Endless Paradigm

After more than a year since the last stable 0.9.6 release and 8 months since the last beta release of PCSX2, the new beta version is finally ready!
The most notable change is the all new GUI powered by wxWidgets, but the amount of improvements in this release is really amazing :)

This 0.9.7 release is marked as unstable/beta, meaning it still has some known bugs and unimplemented features but it is fully supported by the PCSX2 team. For more info, check the included readme file.

Without further delay, here's the extensive changelog:

    * New GUI based on wxWidgets working on a separate thread
    * microVU, an all new VU0/VU1/COP2 recompiler
    * VIF rewritten and a new Vif Unpack recompiler
    * IPU improvements, many more videos now play perfectly
    * Stable full screen operation with GSdx
    * Alt+Enter Hotkey for real-time fullscreen/window mode switching
    * Many new emulation options, complete with tooltips
    * New MTGS, much more efficient and compatible
    * New BIOS skipping method, more compatible and correct
    * New Host File System Support
    * Turbo/Slow motion settings for the frame limiter
    * On the fly changing of settings and plugins
    * Threaded Saving/Loading states, so it does not pause gameplay
    * Built in ISO reader with a recently used ISO list
    * Suspend / Resume emulation safely and fast
    * Simplified plugin configuration dialog, with more options
    * Full DVD9 game support (for example God of War, Xenosaga, Gran Turismo 4 etc)
    * First time configuration wizard
    * Settings stored in your User documents folder by default to prevent Vista / Windows 7 permission issues
    * New Game database detects the game you run, displays compatibility info, and auto applies special game fixes/patches if needed
    * Cheats are now separate from patches, cheats can be placed in the "cheats" folder and enabled/disabled from pcsx2's file-menu
    * Many important plugin updates, GSdx has many bugs and memory leaks fixed, SPU2-X makes dozens of games boot which never did before
    * And a huge amount of improvements and bug fixes which wee don't remember anymore



This time the distribution will be a bit different. There are 3 versions, the full installer, the web installer and the binary. Wee highly recommend people to use our torrents to lower the load of our server and for faster distribution. You will need a torrent client such as utorrent to download them.

Windows:
Full installer [12.0mb]: Torrent | Googlecode direct dl
Web installer [2.88mb]: Torrent | Googlecode direct dl
Binaries [2.92mb / 7zip]: Torrent | Googlecode direct dl

(NOTE: Full installer includes Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributables, which is ideal for offline installs of PCSX2. Web installer optionally fetches the Redists from Microsoft.com, if your computer doesn't already have them installed.)

Linux binary [3.1mb]: Torrent | Googlecode direct dl

Source code: Torrent

Source: http://pcsx2.net/


EDIT:  Updated plugins are available.
EDIT2:  Even newer beta released.  See here.

Thanks for posting this Assassinator, time to test this thing out!^^

Also, for anyone interested, you can get the latest SVN builds for PCSX2 from here: http://www.emucr.com/search/label/PCSX2
Note that SVN builds will most likely be less stable than the betas, but may contain a lot of newer features.

Oh, just a note of warning... you need a pretty fast CPU to run this.

System Requirements
Recommended

    * Windows Vista / Windows 7 (32bit or 64bit) with the latest DirectX
    * CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo @ 3.2ghz or better
    * GPU: 8800gt or better (for Direct3D10 support)
    * RAM: 1GB on Linux/Windows XP, 2GB or more on Vista

Note: PCSX2 only takes advantage of 2 cores so far; so a quad-core processor will not help with speed. Wee still plan to add quad-core support at a later date, if possible.

So that means a 3.2GHz+ dual or more.

EDIT: From their forums...

Recommended Processors:

Intel Core 2 Duo / Core i3 @ 3.2Ghz or faster
Intel Core i5 / i6 / i7 @ 2.66Ghz or faster
AMD Phenom II / Athlon II (X2, X3 or X4) @ 3.4Ghz or faster

Also depends on the game, some games (eg. FFX) are easy, while others (eg. GoW), good luck on your overclocking adventures.

Thanks for that Zinga!^^
And Assassinator, I have a 2.5ghz Quad and even with only 2 cores used some games still run very well, my test results for very playable games with 2.5ghz (not with this Beta):
FF X
FF XII
Ar Tonelico 1 +2
Mana Khemia 1+2
Persona 4
Odin Sphere
Namco X Capcom
Kingdom Hearts 1
Disgaea 1+2

Assassinator Wrote: [ -> ]Oh, just a note of warning... you need a pretty fast CPU to run this.

System Requirements
Recommended

    * Windows Vista / Windows 7 (32bit or 64bit) with the latest DirectX
    * CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo @ 3.2ghz or better
    * GPU: 8800gt or better (for Direct3D10 support)
    * RAM: 1GB on Linux/Windows XP, 2GB or more on Vista

Note: PCSX2 only takes advantage of 2 cores so far; so a quad-core processor will not help with speed. Wee still plan to add quad-core support at a later date, if possible.

So that means a 3.2GHz+ dual or more.

Also depends on the game, some games (eg. FFX) are easy, while others (eg. GoW), good luck on your overclocking adventures.

Damn. Won't be able to play games then. My computer sucks.

Hooraay!! ^^

Hi I'm a newbie here, can ask u guys how to add cheats into pcsx2 0.9.7.3349???

I could probably tell you if I was sitting on my main PC right now, but I'm not (I'm on a laptop right now).

But that kind of question is probably better asked at the official PCSX2 forums...  They would have far more expertise in the area than wee do.

http://forums.pcsx2.net/

Late, but a new beta was released around 2 weeks ago.

pcsx2.net Wrote:Hey people,
today wee make the second 0.9.7 beta release available: PCSX2 0.9.7 (r3878)!

The 0.9.7 series is marked as unstable/beta, meaning it still has some known bugs
and unimplemented features but it is fully supported by the PCSX2 team.
Wee've spent the last months on various aspects of the emulator, adding to the awesome progress seen in beta 1.
This release has been compiled with extensive optimizations, so you can expect a small speedup over r3113 Smile

Here's some of the changes:

    * Gui work: threading, layout and stability have been improved.
    * Some of the reported .ini writing issues should be fixed now.
    * Game database: bug fixes, more entries, compatibility hints for pcsx2.
    * Automated patching enabled now: known fixes/settings for some games can be enabled automatically.
    * Emulation fixes to microVU.
    * VIF/GIF work: Slightly faster and more compatible.
    * Much work on GIFPath ordering issues. many games with previously flickering textures should work better.
    * IPU retooled and optimized: A bit faster, a bit more compatible and much more sane (no more coroutines).
    * Removed hazardous MMX/XMMregister freeze/restore. Speedup and stability is improved.
    * Savestates are now free of memory leaks.
    * Disk swapping works on a few games now (not all yet though).
    * New "fast CDVD" speedhack. Load levels as fast as possible!
    * Console logging is now configurable to be as verbose as in developer builds.
    * Commandline support.
    * A lot of other small tweaks and additions.


Wee again provide 3 versions. A full installer, a web installer and a binary package.

You can get the downloads on the official website ==> http://pcsx2.net/