https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=Windows+Whistler&feedformat=atomEmulation General Wiki - User contributions [en]2024-03-28T13:21:17ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.32.0https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=Game_Boy/Game_Boy_Color_emulators&diff=29315Game Boy/Game Boy Color emulators2019-04-14T08:31:37Z<p>Windows Whistler: /* Emulators */ don't remove</p>
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<div>{{Infobox console<br />
|title = Nintendo Game Boy/Color<br />
|logo = Game_Boy.png<br />
|developer = [[:Nintendo]]<br />
|type = [[:Category:Consoles|Handheld game console]]<br />
|generation = [[:Category:Fourth-generation video game consoles|Fourth generation]]<br />
|release = 1989<br />
|discontinued = 2003<br />
|predecessor = [[Game & Watch]]<br />
|successor = [[Virtual Boy emulators|Virtual Boy]]<br />
|emulated = {{✓}}<br />
}}<br />
The '''[[wikipedia:Game Boy|Game Boy]]''' (GB) and '''[[wikipedia:Game Boy Color|Game Boy Color]]''' (GBC) are 8-bit, fourth-generation handheld consoles released by Nintendo on July 31, 1989 and November 18, 1998 respectively and retailed for <abbr title="($182.24 in 2018 money)">$89.95</abbr> . The Game Boy has a Sharp LR35902 core CPU at 4.19 MHz. It had a monochrome display that could show only two colors, black and white (though the white was more green). The Game Boy Color has a Sharp LR35902 core CPU at 4.19 MHz and 8.38 MHz. It was named such from its color screen, but it also had a larger memory size and a double-clocked CPU. The hardware similarities allow cross-compatibility between the two platforms and they are often treated as one. They would both be succeeded by the backward-compatible [[Game Boy Advance emulators|Game Boy Advance]].<br />
<br />
Nintendo re-released the console as the '''Game Boy Pocket''' in 1996, with a more compact body and a better screen. A front light was added to a special edition of the Pocket in Japan called the '''Game Boy Light''', a feature that wouldn't be seen outside of Japan until the Game Boy Advance SP.<br />
<br />
Nintendo released a peripheral for the [[Super Nintendo emulators|Super Nintendo Entertainment System]] called [[wikipedia:Super Game Boy|Super Game Boy]] in June 1994, which was modeled like a cartridge but included its own cartridge slot for Game Boy/Color games, as well as the hardware needed to translate the games. Many Game Boy/Color emulators offer at least some of the special features it included, such as added borders, colorization, custom button mappings, and other features. It was possible to link, but without the external port, as well as errors in the CPU, it would not be feasible to the end user. These issues would later be corrected in the Japan-exclusive Super Game Boy 2.<br />
<br />
==Emulators==<br />
Because of how relatively easy popular 8-bit consoles are to emulate, tons of Game Boy emulators exist. For a list of open-source projects, see [https://github.com/search?o=desc&q=gameboy+emulator&s=updated&type=Repositories&utf8=%E2%9C%93 this GitHub query]. For a list of accuracy tests, see [[GB/C Tests]].<br />
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"<br />
! scope="col"|Name<br />
! scope="col"|Operating System(s)<br />
! scope="col"|Latest Version<br />
! scope="col"|Game Link Support<br />
! scope="col"|[[libretro|Libretro Core]]<br />
! scope="col"|Active<br />
! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]<br />
|-<br />
!colspan="7"|PC<br />
|-<br />
|[[SameBoy]]<br />
|Multi-platform<br />
|[https://sameboy.github.io/downloads/ {{SameBoyVer}}]<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}<br />
|-<br />
|[[BGB]]<br />
|Windows<br />
|[http://bgb.bircd.org/#downloads 1.5.7]<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}<br />
|-<br />
|[[Gambatte]]<br />
|Windows, Linux, macOS<br />
|[https://sourceforge.net/projects/gambatte/files/gambatte/ r571]<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}}<br />
|-<br />
|[[Gearboy]]<br />
|Multi-platform<br />
|[https://github.com/drhelius/Gearboy/releases 2.3.1]<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}<br />
|-<br />
|[http://emulicious.net Emulicious]<br />
|Multi-platform<br />
|[https://emulicious.net/downloads/ {{EmuliciousVer}}]<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}<br />
|-<br />
|[[BizHawk]]<br />
|Windows<br />
|[http://tasvideos.org/BizHawk/ReleaseHistory.html {{BizHawkVer}}]<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
|UGE<br />
|Windows<br />
|[https://github.com/superdisk/uge WIP]<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
|[https://fms.komkon.org/VGB/ VGB]<br />
|Multi-platform<br />
|[https://fms.komkon.org/VGB/ 5.6]<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}<br />
|-<br />
|[[GBE+]]<br />
|Windows, Linux, macOS (untested)<br />
|[https://github.com/shonumi/gbe-plus/releases {{GBEVer}}]<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
|[[higan]]<br />
|Windows, Linux, macOS<br />
|[http://byuu.org/emulation/higan/ {{higanVer}}]<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
|[[MAME]]<br />
|Multi-platform<br />
|[http://www.mamedev.org/release.html {{MAMEVer}}]<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
|[[mGBA]]<br />
|Multi-platform<br />
|[https://mgba.io/downloads.html {{MGBAVer}}]<br />
|? ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
|[[VisualBoy Advance|VisualBoy Advance-M (VBA-M)]]<br />
|Multi-platform<br />
|[https://github.com/visualboyadvance-m/visualboyadvance-m/releases {{VBAMVer}}]<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}}<ref group=N name=one>A VBA-M libretro core does exist, but it only emulates GBA.</ref> ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
|[[Pantheon]]<br />
|Windows<br />
|[http://bostjan-grandovec.si/Content/News.htm {{PantheonVer}}]<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
|[http://hhug.me/ hhugboy]<br />
|Windows<br />
|[https://github.com/tzlion/hhugboy/releases/tag/v1.2.7 1.2.7]<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
|[[KiGB]]<br />
|Windows, Linux, macOS<br />
|[http://kigb.emuunlim.com/downloads.htm 2.05]<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
|[[TGB Dual]]<br />
|Windows, Linux<ref group=N name=two>As an SDL port (and the [[libretro]] core is based on this version).</ref><br />
|[https://github.com/libertyernie/tgbdual_L/releases "L" v1.2]<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}}<ref group=N name=two /> ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
|GiiBiiAdvance<br />
|Windows, Linux<br />
