PC for emulators.
Well i decided to build a pc(from old pc's/pc parts i have lying around)for running emulators(psx,dreamcast,and older),and also for storing/watching old movies/tv shows(i will be hooking it up to my tv) from the 90's,what would you guys say should be my BARE minimum specs needed to run those emulators @ full speed?Also what would be a good name for a project like that?
Ya'll are stupid
At least 2 GB Ram and 3 Ghz Processor speed.
That's my specs, but not the minimum, but I think you might also try emulating PS2, and those are bare minimum for PS2 I get 60 fps most of the time on games that aren't really graphics intensive.
Well i've tried to run a ps2 emulator on my gaming pc(c2q q9450 2.66,4gb of ddr2 1066mhz ram,9600gt 1gb),and everything is laggy, but the pc i was thinking of using for the emulators is a:p4 w/HT 3.0ghz,2gb of ddr2 667mhz,7900gs 256mb,which i'm guessing there is no way i could run a ps2 emulator on that pc? lol what would be a good name for this project? i've been think about naming it "the nostalgia box" if you can think of a better name let me know lol.
Senior Member
What game are you playing and what are the settings for your emulator? Graphic intensive is a very loose opinion so there isn't a real way gauge that advice. Also if your settings are at the bare minimum (disabled sound, .etc), that will make a big difference as well.Originally Posted by Nemesis
The majority of emulators out there can only handle two cores in a processor. Also with emulation, the higher your Ghz the better (around 3.2ghz is great) followed by a video card rating of 1200 (GTS 450 or better). RAM is not as important, but is mainly dependent on your OS since some use more than others. 2GB-4GB is ideal. Next are your settings. Set the settings to equal the original properties of every system (I believe emuparadise has the original specs of every system but you can find them online) and work from there. Those are most general guidelines I can say without knowing exactly how pretty you want those games to look on your screen.
Ya'll are stupid
I have sound on.
But yeah, youshould always use a duo core for emulating. And by not very graphics intensive, I'm talking about Persona 4.
beepboop
My laptop runs PSX and older perfect.
1GB RAM, 1.73GHZ single core processor, Intel GMA965 GPU.
So it doesnt have to be very much.
not actually a catgirl
He said PSX, Dreamcast and older.
Like Worm said, it doesn't have to be much. The PC you have now will most likely be enough. 3GHz or more applies to PS2/GC/Wii games in general.
Last edited by Gare; 15th-June-2011 at 19:54.
beepboop
Although this may be true, my lappy still cant handle DC games too well.He said PSX, Dreamcast and older.
Like Worm said, it doesn't have to be much. The PC you have now will most likely be enough. 3GHz or more applies to PS2/GC/Wii games in general.
So, slightly above my specs would be ideal.
Banned
I dont really bother with the PSX and above Generation emulated systems. But I'm pretty sure Nemo you dont need a GT 440 card for emulators, ya crazy bastard. any decent last-gen 25 quid card on fleabay will do.
Also about speed (GHz), is contrary to the system. because an older system will need a 3ghz or round abouts cpu, but newer more modern systems wont. Cpu speed is determined by the overall FSB over multipler to give its operating speed. So Cpu's like Core 2 or even a newer Corei5 cpu have much faster operating speeds because their core architectures are much more modern meaning faster calulations, also ram and memory timings much much faster and the fact the FSB is 2x-3x faster means they could be clocked at 2Ghz and still run faster than a Pentium 4 at 4GHz. So they dont need to run very fast at all to out perform an older pc running much much faster clockspeed.
So it really is dependant on the type of system you are building, if its older pc you are putting together, something like a P4 or Athlon cpu, then higher GHz is better, but if iyou're thinking of putting together a more modern system then it can have a lot less clock speed and give the same results.
Senior Member
From the initial guides to running a PS2 emulator, they stated you need a 7600 GT (this was from 2007) for good frame rates of games that didn't require a lot of effort. I prefer to overkill when the parts are cheap enough to warrant overkill. Right now if you want to buy a brand new 7600 GT, it'll cost $30 less than a 450 GTS and the 450 GTS will perform about 5 times the rate of that 7600 GT. If you want to buy used, the 7600 GT will be less than $40. Of course the real needs for purchase does depend on the equipment he already has. Until that is answered, we won't be able to provide a complete guide for his system.
You are right though Rat, a 450 is overkill.
Emuparadise Infected User
If you are going cheap, then yes, a single core cpu like a Pentium 4 would be cheaper. A basic graphics card like the Nvidia series would be anything below the *600 lines, so a 8200/8400/9200/9400 would be dirt cheap as well. The highest amount of ram needed for your basic 32bit OS would be 3GB.
My recommendation for super low cost (~$200);
CPU: Pentium 4 (3Ghz to 3.8Ghz)
GPU: Nvidia (8400 or 9400)
RAM: 3GB (DDR2 or DDR3)
PSU: 350 watt or higher
This will allow you to play at pretty much fullspeed... NES, Genesis, Snes, MSX, PCEngine, SegaCD/32x, DOSBox, PSX, Saturn (some games), N64, Dreamcast (some games), pre-2006 PC games. This will not emulate the following PS2, Gamecube, NDS, etc... very well.
If you can spend a little more money, throwing in a Nvidia 8800/9800 would upgrade it to a Saturn, Dreamcast, PS2 (some games), pre-2008 PC games, capable desktop PC.
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Why a Pentium 4? You can get old Core 2 Duos for next to nothing now since they're being phased out in favour of the i3/i5/i7 processors.
Emuparadise Infected User
I suppose a Core 2 Duo with a minimum of ~2Ghz a core would run circles around any P4...
But last time I checked (tax season before last), they were still in the over $100 range.
I suppose with a little bit of patience (ebay/amazon), you could snag a C2D, and a compatible motherboard.
Banned
You are right Virii, some of the stores sell C2D's and motherboards for same prices they were years back.... the E8600 is selling for near enough the Core i5 price ffs!, and the old gigabyte EP45 boards are the same price as newer boards lol. I suppose its just like ram pricing, now that DDR3 is selling for buttons, the DDR2 ram is now rising in price lol, and DDR1 is sooo badly overpriced... obviously demand goes up for people looking to upgrade their older systems.
Remember there is the old 65nm C2D's and the newer 45nm C2D's.. make sure you know what to look for if going C2D, and what board to buy, as some older C2D m'boards wont take the newer 45nm.. its a difference of the older having 4mb L2 cache versus 6mb L2 cache on newer ones and ofcourse some performance and overclocking potential, so prices get steep....
But why don't you hoke around for a complete system, instead of buying parts online?
That is what I usually do if looking something to start a build. I use Gumtree, where you can pick up a modern pc for as cheap as 150 if you look real hard, and then what I do is split up the parts for a good system. So then sell the useless parts in different places, either in the local ads paper or ebay. You can get better deals this way because some people don't have a clue what their system maybe worth, and end up selling it at a bargin price.
Last edited by Constipated Rat; 26th-June-2011 at 22:55.
Well the pc i'm using right now for it is a P4 530 3.0 ghz w/HT (lga755, but can only support p4's),2gb of ddr2 667mhz ram, and a 256mb 8500gt,what is the newest game system i can emulate with it?
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