diff --git a/Source/Core/DolphinLib.x64.props b/Source/Core/DolphinLib.x64.props
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
+<Project>
   <ItemGroup>
     <ClInclude Include="Common\x64ABI.h" />
     <ClInclude Include="Common\x64Emitter.h" />

diff --git a/Source/Core/DolphinNoGUI/DolphinNoGUI.vcxproj b/Source/Core/DolphinNoGUI/DolphinNoGUI.vcxproj
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<Project DefaultTargets="Build" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
+<Project>
   <Import Project="..\..\VSProps\Base.Macros.props" />
   <Import Project="$(VSPropsDir)Base.Targets.props" />
   <PropertyGroup Label="Globals">

diff --git a/Source/Core/DolphinNoGUI/DolphinNoGUI.vcxproj.filters b/Source/Core/DolphinNoGUI/DolphinNoGUI.vcxproj.filters
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<Project ToolsVersion="4.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
+<Project>
   <ItemGroup>
     <ClCompile Include="Platform.cpp" />
     <ClCompile Include="PlatformHeadless.cpp" />

diff --git a/Source/Core/DolphinQt/DolphinQt.vcxproj b/Source/Core/DolphinQt/DolphinQt.vcxproj
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<Project DefaultTargets="Build" ToolsVersion="15.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
+<Project>
   <Import Project="..\..\VSProps\Base.Macros.props" />
   <Import Project="$(VSPropsDir)Base.Targets.props" />
   <PropertyGroup Label="Globals">

diff --git a/Source/Core/DolphinQt/DolphinQt.vcxproj.user b/Source/Core/DolphinQt/DolphinQt.vcxproj.user
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<Project ToolsVersion="15.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
+<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
   <PropertyGroup>
     <LocalDebuggerCommand>$(BinaryOutputDir)$(TargetFileName)</LocalDebuggerCommand>
     <DebuggerFlavor>WindowsLocalDebugger</DebuggerFlavor>

diff --git a/Source/Core/DolphinTool/DolphinTool.filters b/Source/Core/DolphinTool/DolphinTool.filters
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<Project ToolsVersion="4.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
+<Project>
   <ItemGroup>
     <ClCompile Include="ConvertCommand.cpp" />
     <ClCompile Include="VerifyCommand.cpp" />

diff --git a/Source/Core/DolphinTool/DolphinTool.vcxproj b/Source/Core/DolphinTool/DolphinTool.vcxproj
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<Project DefaultTargets="Build" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
+<Project>
   <Import Project="..\..\VSProps\Base.Macros.props" />
   <Import Project="$(VSPropsDir)Base.Targets.props" />
   <PropertyGroup Label="Globals">

diff --git a/Source/Core/WinUpdater/WinUpdater.vcxproj b/Source/Core/WinUpdater/WinUpdater.vcxproj
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<Project DefaultTargets="Build" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
+<Project>
   <Import Project="..\..\VSProps\Base.Macros.props" />
   <Import Project="$(VSPropsDir)Base.Targets.props" />
   <PropertyGroup Label="Globals">

diff --git a/Source/Core/WinUpdater/WinUpdater.vcxproj.filters b/Source/Core/WinUpdater/WinUpdater.vcxproj.filters
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<Project ToolsVersion="4.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
+<Project>
   <ItemGroup>
     <ClCompile Include="Main.cpp" />
     <ClCompile Include="WinUI.cpp" />

diff --git a/Source/DSPSpy/DSPSpy.vcxproj b/Source/DSPSpy/DSPSpy.vcxproj
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<Project DefaultTargets="Build" ToolsVersion="4.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
+<Project>
   <ItemGroup Label="ProjectConfigurations">
     <ProjectConfiguration Include="GC|Win32">
       <Configuration>GC</Configuration>

diff --git a/Source/DSPSpy/DSPSpy.vcxproj.filters b/Source/DSPSpy/DSPSpy.vcxproj.filters
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<Project ToolsVersion="4.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
+<Project>
   <ItemGroup>
     <Filter Include="tests">
       <UniqueIdentifier>{14442340-8be2-4dcf-93f5-421cce23dd31}</UniqueIdentifier>

