see some improvements Smile otherwise you have actually downgraded where pcsx2 is concerned
Case the multiplier is locked for the CPU, try elevating FSB speed caring to keep the memory around 1600 max (possibly 1333 if stability becomes a factor), the same for the HT link that should not go above 2GHz.
Thanks for the replies.

My previous processor (the AMD Phenom II 555) is black edition, so it could be overclocked easily. However, it was defective, as it would heat up to 70 degrees without overclocking. I do have very good cooling, so it won't have been that.

I'll try OC'ing this one then. Cheers guys, will update once attempted.

@unfoorgiven: I tried what you said. During the intro, I was getting consistent 100FPS which made me pleased, then it zoomed in on the fat git- I mean, genie, and my FPS dropped to 35.
I'll add that Phenom II X4 850 is not a real Phenom, is just an Athlon II X4 650 with 100MHz more. So due to the absence of the L3 cache you'll get lower performances at the same frequency...
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