Glide64 system requierments

[RoelZ]

Heej there ppl!

I'm new to this board, and have to start of with some questions that I have which I can't find the answer anywhere by using google. So I hope some "l33t" ppl here can help me out!

I'm looking for some really good related info about system requierments for emulating N64 on the PC.
I want to buy a standalone PC that is only meant for emulating N64.
So I have to buy new hardware for that. Therefor I'm really curious about which hardware I need to buy will Glide64 (I take that as an example) run smooth with the game that I'll play.

I hope you guys can help me with some info. I'd really appreciate it!

Thanks in advance!

 

[PsyMan]

First of all, there is no way to emulate N64 completely, you are going to have problems (smaller or bigger) despite the harware and software you may have.
A good system which will allow you to run a N64 emulator at reasonable speed must have the following:
a) A fast prossecor (running at about 2-2.5 Ghz)
b) A fast/"plugin compatible" video card (a voodo 4/5 for glide64 or a Geforce 4Ti/FX for other plugins and pixel shader support), Radeon cards do not have as high compatibility as the above cards and other Nvidia cards do not support pixel shaders
c) Enough memory 256-512MB RAM
d) A good sound card (at least a soundblaster live)
e) A stable OS (windows 2000, XP or 2003)
f) A cable to connect N64 controllers to PC
That's all I think, and by the way what l33t and ppl means?

 

[RoelZ]

Thanks for the quick reply PsyMan!

I didn't think it would be that a high-end system for good performance...
Because I already played Mario and Goldeneye with a reasonable fps back in 1999.

Thanks for the tips!
Coz now I know that it's better to use an NVidia then a ATI. However I thought the first glidewrapper was build for an ATI card. But maybe that's just because the creator had one.. who knows.

For the soundcard. I'll be using one onboard, with 5.1 support.

As for the Proc, memory and OS was somehow the same I had in mind (coz there will be running more on that machine).

Is there btw nog an good combination of an emulator with specified plugin's? That is "the best" to use?

And if there are some ppl that also have some thoughts about this, please let me hear! I'd appreciate it!

Thanks in advance!

Btw PsyMan: With "l33t" I mean: 1337 like Elite (everyone on the net has to know this.. common)
And with "ppl" I mean People

 

[gokuss4]

RoelZ, what are your current system specs?

 

[cooliscool]

2GHz? Pj64 ran fine w Glide64 and a Voodoo3 on a P3 Coppermine 733. :\

 

[gokuss4]

yeah n64 emulation on my amd athlon 900mhz and voodoo 3 with glide64 and pj64 ran just fine when i had that system a long time.

 

[Falcon4ever]

2 ghz ?!, Tony Hawk Pro Skater was playable @ full speed with 1964 + Glide64 (voodoo2) + AMD 3dnow2 500 mhz (128 mb ram)

 

[Doomulation]

Indeed. That is overkill.
1 GHz is just about enough to play all games. Even less if you're using a voodoo.
And the plugins don't need pixel shader support. That's just a little extra which only rice's plugin takes usage of.

1 Ghz + 256 mb ram + Gf2 mx would be about the lowest specs. Of course, the gf2mx is crap, but it works for n64 emulation.
If you want other emulation, you might concider a better card at the very least.

 

[vleespet]

A definite answer:

Minimum specs:

PII 400 mhz
64 mb ram
Voodoo video-card

Recommended specs:
PIII 800 mhz
128 mb ram
Voodoo 3 or newer

OR:

Minimum specs:
PIII 600 mhz
96 mb ram
D3D card with 4 mb or more

Recommended specs:
PIII 1 ghz
128 mb ram
Fast d3d card with 32 mb or more (like TNT 2 or Rage 128 and better).

 

[Doomulation]

Taken from the readme, eh?

 

[RoelZ]

Nice to see so many replys hehe

My current specs are:
P4 @ 2.533Mhz
512mb Corsair DDR400
ATI Radeon 9700 Pro
Onboard AC97 soundcard (just stereo)
Windows XP (SP1)

I've used a glidewrapper before (XGL200 I think it was). And in that time I used UltraHLE (just standard (old) version). And it worked perfect!
Now I use Project64 with just the normal settings and plugins that comes with it, in Direct3D. Very nice quality when playing! But some textures are gone. And I got many freezes when playing 2nd level of Goldeneye.
Tried Glide64 with eVoodoo 3.25, but that didn't work though

So yesterday (before I read these replys, hehe) I build a test system.
Specs:
AMD @ 1.400Mhz
512 DDR333
Creative Soundblaster 128
ASUS Geforce 256
Maxi Gamer Voodoo2

Got it all installed under WindowsXP (SP1). Didn't even installed the latest drivers (Forceware) from Nvidia! And tried Project64 on D3D, and it worked amazingly gooood! I few fps drops when in big area's (in Goldeneye) But every texture was perfect!
Then I've tried (after a few screw-up's) to run in Glide, with the Glide64 0.7 plugin. But then I noticed Goldeneye was missing much lightseffects. Is that possible when playing in Glide instead of D3D? I've read something about it, but it's not really clear to me, coz I see the most "diehard" emu gamers play with a Voodoo card. So my question is, why?

Also I care the most for games like: Mario64, Zelda OOT, Goldeneye and Perfect Dark.
I've read much about Perfect Dark, that many plugin's have made it stable to run, even with that lens effect what you'll get when in spy-cam. But that, I have to try out tonight.

