External shaders

A shader is a piece of software that is used to do certain modifications of the GSdx graphic output. For instance: the production of appropriate levels of color, or, to produce post-processing effects.

Since January 2014, GSdx supports the use of an external file (shader.fx) to be used as an external shader, separating it from the FXAA shader. This feature is only available for Windows users with graphics cards supporting Dx10 or higher, but people with Dx9 only card can still use the internal FXAA method.

Installation and usage

Make sure you have GSdx version 0.1.16 or higher.

1) Download your shader choice (see list of shaders bellow).

2) Extract the *.fx file inside your PCSX2 directory, where the main executables are placed.

3) Rename it to shader.fx (remember to back up the existing shader.fx file to be restored if needed).

4) Enable the shader

• On the GSdx settings, enable the Use FX Shader checkbox.
• In game, pressing the Home key.
• Set shaderfx=1 on GSdx.ini.

Tip: On low end systems, the combined use of Fx Shader and FXAA or a high custom resolution can cause a performance loss. Try with settings until you find the one that better suits your need for a particular game.

List of shaders

• You can find a list of shader.fx files created by the community on this forum post.
• KrossX shaders.

PCSX2Fx by Asmodean

This is a suite of shaders embedded on a shader.fx file, that can be modifiable by the user.
The files shader.fx (the shader itself) and GSdx_FX_Settings.ini (the shader configuration file) have to be placed on the PCSX2 directory, where the main executables are.