|[https://github.com/AntonioND/giibiiadvance/releases 0.2.0]<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
!colspan="7"|Mobile<br />
|-<br />
|GBA4iOS<br />
|[[IOS emulators|iOS]]<br />
|[https://iemulators.com/gba4ios 2.1]<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}<br />
|-<br />
|[[mGBA]]<br />
|Multi-platform<br />
|[https://endrift.com/mgba/downloads.html {{MGBAVer}}]<br />
|? ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
|[http://www.explusalpha.com/home/gbc-emu GBC.emu]<br/><small>(Gambatte 0.5-wip based)</small><br />
|[[Android emulators|Android]]<br />
|[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.explusalpha.GbcEmu 1.5.19]<br />
|? ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
|[https://my-oldboy-free-gbc-emulator.en.uptodown.com/android My OldBoy!]<br />
|[[Android emulators|Android]]<br />
|[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fastemulator.gbc 1.5.2]<br />
|? ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
|John GBC<br />
|[[Android emulators|Android]]<br />
|[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.johnemulators.johngbc 3.80]<br />
|? ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
|[http://www.explusalpha.com/ GBA.emu]<br/><small>(VBA-M r1097 based)</small><br />
|[[Android emulators|Android]]<br />
|[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.explusalpha.GbaEmu 1.5.19]<br />
|? ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
|[https://github.com/afjcjsbx/gambatte-droid GambatteDroid]<br />
|[[Android emulators|Android]]<br />
|1.2<br />
|? ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
!colspan="7"|Consoles<br />
|-<br />
|[http://gbatemp.net/threads/gameyob-a-gameboy-emulator-for-ds.343407/ GameYob DS]<br />
|[[Nintendo DS emulators|Nintendo DS]]<br />
|[http://www.emucr.com/search/label/GameYob Git]<br />
|{{✓}} <small>(NiFi)</small> ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}}<br />
|-<br />
|[https://gbatemp.net/threads/gameyob-3ds-gb-c-emu.372523/ GameYob 3DS]<br />
|[[Nintendo 3DS emulators|Nintendo 3DS]]<br />
|[https://github.com/Steveice10/GameYob/releases v1.0.8]<br />
|? ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}}<br />
|-<br />
|[[VisualBoy_Advance#VBA-M|Visual Boy Advance-M (VBA-M)]]<br />
|[[Wii emulators|Wii]], [[GameCube emulators|GameCube]]<br />
|r1231<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} <small>(as VBA-Next)</small> ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}<br />
|-<br />
|[http://filetrip.net/psp-downloads/homebrew/download-masterboy-210-f28308.html MasterBoy]<br />
|[[PlayStation Portable emulators|PlayStation Portable]]<br />
|2.10<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}}<br />
|-<br />
|[[Virtual Console]]<br />
|[[Nintendo 3DS emulators|Nintendo 3DS]]<br />
|8.10<br />
|{{✓}} <small>(Pokemon only)</small> ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}<br />
|-<br />
|[[mGBA]]<br />
|[[Wii emulators|Wii]], [[Nintendo 3DS emulators|Nintendo 3DS]], [[PlayStation Vita emulators|PlayStation Vita]]<br />
|[https://endrift.com/mgba/downloads.html {{MGBAVer}}]<br />
|? ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
|[http://filetrip.net/psp-downloads/homebrew/download-gemp-homers-rin-33-final-f27565.html GeMP]<br />
|[[PlayStation Portable emulators|PlayStation Portable]]<br />
|3.3 Final<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
|[http://dl.qj.net/psp/emulators/rin-v132-gameboy-emulator/gameboy-color-emulator.html RIN]<br />
|[[PlayStation Portable emulators|PlayStation Portable]]<br />
|1.32<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|}<br />
<references group=N /><br />
<br />
===Comparison===<br />
<br />
====Game Boy-only emulators====<br />
;[[SameBoy]]:A relatively new emulator, probably the most accurate Game Boy emulator currently. The UI is simplistic and lacks mouse support. It includes open source bootroms, although these can be replaced with real ones. Also emulates Game Boy Camera and Game Boy Printer.<br />
;[[BGB]]:A closed-source emulator for Windows (and [[Wine]]) with excellent Game Boy and Game Boy Color accuracy, as well as near flawless link support. It has a wealth of options for color palettes and even enabling Super Game Boy colors and borders, though it doesn't emulate all of its functions. It also has an advanced debugger.<br />
;[[Gambatte]]:Extremely accurate open-source Game Boy/Color emulator. It has a good range of options and features, though not quite as much as some other emulators. It has not been as active lately.<br />
;[[TGB Dual]]:An ancient emulator that supports link cable emulation. It also supports [[netplay]], but it requires a VPN. The libretro port supports local multiplayer using player 2's controls.<br />
;[[KiGB]]:An old and obsolete emulator which boasted its accuracy but was proven to be full of game-specific hacks.<ref>https://github.com/mgba-emu/mgba/issues/238</ref><ref>http://gbdev.gg8.se/wiki/articles/Test_ROMs#Emulators_running_on_desktop_computers</ref><ref>http://gbdev.gg8.se/wiki/articles/KiGB</ref> It has a wide selection of features, but other emulators have caught up and are already doing much better.<br />
;[https://github.com/AntonioND/giibiiadvance GiiBiiAdvance]:Pioneered full GB Camera emulation, including webcam support. Aside from that, it's an unfinished emulator with the basics set up, but its promising future currently on hiatus. It has very accurate timing.<br />
<br />
'''List of recommended GB/GBC emulators for Android:'''<br />
* [https://www.androidauthority.com/best-game-boy-emulators-for-android-368530/ 10 best Game Boy Advanced, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy emulators for Android] (SEPTEMBER 2, 2018. Includes some emulators not found in above charts. Reviews may be subjective.)<br />
<br />
====Backwards-compatible GBA emulators====<br />
;[[mGBA]]:Primarily emulates the [[Game Boy Advance emulators|Game Boy Advance]] but it also includes GB/C support much like the original system. It's still in development, but it's already on the level of many other emulators.<br />
;[[GBE+]]:A recently rewritten emulator that has a large effort in preserving the functions of [[#Game Boy Features|obscure accessories]] that other emulators don't focus on. It can also load custom tiles in games, including colorized tiles for original Game Boy titles.<br />
;[[VisualBoy Advance#VBA-M|VisualBoy Advance-M <small>(VBA-M)</small>]]:Used to be the go-to for Game Boy Advance emulation and even included solid GB/C emulation. It's now behind [[mGBA]] on both fronts.<br />
<br />
====[[Multi-system emulators]]====<br />