diff --git a/Source/DSPTool/DSPTool.vcxproj b/Source/DSPTool/DSPTool.vcxproj
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<Project DefaultTargets="Build" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
+<Project>
   <Import Project="..\VSProps\Base.Macros.props" />
   <Import Project="$(VSPropsDir)Base.Targets.props" />
   <PropertyGroup Label="Globals">

diff --git a/Source/DSPTool/DSPTool.vcxproj.filters b/Source/DSPTool/DSPTool.vcxproj.filters
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<Project ToolsVersion="15.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
+<Project>
   <ItemGroup>
     <Filter Include="TestData">
       <UniqueIdentifier>{0b70242b-1d98-432f-a60e-d4ca0674852e}</UniqueIdentifier>

diff --git a/Source/PCH/pch.vcxproj b/Source/PCH/pch.vcxproj
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<Project DefaultTargets="Build" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
+<Project>
   <Import Project="..\VSProps\Base.Macros.props" />
   <Import Project="$(VSPropsDir)Base.Targets.props" />
   <PropertyGroup Label="Globals">

diff --git a/Source/UnitTests/Common/x64EmitterTest.cpp b/Source/UnitTests/Common/x64EmitterTest.cpp
@@ -19,6 +19,11 @@
 #include "Common/StringUtil.h"
 #include "Common/x64Emitter.h"
 
+#ifdef _MSC_VER
+// This file is extremely slow to optimize (40s on amd 3990x), so just disable optimizations
+#pragma optimize("", off)
+#endif
+
 namespace Gen
 {
 struct NamedReg
@@ -1243,3 +1248,7 @@ FMA4_TEST(VFMADDSUB, P, true)
 FMA4_TEST(VFMSUBADD, P, true)
 
 }  // namespace Gen
+
+#ifdef _MSC_VER
+#pragma optimize("", on)
+#endif
diff --git a/Source/UnitTests/UnitTests.vcxproj b/Source/UnitTests/UnitTests.vcxproj
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<Project DefaultTargets="Build" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
+<Project>
   <Import Project="..\VSProps\Base.Macros.props" />
   <Import Project="$(VSPropsDir)Base.Targets.props" />
   <PropertyGroup Label="Globals">

diff --git a/Source/UnitTests/UnitTests.vcxproj.user b/Source/UnitTests/UnitTests.vcxproj.user
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<Project ToolsVersion="15.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
+<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
   <PropertyGroup>
     <!--For some stupid reason this has to be in the .user file...-->
     <!--This is only used to allow UnitTests to find OpenAL DLL...kinda hacky-->

diff --git a/Source/VSProps/Base.Macros.props b/Source/VSProps/Base.Macros.props
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
+<Project>
   <PropertyGroup Label="UserMacros">
     <DolphinRelease Condition="'$(DolphinRelease)'!='true' or '$(Configuration)'!='Release'">false</DolphinRelease>
     <TargetSuffix></TargetSuffix>

diff --git a/Source/VSProps/Base.Targets.props b/Source/VSProps/Base.Targets.props
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
+<Project>
   <ItemGroup Label="ProjectConfigurations">
     <ProjectConfiguration Include="Debug|ARM64">
       <Configuration>Debug</Configuration>

diff --git a/Source/VSProps/Base.props b/Source/VSProps/Base.props
@@ -1,12 +1,20 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
+<Project>
   <Import Project="Base.Macros.props" Condition="'$(BaseMacrosImported)'==''" />
   <PropertyGroup>
     <IntDir>$(BuildRootDir)$(Platform)\$(Configuration)\$(ProjectName)\</IntDir>
     <OutDir>$(IntDir)bin\</OutDir>
     <TargetName Condition="'$(ConfigurationType)'=='Application'">$(ProjectName)$(TargetSuffix)</TargetName>
     <!--Set link /INCREMENTAL:NO to remove some entropy from builds (assists with deterministic build)-->
     <LinkIncremental>false</LinkIncremental>
+    <!--
+      This works around some dependency tracking bugs where msbuild sees project outputs (object files) as inputs
+      to that same project, causing unstable build. see https://developercommunity.visualstudio.com/t/1703887
+      It also tends to poorly predict how much resources will actually be used in solutions with many diverse
+      project sizes (like dolphin...)
+      TODO This should be the default behavior in VS 17.2
+      -->
+    <UseMSBuildResourceManager>false</UseMSBuildResourceManager>
   </PropertyGroup>
   <ItemDefinitionGroup>
     <!--ClCompile Base-->

