Less power, more frames – RPCS3’s latest update boosts PS3 emulation efficiency on Windows and Linux
RPCS3’s latest update is perfect for Steam Deck and ROG Ally users
RPCS3, the PlayStation 3 emulator has just received a new update that has boosted the CPU power efficiency of the software, enabling higher framerates on Windows and Linux on PCs with more than twelve or eight threads respectively. This update increases emulation performance on affected hardware configurations, and lowers CPU power draw, both of which are great additions for RPCS3 users, especially if they use mobile/power-limited hardware.Â
This new update is ideal for users of mobile Linux and Windows gaming devices like Valve’s Steam Deck and ASUS’ ROG Ally, both of which have a limited power budget. The power draw lowering properties of this update allows the limited power draw of these devices to be used more effectively, increasing emulation performance significantly. Performance gains will be smaller on desktop systems that are less power limited.Â
In the Tweet (X post?) below, the RPCS3 team has showcased the power draw and framerate changes to the emulator’s new update makes to a PC with an i9-13900K desktop processor and an RTX 4090 graphics card. In Red Dead Redemption power draw drops from 202.8W to 191.8W and in-game framerates are boosted from 58 FPS to 60 FPS. Larger performance gains are expected on mobile, more power-limited gaming systems. Â
With PC gaming handhelds like Valve’s Steam Deck and ASUS’ ROG Ally becoming more and more popular, it makes sense for the RPCS3 development team to focus on power efficiency with new emulator updates. Not only does this update increase the applications performance across a wide range of systems, but it allows PlayStation 3 games to be emulated more easily on low-power gaming systems, either increasing the battery life of these systems, or more dramatically increasing system performance.
Recent years have seen RPCS3 become significantly more performant and more compatible with a broad range of PlayStation 3 games. Now, RPCS3 emulation is the best way to play many PlayStation 3 classics, as RPCS3 can play many games with higher framerates and at higher resolutions than their original PlayStation 3 versions.
You can join the discussion on RPCS3’s increased efficiency on the OC3D Forums.