;[[higan]]:Because it started out as a [[Super Nintendo emulators|SNES emulator]] (its original name was bsnes), it was the first and only one that properly emulated all of the Super Game Boy's features, such as SPC sound chip utilization. Versions of bsnes at and before v073 used the Gambatte core for its Super Game Boy functionality, but byuu eventually made his own Game Boy core, which ended up having pretty good accuracy.<br />
;[[BizHawk]]:Uses a modified Gambatte core. It provides speedrunning tools.<br />
;[[MAME]]:Has solid Game Boy emulation through its <code>gameboy</code> driver despite the sound being imperfect, as well as slightly worse Game Boy Color compatibility through its <code>gbcolor</code> driver (where both the graphics and sound are imperfect). Despite its setbacks, it aims to feature compatibility with obscure mappers that other emulators usually ignore, like Wisdom Tree games or MMM01 multicarts. Accuracy was improved upon with contributions by Judge_.<br />
;[[Mednafen]]:Its Game Boy Advance core is forked from an old version of [[VisualBoy Advance]].<br />
<br />
==Emulation issues==<br />
<br />
===Oversaturation===<br />
[[File:Gbc over saturation2.png|thumb|right|350px|Comparison of saturation levels in [[VisualBoy Advance#VBA-M|VBA-M]] and [[Gambatte]].]]<br />
The Game Boy Color's screen is under-saturated. Game developers often work around this by using brighter colors knowing it'll be compensated for on hardware. This does not translate well in emulation, because standard LCD screens don't account for this sort of issue. Many emulators attempt to combat this issue with options that adjust accordingly; if not directly, then [[Shaders_and_Filters#Image_Adjustment|shader functionality]] may be implemented.<br />
<br />
This issue also affects [[Game Boy Advance emulators#Oversaturation|Game Boy Advance emulation]].<br />
<br />
===Unlicensed Mappers===<br />
Much like the NES, the Game Boy (and by extension, the Game Boy Color) used '''Memory Bank Controllers''' (MBC) (called MMCs on the NES) and also known informally as '''mappers''', to go beyond the restrictive initial hardware specifications. Nevertheless, Nintendo was much more careful to standardize their specifications to just a small number of possible mappers. Moreover, Game Boy ROMs now included an official internal header mandated by Nintendo that included the correct MMC type. This meant that for the officially licensed games, these mappers proved to be rarely a problem... with some notable unimplemented exceptions: Net de Get's MBC6 that offered downloadable content off the internet, and the MMM01 footer used for some official multi-cart games, among others.<br />
<br />
However, shit hits the fan when it comes to '''unlicensed games''', since they didn't necessarily respect Nintendo's specifications about how a given mapper type should handle its memory and behave in general, and internal headers were often filled with erroneous data to hinder dumping and emulation efforts. Some emulators like MESS and [http://hhug.me/?tags=hhugboy hhugboy] try to emulate that behavior with various degrees of success ([http://hhug.me/dump/ Compatibility List]). The hhugboy project also proposed a similar solution to iNES for this mapper problem, as the [http://hhug.me/gbx/1.0 gbx ROM format] that appends a footer with extra information needed for some unlicensed games. However, this format, much less unlicensed hardware quirks, isn't widely adopted aside from tentative mGBA support.<br />
<br />
==Hardware Features==<br />
===IR Transmitter===<br />
The Game Boy Color had an infrared transmitter and receiver. Generation II Pokémon games made use of this feature through Mystery Gift. Super Mario Bros. Deluxe could send high scores to another cartridge. GBE+ had [https://shonumi.github.io/articles/art4.html basic IR emulation] back in July 2016 but it then only worked with Pokémon games. Now, as of [https://shonumi.github.io/articles/art11.html April 2018], it has full IR emulation for most IR-enabled games (Hudson Soft's HuC-1's IR capabilities need to be emulated for Japanese ''Pokémon TCG'').<br />
<br />
===Game Boy Camera===<br />
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"<br />
! scope="col"|Name<br />
! scope="col"|Operating System(s)<br />
! scope="col"|Build to Use<br />
! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]<br />
|-<br />
|[[mGBA]]<br />
|Multi-platform<br />
|0.7<br />
|{{✓}}<br />
|-<br />
|[[VisualBoy Advance#VBA-M|VBA-M]]<br />
|Multi-platform<br />
|Latest<br />
|{{✓}}<br />
|-<br />
|GiiBiiAdvance<br />
|Windows<br />
|?<br />
|{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
|[[BGB]]<br />
|Windows<br />
|?<br />
|{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
|Hashcam<br />
|Windows<br />
|[http://www.darkfader.net/gbc Source]<br />
|{{✗}}<br />
|}<br />
The Game Boy Camera is an official Nintendo accessory for the Game Boy and was released in 1998. Users can take pictures and modify them with stickers and frames, as well as play several included minigames. In addition to the original model, there was a US-exclusive Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time edition that included different stamps.<br />
<br />
The first emulator to have some capability of emulating the Game Boy Camera was a modified version of an old emulator called Hash. This version, named Hashcam, can still be found on the author's website. While there were some efforts to run the Game Boy Camera ROM in BGB unofficially, the author didn't show much interest in it. However, it is fully emulated with webcam support in a lesser-known emulator called GiiBiiAdvance.<br />
<br />
As of version 0.7.0, or any dev builds post 0.6.0, mGBA can emulate this accessory by either using the PC's webcam or sending a BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, or other image format to the game, as if it was coming from the camera itself.<ref name="mGBA_Cam">{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/mGBA_emu/status/890954205472501762|title=Game Boy Camera in mGBA dev builds|publisher=Twitter|accessdate=2018-08-10|date=2017-07-28}}</ref> The camera is also functional on the 3DS port. To enable the PC webcam, go to <code>Game Boy</code> under <code>settings</code> and switch the <code>camera driver</code> to <code>Qt Multimedia</code>, or by editing <code>qt.ini</code> and setting <code>cameraDriver=1</code> under <code>[General]</code>.<br />
<br />
===Game Boy Printer===<br />