diff --git a/Source/VSProps/ClDisableAllWarnings.props b/Source/VSProps/ClDisableAllWarnings.props
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<Project ToolsVersion="15.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
+<Project>
   <ImportGroup Label="PropertySheets" />
   <PropertyGroup Label="UserMacros" />
   <ItemDefinitionGroup>

diff --git a/Source/VSProps/Configuration.Application.props b/Source/VSProps/Configuration.Application.props
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
+<Project>
   <Import Project="Configuration.Base.props" />
   <PropertyGroup Label="Configuration">
     <ConfigurationType>Application</ConfigurationType>

diff --git a/Source/VSProps/Configuration.Base.props b/Source/VSProps/Configuration.Base.props
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
+<Project>
   <PropertyGroup Label="Configuration">
     <PlatformToolset>v143</PlatformToolset>
     <CharacterSet>Unicode</CharacterSet>

diff --git a/Source/VSProps/Configuration.StaticLibrary.props b/Source/VSProps/Configuration.StaticLibrary.props
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
+<Project>
   <Import Project="Configuration.Base.props" />
   <PropertyGroup Label="Configuration">
     <ConfigurationType>StaticLibrary</ConfigurationType>

diff --git a/Source/VSProps/Configuration.Utility.props b/Source/VSProps/Configuration.Utility.props
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
+<Project>
   <Import Project="Configuration.Base.props" />
   <PropertyGroup Label="Configuration">
     <ConfigurationType>Utility</ConfigurationType>

diff --git a/Source/VSProps/PCHCommon.props b/Source/VSProps/PCHCommon.props
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<Project ToolsVersion="15.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
+<Project>
   <ImportGroup Label="PropertySheets" />
   <PropertyGroup Label="UserMacros" />
   <ItemDefinitionGroup>

diff --git a/Source/VSProps/PCHCreate.props b/Source/VSProps/PCHCreate.props
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<Project ToolsVersion="15.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
+<Project>
   <ImportGroup Label="PropertySheets">
     <Import Project="PCHCommon.props" />
   </ImportGroup>

diff --git a/Source/VSProps/PCHUse.props b/Source/VSProps/PCHUse.props
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<Project ToolsVersion="15.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
+<Project>
   <ImportGroup Label="PropertySheets">
     <Import Project="Base.Macros.props" Condition="'$(BaseMacrosImported)'==''" />
     <Import Project="PCHCommon.props" />

diff --git a/Source/VSProps/QtCompile.props b/Source/VSProps/QtCompile.props
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
+<Project>
   <PropertyGroup Label="UserMacros">
     <QTDIRDefault Condition="'$(Platform)'=='x64'">$(ExternalsDir)Qt\Qt5.15.0\msvc2019_64\</QTDIRDefault>
     <QTDIRDefault Condition="'$(Platform)'=='ARM64'">$(ExternalsDir)Qt\Qt5.15.0\msvc2019_arm64\</QTDIRDefault>

diff --git a/Source/VSProps/qt_globals.targets b/Source/VSProps/qt_globals.targets
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
 /// Qt/MSBuild global definitions
 ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 // -->
-<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
+<Project>
 
   <!--
   /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

diff --git a/Source/VSProps/qt_tasks.targets b/Source/VSProps/qt_tasks.targets
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
 ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 // Helper inline tasks used by the Qt/MSBuild targets
 // -->
-<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
+<Project>
 
   <!--
   /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

diff --git a/Source/VSProps/qtmoc.props b/Source/VSProps/qtmoc.props
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
 ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 // Qt/MSBuild moc property definitions
 // -->
-<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
+<Project>
   <!--
   /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
   // Import pre-requisites

diff --git a/Source/VSProps/qtmoc.targets b/Source/VSProps/qtmoc.targets
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
 // Definitions specific to moc
 ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 // -->
-<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
+<Project>
   <!--
   /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
   // Import pre-requisites

diff --git a/Source/VSProps/qtmoc_cl.targets b/Source/VSProps/qtmoc_cl.targets
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
     **
     *****************************************************************************
 -->
-<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
+<Project>
   <Target Name="QtMocOverrideCpp" DependsOnTargets="QtMocPrepare;QtGetDefaultClCompile"
     Inputs="%(QtMoc.Identity)" Outputs="@(QtMoc->'####### Don't skip this target #######')">