Is PCSX2 multithreaded?

3221 Views 25 Replies 12 Participants Last post by chesso, May 10, 2005

silentplummet

Discussion Starter · May 3, 2005

I'm curious whether PCSX2 is multithreaded or if it will benefit from a dual- or multi-processor environment in other ways. It seems feasible that with modern CPUs and a lot of money, even these early beta versions (yet fantastic looking, great work, etc.) could be made to approach native PS2 speed.

Has anyone experimented with this?

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Kushan

· #2 · May 3, 2005

Just relax, The Emulator isn't so slow because of today's hardware, it's because the team is working on accurate emulation first, THEN speed.

What this means is they'll eventually release an emulator that works with like 90% of the games, then each release after that will just boost speed more and more.

cooliscool

· #3 · May 3, 2005

Actually it's a mix of both incapable hardware and incomplete code. No system today is likely to be able to emulate the PS2 at full speed, however, it could be better with more optimized code. At the moment it is not multithreaded nor uses SMP to any extent. A 64-bit version is supposedly in the works, which will benefit users with 64-bit CPUs but leave us 32-bit'ers in the cold (

).. though to be blunt, the PS2 is quite cheap these days, though, so buying a PS2 would be much less than buying a 64-bit CPU/Mobo/etc..

I don't think SMP would make that big of a difference anyway, at least with HT. Maybe 2 physical CPUs.

My philosophy: Compatibility comes first.

"Make something work, then make it work more efficiently."

Kushan

· #4 · May 3, 2005

"Make something work, then make it work more efficiently."

If I ever heard an Anti-microsoft Quote, that's gotta be it

silentplummet

Discussion Starter · #5 · May 3, 2005

I'm all about efficiency, but what I'm asking about is the possibility of brute-forcing the problem, now.

Dual Athlon64 4000+ with dual NVidia 6xxx SLI boards, anyone?

bositman

· #6 · May 3, 2005

I got an athlon64 4000+ with a 6600gt,and get 11fps max ingame.So just WAIT for the code to be optimised

BCM124

· #7 · May 3, 2005

Since this thread seems to be oriented towards multi-core CPUs and their effect on pcsx2, I just thought I would air a concern related to this. See, a few weeks ago I was reading an article about AMD possibly supporting DDR2 or DDR3 in the future and it linked to a processor roadmap for AMD processors, anyway long story short, I noticed that AMD was introducing something called 'Presidio security technology' along with thier dual-core chips(this was the first time I had heard of this 'Presidio'). So, I googled it and it turns out it is AMD's compliance with so-called 'trusted computing'(I already knew about Intel's LeGrande, but I was clinging to the hope that AMD would not adopt it(

how foolish of me)). So they are actually going to do this, now this brings up an issue concerning the idea that faster hardware will solve the 'speed issue' with pcsx2. That is to say I'm sure Sony at least would love to do away with PS1 and PS2 emulation and Trusted computing could give them just such an opportunity. You see, one of the things invisioned with this Trusted computing is every program on your computer having to aquire a digital certificate from some centralized registry(Microsoft?), with out this certificate the program will not run and may not even be accessible. If such a thing were to be implemented in the next few years, what is to stop Sony(or someone else) from pulling the cert's for pcsx2, pcsx, epsxe, etc..

I am interested in hearing what the people here think about this issue. The backers of this technology claim that it wont be used this way and it will be opt-in or opt-out, but from what I can tell it wont work unless it is mandatory and I cant think for any real reason why they would install it in all CPUs made after a certain time except to control what people run on their 'own'(I say this because it is clear to me that these people do not believe that you own your computer) computers.

This concludes my rant, just thought people here should be aware of this.

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Seta-San

· #8 · May 3, 2005

no it's not multithreaded to put it simply. even to take advantage of multithreaded programs you need a hyperthreading processor or multiprocessors and unless multiprocessors become a common desktop feature i doubt it

silentplummet

Discussion Starter · #9 · May 3, 2005

I want to preface this next comment by saying I know nothing about coding an emulator and I am totally, totally, stupid. This is just an honest question because I don't know:

Would a multithreaded application be optimal for emulation of a system like the PS2? From what I understand, there are multiple vector units as well as a CPU with an unusual architecture and a GPU. The PS2 breaks down the workload in this way.

I don't mean to suggest in any way that this hasn't been considered already, I'm just curious about the issues. Thanks for all your informative replies so far!!

Kane

· #10 · May 3, 2005

I'd imagine that a multi-threaded PCSX2 would work well given the PS2's parallel nature. However, as only P4's have hyperthreading, and dual cores are a way away (other than the crappy intel versions

) from the home market, I'd say perhaps now wouldn't be the right time to change if it hadn't already been done.

Quark

· #11 · May 3, 2005

Kane said:
I'd imagine that a multi-threaded PCSX2 would work well given the PS2's parallel nature. However, as only P4's have hyperthreading, and dual cores are a way away (other than the crappy intel versions ) from the home market, I'd say perhaps now wouldn't be the right time to change if it hadn't already been done.

Dual cores are actually quite close. AMD has released their Opeteron dual cores less than 2 weeks ago. Athlon64 dual cores are coming in June. More importantly, you don't have to upgrade to a new motherboard if yours already supports Athlon64

Of course, being out and affordable might take another year or so.

Kane

· #12 · May 3, 2005

I was given to understand that the Althon64 Dual Cores aren't to be released till late summer. It's still a way away from that.

Kushan

· #13 · May 3, 2005

Actually they're already released. On paper at least. It's called the Athlon X2, it was launced at the same time as the opterons, just the opterons stole most of the limelight

Kane

· #14 · May 3, 2005

A paper release means that people don't have it. It's not a release
The DC Opterons have been released and are avaliable. Same with the P4 DC chips, IIRC.

Kushan

· #15 · May 3, 2005

Well I mean that it IS released, you CAN get them (People have already benchmarked them), IF you're lucky, just like any hardware release, OEM's and such get them first, then consumers.

But you're right, they're not as available as the Opterons, give it a month or 2 though

Kane

· #16 · May 3, 2005

I think you'll find those benchmarks are just the Opteron 175

Kushan

· #17 · May 3, 2005

You wanna bet hard cash on that?

Unless they badly labelled that image

Note: They benchmarked the Opterons and the Athlons seperately, I guess to reflect server and desktop performence

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Demigod

· #18 · May 3, 2005

Well, IMO a product's true release date should be when the product is widely available. Afterall, the GeForce 6800 Ultra wasn't widely available in the retail channel until 4 or 5 months after its release (which made its official release kind of pointless). Being available to a few select individuals doesn't (or shouldn't) really count as a release.

Kane

· #19 · May 4, 2005

>Unless they badly labelled that image

*sighs* look at the specs of the Opteron 175, and then at the X2 4400+
That would be the theoretical performance.

Kushan

· #20 · May 4, 2005

I stand corrected >_<

*cowers in the corner*

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