Game Boy Printer is a thermal printer accessory released by Nintendo in 1998 used in conjunction with the Game Boy Camera and also used to prints images from compatible GB games such as ''Pokémon Gold and Silver'', ''Pokémon Crystal'', ''Super Mario Bros. Deluxe'', ''Donkey Kong Country'' and ''The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX''.<br />
<br />
[[VisualBoy Advance]] (including its forks), [[GBE+]] and [[mGBA]] have Game Boy Printer support that turn the signals into a bitmap form of the image.<br />
<br />
===Motion Control (Tilt Sensor)===<br />
Two Game Boy Color games featured a built-in tilt sensor: Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble and Command Master. These games cannot be played without support for this feature. [[VisualBoy Advance|VBA]] and [[KiGB]] have a "Motion Sensor" option to map four directional keys to emulate the cartridge tilting, but the controls aren't analog. [[BGB]] can emulate the tilting features with the use of the mouse.<br />
<br />
===Rumble===<br />
A good number of cartridges came with a built-in rumble that required an AAA battery to power, such as ''Pokémon Pinball'', but the feature is optional. It is unknown if any emulator supports this feature.<br />
<br />
===Multiplayer===<br />
* '''Link Cable:''' [[BGB]], [[KiGB]], some versions of [[VisualBoy Advance#VBA-M|VBA-M]] and [[TGB Dual|TGB-Dual]] supports link cable. It can also be used for Netplay on the corresponding [[RetroArch]] core.<br />
* '''4-Player Adapter:''' Currently only [[GBE+]] supports it. There is a 16-Player adapter as well, but it went unreleased outside of unused code in some games, and as such isn't emulated.<br />
<br />
===Online Features===<br />
====Mobile Game Boy Adapter====<br />
There is a Japan-only accessory that communicates with Mobile Golf and Japanese Pokémon Crystal. It was bundled with Mobile Trainer cartridge which allowed the player to use e-mail as well as browse Nintendo's website. It saw use on some Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance games, but support was limited to Japan, and the servers went offline by 2002.<br />
<br />
It is possible to partially emulate its feature for Pokémon Crystal by [http://forums.glitchcity.info/index.php?topic=7509.0 using BGB's scripting capability], and GBE+ can at least reach the title screen of Mobile Trainer and made [https://www.reddit.com/r/EmuDev/comments/9141oy/making_progress_with_gb_mobile_adapter_emulation/ some progress in July 2018], but otherwise, no emulators properly support this accessory.<br />
<br />
====Hudsonsoft KISS Link====<br />
This accessory allowed users to download exclusive content by them from Hudsonsoft's website. No emulator supports this.<br />
<br />
===Accessories===<br />
There are [[wikipedia:Game Boy accessories#Game Boy|a few accessories that the Game Boy and Game Boy Color]] had. Due to their very small and game-specific use, most emulators don't bother with them at all, save for GBE+.<br />
<br />
* '''Game Boy Pocket Sonar:''' Japan only cartridge released by Bandai. It is a sonar-enabled device used for fishing with a fishing game included. Only GBE+ [https://shonumi.github.io/articles/art13.html supports] this feature. A similar cartridge was released for the WonderSwan (still unemulated).<br />
* '''Barcode Boy:''' An obscure Japan-only barcode-scanning device released by Namcot (then-Namco's consumer division) in 1992. A total of 4 games were released to utilize this accessory. KiGB and GEST claim support for this device, but they only feed random data to Game Boy until the game accepts it as a valid barcode. GBE+ has [https://shonumi.github.io/articles/art7.html proper emulation] with the ability to read barcodes from binary files.<br />
* '''Barcode Taisen Bardigun:''' Another Japan only barcode-scanning device with the dedicated game. GBE+ [https://shonumi.github.io/articles/art6.html supports this accessory].<br />
* '''Singer Sewing Machine:''' There is link cable support for the Singer IZEK Digital Sewing Machine. The IZEK was unique in that it came bundled with a specially coloured Game Boy and a cartridge for interfacing with the machine.<ref name="IZEK_1">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlhJKMXU7tg&t=5m25s|title=Game Boy Part 2 - Did You Know Gaming? Feat. Jake of Vsauce3|publisher=Youtube|accessdate=2018-08-10|date=2014-05-24}}</ref><ref name="IZEK_2">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-Epj2_eJdA|title=Singer IZEK Digital Sewing Machine - Gameboy Color Controller (Game Boy Color) Review|publisher=Youtube|accessdate=2018-08-10|date=2014-06-24}}</ref> No emulator supports this, mostly due to the IZEK being a rare item, along with the complexity of implementing a [https://hackaday.com/2015/01/07/arduino-controlled-sewing-machine-increases-stitch-options/ similarly automated sewing machine].<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
<br />
==External links==<br />
* [http://gbdev.gg8.se/wiki/articles/Main_Page Game Boy Development Wiki] – Information about the Game Boy<br />
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_j0w7r6xSk Emulating Game Boy Camera and Game Boy Printer in BGB (work in progress)] – Game Boy Camera ROM running in BGB unofficially by exploiting linking capabilities <br />
<br />
<br />
{{Nintendo}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Consoles]]<br />
[[Category:Nintendo consoles]]<br />
[[Category:Game Boy/Game Boy Color emulators|*]]<br />
[[Category:Fourth-generation video game consoles]]</div>Windows Whistlerhttps://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=Nintendo_DS_emulators&diff=29314Nintendo DS emulators2019-04-14T08:30:51Z<p>Windows Whistler: /* Emulators */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox console<br />
|title = Nintendo DS<br />
|logo = DSlitewhite.png<br />
|developer = [[:Nintendo]]<br />
|type = [[:Category:Consoles|Handheld game console]]<br />
|generation = [[:Category:Seventh-generation video game consoles|Seventh generation]]<br />
|release = 2004<br />
|discontinued = 2013<br />
|predecessor = [[Game Boy Advance emulators|Game Boy Advance]]<br />
|successor = [[Nintendo 3DS emulators|Nintendo 3DS]]<br />
|emulated = {{✓}}<br />
}}<br />
The '''[[gametech:Nintendo DS|Nintendo DS]]''' (NDS) is a handheld console produced by Nintendo on November 21, 2004 and had 2 ARM CPUs with 4MB of RAM. The main selling point was the use of dual screens for gameplay, with one being a touchscreen. It is the only console to have come close to the [[PlayStation 2 emulators|PlayStation 2]] in lifetime sales (154.02 million units), as a result of attracting a large amount of casual players, and even non-gamers, into the gaming community.<br />
<br />
==Emulators==<br />
