Problems with Beetle PSX HW, video drivers and older emulators

RetroArch Windows devices
#1

Hi there! I’m running retroarch (both retroarch and cores updated) in Windows 10 64 bit on a pretty old but still capable laptop.

My living room laptop specs:

  • Intel Core i7 2860qm 2,5 - 3.4 GHz (all cores)

  • 8 GB DDR3 dual channel ram

  • 128 GB sata3 SSD

  • Nvidia GT540M 1 GB (latest official drivers availble, D3D11) , NO Vulkan support

I can play Gamecube, Dolphin, some Wii U, Redream at 720p at 60 pretty much stable FPS. I can also run some less demanding PS2 games and I was even able to run Worms on RPCS3. I have correctly set my Nvidia drivers to use the Nvidia GPU and not the intel integrated graphic (checked with the Nvidia built-in tool). So, it must be a Retroarch settings issue, since for those mentioned systems I am not using any retroarch core, but their own windows emulators.

What I cannot do is to make my PS1 games with Beetle PSX HW run at 720p at 60 FPS, or at 1080p at nave PS1. The full HD tv that I am using as external motr via HDMI obviously supports 60 FPS. Or 59, whatever.

Would you be so kind to guide me through the most suitable settings?

This is what I have right now. Graphics got better but it’s still kinda pixelated and not smooth at all. No more wobbly distortions or texture color glitches, anyway.

  • Renderer: Hardware
  • Framebuffer sofware: on
  • Internal res: 2x
  • Color depth: 32bpp
  • Dithering: off
  • Texture filtering: nearest
  • PGXP mode: memory only
  • Vertex cache PGXP: on
  • Perspective texturing PGXP: on
  • Line to quad hack: default
  • CPU Dynarec: disabled
  • Dynarec code: full
  • Dynarec cycles DMS/GPU: 128
  • CPU overclock: native
  • Overclock GTE: off
  • Overclock GPU: 1x
  • Pal video timing override: off

All the options that I did not mention were left untouched. I can attach any cfg file you might need. This way I can play at 24-29 FPS smoothly (measured internally) with no stutters or crashes.

If I set the resolution to 4x I get the same fps that I experience at 2x but with slow music. EG: gran turismo has audio slowdowns in the menu but not in game. Crash Bandicoot has audio slowdowns everywhere. The FPS I get, with the internal meter are 24-29 respectively and the games are definetely playable at a naked eye without looking at the internal FPS counter.

I am mostly running PAL games and if I set “Pal video timing override” to ON the end result is 60 FPS with messed up music, stutters and the internal res apparently set to 1x.

Also note that if I set Retroarch driver to D3D11 instead of GL, whenever I lauch a PS1 game i get this “Unable to find or open hardware renderer for frontend preferred hardware context. Falling back to software renderer” and the games runs with awful graphics. BUT I NEED to set the driver to D3D11 because with GL I have serious stutters in 2d games like Snes, NeoGeo and FBA.

The option “allow cores to set the video driver” is set to ON, too.

I need some serious help :slight_smile:

[@hunterk here’s the proper topic :slight_smile:]

#2

You can set your video driver to d3d11 in your global config, then set it to vulkan or glcore or gl just for beetle-psx-hw and save a core override. The vulkan or gl renderers should be able to go up to whatever res you want without a significant performance hit.

#3

This is what I have tried:

I have opened retroarch with open GL, launched a game in beetle psx hw and saved an override config.

I ended with a cfg file in retroarch\beetle psx hw with this written inside: video_driver = “gl”.

I have replaced “gl” with “d3d11”, I did the same in retroarch but I got the same resut.

#4

why did you replace gl with d3d11? that means whenever the core is loaded, it will switch to d3d11. You want it the other way around. Run d3d11 in your main config and switch to gl with the override.

#5

Ok, It works now.

What I don’t understand is the audio performance issue at 4x now. My laptop should be enough to correctly handle a 4x resolution with no hassle. With no shaders. Or at least that is what I hope.