PCSX2 2.8 released with major performance update, Direct3D 12 now default on NVIDIA and AMD GPUs

Performance Gains Through Draw Call Reduction

The most immediate benefit for users will be seen in games that historically generated an unusually high number of draw calls, which often bottlenecked older GPUs. Version 2.8 introduces optional draw buffering specifically designed to handle these heavy workloads more efficiently.

In practical terms, this optimization drastically reduces the overhead on the graphics card. For example, in Need for Speed: Underground 2, the emulator now reports a reduction in draw calls from 5,624 down to 2,828. Similarly, Need for Speed: Carbon sees its draw call count drop from 4,956 to 2,976. The update also significantly lowers barrier counts, reducing them from 1,692 to just 721 in the latter title.

Optimizing Texture Handling and Render Passes

Beyond draw calls, the team has rewritten how channel shuffle operations are handled. This change eliminates many unnecessary texture copies and render pass transitions that previously wasted GPU cycles. The impact is visible in titles like Manhunt 2, where texture copies in the GS dump have plummeted from 425 to merely eight.

Raw Danger benefits similarly, seeing a reduction of 672 texture copies and 1,120 render passes. Furthermore, a new texture cache optimization prevents slow GPU-to-CPU readbacks during specific GS-to-GS transfers. According to the developers, this specific tweak yields roughly a 30% performance improvement in Time Crisis 3. Additionally, support for Rasterizer Ordered Views is now included, which can reduce the performance penalty associated with higher blending accuracy settings.

Direct3D 12 Becomes the Default Renderer

A major shift occurs in the rendering backend. Starting with version 2.8, PCSX2 defaults to Direct3D 12 on Windows systems using most NVIDIA and AMD graphics cards. The developers state that this renderer has finally reached performance and compatibility parity with Vulkan.

This means users no longer need to manually configure their settings to use the DirectX backend for better results; it is now the standard choice. Direct3D 11 remains available but is officially classified as a legacy renderer. The update also introduces support for the Direct3D 12 Enhanced Barriers API, which can further improve hardware utilization on newer GPUs.

Updated Hardware Requirements and Features

The release also updates the recommended hardware requirements to reflect these optimizations. The new "Heavy" tier now lists a Core i5-12400 or Ryzen 5 5600 paired with a GeForce RTX 4060 8GB, Radeon RX 6600 XT, or Intel Arc B580.

Beyond the core emulation engine, version 2.8 brings several other features to the table. These include bundled FFmpeg support for Windows users, EyeToy support on macOS, hardware AA1 support, and improved depth and fog rendering. The update also introduces OSD customization options and includes several interface changes to improve usability.