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My CPU Q6600 (QuadCore) only loads 50-70% when I run PCSX2 (PlayStation 2 emulator) and only has fps around 30-50 when I disable speed hacks. See picture : enter image description here

I wonder why the cpu doesn't load more to make it run faster ? Or it has been bottle-neck at VGA card or RAM ?

My specs :
Mainboard GA-P35-DS3 (rev. 2.0)
CPU Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor Q6600
2 x KINGMAX DDR2 800 PC6400 1GB
GIGABYTE GV-RX26P512H Radeon HD 2600PRO 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16

ps : I use GDSX video plugin with DX10 and SSE3. And I also enable MTVU (Multi-­Threaded microVU1).

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OMG, why so many downvotes ? – JatSing Feb 21 '12 at 10:27
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This question is going to be prone to discussion and is only marginally related to gaming. – OrigamiRobot Feb 21 '12 at 12:04
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To add more to what @OrigamiRobot said, your question is about the technology behind gaming and not gaming. Gaming.SE is about the games themselves, not the technology that runs them. Therefore your question is off-topic. – Wipqozn Feb 21 '12 at 13:40

closed as not constructive by OrigamiRobot, Keaanu, fredley, FAE, Wipqozn Feb 21 '12 at 13:37

As it currently stands, this question is not a good fit for our Q&A format. We expect answers to be supported by facts, references, or specific expertise, but this question will likely solicit debate, arguments, polling, or extended discussion. If you feel that this question can be improved and possibly reopened, see the FAQ for guidance.

1 Answer

up vote 4 down vote accepted

Because not all code is parallel (i.e. able to take advantage of multiple cores) and because PCSX2 is very much a work in progress. I had the same model CPU and about the same sort of performance. Keep in mind that the PS2 has some very exotic hardware, so emulation is necessarily complex.

Looking at your hardware, though, an upgrade to your RAM would definitely help your PC's performance in general, and so would a GPU upgrade, if you do a lot of gaming.

Also, you are not meant to disable all of the speedhacks most of the time, the lesser settings are quite compatible.

Try using a GPu monitoring utility to see how much load it is under, it could help identify the bottleneck.

Your plugin selection can also make quite a bit of difference. Try looking for GPU plugins that support SSE3 and DirectX 10, and play around with the settings.

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Yes, I use GDSX video plugin with DX10 and SSE3. And I also enable MTVU (Multi-­Threaded microVU1). So even MTVU is enabled pcsx2 can't always make use of 4 cores ? – JatSing Feb 21 '12 at 4:16
Well, it is making a fairly good use of the CPU, but sometimes 2.4GHz just isn't enough. If you can establish that the GPU isn't the bottleneck, you could try overclocking, Q6600 is supposed to be quite good at it. – kotekzot Feb 21 '12 at 4:25
I think it should load up 95%-100%. Btw, I will check the GPU to see if it's bottleneck. – JatSing Feb 21 '12 at 10:28
Well, you are seeing that sort of thing with the first 2 cores. It would be an unbelievable feat for the PCSX2 team to write an emulator that made full use of 4 cores. if a single core peaks, it could very well mean that a few extra megahertz are in order. – kotekzot Feb 21 '12 at 11:08

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