Best CPUs for PS2 Emulation

[DevyD3]

I like to occasionally run some of my old ps2 games on my pc and generally I get pretty good framerates with boosted graphics on my fx 8350. However, a few select titles (like shadow of the colossus) run a bit choppily. Some old forum posts on the pcsx2 say that a 4790k is capable of running near perfectly, but it hasn't been updated in a while. Just wondering if there are any modern cpus with strong single core performance for pcsx2 intensive dual core load.

[nitsuga5124]

Any Dual core with 2 GHz or more.

 

Ps: Have you tried anotehr emulator? some doesen't work good on some games.

[DevyD3]

i'd prefer something that is at least a quad core so that i can also run my other games without bottlenecking my gpu

[BiscuitMassacre]

What's wrong with the ps2?

[Coaxialgamer]

Al  emulators for older consoles are very single  threaded,  so only currnt intel cpus are capable of doing well..  Imo wait for zen if you can . 

[PlayStation 2]

In all truthfulness, an i7-6700K would probably be the best bet to run most games, especially under software mode.

[nitsuga5124]

Any i5 Skylake processor will work fine. My recommendation would be the i5 6400

[DevyD3]

4 minutes ago, BiscuitMassacre said:

What's wrong with the ps2?

my ps2's disk drive is half broken, and I also prefer being able to run ps2 games at higher resolutions with filtering

[DevyD3]

Thanks for the suggestions, they seem like good options and i'll think about buying them when zen is released (hopefully it'll drop the prices and i'll have some time to save up).

[Dr_Nooberious]

I have experience on this topic.

 

PCSX2 1.4 runs almost perfectly with my I3-6100 @3.7Ghz but if I overclock to 4.4GHz, there are no slow-downs or hiccups of any kind.

 

Also the emulator needs a decent GPU as well. eg GTX 750 Ti

[DevyD3]

Just now, Dr_Nooberious said:

I have experience on this topic.

 

PCSX2 1.4 runs almost perfectly with my I3-6100 @3.7Ghz but if I overclock to 4.4GHz, there are no slow-downs or hiccups of any kind.

 

Also the emulator needs a decent GPU as well. eg GTX 750 Ti

i have a gtx 970, so it shouldn't be an issue

[Dr_Nooberious]

1 minute ago, DevyD3 said:

i have a gtx 970, so it shouldn't be an issue

If you are having choppy gameplay, from what I see, you have to either overclock your cpu OR wait until Xen OR buy a recent intel CPU.

[DevyD3]

Just now, Dr_Nooberious said:

If you are having choppy gameplay, from what I see, you have to either overclock your cpu OR wait until Xen OR buy a recent intel CPU.

it is mostly fine, it's just in games like shadow of the colossus, and (my guilty pleasure) shadow the hedgehog. But I might as well start saving up to upgrade the cpu, the only reason I even have an 8350 is because it was on sale for $100, in the meantime I'll try experimenting with overclocks

[DevyD3]

1 minute ago, Strike105X said:

PCSX2 uses mostly 2 threads, there is an MTVU option so that it can use the third core, but its still the first two that get the biggest hit, with that said any unlocked i5 starting with Haswell  is good enough (Skylake though would be recommended since its the newer tech), if on a tight budget then your only choice is the G3258, i played full speed Zone of Enders 2nd Runner with it (PAL) at 4.1 Ghz, with that said do be careful as the G3258 is not good when it comes to newer games (and its compatibility will decrease more and more in the future) since its not a dual core and it doesn't have hyper threading. AMD unfortunately is limited when it comes to emulation, since emulation mainly stresses the first one or two cores.

 

TL;DR version: if on a budget, PC gaming is not your main concern and your building a machine especially for emulation like i did the G3258 is a good option. Or you can try the used market and fish for a 2500k, if you don't mind buying used.

 

If not, then go with at least an i5 Haswell or if you want future proofing i5 Skylake.

I had completely forgotten about the used market, thanks for the input