Setting up Windows version (0.9.8): Difference between revisions

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[[Image:GuideRel_9.png|left|thumb|Speed Hacks dialog]]
[[Image:GuideRel_9.png|left|thumb|Speed Hacks dialog]]


This dialog can help to increase speed in some games so they can reach playable state for many not-so-powerful PCs. The hacks here break the correct emulation routines by skipping or ignoring some parts of the code or by purposely distort the synchronizations between emulated PS2 processors. They work on the principle that the many games share the same algorithms when working with visuals. Being a trickery in nature these hacks break many games yet there are many work fine with them. To make your game run faster you have to tune the settings in this dialog preferably adjusting them one by one. Please bear some things in mind doing it:
This dialog can help to increase speed in some games so they can reach playable state for many not-so-powerful PCs. The hacks here break the correct emulation routines by skipping or ignoring some parts of the code or by purposely distort the synchronizations between emulated PS2 processors. They work on the principle that many games share the same algorithms when creating visuals. Being a trickery in nature these hacks break many games yet there are many work fine with them. To make your game run faster you have to tune the settings in this dialog preferably adjusting them one by one.


* '''EmotionEngine (EE) Sync Hacks''' -- is altering the cycle rate of Emotion Engine (FPU processor) while leaving the others at the same rate. So the FP (Floating Point) calculations will become desynchronized with IOP or GS processors increasing the time when the FP data will be ready (underclocking EE) so the real CPU will have more time to prepare the data. This can speed up many games but unfortunately can have side effects like choppy audio in game videos. You can set this to 1.5x or to 2x (3x option was removed due to severe incompatibility problems).
* '''EmotionEngine (EE) Sync Hacks''' -- is altering the cycle rate of Emotion Engine (FPU processor) while leaving the others at the same rate. So the FP (Floating Point) calculations will become desynchronized with IOP or GS processors increasing the time when the FP data will be ready (underclocking EE) thus the real CPU will have more time to prepare the data. This can speed up many games but unfortunately can have side effects like choppy audio in game videos. You can set this to 1.5x or to 2x (3x option was removed due to severe incompatibility problems).
* '''INTC Sync Hack''' -- Tries to speed up by skipping EE idle loops that can be detected. This can make some games (using these idle loops) much faster and has almost no compatibility problems. Please take your time to add your game here if this hack has helped it. List of games affected: ?
* '''INTC Sync Hack''' -- Tries to speed up by skipping EE idle loops that can be detected. This can make some games (using these idle loops) much faster and has almost no compatibility problems.  
* '''Enable IOP x2 Cycle Rate''' -- is altering the cycle rate of IOP (I/O Processor) while leaving the others at the same rate. It works just like '''EmotionEngine (EE) Sync Hacks''' but for IOP processor. It's not a huge speed up but the compatibiliy is fairly high.
* '''Enable IOP x2 Cycle Rate''' -- is altering the cycle rate of IOP (I/O Processor) while leaving the others at the same rate. It works just like '''EmotionEngine (EE) Sync Hacks''' but for IOP processor. It's not a huge speed up but the compatibiliy is fairly high.
* '''Idle Loop Fast-Forward''' -- Tries to skips known idle loops in IOP (?) for some games have those idle loops (like '''INTC Sync Hack''' for EE). It has no known compatibility problems.
* '''Idle Loop Fast-Forward''' -- Tries to skips known idle loops in IOP (?) for some games have those idle loops (like '''INTC Sync Hack''' for EE). It has no known compatibility problems.
* '''Status Flag Hack (microVU only)''' -- Have this option ON. There is no known compatibility problems with this hack and microVU recompiler is faster with it (it's definitely slower than SuperVU without this hack ON).
* '''Status Flag Hack (microVU only)''' -- Have this option ON. There is no known compatibility problems with this hack and microVU recompiler is faster with it (it's definitely slower than SuperVU without this hack ON).
* '''Min / Max Hack (microVU only)''' -- It's recommended to switch it OFF. There are some graphical issues in some games (like Naruto) and the speed increase is mostly unnoticeable.
* '''Min / Max Hack (microVU only)''' -- It's recommended to switch it OFF. There are some graphical issues in some games (like Naruto) and the speed increase is mostly unnoticeable.
* '''VU Cycle Stealing''' -- This hack is one of the most useful hacks available. It works for some games and may not work for the others but when it works it can really make a difference speeding up by 20-30 fps. Cycle stealing is a sync hack for VU processors virtually skipping frames like '''Skip Frames''' options in CPU dialog does, but this time another method is used. The further you move the slider the more 'frames' will skip the PCSX2 so VU will get more desynchronized with the other processors. It may not work for a certain game and the two last positions of the slider (4 and 5) may break many games GFX and the FPS counter may also show the wrong numbers (the game runs very slow but the FPS counter will show 60 or 50 fps). It's maybe a good idea to start with the third position of a slider and then turn this hack off (the leftmost slider position) if your game does not like it or try to move the slider further otherwise.
* '''VU Cycle Stealing''' -- This hack is one of the most useful hacks available. It works for some games and may not work for the others but when it works it can really make a difference speeding up by 20-30 fps. Cycle stealing is a sync hack for VU processors virtually skipping frames like '''Skip Frames''' options in CPU dialog does, but this time another method is used. The further you move the slider the more 'frames' will skip the PCSX2 so VU will get more desynchronized with the other processors. It may not work for a certain game and two last positions of the slider (4 and 5) may break many games GFX and the FPS counter may also show the wrong numbers (the game will run very slow but the FPS counter shows 60 or 50 fps). It's maybe a good idea to start with the third position of a slider and then turn this hack off (the leftmost slider position) if your game does not like it or try to move the slider further otherwise.
* '''ESC Hack - Use Esc key to fully exit PCSX2''' -- This box configures PCSX2 to be a ''boss-ready'' system. So a single ESC push will close it immediately without any confirmation.
* '''ESC Hack - Use Esc key to fully exit PCSX2''' -- This box configures PCSX2 to be a ''boss-ready'' system. So a single ESC push will close it immediately without any confirmation.


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