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PlayStation 2 · Load: medium · active

PCSX2: what PC you need to emulate PlayStation 2

PCSX2 is a PlayStation 2 emulator (2002); FPSHQ load rating: medium (55/100). 1,638 of 1,965 catalogue GPUs (83%) pass the GPU minimum (score 1,200), and 356 of 456 CPUs pass the CPU minimum (score 2,500). The most affordable suitable GPU is MSI Ventus 2X GeForce GTX 1060 3GB.

Key figures

Unique FPSHQ metrics from this page's data

1,200
min GPU score
RTX 3060 = 2,900
2,500
min CPU score
83%
of catalogue GPUs pass the minimum
1,638 / 1,965
78%
of CPUs pass the minimum
356 / 456
8 / 16GB
RAM: minimum / recommended
2002
first release year

Can my PC run this emulator?

Which GPUs run PCSX2: headroom over the minimum

GPU score ÷ the emulator's minimum score. ×1 — minimum, ×1.4 — comfortable at native resolution, ×2.2 — you can render at 2–3× resolution. Popular catalogue GPUs.

GeForce RTX 5070GeForce RTX 5070×5.2 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 5060 TiGeForce RTX 5060 Ti×4.1 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 3070GeForce RTX 3070×3.6 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 5060GeForce RTX 5060×3.5 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 3060 TiGeForce RTX 3060 Ti×3.2 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 4060GeForce RTX 4060×3.1 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 3060GeForce RTX 3060×2.4 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 3050GeForce RTX 3050×2.0 · 1×–2×GeForce GTX 1660 SuperGeForce GTX 1660 Super×1.6 · 1×–2×GeForce GTX 1060 6GBGeForce GTX 1060 6GB×1.3 · 1×Radeon RX 580Radeon RX 580×1.1 · 1×GeForce GTX 1650GeForce GTX 1650×0.9 · <1×GeForce GTX 1050 TiGeForce GTX 1050 Ti×0.7 · <1×GeForce GTX 1050GeForce GTX 1050×0.6 · <1××1 minimum×2.2GeForce RTX 5070GeForce RTX 5070×5.2 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 5060 TiGeForce RTX 5060 Ti×4.1 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 3070GeForce RTX 3070×3.6 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 5060GeForce RTX 5060×3.5 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 3060 TiGeForce RTX 3060 Ti×3.2 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 4060GeForce RTX 4060×3.1 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 3060GeForce RTX 3060×2.4 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 3050GeForce RTX 3050×2.0 · 1×–2×GeForce GTX 1660 SuperGeForce GTX 1660 Super×1.6 · 1×–2×GeForce GTX 1060 6GBGeForce GTX 1060 6GB×1.3 · 1×Radeon RX 580Radeon RX 580×1.1 · 1×GeForce GTX 1650GeForce GTX 1650×0.9 · <1×GeForce GTX 1050 TiGeForce GTX 1050 Ti×0.7 · <1×GeForce GTX 1050GeForce GTX 1050×0.6 · <1×

Official PCSX2 requirements

CPUx86-64, SSE4.1 (AVX2 rec.) · 2+ cores / 4 recommended
GPUPassMark G3D ≥ 600 (min) / ≥ 6000 + 4 GB VRAM (rec.) · 1 GB VRAM or more
RAMminimum 8 GB, recommended 16 GB
Graphics APIVulkan 1.1, Direct3D 11/12, OpenGL 3.3, Metal
OSWindows 10+, Linux, macOS 11+
LicenseGPL-3.0 / LGPL-3.0
PlatformPlayStation 2 (2000)
Statusactive
Official sitepcsx2.net

Requirements come from the project's official documentation (check date below). FPSHQ scores are our synthetic performance scale used to match against the catalogue. · Data updated

Suitable GPUs by tier

At the minimum (×1–1.4)

Comfortable (×1.4–2.2)

Headroom for 4K rendering (×2.2+)

