Below is the default configuration for the emulator. Not all options mentioned below are mandatory. For example, options such as Resolution Scale and Anisotropic Filter can be increased if your graphics card can handle the additional load whereas Lower SPU Thread Priority should be used with weaker CPUs. For best performance, read the description for each option carefully and also refer to the specific configurations mentioned for each game page.
CPU configuration
| Setting | Default Option | Description |
|---|---|---|
| PPU Decoder | Recompiler (LLVM) | Recompiler (LLVM): Recompiles the game's executable once before running it for the first time. By far the fastest option and should always be used. Should you face compatibility issues, fall back to one of the Interpreters and retry. Interpreter (fast): The fastest interpreter. Trades accuracy for speed, and it very rarely breaks games even in comparison to the precise option. Try this if Recompiler (LLVM) fails. Interpreter (precise): The most accurate Interpreter, but very slow to play games with. You may try this as a last resort if you encounter odd bugs or crashes. |
| SPU Decoder | Recompiler (ASMJIT) | Recompiler (ASMJIT): Fastest option with very good compatibility. Interpreter (fast): Slower than the Recompiler (ASMJIT) but significantly faster than Interpreter (precise). Games rarely need this option. Interpreter (precise): Extremely slow but may fix broken graphics in some games. Recompiler (LLVM): Doesn't exist (yet). |
| Preferred SPU Threads | Auto | Some SPU stages are sensitive to race conditions and allowing a limited number at a time helps alleviate performance stalls. Setting this to a smaller value might improve performance and reduce stuttering in some games. Leave this on auto if performance is negatively affected when setting a small value. |
| Firmware Settings | Load liblv2.sprx only | Load liblv2.sprx only: Closely emulates how games can load and unload system module files on a real PlayStation 3. Some games require this. Automatically load required libraries: Automatically selects the LLE libraries to load. While this option works fine in most cases, liblv2 is the preferred option. Manually load selected libraries: Allows the user to manually choose the LLE libraries to load. If unsure, don't use this option. Nothing will work if you use this. Load automatic and manual selection: Automatically selects the LLE libraries to load and allows the user to choose additional libraries manually. If unsure, don't use this option. |
| Enable Thread Scheduler | On | Allows the emulator to manually schedule physical cores to run specific tasks on, instead of letting the OS handle it. Very useful on Windows, especially for AMD Ryzen systems where it can give huge performance gains. Not recommended for Linux as the OS schedules the physical cores better on its own. |
| Lower SPU Thread Priority | Off | Runs SPU threads with lower priority than PPU threads. Usually faster on an i3 or i5, possibly slower or no difference on an i7 or Ryzen. |
| Enable SPU Loop Detection | On | Try to detect loop conditions in SPU kernels and use them as scheduling hints. Improves performance and reduces CPU usage. May cause severe audio stuttering in rare cases. |
| Hook Static Function | Off | Allows to hook some functions like 'memcpy' replacing them with high-level implementations. May do nothing or break things. Experimental. |
GPU configuration
| Setting | Default Option | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Renderer | Vulkan | Vulkan is the fastest renderer. OpenGL is the most accurate renderer. If unsure, use Vulkan. Should you have any compatibility issues, fall back to OpenGL. DirectX 12 is deprecated and should never be used. |
| Graphics Device | NA | On multi GPU systems select which GPU to use in RPCS3 when using Vulkan or DirectX 12. This is not needed when using OpenGL. |
| Aspect Ratio | 16:9 | Leave this on 16:9 unless you have a 4:3 monitor. Auto also works well, especially if you use a resolution that is not 720p. |
| Framelimit | Off | Off is the best option as it performs faster. Using the frame limiter will add extra overhead and slow down the game. However, some games will crash if the framerate is too high. If that happens, set value to anything other than Off. |
| Anisotropic Filter | Automatic | Higher values increase sharpness of textures on sloped surfaces at the cost of GPU resources. Modern GPUs can handle this setting just fine even at 16x. Keep this on Automatic if you want to use the original setting used by a real PS3. |
| Anti-Aliasing | NA | Doesn't exist (yet). |
