[Yandr]

Hello everyone, kind of new to the forums. Been trying to get FFX to work so i can play it on the go at friends' house on my laptop but have been running into some problems that i think are simple configuration problems but i have messed with all the configuration settings for graphics and have not been able to get it to run smoothly. Here are my specs:

Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 @ 2.26Ghz 2.27Ghz
4.00GB DDR3
64 Bit Vista Ultimate
Nvidia GeForce 9800m GTS, 1GB Video Memory
Running PCSX2 0.9.6 (latest? x86 i think)

Configuration:

Cdvdrom: P.E.Op.S. CDVD (CDDA mod) 1.3.0
W2k / XP - IOCTL scsi commands
Caching mode: none
Misc: none checked
Error handling: try again on reading error: 5 (default i think)

Graphics:
Have Tried GSdx 890 (MSVC 15.00, SSSE3) 0.1.14. - Windowed, Direct 3D 10 (hardware) 1024x1024(also tried native too) with NLOOP hack and texture filtering,
I read that FFX played best on ZeroGS, so i tried that as well
ZeroGS 0.97.1 with and w/o Bilinear Filtering, with and w/o AA, 1280 x 960 window size, With FFX hack enabled

The thing that really confuses me is that when i change up the graphics setting to native (looks worse than PS2 somehow) it runs the same as 1024x1024 with AA cranked up, not sure if i am missing something simple or what, but the FPS is constantly capped out at 60 for the most part, stressing the CPU from 10%-40% usually with any settings. Even though the FPS is 60 from what i have been reading, that's good. Despite this, whilst playing it does not look 60 at all, it is definitely playing much much slower than my PS2 running FFX, it is also noticeable when zanarkand music is playing (slowly) in the background during intro movie. I'm sorry if my concern is nagging, but i am new to PCSX2 and still trying to figure it out, i really appreciated the time and effort you guys put forth to help us out. Its very appreciated, thank you! ^.^

 

[redlofredlof]

If you are using the new beta then you will have that problem, it shows high fps while running at a little lesser.
Have you turned ON VU skip?
Native resolution helps gain FPS
Use the speed hacks but you get slowdowns mainly because your cpu is not fast enough for FFX. Overclock it to 3 ro 3.3GHz and then you will get better speed.

edit: you have a laptop. so you can't overclock. Play it as it is or wait for a new verison of PCSX2.

 

[Yandr]

If you are using the new beta then you will have that problem, it shows high fps while running at a little lesser.
Have you turned ON VU skip?
Native resolution helps gain FPS
Use the speed hacks but you get slowdowns mainly because your cpu is not fast enough for FFX. Overclock it to 3 ro 3.3GHz and then you will get better speed.

edit: you have a laptop. so you can't overclock. Play it as it is or wait for a new verison of PCSX2.

Sorry i am unsure how to turn on VU skip, how exactly is this done?
I get 60FPS well or so it says on the display regardless of resolution (native or 1024x1024)
Not sure what you mean by speed hack either, unless you mean the ZeroGS FFX hack which i have tried and received same exact performance.
For some reason i get the feeling that my PC is somehow limiting PCSX2 on resources or something, because with my specs i have no problems with a ton of high end games. Thanks again for the help, its appreciated

 

[Master_DX]

Try making an ISO of the game using DVD decrypter, MagicISO, etc...... and try again since playing from the disc is not a good thing and usually limits u from obtaining the MAX speed ur comp is capable of obtaining.

Make the ISO, and use Linuzapps to load the .ISO file and see how it goes.

 

[Fadingz]

Do you have DC & MTGS mode enabled?

 

[Princess Garnet]

2.26GHz is on the light side. Don't expect a constant 60FPS (seems this new version has that bug?).

The reason you get the same speed with graphics either high or low is because it's not the GPU bottlenecking you, rather it's the CPU. This surprises people. This is the exact opposite of PC gaming that most people are accustomed to. Your CPU is considered the GPU to PCSX2, and the GPU is like the CPU, just needing to be powerful enough to show what the CPU draws (of course, that statement is so wrong literally, but I'm trying to draw a comparison here).

So, it seems this bug is showing that it's running at 60FPS, but it's not. Try and older version and see what you get. It'll likely reflect the slowdowns with the true frame rate (and remember, frame rate in PCSX2 isn't the same as PC frame rate, so you really "need" the full frame rate, unless you don't mind slower than normal gameplay, and this is why you heard it's good to have it capped at 60FPS).

 

[Yandr]

Try making an ISO of the game using DVD decrypter, MagicISO, etc...... and try again since playing from the disc is not a good thing and usually limits u from obtaining the MAX speed ur comp is capable of obtaining.

Make the ISO, and use Linuzapps to load the .ISO file and see how it goes.

I made an iso of the disc and used the linuz cdvdrom plugin for the image, same performance unfortunately

Do you have DC & MTGS mode enabled?

I believe DC(dual core?) is MGTS(was enabled by default), only option i see under CPU settings.

2.26GHz is on the light side. Don't expect a constant 60FPS (seems this new version has that bug?).

The reason you get the same speed with graphics either high or low is because it's not the GPU bottlenecking you, rather it's the CPU. This surprises people. This is the exact opposite of PC gaming that most people are accustomed to. Your CPU is considered the GPU to PCSX2, and the GPU is like the CPU, just needing to be powerful enough to show what the CPU draws (of course, that statement is so wrong literally, but I'm trying to draw a comparison here).

So, it seems this bug is showing that it's running at 60FPS, but it's not. Try and older version and see what you get. It'll likely reflect the slowdowns with the true frame rate (and remember, frame rate in PCSX2 isn't the same as PC frame rate, so you really "need" the full frame rate, unless you don't mind slower than normal gameplay, and this is why you heard it's good to have it capped at 60FPS).

When i use the VU skip or do not limit amount of frames rendered (render as fast as possible and display them) The game can play normal at times, still slow but at some parts it does the opposite and speeds the hell up, the gameplay is not consistent unless i limited the amount of frames (default 60) but unfortunately when i do this, its consistent but still too slow, well at least compared to my PS2 >< Thank you very much for the input though guys, it looks like i might just have to look into overclocking my CPU because I'm certainly not going to upgrade my CPU just to play my PS2 games on PC ^^

 

[Princess Garnet]

Overclocking a laptop is a very bad idea. It's often harder, more limiting, and more dangerous. it's not practical. Many laptops can just barely keep the CPU cool at stock (since laptops aren't made to be run at full load all of the time), so overclocking a laptop is almost always out of the question.

 

[Yandr]

Overclocking a laptop is a very bad idea. It's often harder, more limiting, and more dangerous. it's not practical. Many laptops can just barely keep the CPU cool at stock (since laptops aren't made to be run at full load all of the time), so overclocking a laptop is almost always out of the question.

That's unfortunate, i really want to get a smooth "On the go" experience with FFX, at least comparable to my PS2. Any other thought on what i might be able to do would really help, thanks so much everyone for everything thus far

 

[Princess Garnet]

For Final Fantasy X, I think a 3.0GHz Core 2 would net full speed for most of the game, at least that's the recommendation. You can try speed hacks, but there may be glitches and/or crashes. That's really about it. As you said, it may not be worth it to actually do anything more to get full speed, as a new laptop CPU will often be more expensive than it's worth.

 

[Fadingz]

I could play FFX at full speed with 3.2GHz Pendium D (my GPU, X800, was the bottleneck at the time).

I think the emulator was built around FFX so much that it is fairly optimized for normal-low range computers and up.

I got like 45fps for KH with that same setup, so you can try Kingdom Hearts as well.