[Build] Best OS + configuration for a dedicated emulation system?

[FliccC]

Hi!

I have built computer systems before, but I have not followed the developments of recent years. Also I haven't found any in-depth documentation on this, so I'd be thankful if you could help me get up-to-date.

I'm looking into building a media-center type of computer that sits next to my TV and is a dedicated emulation system. The systems I'd like to emulate would be Gameboy, NES, SNES, Megadrive & Playstation. Also interesting would be Gamecube, Wii, PS2, but I believe these would eventually drive up the prices a little bit too much. The system should be entirely maneuverable via bluetooth controllers (I have a couple of PS3 controllers, so they should do).

I have seen projects of this kind based on Win7 and Linux. There are also solutions for the Raspberry Pi, Retropie for example is very interesting. However I kind of doubt that a Raspberry Pi will be sufficient in emulating Playstation games.

Where to get started? What are the more streamlined solutions for doing something like this? What OS and Hardware would be good/sufficient?

Best

 

[CCTEX]

Hi!

I have built computer systems before, but I have not followed the developments of recent years. Also I haven't found any in-depth documentation on this, so I'd be thankful if you could help me get up-to-date.

I'm looking into building a media-center type of computer that sits next to my TV and is a dedicated emulation system. The systems I'd like to emulate would be Gameboy, NES, SNES, Megadrive & Playstation. Also interesting would be Gamecube, Wii, PS2, but I believe these would eventually drive up the prices a little bit too much. The system should be entirely maneuverable via bluetooth controllers (I have a couple of PS3 controllers, so they should do).

I have seen projects of this kind based on Win7 and Linux. There are also solutions for the Raspberry Pi, Retropie for example is very interesting. However I kind of doubt that a Raspberry Pi will be sufficient in emulating Playstation games.

Where to get started? What are the more streamlined solutions for doing something like this? What OS and Hardware would be good/sufficient?

Best

Are you dead set on building the computer vs purchasing retail? How much do you intend to spend? For OS, I would recommend Windows 7 64 bit. A dedicated NVIDIA graphics card too, regardless of your budget.

 

[emusa]

Hi!
I'm looking into building a media-center type of computer that sits next to my TV and is a dedicated emulation system. The systems I'd like to emulate would be Gameboy, NES, SNES, Megadrive & Playstation. Also interesting would be Gamecube, Wii, PS2, but I believe these would eventually drive up the prices a little bit too much. The system should be entirely maneuverable via bluetooth controllers (I have a couple of PS3 controllers, so they should do).

You are right; emulating Gamecube / Wii and PS2 requires more hardware power than Gameboy, NES, SNES, Megadrive and PSX.

The emulators you'll want to use imo, are the following:
Gamecube / Wii: Dolphin
PS2: PCSX2
Gameboy / Gameboy color / Gameboy Advance: VisualBoyAdvance-M
NES: Nestopia
SNES: Bsnes (use v0.84 for balanced accuracy-performance)
Megadrive / MegaCD / 32X: Kega Fusion
PSX: Xebra (accurate emulation) or ePSXe (higher res. rendering and gfx filters)

To be able to run all of these without any real problems, I would recommend at least:
- Intel i5 3750k CPU or newer (no AMD = sucks for emulation)
- Nvidia GTX770 / AMD HD7950 or newer
- 8gb DDR3 RAM
- Windows 7 x64, windows 8.1 x64 (windows 10 still has some issues with certain emulators)

This way you'll be able to render Gamecube/Wii games @ very nice settings, with added gfx effects like per-pixel lighting. anti-aliasing and an internal resolution up to 4k. PS2 emulation through PCSX2 requires the most power at the moment, mainly because it it's nowhere as optimized or well developed as Dolphin. But with the above mentioned hardware configuration, you'll get to play lots of games just fine. Don't be mistaken about Bsnes or Xebra neither; it requires lots of CPU power, since it very accurate emulation.

________

If you don't need accurate emulation and just want to play games, without much accuracy: buy a raspberry PI 2. Beware though, PS2 and Wii / Gamecube emulation are out of the question with this (limited) setup.

Watch the following video to get an idea of what's possible with a raspberry PI 2:L


Good luck with it!

 

[FliccC]

Thx Emusa! That's actually really helpful for starting!

I was looking at components and I came up with this plan:

CPU Intel Pentium G3460 2x 3.50GHz (Socket 1150)
Mainboard ASUS H97I-Plus (mini ITX)
RAM GeIL 8GB DDR-1600
SSD SanDisk Z400s 256GB M.2
CPU Cooler Corsair Hydro H60
Power Supply SilverStone Strider Gold 450W SFX12V
Case Fractal Design Node 202 mini ITX
Price ~580 EUR

I was looking for parts that would allow me to play up to Wii and PS2 games, while still staying silent, small and relatively cheap. Here's my reasoning for choosing these parts:

Since most emulators only work single threaded, multi-core processors won't actually benefit the emulations. The G3460 is a tier 2 dual core CPU that has reasonably high single-thread performance at a low budget (~70 EUR). I assumed that for most emulators you won't need a dedicated graphics card, because the graphics chip is emulated, instead you need raw processing power, so I skipped the graphics card entirely. If I find out that the integrated Intel HD Graphics won't be sufficient, I can still install a graphics card later. Also I read somewhere that emulations usually don't need a lot of RAM, so I picked 8GB of RAM just to be on the safe side.

Everything else is probably way over the top. The SSD is M.2 which is totally not necessary but this way it'll boot fast. The case is of course my personal taste, and could be cheaper as well.

As a Frontend I'd use XBMC / Kodi on Windows 8.

Pretty sexy I think :satisfied

 

[emusa]

It looks pretty good!

You are right about most emulators being single core oriented. Though Dolphin and pcsx2 cán use multiple cores; for example in pcsx2 software-mode you really need 4 cores to achieve good framerates.

And remember; you will need a decent (dedicated) GPU if you want to emulate Wii/GameCube and PS2 with nice settings (plus the great arcade and Dreamcast emulator Demul needs a good GPU as well..).

 

[FliccC]

Hmm, thx for your feedback, didn't know about the pcsx2 multi-core support. I guess I'll have to experiment a bit first.