Can My PC Run PCSX2?

Name: PCSX2
Author: PCSX2 Team

EmulatorsOpen source

An open-source PlayStation 2 emulator for PC.

PCSX2 System Requirements

Minimum Requirements

CPU: CPU supporting SSE4.1 with strong single-thread performanceIntel Core i5-8400 specs →AMD Ryzen 5 2600 specs →
GPU: GPU supporting Direct3D 11 (Feature Level 10.0) or OpenGL 3.3NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 specs →
VRAM: Not stated
RAM: 8 GB
Storage: 5 GB
OS: Windows 10 64-bit or later
DirectX: Version 11
Network: Not stated

Recommended Requirements

CPU: CPU supporting AVX2 with high single-thread performanceIntel Core i5-13400F specs →AMD Ryzen 5 5600X specs →
GPU: GPU supporting Direct3D 12 or Vulkan with 4 GB VRAMNVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 8GB specs →AMD Radeon RX 6600 specs →
VRAM: 4 GB
RAM: 16 GB
Storage: 20 GB · SSD required
OS: Windows 10 64-bit or later
DirectX: Version 12
Network: Not stated

A legally obtained PS2 BIOS dump is required. PCSX2 does not distribute BIOS files or games.

Transcribed from the publisher — not yet re-checkedSource: PCSX2 documentation

Application details

Vendor: PCSX2 Team
Licence: Open source
Last verified: Not yet verified

About PCSX2

PCSX2 is primarily limited by CPU single-thread performance. Increasing the internal resolution shifts load onto the GPU, which is how most people end up GPU-limited rather than CPU-limited.

Official site ↗

What PC do I need for PCSX2?

For a comfortable experience, the publisher's recommended specification asks for the following. This is their figure, not our estimate.

Graphics card: GPU supporting Direct3D 12 or Vulkan with 4 GB VRAM
Processor: CPU supporting AVX2 with high single-thread performance
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Storage: 20 GB
Operating system: Windows 10 64-bit or later

Not sure how your parts compare? Run the check above or read what these tiers mean.

Can my laptop run PCSX2?

The same check applies — enter the parts your laptop actually contains. Be aware that a laptop graphics chip is usually slower than the desktop card it shares a name with, because the manufacturer sets a lower power limit. A laptop advertising the GPU supp named here may therefore fall somewhat short of it in practice, and sustained performance drops further as the machine heats up. Treat a borderline laptop result as optimistic rather than assured.