Emulation specs

[Pieter Hulshoff]

I was curious: what specs do you all use for your emulation rigs, and up to what era do you emulate?

I'm currently using a Zotac i68 (mini pc of 10x10x4 cm with core i5 and integrated graphics) for mine, and run up to PS1/GameCube. I'm considering something more powerful to allow PS2 emulation.

[Agent47]

i7 2600k with integrated graphics for me. I can run up to and including PS2/Wii. I can't emulate 3DS or Wii U due to the integrated Intel not supporting a new enough version of OpenGL although without a dedicated gpu it would probably run like crap anyway. But I'm not bothered by that atm, when I eventually snag a new gpu I'll look into it.

That being said, PS2 is pretty demanding in terms of cpu.

[Pieter Hulshoff]

You can run all Wii and PS2 games on that? My reason for asking is I'm considering to grab an i3 7350K and pump it up to 5 GHz, and am hoping that's enough for PS2 and Wii using on-chip graphics.

[JonahUK]

I currently use a G3258 (no O/C) in my cab with a Radeon 6800 HD.

Off the top of my head, I run MAME, Sammy, Daphne, TTX, PSX, PS2, PSP, GC, Wii, N64, NES, SNES, DC, MD, MS and some fully cab-controlled PC stuff (like Injustice, MK Komplete, Ultra SF IV plus some sh'mups such as Crimson Clover etc) on the cab.

Model 2, Model 3 and Naomi have not been tested yet but will eventually.

The only exception to the cab-controlled PC stuff is the PopCap pack for the wife (uses the mouse)!

Never had an issue with any of them and everything is ran at its native resolution of the emulated hardware.
MAME uses HLSL filters and RetroArch uses filters for scanlines and curveture etc.

I know it chokes on SF V though... but no biggie with that one.

[ryuuji]

According to this the ps2 emulator won't use more than 3 cores (hardware-mode) http://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-Absolute-best-CPU-for-emulating-PS2
Here is a list with more processors for ps2 emulation http://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-Low-budget-build-for-pcsx2
Here another list regarding the Wii http://thegeekfix.com/best-hardware-for-dolphin-emulator/

so in other words ... dual/quad-core + high clock speed (that's in the situation where you don't use a gpu)

[Agent47]

You can run all Wii and PS2 games on that? My reason for asking is I'm considering to grab an i3 7350K and pump it up to 5 GHz, and am hoping that's enough for PS2 and Wii using on-chip graphics.

I have the cpu OC'd to 4.3 or 4.6 I believe. Performance will depend on what if any upscaling you're doing and how optimized/demanding the individual games are.

[ThePreserver]

I use a Core i5-4570 @ 3.2 GHz quad-core CPU, AMD Radeon R7 250 GPU, and run low settings,720p/60fps GTA IV, a few other PC games, 720p GameCube/Wii upscaled, classic Nintendo/Sega consoles, and Wii U emulation. custom mini-ITX build in a Cooler Master cube case, but I still find it rather large compared to previous micro-ATX tower PC. I intend on buying a used Alienware Alpha first gen to replace it. weaker cpu but faster gpu, should still run Wii U emulation fine according to youtube videos.

[hundergrn07]

Currently using an AMD A-10 7850k with a GTX 1060 for an all around gaming PC. Runs PS2 and Wii nicely with up scaling requiring a little fiddling depending on the game to keep a steady 60fps. No O/C and the A-10 is definitely causing some bottlenecks, but its my fault for mixing up the socket types when planning an upgrade path and I was able to play PS2, Wii, and PSP emulation on it with some up scaling before the GFX card.

The integrated graphics on the Zotac is most likely the bottleneck with your nostalgia box...  though I wouldnt consider O/C to 5ghz off the bat. Emulators can be finicky with clock speeds and gains depreciate quickly even at stable O/C, step it up and test till you find that sweet spot between the limits of your components. Minor O/C cpu hangs can be quite painful to the ears on pcsx2... check out SimplyAustin on youtube, he has a good supply of setup vids and usualy supplies links to his setup files for easy tweeking.