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"<br />
|-<br />
! scope="col"|Name<br />
! scope="col"|Operating System(s)<br />
! scope="col"|Latest Version<br />
! scope="col"|GBA<br />
! scope="col"|NDS<br />
! scope="col"|DSi<br />
! scope="col"|[[libretro|Libretro Core]]<br />
! scope="col"|Active<br />
! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]<br />
|-<br />
!colspan="9"|PC<br />
|-<br />
|[[DeSmuME]]<br />
|Multi-platform<br />
|[https://ci.appveyor.com/project/zeromus/desmume {{DeSmuMEVer}}]<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}<br />
|-<br />
|[[melonDS]]<br />
|Windows, Linux<br />
|[http://melonds.kuribo64.net/downloads.php {{MelonDSVer}}]<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}} <small>(WIP)</small><br />
|-<br />
|[[DeSmuME#Graphical_Enhancement|DeSmuME X432R]]<br />
|Multi-platform<br />
|[http://shikaver01.webcrow.jp/desmume_x432r/index.html 2015-04-19]<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{~}}<br />
|-<br />
|[[GBE+]]<br />
|Windows, Linux, macOS (untested)<br />
|[https://github.com/shonumi/gbe-plus/releases {{GBEVer}}]<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} <small>(WIP)</small><br />
|-<br />
|[[mGBA#medusa|medusa]]<br />
|Windows, Linux<br />
|[https://mgba.io/downloads.html alpha 2]<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} || {{✗}}<ref name="medusa suspended"/>||{{✗}} <small>(WIP)</small><br />
|-<br />
|[https://corgids.wordpress.com/ CorgiDS]<br />
|Windows, Linux<br />
|[https://github.com/PSI-Rockin/CorgiDS/releases 0.1]<br />[http://www.emucr.com/search/label/CorgiDS SVN]<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}<ref>https://corgids.wordpress.com/2018/02/12/extended-break/</ref> ||{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
|ndsemu<br />
|Windows<br />
|[https://github.com/rasky/ndsemu Git]<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
|[[No$|No$GBA]]<br />
|Windows, DOS<br />
|[http://problemkaputt.de/gba.htm {{No$GBAVer}}]<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
|[https://web.archive.org/web/20110225190819/http://neonds.com/ NeonDS]<br />
|Windows<br />
|[https://web.archive.org/web/20100925152735/http://neonds.com/system/files/NeonDS_0.2.1.zip 0.2.1]<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
|dasShiny<br />
|Windows, Linux<br />
|[https://github.com/Cydrak/dasShiny Git]<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
|[http://ds-duos.blogspot.com/ DuoS]<br />
|Windows<br />
|[http://www.emulator-zone.com/download.php/emulators/nds/duos/DuoS.zip 8/25/2012 Beta]<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
|[[Ensata]]<br />
|Windows<br />
|[http://www.mediafire.com/file/x0odmalrndt9m7a/Ensata+v1.4d.rar 1.4d]<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
|[https://web.archive.org/web/20111130005614/http://ideasemu.biz/ iDeaS]<br />
|Windows, Linux<br />
|[http://www.emulator-zone.com/files/emulators/nds/ideas/ideas1040.7z 1.0.4.0]<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
!colspan="9"|Console<br />
|-<br />
|[[Virtual Console]]<br />
|Wii U<br />
|<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}}<br />
|-<br />
!colspan="9"|Mobile<br />
|-<br />
|[[DraStic]]<br />
|[[Android emulators|Android]], Pandora,<br />Linux <small>(Raspberry Pi)</small><br />
|[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dsemu.drastic r2.5.1.3a]<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}<br />
|-<br />
|[https://inds.nerd.net/ iNDS]<br/><small>(nds4ios derived)</small><br/><small>(DeSmuME based)</small><br />
|[[iOS emulators|iOS]]<br />
|[https://github.com/iNDS-Team/iNDS/releases Git]<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}<br />
|-<br />
|nds4ios<br />
|[[iOS emulators|iOS]]<br />
|[http://nds4ios.angelxwind.net/i/?page/downloads SVN]<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}}<br />
|-<br />
|Dsoid<br />
|[[Android emulators|Android]]<br />
|[http://www.emucr.com/search/label/Dsoid?&max-results=12 SVN]<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
|[http://jeffq.com/blog/nds4droid/ nds4droid]<br/><small>(DeSmuME based)</small><br />
|[[Android emulators|Android]]<br />
|[https://github.com/jquesnelle/nds4droid Git]<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Comparisons===<br />
;[[DeSmuME]]: One of the most developed emulators for regular DS games. DeSmuME has had significant improvements since 2018, including lower CPU/GPU Usage, updated to use VS2015, and potentially reopen wi-fi/multiplayer capabilities. Unfortunately, these features are still in development and are only available through either nightly/dev builds, meaning there's a <i>slight</i> chance of problems. This emulator aims for accuracy over speed. (see [[Common Problems and Solutions]] for tips)<br />
;[[DraStic]]: A payware, closed-source emulator for [[Android emulators|Android]] devices that can run games at a decent speed even on potato phones. Some unsubstantiated rumours have spread around that the developers deliberately put in issues to mess with pirated copies, though at the very least, don't expect any support from exophase and company if you get your hands on a pirated copy. It's on par or better than DeSmuME, and emulating it through BlueStacks on PC may actually be a viable and fast alternative aside from a slight input delay. Available for free on Raspberry Pi and Odroid via RetroPie.<br />
;[[No$|No$GBA]]: Focuses on speed, and has major compatibility issues and glitches as a result. But because it was originally a GBA emulator, the DS's 3D features are still very poorly handled. However, it might be an option for a very low-end machine but don't expect a lot of games to run perfectly, or at all. A fan program, No$Zoomer, was released for version 2.6 which increases compatibility and options, as well as the titular zooming abilities. The biggest addition is noise cancellation which clears up static that No$GBA makes with its 3D rendering. No$Zoomer hasn't rebased yet but does add options for window resizing. There haven't been any noticeable changes with regards to accuracy, however. As of v2.8, No$GBA supports DSi games and is currently the first and only emulator that does. Only use No$GBA in the cases of DSi games, debugging (if you've taken up romhacking for DS games), if you value speed above everything, or just as a last resort.<br />