CPUs: headroom over the PCSX2 minimum

CPUs that pass the PCSX2 minimum

Xeon E5-2643 v3Xeon E5-2643 v3×1.0 · 6CRyzen 5 1400Ryzen 5 1400×1.0 · 4CRyzen 3 2200GRyzen 3 2200G×1.0 · 4CCore i5-4570Core i5-4570×1.0 · 4CCore i5-3570KCore i5-3570K×1.0 · 4CCore i5-6400Core i5-6400×1.0 · 4CCore i5-4590Core i5-4590×1.0 · 4CXeon E5-2667 v2Xeon E5-2667 v2×1.0 · 8CRyzen 7 4700URyzen 7 4700U×1.0 · 8CXeon E5-2667 v3Xeon E5-2667 v3×1.0 · 8CXeon E5-1620 v4Xeon E5-1620 v4×1.0 · 4CXeon E5-1650 v2Xeon E5-1650 v2×1.0 · 6C×1 minimumXeon E5-2643 v3Xeon E5-2643 v3×1.0 · 6CRyzen 5 1400Ryzen 5 1400×1.0 · 4CRyzen 3 2200GRyzen 3 2200G×1.0 · 4CCore i5-4570Core i5-4570×1.0 · 4CCore i5-3570KCore i5-3570K×1.0 · 4CCore i5-6400Core i5-6400×1.0 · 4CCore i5-4590Core i5-4590×1.0 · 4CXeon E5-2667 v2Xeon E5-2667 v2×1.0 · 8CRyzen 7 4700URyzen 7 4700U×1.0 · 8CXeon E5-2667 v3Xeon E5-2667 v3×1.0 · 8CXeon E5-1620 v4Xeon E5-1620 v4×1.0 · 4CXeon E5-1650 v2Xeon E5-1650 v2×1.0 · 6C
In short

Which GPU do I need for PCSX2?

The minimum GPU score for PCSX2 is 1,200 (FPSHQ scale). The most affordable suitable card is MSI Ventus 2X GeForce GTX 1060 3GB; rendering at 2–3× resolution needs ×2.2 headroom — the ASRock Steel Legend Radeon RX 5700 level and up. The project officially requires: PassMark G3D ≥ 600 (min) / ≥ 6000 + 4 GB VRAM (rec.) · 1 GB VRAM or more.

min GPU score
1,200
min CPU score
2,500
of catalogue GPUs pass the minimum
83%
RAM
8–16 GB
updated · source: official PCSX2 documentation, FPSHQ model estimate

Frequently asked questions

Which GPU do I need for PCSX2?
The minimum GPU score for PCSX2 is 1,200 (FPSHQ scale). The most affordable suitable card is MSI Ventus 2X GeForce GTX 1060 3GB; rendering at 2–3× resolution needs ×2.2 headroom — the ASRock Steel Legend Radeon RX 5700 level and up. The project officially requires: PassMark G3D ≥ 600 (min) / ≥ 6000 + 4 GB VRAM (rec.) · 1 GB VRAM or more.
Which CPU do I need for PCSX2?
The minimum CPU score is 2,500: 356 of 456 catalogue CPUs pass it. Official requirements: x86-64, SSE4.1 (AVX2 rec.) · 2+ cores / 4 recommended. Emulation depends on per-core performance rather than the core count.
How much RAM does PCSX2 need?
Per the PCSX2 documentation: minimum 8 GB, recommended 16 GB. The emulator keeps the game image and shader cache in memory, so a RAM shortage causes stutter during shader compilation.
Which operating systems does PCSX2 support?
PCSX2 runs on: Windows 10+, Linux, macOS 11+. Graphics APIs: Vulkan 1.1, Direct3D 11/12, OpenGL 3.3, Metal. On Windows, Vulkan is usually faster (if your GPU supports it); on Linux it is Vulkan/OpenGL only.
Can my PC run PCSX2?
Pick your GPU and CPU in the "Can my PC run it" block above: the page compares their scores with the PCSX2 minimum (GPU 1,200, CPU 2,500) and shows the headroom. ×1.4 or more means comfortable play at the console's native resolution.
Is PCSX2 still updated?
Yes, PCSX2 is an active project; status last checked Oct 4, 2026. Official site: https://pcsx2.net/.

Methodology and sources

This page uses the FPSHQ database: the GPU and CPU catalogue with synthetic benchmark scores, official game system requirements, FPS measurements from users of the FPSHQ app and the FPSHQ performance model. Calculated values are estimates, not a measurement of your exact configuration: the real result depends on drivers, settings and the rest of the hardware. More about the methodology →

Sources:
FPSHQ Team · Data updated

All pages with PCSX2

All graphics cards for this emulator (40)
RTX 5090RTX 4090RTX 5080NVIDIA RTX 6000 AdaRTX 4080 SuperRTX 4080RX 7900 XTXRTX 5070 TiRX 9070 XTRX 7900 XTNVIDIA RTX 5000 AdaRTX 4070 Ti SuperPro W7900RTX 3090 TiRX 9070RTX 5070RTX 4070 TiRTX 3090RTX 4070 SuperRX 7900 GRERX 6950 XTRX 9070 GRERTX 3080 TiNVIDIA RTX A6000NVIDIA RTX 4500 AdaRTX 4070Pro W7800RX 7800 XTRTX 3080RX 6900 XTRTX 5060 TiRX 6800 XTNVIDIA RTX A5000RX 7700 XTRX 6800RTX 3070 TiRX 7700NVIDIA RTX 4000 AdaRTX 4060 TiRTX 4060 Ti 16GB