PCSX2

PCSX2 is a PlayStation 2 emulator for Microsoft Windows and Linux, a port for Mac OS X is also unofficially before. It is possible to play many PlayStation 2 games, even if make limitations in speed full game runs impractical under certain circumstances. The main problem with the emulation of the PlayStation 2 is the synchronous emulation of the individual processors on current PC architectures. Although each individual processor can be perfectly emulated, it is very difficult to maintain synchronization and timing between them accurately (even Sony had difficulty perfecting its own PS2 emulator for the Playstation 3).

PCSX2 uses as its predecessor project PCSX a plugin system that separates several functions from the core of the emulator. It supports plugins for graphics, controllers, CD / DVD drive, sound output and the FireWire interface. Various plugins can achieve different results in the areas of compatibility and performance. To use the PCSX2 emulator an original BIOS PlayStation 2 is necessary. This may, however, for copyright reasons not be supplied with the emulator and must be covered with a utility from a real PS2. In any case, but you have to be in possession of a PS2, so the use of the original BIOS is legal along with the emulator. However, a use of the emulator without the original BIOS is without owning a PS2 legal, only there are no free BIOS as with other emulators such as the Amiga emulator UAE. There is further information on the developer side.

The emulator is active in development and will be continuously improved. Since version 0.9.6, the user interface has been changed and designed for ease of use. The configuration is done in a few steps and is easy to understand. The localization has been implemented for many languages.

Performance

In older versions ( prior to 2006), the speed ranged from 2 to 15 frames per second, depending on the game inserted PC hardware and plugin configuration. The BIOS of the PlayStation 2 was about one of the fastest emulated software. Since the release of version 0.9 in April 2006, the power has increased greatly. Most 2D games and menus were running at 60 to 120 FPS, and with the latest version combined with a relatively new PC, the performance of 3D games rose to the level of the native PS2 speed of 60 fps ( for NTSC games) or 50 FPS to ( PAL games ) and beyond. With the 0.9 version of PCSX2 also supported the first dual-core CPUs, which on systems with dual core processors led to a significant increase in speed. Combined with a suitably powerful graphics card ( AMD Radeon HD4000 - Series or higher or GeForce 9 or above) it is thus possible, popular games like Final Fantasy X almost always to play at native speed. Final Fantasy X is fully playable since version 0.9.2. There are also other games that are available with or without restrictions completely playable and completable. This includes well-known titles such as Resident Evil 4, and Kingdom Hearts. For more information you can on the developer side, see a compatibility list with the status (intro, menue, in-game, playable ) of the respective game indicates. Status playable distinguishes a game from a completely playable, and this status depending on the plug-in configuration and used revision of the emulator can vary.

Incorrect assumptions about the speed

A common misconception regarding PCSX2 is the assumption that a processor with a very high clock speed, such as the Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon XP ( with clock rates of up to 3.8 GHz), should have no problems, playstation 2 games at full speed to emulate. The PS2 has several processors, including MIPS R5900 a ( Emotion Engine ), a MIPS R3000A, two vector units and a graphics chip (Graphics Synthesizer ). With the exception of the MIPS R5900 ( clocked at 294.912 MHz) and the MIPS R3000A ( clocked at 36.864 MHz, adjustable to 33.8688 MHz for PlayStation 1 emulator ) to run all the other chips with a bus speed of 147 MHz. However, there are many reasons why the emulation of the PS2 is so difficult on a PC. The differences between the x86 architecture and the PS2 architecture are significant and the emulation of several processing units that run in parallel on a single processor is quite complex. To take advantage of the multicore processors of modern PCs, even made ​​more difficult because the tight synchronization between the PS2 processors must be maintained.

Multi-core processor support

In the current version up to three threads to up to three processor cores are supported.

64 -bit extensions

With the widespread use of 64 -bit processors, developers have begun work to take advantage of the opportunities of the 64 -bit extensions, thereby potentially increasing the speed of PCSX2. 64- bit versions for Linux is available since version 0.9.3. These and version 0.9.4 is recommended for use with Linux. For Microsoft Windows 64 -bit is also capable with PCSX2 0.9.4. Shortly after the release of the official build was withdrawn because he did not bring the hoped-for increase in performance and was even slower than the 32- bit version. Therefore the use of the 32 - bit version is also recommended for Windows.

To use the 64- bit version, a 64 -bit operating system and accordingly compatible hardware is required. These include various Linux distributions and the 64 -bit versions of Windows.

Development version

Current development versions can be downloaded and tested on the SVN page.

Netplay

During the development cycle for version 0.9.4 of the developer to make PCSX2 web-enabled, so players can play online games for the PlayStation 2 with other players, even if they play on a PlayStation 2 console began. For the game XIII and Monster Hunter has been confirmed that they can use the netplay function. More compatible games are expected at the date of the version 0.9.7. Furthermore, there is a HDD plugin ( MegaDev9 ), which is required for some online games that stream content (such as Final Fantasy XI).

Plugins

The programmer Gabest, known for its open-source player Media Player Classic, worked from late 2007 to October 2009 at his graphics plugin GSdx.

In addition to support for multi-threaded GS ( MTGS ) mode, he has also resolved other coarse graphics errors, and in some games the speed is much better compared to the old version of GSdx9 or ZeroGS. In addition, the plugin provides the ability to modify the internal Direct3D resolution, also known as a render target. Thus, the plugin gives better speeds compared to ZeroGS with enhanced anti-aliasing level and almost identical image quality at a higher internal resolution. The graphics plugin supports hardware and software rendering. As an interface Direct3D 9 and 10 or even software ( here is rendered solely on the CPU, which can be used multiple threads and self- defined ) are selected.

Gabest also developed the plugins CDVDolio (CD / DVD plugin with support for Double Layer media and Images) and Xpad, which ensures a smooth communication and use of an Xbox360 controller.

Other common plugins are:

  • ZeroGS
  • USBqemu
  • SPU2 -X
  • MegaDev9

Speedhacks

To improve the performance of individual games, there is the possibility of so-called Speedhacks use. These allow, for example, the ( emotion engine ) to " underclock " ( software-based ), calculations of the vector units to skip sporadically or outsource a vector unit to a single core. If the ( Emotion Engine ) underclocked, less calculations used for the emulation processor are necessary and thus increases the speed of the emulated game. Chance however, there are games that require the full clock ( an example is called Metal Gear Solid 3). Here the use of the Emotion Engine speed hacks is counterproductive. The general rule is that the use of speed hacks always comes at the expense of compatibility and can also cause graphical errors or crashes. From here the user a high Experimentierfreundigkeit is in demand as the interplay of plugins, revision, games and Speedhacks offers nearly infinite Kombinationsmögichkeiten. The performance varies depending on the number and type of used speed hacks.

It is also possible to use one of four presets. Performance increases of up to 50 percent are possible.

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