Anyways, what my real goal is here, to build a barebone PC (those Mini ATX cases) solder those controller ports inside, so that I can put ANY controller (SNES, N64, PSX/PS2, XBOX and USB devices) to that box, and run all those emulators. (NES, SNES, MAME, N64 and maybe even Bleem!)
So that's why I really have to test much settings.

Now my last question (yeah I'm sorry... this is gonna be a real long post)
I've bought a iNNOVATE Smart Joy Controller converter...
It's a MIDI/GAME PORT controller, where you can connect a PSX/PS2 and/or N64 controller.
It didn't came with there own drivers, but instead they use the standard Joystick controller drivers from Windows.
When I do that I only have 4 buttons to calibrate...
I've searched on the net, and found 3 drivers:

Dpad Pro
NTpad
PSXpad

With none of that I was able to get it to work under WinXP (SP1)...
Now I was hoping if there are some ppl here that have some experiance with this.
Maybe it's the wrong thread for this, please just tell me so, then I'll post it somewhere else on the board.

I really hope some ppl can help me with some info. And you guys already did with the specs!! Thanks!

 

[RoelZ]

btw: I started this topic with : Glide64 System Requierments.
When I wrote that, I didn't knew it was just a plugin.... :shame:

So better make it Project64 or UltraHLE... or just simply: N64 emulation system requierments... heh..

Just had to say..

 

[PsyMan]

In order to avoid confusions, I must tell you that when I said that you are going to need a 2-2.5 Ghz prossecor I mean that you need it for good performace while using counter factor 1 and disabling advance block linking (which makes some games run more smoothly) and for higher framerates while using filtering (like 2xsai).
RoelZ, you have a good system (well except from your GFX card which is not very compatible with current plugins), you may also want to buy a PCI voodoo 3 card (I don't know if a PCI voodoo 4/5 exist) for glide support (the only way to use glide with a non voodoo card is by using a glidewrapper, and of course many effect will be missing as you already noticed). Most emu gamers use a voodoo card simply because is more compatible than others.
Btw: I know what l33t and ppl means I just didn't remember that day
P.S: As for your joypad adaptor try clicking here
P.S.No2: Take it easy guys, of course N64 emulation is possible to even lower spec. systems (even at full speed sometimes), I just want RoelZ to have the best possible experience (right after a real N64 of course).

 

[Doomulation]

Dude, pj64 works perfect with the core in most games. In that case, you don't need a 2 ghz processor. That would just be good if you had it.
I don't know, but a 1 ghz processor is suitable for most retro emulation at least.

 

[PsyMan]

Dude, pj64 works perfect with the core in most games. In that case, you don't need a 2 ghz processor. That would just be good if you had it.
I don't know, but a 1 ghz processor is suitable for most retro emulation at least.

I know, I know. Most games run fine even on my crappy Athlon with CF:3 and advance block linking on, but not all of them. For some games (like goldeneye and perfect dark) a reasonably fast CPU is required in order to achieve good quality and of course to use CF:1 and turn off advance block linking without speed loss.
Keep in mind that even by using the latest 1964 version goldeneye is jerky while using CF:3 and slow when using CF:1.

 

[cooliscool]

In order to avoid confusions, I must tell you that when I said that you are going to need a 2-2.5 Ghz prossecor I mean that you need it for good performace while using counter factor 1 and disabling advance block linking (which makes some games run more smoothly) and for higher framerates while using filtering (like 2xsai).
RoelZ, you have a good system (well except from your GFX card which is not very compatible with current plugins), you may also want to buy a PCI voodoo 3 card (I don't know if a PCI voodoo 4/5 exist) for glide support (the only way to use glide with a non voodoo card is by using a glidewrapper, and of course many effect will be missing as you already noticed). Most emu gamers use a voodoo card simply because is more compatible than others.
Btw: I know what l33t and ppl means I just didn't remember that day
P.S: As for your joypad adaptor try clicking here
P.S.No2: Take it easy guys, of course N64 emulation is possible to even lower spec. systems (even at full speed sometimes), I just want RoelZ to have the best possible experience (right after a real N64 of course).

Um, no? My 1.2GHz Celeron Tualatin runs PJ64 just fine, CF1 with or without advanced block linking. And that's at 1.2GHz, I have it OC'd to 1.75GHz.

 

[Clements]

2.5GHz+ would be only great for running those games marked 'slow' and high system requirement games (cough Goldeneye 007) at a better speed. The actual requirements for most games is much lower at standard resolutions and settings.

Plus, since Glide64 is arguably the fastest graphics plugin for N64 emulators using the fast Glide API which has similar abilities to the N64's own graphics capabilities, the CPU can be even slower than some of the other plugins need. (Providing you are not using eVoodoo obviously)

 

[RoelZ]

2.5GHz+ would be only great for running those games marked 'slow' and high system requirement games (cough Goldeneye 007) at a better speed. The actual requirements for most games is much lower at standard resolutions and settings.

Plus, since Glide64 is arguably the fastest graphics plugin for N64 emulators using the fast Glide API which has similar abilities to the N64's own graphics capabilities, the CPU can be even slower than some of the other plugins need. (Providing you are not using eVoodoo obviously)

Hmmm very helpful, very helpful indeed! I'll take this into my research!!
Gonna test some today with 1964 and the Glide64 and Rice plugin.
Thanks for the tips with Block Linking and CF:1 and CF:3. Gonna try that also.

btw: Perfect Dark runs great! In D3D (and Glide) On my machine I can't seem to see a FPS difference between my GeForce 256 and my Voodoo2. Very weird. Looks somehow it's maxed by my Proc...
Very weird.. but I'm gonna try a Geforce4 soon.

Thanks for the many tips here in this thread!