Guide to Running PPSSPP on Intel GMA 965/X3100

[neilencio]

Instead of waiting for PPSSPP to start supporting D3D (which would be unfair to the devs, as it's not their fault that Intel's IGPs have crappy drivers), you can already run some games in fullspeed on an Intel Gma 965 Express (also called X3100) by doing a few things:

1. First, if PPSSPP is crashing on you during startup, you're probably using the stock drivers that came with your motherboard/laptop. Those don't have support for OpenGL 2.0 so You need to update to a newer one. There's no need to look for 3rd party drivers, the newest one from Intel is good enough (the version I'm using came from Intel, version 15.12.75.4.1930)

2. Once you've updated your drivers, PPSSPP will no longer crash on you. But you'll only get black screens with a white square on the side. You need to disable buffered rendering.

3. Hardware transform is a bit hit and miss, there are games where it doesn't break anything (Dragonball Z shin Budokai 2), but in a lot of games it results in missing sprites/models (Bleach HTS7, Crisis Core, etc) so disable it if you're not seeing any of your characters. The IGP is too slow to help increase speed, anyway.

4. Frameskip is also something that's a bit hit and miss. Some games it helps make slowdown manageable, and in others it flickers like crazy regardless of how many frames you skip.

5. Obviously, you need to turn off all the bells and whistles. If you want texture scaling and filtering, you're using the wrong PC.

6. At this point PPSSPP is already playable, but one thing you'll notice is that you can only play fullspeed in a window. Once you go fullscreen it stutters like a 10 year old boy who's just seen a naked woman for the first time. If you want to play in full screen, you need to do the following:

7. Rightclick PPSSPP's executable, go to Properties. Then click the tab for Compatibility.

8. In the Compatibility tab, make sure the "Run in 640 x 480 resolution" is checked. Press Okay.

What this does is ensure that everytime you run PPSSPP, your desktop's resolution changes to 640 x 480, which is near enough to the Windowed resolution that it doesn't stress the IGP much. PPSSPP currently scales the resolution to whatever your desktop is set to, which is why there's a marked slowdown for very slow IGPs when you go fullscreen.

The laptop I'm using:

Dell Latitude d630

CPU: Core 2 Duo T7500 2.0 Ghz (I have IDA disabled so it doesn't boost to 2.2 ghz)
Video: Intel GMA 965 Express
RaM: 1 GB

Games I have tried that ran fullspeed:

Dragonball Z Shin Budokai 2
Bleach Heat the Soul 7
Dynasty Warriors Strike Force
YS 6: The Ark of Napishtm

Games I have tried that worked, but were too slow (20-40 VPS):

Tekken: Dark Resurrection
Dragon Ball Tenkaichi Tag Team
NBA 2k13
Final Fantasy: Crisis Core

[solarmystic]

Excellent write up for integrated card owners. +1 rep to you.

On the PC ecosystem, the current hierarchy for best graphics card to own for PPSSPP (in terms of compatibility due to drivers and performance) is as follows:-

1. NVIDIA dedicated cards

(currently peerless due to NVIDIA's excellent OpenGL support in their drivers, best compatibility and performance in all games.)

2. AMD/ATI dedicated cards

(arguable, since NVIDIA integrated solutions do not have certain issues in games that AMD cards do, thanks to AMD's crappy OGL drivers. See FF IV and Danganronpa for examples as to how certain hacks that work for NVIDIA cards to make those games playable fails to work for AMD cards)

3. NVIDIA integrated solutions

(only here due to potentially lower performance, still greater compatibility in games as compared AMD's dedicated cards)

4. AMD/ATI integrated solutions

5. Intel Integrated solutions

(Worst Open GL support, worst performance. This is heavily dependent on the age of the solution however. Ivy Bridge (HD 4000) and newer Haswell (HD 5000?) solutions could rival the above 2 solutions for speed)

[Niyawa]

Great guide. It seems someone you beat me to it, I was planning to make one regarding Intel super-low end GPUs too, haha. Just one thing you should change so it doesn't spread misinformation...

(06-28-2013 01:45 AM)neilencio Wrote:  1. First, if PPSSPP is crashing on you during startup, you're probably using the stock drivers that came with your motherboard/laptop. Those don't have support for OpenGL 2.0 so You need to update to a newer one. There's no need to look for 3rd party drivers, the newest one from Intel is good enough (the version I'm using came from Intel, version 15.12.75.4.1930)

A newer driver doesn't mean it's the right driver. I'm the living proof of that. I have an Intel 4500MHD (GM45 Express) and when I tried to play PPSSPP with the latest drivers (like you're doing), it didn't work at all. The only way to fix it was to use a older driver that gave correct support for OpenGL 2.0 AND my GM45 Express (which in my case was one from 2010, from version 8). The reason any newer didn't work as redundant that sounds, it's because Intel dropped the support and their newer drivers only worked correctly and at full potential with Core i generation.