| Default Resolution | 1280x720 | This setting will be ignored if the Resolution Scale is set to anything other than 100%. Leave this on 1280x720, every PS3 game is compatible with this resolution. Only use 1920x1080 if the game supports it. |
| Resolution Scale | 100% | Scales the game's resolution by the given percentage. The base resolution is always 1280x720. Set this value to 100% if you want to use the normal resolution options. |
| Resolution Scale Threshold | 16 x 16 | Only framebuffers greater than this size will be upscaled. Increasing this value might fix problems with missing graphics when upscaling, especially when Write Color Buffers is enabled. Do not touch this setting if you are unsure. |
| Write Color Buffer | Off | Enable this option if you get missing graphics or broken lighting ingame. Might degrade performance and introduce stuttering in some cases. |
| Use GPU Texture Scaling | On | Small to significant performance boost in most games and rarely with side effects. May cause texture corruption in rare cases. |
| Strict Rendering Mode | Off | Enforces strict compliance to the API specification. Might result in degraded performance in some games. Can resolve rare cases of missing graphics and flickering. Enforces default settings for Resolution Scale and Resolution Scale Threshold. If unsure, don't use this option. |
| VSync | Off | By having this off you might obtain a higher frame rate at the cost of tearing artifacts in the game. |
| Stretch To Display Area | Off | Overrides the aspect ratio and stretches the image to the full display area. |
| Disable Vertex Cache | Off | Disables the vertex cache. Might resolve missing or flickering graphics output. May degrade performance. |
Audio configuration
| Setting | Default Option | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Audio Out | Windows: XAudio2 Linux: PulseAudio |
Windows: Always use XAudio, no exceptions. Linux: PulseAudio uses the recommended native Linux sound system and has good compatibility and sound quality. If it is unavailable on your system, ALSA is the next best alternative. OpenAL uses a cross-platform approach but will have poor audio quality and stuttering sound in most games. |
| Dump to File | Off | Saves all audio as a raw wave file. If unsure, leave this unchecked. |
| Convert to 16-bit | Off | Uses 16-bit audio samples instead of default 32-bit floating point. Use with buggy audio drivers if you have no sound or completely broken sound. |
| Downmix to Stereo | On | Uses stereo audio output instead of default 7.1 surround sound. Use with stereo audio devices. Disable it only if you are using a surround sound audio system. |
I/O configuration
| Setting | Default Option | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Keyboard Handler | Null | Some games support native keyboard input. Basic will work in these cases. |
| Mouse Handler | Basic | Some games support native mouse input. Basic will work in these cases. |
| Camera Input | Unknown | Camera support is not implemented, leave this on unknown. |
| Camera Settings | Null | Camera support is not implemented, leave this on null. |
| Move Handler | Null | PlayStation Move support is not implemented, leave this on null. Fake: Experimental! This maps Move controls to DS4 controller mappings. |
System configuration
| Setting | Default Option | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Console Language | English (US) | Some games may fail to boot if the system language is not available in the game itself. Other games will switch language automatically to what is selected here. It is recommended leaving this on a language supported by the game. |
| Homebrew: Enable /host_root/ | Off | Required for some Homebrew. If unsure, don't use this option. |
| Console Region | NA | Doesn't exist (yet). |
Network configuration
| Setting | Default Option | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Network Status | Disconnected | Leave as disconnected unless you're debugging. RPCS3 has no online support. |
Legacy configuration
Below are the configurations used for previous versions of the emulator. Refer to the linked pull request for a detailed description on why this setting was removed.
| Setting | Default Option | Category | Removed By | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bind SPU Threads To Secondary Cores | Off | CPU | PR 4079 | If your CPU has SMT (Hyper-Threading) SPU threads will run on these logical cores instead. Usually faster on an i3, possibly slower or no difference on an i7 or Ryzen. |
| Invalidate Cache Every Frame | Off | GPU | PR 3618 | Enable this option if the game has broken shadows. May slightly degrade performance. |