PCSX2 - The Playstation 2 Emulator
Go to file
Tyler Wilding 9ba42ec950 ci: format the GameDB and make sure it stays that way 2022-05-23 13:08:48 +01:00
.github ci: format the GameDB and make sure it stays that way 2022-05-23 13:08:48 +01:00
3rdparty Optionally use system libs (#6094) 2022-05-21 20:28:06 -07:00
bin ci: format the GameDB and make sure it stays that way 2022-05-23 13:08:48 +01:00
cmake Everything: Get rid of wx entirely from the Qt build 2022-05-22 13:58:56 +01:00
common GzippedFileReader: Fix index creation 2022-05-22 16:13:12 +01:00
linux_various Linux: Fix executable case in PCSX2-linux.sh 2021-12-30 14:04:02 +00:00
locales CMake: Move translation file processing to main pcsx2 directory 2022-02-02 17:09:48 -06:00
nsis nsis: Update external shader file names. 2021-07-04 03:09:48 +02:00
pcsx2 input-rec: add back safeguard around controller input hook and dont deref null virtual pads 2022-05-22 22:45:01 -04:00
pcsx2-qt input-rec: ensure controller logging is disabled by default 2022-05-22 20:29:42 -04:00
tests Everything: Get rid of wx entirely from the Qt build 2022-05-22 13:58:56 +01:00
tools GS: Add texture dumping and replacement system 2022-02-24 10:18:49 +00:00
updater Everything: Get rid of wx entirely from the Qt build 2022-05-22 13:58:56 +01:00
.clang-format clang-format: change alignment settings 2021-04-18 17:39:09 -05:00
.codacy.yaml CI: Add Codacy config file and README badge 2021-03-05 18:57:09 +01:00
.gitattributes recording: Many adjustments on VirtualPad from review feedback 2020-10-01 17:52:59 +01:00
.gitignore gitignore: ignore bin/textures 2022-04-06 01:30:22 +02:00
.gitmodules 3rdparty: Add zstd 2022-04-15 08:15:40 +01:00
.prettierrc.yaml ci: format the GameDB and make sure it stays that way 2022-05-23 13:08:48 +01:00
CMakeLists.txt Qt: Fix building on Linux 2022-05-12 17:31:06 +01:00
COPYING.GPLv3 copyright again: 2012-04-18 14:09:18 +00:00
COPYING.LGPLv3 copyright again: 2012-04-18 14:09:18 +00:00
PCSX2_qt.sln Everything: Get rid of wx entirely from the Qt build 2022-05-22 13:58:56 +01:00
PCSX2_suite.sln libchdr: Use in-tree lzma instead of bundled 2022-05-12 15:03:26 +01:00
README.md README.md: update website links (#6073) 2022-05-13 16:34:37 +01:00
build.sh build: Remove i386_flag, as it is no longer used. (#5897) 2022-04-28 13:35:15 -07:00
buildbot.xml buildbot: default to non avx2 release 2021-07-03 18:16:11 -04:00
mscompile.cmd build: Update mscompile.cmd to build with VC2019. (#4084) 2021-01-06 17:48:58 +01:00

README.md

PCSX2

Windows Build Status Linux Build Status Codacy Badge Discord Server

PCSX2 is a free and open-source PlayStation 2 (PS2) emulator. Its purpose is to emulate the PS2's hardware, using a combination of MIPS CPU Interpreters, Recompilers and a Virtual Machine which manages hardware states and PS2 system memory. This allows you to play PS2 games on your PC, with many additional features and benefits.

Project Details

The PCSX2 project has been running for more than ten years. Past versions could only run a few public domain game demos, but newer versions can run most games at full speed, including popular titles such as Final Fantasy X and Devil May Cry 3. Visit the PCSX2 compatibility list to check the latest compatibility status of games (with more than 2500 titles tested), or ask for help in the official forums.

The latest officially released stable version is version 1.6.0.

Installers and binaries for both stable and development builds are available from our website.

System Requirements

Minimum

Operating System CPU GPU RAM
- Windows 8.1 or newer (64 bit)
- Ubuntu 18.04/Debian or newer, Arch Linux, or other distro (64 bit)
- Supports SSE4.1
- PassMark Single Thread Performance rating near or greater than 1600
- Two physical cores, with hyperthreading
- Direct3D10 support
- OpenGL 3.x support
- PassMark G3D Mark rating around 3000 (GeForce GTX 750)
- 2 GB Video Memory
4 GB

Note: Recommended Single Thread Performance is based on moderately complex games. Games that pushed the PS2 hardware to its limits will struggle on CPUs at this level. Some release titles and 2D games which underutilized the PS2 hardware may run on CPUs rated as low as 1200. A quick reference for CPU intensive games: Wiki, Forum and CPU light games: Forum

Operating System CPU GPU RAM
- Windows 10 (64 bit)
- Ubuntu 19.04/Debian or newer, Arch Linux, or other distro (64 bit)
- Supports AVX2
- PassMark Single Thread Performance rating near or greater than 2100
- Four physical cores, with or without hyperthreading
- Direct3D11 support
- OpenGL 4.6 support
- PassMark G3D Mark rating around 6000 (GeForce GTX 1050 Ti)
- 4 GB Video Memory
8 GB

Note: Recommended GPU is based on 3x Internal, ~1080p resolution requirements. Higher resolutions will require stronger cards; 6x Internal, ~4K resolution will require a PassMark G3D Mark rating around 12000 (GeForce GTX 1070 Ti). Just like CPU requirements, this is also highly game dependent. A quick reference for GPU intensive games: Wiki

Technical Notes

  • You need the Visual C++ 2019 x86 Redistributables to run PCSX2.
  • Windows XP and Direct3D9 support was dropped after stable release 1.4.0.
  • Windows 7 and Windows 8.0 support was dropped after stable release 1.6.0.
  • 32 bit support was dropped after stable release 1.6.0.
  • Make sure to update your operating system and drivers to ensure you have the best experience possible. Having a newer GPU is also recommended so you have the latest supported drivers.
  • Because of copyright issues, and the complexity of trying to work around it, you need a BIOS dump extracted from a legitimately-owned PS2 console to use the emulator. For more information about the BIOS and how to get it from your console, visit this page.
  • PCSX2 uses two CPU cores for emulation by default. A third core can be used via the MTVU speed hack, which is compatible with most games. This can be a significant speedup on CPUs with 3+ cores, but it may be a slowdown on GS-limited games (or on CPUs with fewer than 2 cores). Software renderers will then additionally use however many rendering threads it is set to and will need higher core counts to run efficiently.
  • Requirements benchmarks are based on a statistic from the Passmark CPU bench marking software. When we say "STR", we are referring to Passmark's "Single Thread Rating" statistic. You can look up your CPU on Passmark's website for CPUs to see how it compares to PCSX2's requirements.
  • Vulkan requires an up-to-date GPU driver; old drivers may cause graphical problems.

Want more? Check out the PCSX2 website.