;[[melonDS]]: Arisotura's goal is to make an emulator that's better optimized and includes features that others lack, either intentionally or not. While the developers of No$GBA had documented the Wi-Fi capabilities first, melonDS is the first and only emulator that's gotten as far as it has and it has been found to work reasonably well with a handful of games. There's also hope that melonDS will implement DSi emulation in the future<ref name="next direction for melonDS">http://melonds.kuribo64.net/comments.php?id=47&b=15</ref>, though not much has been mentioned since and probably won't be added in until much later in development if ever. It could surpass DeSmuME when it covers more features and supports more games.<br />
;[[mGBA#medusa|medusa]]: [[mGBA]] developer endrift is also creating a DS emulator, but it's very much a work-in-progress and isn't nearly as far as melonDS in terms of the capabilities it's covered. As of March 2018, medusa's development is "suspended until further notice".<ref name="medusa suspended">https://mgba.io/2018/03/09/holy-grail-bugs-revisited/#postscript-a-several-month-late-explanation</ref><br />
;iDeaS: An abandoned and experimental DS emulator that uses a plug-in system, it's very slow and buggy but has partially gotten some features working like the camera and slide accessories.<br />
;[[Ensata]]: Nintendo's official DS emulator that was leaked to the public. It's not very usable or compatible but it can run a few games.<br />
<br />
'''List of recommended Nintendo DS emulators for Android:'''<br />
* [https://www.androidauthority.com/best-nintendo-ds-emulator-for-android-368440/ 5 best Nintendo DS emulators for Android] (SEPTEMBER 1, 2018. Includes some emulators not found in above charts. Reviews may be subjective.)<br />
<br />
===High Resolution===<br />
;DeSmuME X432R:A fork of DeSmuME, that has many more graphical enhancement such as an option to increase internal resolution and use MSAA, the devs of DeSmuME have included an option for increased internal resolution and X432R is outdated. See the [[DeSmuME]] page for more details.<br />
;DeSmuME <small>([[libretro]])</small>:Also has an option to increase internal resolution since [https://github.com/libretro/desmume/commit/5e430dfbc22f9d54c77f291304a38352ee1e5a63 August 8, 2015 git commit]. It requires a very high-end CPU to run at a reasonable framerate.<br />
;DraStic:Has released a beta version supporting double the original resolution.<br />
;Virtual Console <small>(Wii U)</small>:Has a configuration file with support for x2 internal resolution without any significant performance hit (as well as a brightness setting). However, there's no legit way to enable it without a homebrew-enabled console.<br />
<br />
==Connectivity==<br />
===Local Multiplayer, Wi-Fi Connection, and Wii/DS Connection===<br />
* Local Multiplayer is not supported by any emulator. No$GBA can emulate it but the connection fails somewhere during establishing the actual connection (despite the names from the other DS showing just fine).<br />
* Download Play isn't supported by any emulator so far, though NDS-bootstrap homebrew on the Nintendo 3DS can boot some of them.<br />
* Nintendo WFC (Online Multiplayer) was successfully emulated with third-party DeSmuME forks but has quite a bit of requirement (Ethernet cable, though this can be circumvented with external software). After service shutdown, there was a version compatible with the fan servers (restoring all DLC data but sadly most multiplayer games had their content lost forever).<br />
* DS/Wii connection isn't emulated in any capacity. ''Pokémon Battle Revolution'' playability is very limited this way.<br />
<br />
These features are not supported by the mainline DeSmuME project in particular due to timing inaccuracies and ''creative differences'', and it's highly unlikely they will ever be included in the future. If you're interested in these features, follow other projects and refrain from contacting the developers about them as per their wishes in their "official stance" on Wi-Fi features in general.<br />
<br />
===GBA/DS Connectivity===<br />
Inserting GBA cartridges in Slot-2 of the Nintendo DS while a game is running can unlock various gameplay features in some DS games. It's unknown if NO$GBA supports this, but it can be done in DeSmuME by going to Config > Slot 2 (GBA Slot) and selecting GBA Cartridge. Select the GBA ROM file, and make sure its <code>.sav</code> file is in the same folder. You may need to reset the game for it to take effect. However, DeSmuME does not support features like the solar sensor from GBA Boktai cartridges used in Boktai DS (Lunar Knight).<br />
<br />
==DSi==<br />
Nintendo released the DSi on April 5, 2009, doing away with Slot-2 (used by GBA cartridges and Guitar Hero games) but also adding new lighting effects, a camera, more RAM, and downloadable titles called DSiWare though those were capped to 16MB because they were installed to the very small internal NAND memory. DSiWare releases were also region locked, and the system language couldn't be changed. The Nintendo 3DS is also compatible with those games and offers a way to back them up to an SD card.<br />
<br />
===Game Formats===<br />
There are three types of games using DSi hardware enhancements:<br />
<br />
;DSi-enhanced retail cartridges: Regular DS retail cartridges compatible with the older DS models, but unlocking more RAM and features when used on the DSi, similar to some late GBC games on the GBA. A couple of dozen games from Japan and US/EUR relied on this method. Those games will still boot on DS emulators but without the DSi enhancements.<br />
;DSi-exclusive retail cartridges: Retail cartridges relying heavily on the DSi hardware features. A boot-up error screen will show when attempting to load those on regular DS models (and by extension, emulators for those). Only five games were released this way, either launch games or because they were too big to fit in 16MB.<br />
;DSiWare: Downloadable titles downloaded only through the DSi eShop (discontinued), or the Nintendo 3DS eShop (though it uses a different file packaging format). They have a 16MB size limitation and there are lots of interesting exclusives for the system released that way.<br />
<br />
All three formats can be converted to *.nds format. Compared to regular DS games, DSi games had some additional header information that wasn't even correctly dumped in the earlier broken dumps. The 2017 set has updated many of those, though it's still severely lacking in DSiWare exclusives. DSiWare dumps exist in both NDS format or CIA format (for the ones who want to boot it on their 3DS).<br />
<br />
On the old DS or DS Lite models, as well as most Nintendo DS emulators, the first type will load in regular DS mode without any DSi enhancements, the second will show an error message, and the third will crash on boot-up due to missing encryption abilities and DSi hardware support.<br />
