Just wanted to report that my GOW1 runs very smooth now
I can play at 60fps (ntsc) almost all the times, only when some flashy particle effect show up (eg double-hydra making that roundhouse kick in the beginning), it slows down a little bit for 3secs nothing that would be a problem.
I have a PhenomII X3 720 @3ghz, 4gb ram, Radeon 4850 1024mb, Windows 7, PCSX2 r1888beta.
I used:
-GSDX10 hardware, internal res 1280x1280, /w texture filter, no Vsync, no output merger blur.
-CPU settings: Everything enabled exept the MicroVU options, when i enable them i get little less fps in this game, dont ask why
+framelimiter
-Speedhacks: 1.5x Cycle rate, INTC Sync Hack, IOPx Cycle Rate, Idle Loop-Fast-Forward, are the Hacks i used.
With this hacks alone i was at about ~45 frames in normal gameplay so i started using VUcycle Stealing in middle setting (moderate) This option is the biggest speedup imho but it causes kratos to flicker just a little bit, but i played half the game through now and i dont care at all, there's so much action going on u dont have time to look at those things anyway
And it helps big time staying at MAXfps(60) all the time!
-Advanced: I read that i should change CLAMP MODE from normal to none, but doing that didn't change anything for me so i left it at normal.
-Sound: SPU2-X Standart settings. Works just fine, although i noticed the music track sometimes not loops correctly and starts from beginning too often, but i didnt really care.
Until now (played half the game) I had no probs with the FMVs, cutscenes. Although after a cutscene there is significant fps loss (slows down to ~5fps) and you can solve that by going to the menu (press start/select) and back.
About Fog: First, i never encountered green fog. I noticed a white fog block which is "thicker" in Dx9 than Dx10, so when u can use Dx10!
--> There is a way to get completely rid of the Fog bank! But it isnt implemented in the current version of PCSX2/GSDX! So you have two options: 1. wait until it gets fixed. 2. take the risk and google around for modified versions of gsdx for GOW, which aren't supported in this forum and dont point your finger at me or anyone here when u burn your nasty fingers in the process!
Thats about it i guess. And damn that game is a lot of fun!