PCSX2 - The Playstation 2 Emulator
Go to file
Stenzek c274e447dd Qt: Don't push volume changes through full settings apply
Saves the thread sync, means we don't lag.
2022-12-31 23:23:58 +00:00
.github CI : remove mention to wxWidgets in MAC build-dependencies 2022-12-29 09:37:40 +01:00
3rdparty 3rdparty: Update svn readme. (#7685) 2022-12-25 15:23:56 +01:00
bin GameDB: Set preloading to Partial for Tekken 4 2022-12-31 23:23:45 +00:00
cmake Tools: Remove bin2cpp 2022-12-24 09:41:06 +00:00
common x86/microVU: Add VI caching 2022-12-29 10:01:25 +00:00
linux_various Tools: Remove bin2cpp 2022-12-24 09:41:06 +00:00
pcsx2 CommonHotkeys: Add volume control hotkeys 2022-12-31 23:23:58 +00:00
pcsx2-gsrunner GSRunner: Warning fixes for clang-cl 2022-12-25 09:27:44 +00:00
pcsx2-qt Qt: Don't push volume changes through full settings apply 2022-12-31 23:23:58 +00:00
tests GS: Prepare for separation of multi-isa code 2022-12-03 00:52:10 -06:00
tools Tools: Remove bin2cpp 2022-12-24 09:41:06 +00:00
updater Updater: Fix incorrect identifier in manifest 2022-12-28 11:02:53 +00:00
.clang-format clang-format: change alignment settings 2021-04-18 17:39:09 -05:00
.codacy.yaml codacy: Exclude md files. 2022-11-29 09:46:18 +00:00
.gitattributes recording: Many adjustments on VirtualPad from review feedback 2020-10-01 17:52:59 +01:00
.gitignore gitignore: Don't track bad_shader logs 2022-09-26 00:09:03 +01:00
.gitmodules 3rdparty: Move cubeb 93d1fa3fccdc22da37aa59f67b213591797db369 in-tree 2022-10-01 05:00:40 +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 build: Don't try to install a non-existant file. 2022-12-24 05:31:10 -08:00
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 Debugger: Initial debugger implementation 2022-12-24 07:21:49 +00:00
README.md Readme: Update specifications requirements 2022-12-29 10:24:13 +00:00
build.sh build: Get rid of the no-trans flag, and the freetype related function. 2022-12-24 05:31:10 -08:00

README.md

PCSX2

Windows Build Status Linux Build Status MacOS 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 twenty 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 10 21H2 (1809 or later) (64-bit)
- Ubuntu 20.04/Debian or newer, Arch Linux, or other distro (64-bit)
- macOS 10.14
- Supports SSE4.1
- PassMark Single Thread Performance rating near or greater than 1800
- Two physical cores, with hyperthreading
- Direct3D10 support
- OpenGL 3.x support
- Vulkan 1.1 support
- Metal support
- PassMark G3D Mark rating around 3000 (Geforce GTX 750 Radeon RX 560 Intel Arc A380)
- 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 21H2 (1809 or later) (64-bit)
- Ubuntu 22.04/Debian or newer, Arch Linux, or other distro (64-bit)
- macOS 10.14
- Supports AVX2
- PassMark Single Thread Performance rating near or greater than 2600
- Four physical cores, with or without hyperthreading
- Direct3D12 support
- OpenGL 4.6 support
- Vulkan 1.3 support
- Metal support
- PassMark G3D Mark rating around 6000 (GeForce GTX 1650 Radeon RX 570)
- 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 RTX 2060 Radeon RX 6600 Intel Arc A750). 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 x64 Redistributables to run PCSX2.
  • Windows XP and Direct3D9 support was dropped after stable release 1.4.0.
  • Windows 7, Windows 8.0, and Windows 8.1 support was dropped after stable release 1.6.0.
  • 32-bit and wxwidgets support was dropped after stable release 1.6.0, with the wxwidgets code being removed completely on 25th December 2022.
  • 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.