<br />
On the DSi/3DS family of handhelds, the first two formats can be played on some select DSi-compatible flashcarts like the (discontinued and now expensive) CycloDS iEvolution flashcard (which won't work on a stock 3DS not with custom firmware to whitelist it). As for the third type, it's available for digital purchase at their respective stores (DSi Shop for DSi, eShop for the 3DS) and installed as apps to the limited TWL NAND. In the 3DS' case, they can also be installed as custom titles in .cia format (like all 3DS applications, but here it's also a container for a <code>.nds</code> rom in this case, and converting back and forth is possible).<br />
<br />
===Emulation===<br />
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"<br />
|-<br />
! scope="col"|Name<br />
! scope="col"|Operating System(s)<br />
! scope="col"|Latest Version<br />
! scope="col"|DSi (enhanced)<br />
! scope="col"|DSi (exclusive)<br />
! scope="col"|DSi (digital)<br />
! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]<br />
|-<br />
|[[No$|No$GBA]]<br />
|Windows, [[Intel CPUs|DOS]]<br />
|[http://problemkaputt.de/gba.htm 2.9b]<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|}<br />
<br />
No$GBA added support for DSi games of all three formats starting with version 2.8, although some games won't boot and others have graphical glitches. You'll need to enable "16MB DSi/retail" under the settings. Emulation is very iffy due to a so-so DS emulation foundation in No$GBA, and the camera is just spoofed as a static image but just causes an emulator crash whenever used, meaning games that use it may boot but it won't be very playable. <br />
<br />
DSi used an encryption system for the game dumps that went on to be enhanced and used for the 3DS. This encryption is checked at start-up, hence why Nintendo DS emulators don't even manage to boot DSiWare dumps. It's very unlikely DSi-mode emulation is ever going to be implemented in DeSmuME in particular due to various ''creative differences'' unique to that project.<br />
<br />
===BIOS Files===<br />
DSi emulation requires a copy of the lower 32K-halves of the ARM7/ARM9 BIOSes (BIOSDSI7.ROM and BIOSDSI9.ROM), which are different from the regular DS BIOS files and needed for the decryption. All the needed files are bios7i.bin, bios9i.bin, BIOSDSI7.ROM, BIOSDSI9.ROM, BIOSNDS7.ROM, and BIOSNDS9.ROM. These unicorns can be found [http://archive.org/details/DSiFirmwareFiles here].<br />
<br />
It's also advised (but still completely '''optional''') to use a NAND dump as well to increase compatibility (though adding games is more complex, and a soft-modding solution to dump it is still being worked on). Rename it to "DSi-1.mmc" (should be about 250MB). Change "Reset/Startup Entrypoint to "GBA/NDS BIOS" to now boot the emulator and games in DSi mode. Hex editing required to "install" new DSiWare titles, though loading retail games in DSi mode from the menu is still possible easily. This fixes lots of glitches and crashes related to languages and use of the internal DSi font.<br />
<br />
==Special Hardware==<br />
;Guitar Hero Pad: Used in the "Guitar Hero: On Tour" series (required) and Band Hero DS. Supported by DeSmuME (Slot 2).<br />
;Piano for Easy Piano: Supported by DeSmuME (Slot 2).<br />
;Taito Paddle Controller: Compatible with Arkanoid, Space Invaders Extreme, Space Invaders Extreme 2 and Space Bust-a-Move. Supported by DeSmuME (Slot 2).<br />
;Tilt Sensor: Used in "Tony Hawk's Motion/Hue's Pixel Painter." No emulators support this add-on yet. (Slot 2)<br />
;Rumble Pack: Supported by DeSmuME (Slot 2). Requires compatible Joystick.<br />
;Slide Controller: Required by "Slide Adventure Mag Kid". Yasu made a shoddy [http://home.usay.jp/pc/etc/nds/iDeaS_slide.zip plug-in] for iDeaS (recommended version was 1.0.2.9.) to try to emulate it. No emulators support this add-on at the moment.<br />
;Pokémon Keyboard: Bundled with the Pokémon Typing game (JP/UK/FR). The game refuses to boot without a keyboard, but it can be run on emulators with an anti-piracy fix and another DeSmuME-specific save bug fix. There is also [http://pokemonlog.com/pokemon-fuligin-download-rom/ a pre-patched ROM.] While it's playable using the on-screen keyboard on the lower screen, the keyboard isn't actually emulated. There is [https://github.com/AnimeCommander/Learn.With.Pokemon-Typing-Adventure.lua/blob/master/Pok%C3%A9mon%20Typing%20DS%20Keyboard%20Script.lua a Lua script] that permits using the actual keyboard by mapping presses of the actual keyboard to taps of the virtual Touch Screen. However, you are going to need to blank out all the control/hotkey bindings of DeSmuME if you are going to play this game because some of the keyboard keys also activate some controls; otherwise, pressing the Q key would also pause the game, given one example. A recommendation would be to have a separate copy of 32-bit DeSMuMe which purpose is playing *only* the Pokémon typing games. In that copy, place the patched ROM, the Lua script, and a 32-bit version of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/luabinaries/files/5.1.5/Windows%20Libraries/Dynamic/ lua51.dll.] (The platform used in building the <code>.dll</code> should not matter.) Even then, not only is the emulated workaround a little slow, but saving is still broken. Use savestates, instead.<br />
;DS Camera: Accessory bundled with the Japan-only Face Training (a European localization for Christmas 2007 was canceled, and it was released as a retail DSi game in 2010 using the internal camera rather than the original accessory). Not to be confused with the built-in DSi camera. No emulators exist for it at all.<br />
;Bayer DIDGIT: A glucose meter for children with a game entitled ''Knock 'Em Downs: World's Fair'' that rewards them for checking their blood sugar levels regularly. The game has been dumped but no support for the glucose meter peripheral exists as of the time of this writing; it may, however, be possible to add reward points through Action Replay codes, not to mention that the game will still function without the glucose meter attachment anyway (albeit with reduced functionality, of course).<br />
<br />
===iQue DS Region Lock===<br />
iQue is Nintendo's Chinese subsidiary (previously a partnership between them and Wei Yen until 2013), so when they released the DS with a few localized games, their ROMs had special flags set in them to check if the hardware that ran the cartridge was iQue's or Nintendo's as a sort of region lock. Nintendo's own hardware would fail this check, throwing an "Only for iQue DS" error in white text on a black background. No other DS games have this mechanism; not even for Korean releases. This region lock is bypassed by the 3DS for these DS games, even though 3DS games have their own region lock. It's weird.<br />
