2-3 years ago, I tried getting into PS2 emulation using pic related. I tested out some games in my collection (including, but not limited to, Gran Turismo 4 and Jak II) to see how they performed, and found that they could only run at a very slow emulation speed - much slower than a reasonable pace. This, coupled with reading how difficult it truly was to emulate the PS2's hardware and weird architecture, kinda left a bad taste in my mouth and I later found myself going back to playing games the traditional way with the console and television.
Nowadays, however, I'm hearing that PCSX2 has made significant improvements in the last few years, and games really can be played at full speed now. Are these claims (generally) true? Would I be able to play games at full or near-full speed now? Here are my specs, if needed:
>i3-3220 @ 3.3 GHz (dual-core)
>GeForce GTX 650 Ti
>8 GB RAM
>Windows 7 Home Premium
>>330073284
PCSX2 is cpu heavy but you can play a lot of commercial games without any real hitches.
>>330073449
Yeah, on that note, I've heard about it not utilizing additional CPU cores. How would I fare with a dual-core?
>>330073284
You need to set up the emulator for each game (optimal). Like VU settings, some games run better on DX9, some run better on DX10\11. Plus gotta try some speedhacks.
Basically there are sites with settings for each games, if you don't want to get into that yourself.
And yea, PCSX2 improved emulation.
3 years ago I emulated SMT Nocturne and it was lagging pretty heavy(like 28 fps on my shit pc). But about year ago, with new pcsx2 build it start runing at 58-60 fps(on the same shit pc that I have for 6 years already).
>>330074139
I dunno, I had a shitty dual core and could do simple games like the Phantasy Star remakes.
I have an i7 that can clock to 3.2 ghz and most games that can run, will run fine.
My advise is to just get some games you wanna play and feel it out. Start out with shit like contra shattered soldier or gradius 5 and move your way up into more heavy shit like MGS2 or 3
>>330073284
yes, but depends on game somewhat. Pcsx2 wiki or whatever has game specific settings etc. Multiple cores may help if you use software rendering (extra rendering threads)... i think. Software rendering is slower but fixes some games.
What are the advantages of emulation over a soft mod ps2?
>>330074823
Better resolution, better fps, can speed shit up (like when you don't want to watch that fuckin cutscene you've seen so many times), savestates (not savescumming, just saving on save point so that you can instantly load your game when you die), widescreen hacks.
>>330074823
Free
Less physical space taken up
Potential for better visuals on some games
Still-functional netplay
Only major advantage of softmod is that there's a handful of PS2 games that can't be emulated, but if you already have a PS2 with an HDD and such then it's a better option than emulation.
>>330074259
VU settings might have been one thing I was forgetting to do last time. I'll definitely try that now, even with the improvements that have been made since
>>330074541
Yeah, I think this time I'm going to try starting out with a less intensive game, like THPS3 or something
>>330074614
I've heard about software rendering and all. I'll have to see what works best for my system
Thanks a bunch, guys, this honestly clears up some things I wasn't sure about
>>330074139
>I've heard about it not utilizing additional CPU cores
>>330075213
Last time I tried SO3, I was getting full speed with my desk-rested laptop.
I7-4700mq + GTX 780m
>>330075748
God damn. In that case, I can't see myself having much issues running at full speed either
Anyone knows if there is any problem running Okami and Persona 4, also can emulate them?
I have a i5-4440 with a GTX 950.
>>330073284
2 or 3 years ago my PC ran this like butter
Now I even have a better PC and it runs games so fast I need to limit the fps.
Time to upgrade your PC OP
>Still no Vulcan or Direct X12 .
What the fuck are they doing?
I have a similar CPU as your, a i5 3300 @3.3GHz and so far these are the games that I tried and completed
>>330078341
No problems at all?
>>330078539
None, only Jak and Daxter that I had to play it on software mode and the rest is just try to get the right video settings for each game
>>330073284
>windows 7
I hope it's at least 64bit
>dual core
It doesn't matter how high your clock speed is if it can't handle multiple tasks
>650 ti
Time to upgrade the fossil grandpa
The ram is probably the only thing not needing to be upgraded,
>>330078760
Also Call of Duty 3 on software mode
Some will run fine, some won't, you need to test for yourself and tinker with settings. My cpu is even worse and I've played godhand and katamari and some others just fine. Really depends on the game and settings.
>>330073284
I honestly don't understand this shit. There were some games(3d, not 2d) I could run at full speed on my old pentium 4 XP machine years ago. Even my current shitter, which is only about on par with OP, can still run most games full-speed, though with possible glitches depending on the game(most games don't have anything noticible though. Xenosaga and wild arms are the ones that cause me problems.)
I don't have any magic wizardry that the rest of you fuckers don't. How do you fail at this so badly?
>>330078341
man, those little memory card icon models were so cool
