Frequently Asked Questions

About

What is PCSX4?

PCSX4 is a beta PlayStation 4/5 emulator project based on hardware-assisted virtualization which allows you to play PS4 & PS5 games on your PC & macOS. It requires your PS4 console to grab “playstation device identifier” (PDIX ) and original/OEM PS4 game disks. PS4 Emulator development was initially started with closed source in late 2014 but later shifted to semi-open source to boost development. Follow this quick start guide for more info.

Why is PCSX4 semi open source?

To avoid illegal activities and misuse of source code, PCSX4 is made semi open-source. All components and plugins of PCSX4 are open source except the core executable.

System and hardware requirements

Which operating systems are supported?

Only 64bit Windows 7, 8.1, 10 & macOS 10.13.6 or later are supported. Windows users need to install the .NET framework 3.5, VC++2015, and DirectX 11.1 platform update KB2670838-x64 if it’s not already installed. Support for macOS for the PS4 Emulator is in beta due to limited Metal support. for more information.

Which CPUs are supported?

PCSX4 is optimised to use up to 8 cores of a processor but requires at least a 4 core processor with SSE-4.2 and AVX. Intel: Core-i5 3xxx and later is supported. AMD: FX-41xx and later are supported. CPU performance and stability with PCSX4 differ drastically and it is difficult to tell which processor works perfectly. Some mobile-based i5 and i7 processors may cause performance glitches due to lower clock rates.

Which GPUs are supported?

PCSX4 PS4 Emulator requires a GPU to support at least Direct 3D 11.1 and Pixel Shader Model 5.0.
Nvidia: GeForce GTX 660 or higher is required.
AMD: An AMD Radeon 7870 or higher is required.
To run every game smoothly @60FPS with 1080p resolution, a GeForce GTX 970 or Radeon R9-290X can be recommended. PCSX4 does support 4K resolution, but even with high-end GPUs, it is difficult to archive 60FPS.

How much memory (RAM) is required?

For PCSX4, 4GB is a minimum requirement, but 6GB or more is recommended. RAM with higher clock rates may increase game loading times when used together with the SSD as a game cache disk.

Which macOS devices are supported?

MacBook Air Late-2020(M1) or newer.
MacBook Pro: late-2016 or newer with a dedicated GPU.
Late-2013 or newer Mac Pro
Late 2017 or newer iMac Pro
iMac: mid-2017 or newer.

Configuration

What is PDIX?

A PlayStation device identifier (.pdix) is a file generated and extracted from a PS4 console with PS4 firmware ver. 4.55 or lower. It contains encrypted identifiers and SAMU key blobs that are unique for every device. Please note that no personal information is used while extracting the blobs, PDIX-Dumper is Open Source. PDIX must be linked to your PCSX4 account in order to play games. PDIX is extracted using the userland code execution method. (Thanks to CTurt )

How to extract PDIX?

To extract PDIX, navigate to https://PCSX4.com/extract-pdix on your PS4 web browser.

Issues

"The application was unable to start correctly (0xc000007b)"

Some DirectX files may be missing in your system. Make sure you have DirectX 11.1 platform update KB2670838-x64 installed in your system.

"This programme can't start because MSVCP140.dll is missing."

PCSX4 uses VisualC++2015 for compiling, make sure you have Visual C++2010 redistributable(64-bit) installed in your system.

"This application has failed to start because XINPUT1_3.dll was not found"

PCSX4 requires the latest DirectX runtime, install it to fix this error.

Error 21: Unable to execute "pdix-sniffer" binary from tty/USB0

Make sure you have the “pdix-sniffer” file at the root your flash drive. Your flash drive must be formatted in FAT32 format.

Legal

Can I run pirated games?

No, you cannot run pirated games. PCSX4 is made in such a way that the game cache-image (GCI) is encrypted with a 256-bit header. Because the pdix hash is linked to your PCSX4 account, dumped images are useless. We have a strict policy on piracy. Please buy original games and support their developers.

Can I dump digitally bought games into .pkg.

At this moment, you can only use original PS4 discs with PCSX4. Dumping a digitally purchased game to .pkg from PS4 is not possible, this feature has not been added yet as people will misuse it.

Why is my PCSX4 account banned?

PCSX4 accounts store unique machine-id and PDIX codes for each account. If our system detects any illegal activity, your account and IP-address will be permanently banned from our servers.

Other

Why does this website have advertisements and surveys?

To support the initial development of this project, you may see advertisements and surveys (provided by third parties like Adsense) on this website.