Based on that, it's safe to assume that not every time the newer driver will work, so I'd feel safe if you reworded that first part. Oh, and thanks solar, you convinced me to get a new dedicated NVidia GPU. I thought I'd go for ATI this time since it's cheaper but oh well. Things are going crazy here in Brazil, I might as well take advantage of that.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention. OP, since you have a GMA 965, you can try GMABooster to speed your GPU up to 2.4x without voltage increase. Apparently it's really helpful but I've never tried it myself. I thought I should mention though.

[GuilhermeGS2]

I will try it later, I see that this driver version works only in Windows 7. Now I am in a PC with XP, but not is my. I will try it in other PC with W7.
Thanks!

[GuilhermeGS2]

My PC is:
-Celeron Dual Core E3200 2.5Ghz
-Intel GMA 3100 256MB
-2GB RAM(With the VRAM)

I tested in a laptop, and works great, some games run in 60 FPS others almost.
-Intel Celeron Inside 1.5Ghz Dual Core
-Intel HD Graphics 3000 ~1700MB
-6GB RAM (With the VRAM)

[VIRGIN KLM]

OpenGL 1.8 is not OpenGL 2.0. It's like a half sloppy support of 2.0 missing some stuff.

[GuilhermeGS2]

I downloaded the last version for my GPU, 8.15.10.1930. And still is crashing when I run ppsspp.

[slamandar]

(06-28-2013 08:59 PM)GuilhermeGS2 Wrote:  I downloaded the last version for my GPU, 8.15.10.1930. And still is crashing when I run ppsspp.

me too , i think we still need to wait for D3D supporting -_-

[GuilhermeGS2]

You are right

[Niyawa]

(06-28-2013 09:26 PM)slamandar Wrote:  

(06-28-2013 08:59 PM)GuilhermeGS2 Wrote:  I downloaded the last version for my GPU, 8.15.10.1930. And still is crashing when I run ppsspp.

me too , i think we still need to wait for D3D supporting -_-

What GPUs are you guys using? The same as OP? Oh I missed the HD 3000 there. Try searching on wikidrivers and confirm if you're using the real latest one. You can't trust Intel download center at all, really.

For the record, the latest official GMA family driver (the one that doesn't come from WDDM 1.2) is the 15.17.12.2226 (8.15.10.2226). It's also the one I'm currently using and the only one that ever worked here.

[GuilhermeGS2]

I have the GMA 3100 or also called G33/G31. In the HD Graphics GPU works fine.

---

I think I will try a custom driver. I found a that work as HD Graphic GPU. Also get much more performance. But like all custom things, has some bugs, like the Windows 7 Aero theme not is supported.

[Niyawa]

(06-29-2013 02:30 AM)GuilhermeGS2 Wrote:  I think I will try a custom driver. I found a that work as HD Graphic GPU. Also get much more performance. But like all custom things, has some bugs, like the Windows 7 Aero theme not is supported.

I've heard of those. I'm not sure how to get around that, never tried one. If it works post your results here, it might be a new work-around for those who can't play with Intel GPUs even with the correct drivers.

[GuilhermeGS2]

I will try test it today later. For this driver, need uninstall the current driver. Many people says that gains much more FPS in games, and games that not worked are working now.

---

Who want to test, this is the site: http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/eat-dr...83980.html

---

Features:

* 20% Intel HD Graphics driver codes for this release.-
* 80% Intel 4 Series driver codes for this release.-
* 100% custom codes for this release.-
* Fully support on all Intel GMA X3100 Chipsets.-
* Multi language.-
* Pipe optimization.-
* Better 3D rendering.-
* High Definition audio.-
* High Definition textures.-
* DirectX 10 fully support.-
* Dynamic Memory Speed.-
* Increases Video RAM Memory.-
* Increases fixed segment.-
* Better deep colors.-
* Enable media scaling.-
* Enable dynamic scaling.-
* Best Power Plan settings.-
* CUI 3 interface was added (Fully support).-
* 4:3 Aspect Ratio problem was solved.-
* Black screen problem on some games was solved.-
* Texture/Shadow problem on some games was solved.-
* More performance on 3D design tools.-
* More performance on newest games (5-10fps).-
* Better quality textures on LED and LCD screens.-
* Better OpenGL performance.-
* Increases Pixel Shader performance.-
* More games compatibles.-
* Real time synchronization between persistence and DCP.-
* Support updating firmware in DisplayPort-to-VGA adapters.-
* Compatibility with Mozilla Firefox 5.-
* Compatibility with Internet Explorer 9.-

Incompatibilities:

* Incompatibility with Windows Aero (Solution: Use Windows 7 Basic Theme or Windows Classic Theme).-
* Incompatibility with Windows Media Player (Solution: Use another media player like Media Player Classic).-
* Incompatibility with Windows Photo Viewer (Solution: Use another photo viewer like Picasa).-

[GuilhermeGS2]

I uninstalled the official driver, restarted my computer, when I go install, show the message "The system does not meet the minimum requirements for installation".

[slamandar]

(06-29-2013 07:11 PM)GuilhermeGS2 Wrote:  I uninstalled the official driver, restarted my computer, when I go install, show the message "The system does not meet the minimum requirements for installation".

it because isn't the right driver for your Intel GMA i had that when i tray using gm45 modded drivers ^^