<br />
Emulators differ in their behavior to this region lock. No$GBA crashes. DeSmuME is accurate to non-iQue hardware and will replicate the failure.<br />
<br />
The only way the ROM will accept other hardware (and thus emulators) is with a hack, involving a simple byte change. Use a hex editor to change the byte located at <code>0x1D</code> from value <code>80</code> to <code>00</code>.<br />
<br />
===Other issues===<br />
Certain games, such as American Girl titles (e.g. ''Julie Finds a Way'' and ''Kit Mystery Challenge'') suffer from severe flickering issues which keep those games from being playable on most emulators. [[DraStic]] was the first emulator able to run the two games properly, and while DeSmuME r5043 had an initial fix that worked around the glitch, it was removed in later revisions as it broke compatibility with ''Pokemon SoulSilver'' among others; this has since been patched on r5531 once the true nature of the [https://sourceforge.net/p/desmume/bugs/1134/ bug] was better understood. The fix would be later incorporated in other emulators. ''Ultimate Mortal Kombat'' suffers from flickering and slowdown due to the way it loads sprites, though it isn't as serious in DraStic. ''Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Jedi Alliance'' is an even more egregious example, crashing due to timing differences between actual hardware and an emulated system.<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<references /><br />
<br />
<br />
{{Nintendo}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Consoles]]<br />
[[Category:Nintendo consoles]]<br />
[[Category:Seventh-generation video game consoles]]<br />
[[Category:Nintendo DS emulators|*]]</div>Windows Whistlerhttps://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=Compatibility_layers&diff=29313Compatibility layers2019-04-14T08:29:55Z<p>Windows Whistler: Don't remove these links, so they are belong.</p>
<hr />
<div>While not strictly emulation ''per se'' (hence why [[Wine]] stands for "Wine Is Not an Emulator"), '''compatibility layers''' allow software written for one operating system to run on a different OS, often by translating API and system calls made by an application to their equivalent calls in the host operating system. In theory, this should allow for near-native performance since no processor emulation takes place, but in practice some software such as games will tend to run a bit slower due to other bottlenecks that occur as a result of [[Emulation Accuracy|replicating the correct behavior]], such as accounting for graphics APIs like Direct3D that aren't supported on non-Microsoft platforms. Additionally, compatibility layers may also use emulation in order to run software built for a different architecture.<br />
<br />
==Compatibility layers==<br />
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"<br />
|-<br />
! scope="col"|Name<br />
! scope="col"|Operating System(s)<br />
! scope="col"|Latest Version<br />
! scope="col"|Active<br />
! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]<br />
! scope="col"|Runs the following software<br />
|-<br />
!colspan="6"|PC<br />
|-<br />
|[[Wine]]<br />
|Linux, macOS<br />
|[https://wiki.winehq.org/Download {{WineVer}}]<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}}<br />
|Windows applications and games<br />
|-<br />
|[[Wineskin]]<br />
|macOS<br />
|[http://wineskin.urgesoftware.com/tiki-index.php?page=Downloads 1.7]<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}}<br />
|Windows applications and games<br />
|-<br />
|[[Proton]]<br />
|Linux<br />
|[https://store.steampowered.com/about/ {{ProtonVer}}]<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}}<br />
|Windows games<br />
|-<br />
|[[TeknoParrot]]<br />
|Windows<br />
|{{TeknoVer}}<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}}<br />
|Windows-based arcade games<br />
|-<br />
|[[Darling]]<br />
|Linux<br />
|[https://github.com/darlinghq/darling Git]<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} <small>(WIP)</small><br />
|macOS software<br />
|-<br />
|[[WineVDM]]<br />
|Windows<br />
|[https://github.com/otya128/winevdm/releases v0.6.0]<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|16-bit Windows apps and games<br />
|-<br />
|[[WoW]]<br />
|Windows<br />
|?<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|Windows 9x apps and games<br />
|-<br />
|[[Win3mu]]<br />
|Windows<br />
|?<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|Windows 3.x apps and games<br />
|-<br />
|[[Ardi Executor]]<br />
|Multi-platform<br />
|[https://web.archive.org/web/20080404193445/http://www.ardi.com/ardi.php 2.1.17]<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|Classic Mac OS software up to System 6<br />
|-<br />
!colspan="6"|Mobile<br />
|-<br />
|[[Wine]]<br />
|[[Android emulators|Android]]<br />
|[https://wiki.winehq.org/Download {{WineVer}}]<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} <small>(WIP)</small><br />
|Windows applications and games<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Comparisons===<br />
*[[Wine]] is a free and open-source compatibility layer that aims to allow computer programs (application software and computer games) developed for Microsoft Windows to run on Unix-like operating systems, primarily Linux and macOS. Since late 2017 there is also an experimental build for [[Android]]. Wine is almost as old as the Linux project, starting in the summer of 1993. Today it's widely used, very popular and sponsored by companies such as CodeWeavers and Valve. The core Wine development aims at a correct implementation of the Windows API as a whole. In this regard it's similar to the [[MAME]] project in its focus on correctness over usability. There are a lot of versions/forks of Wine which focus of different goals, such as usability, compatibility, gaming, office applications, etc. A few are listed below, Wikipedia has [[wikipedia:Wine_(software)#Other_versions_of_Wine|a more complete list]].<br />
**[[Proton]] is Valves one-click solution to play Windows games on Linux. It's included in the Steam Linux client by default. Simply click on a whitelisted game and it will launch without any configuration, or enable it for all games in the settings. Proton is based on a fork of Wine in combination with other components such as DXVK (explained below) and FAudio.<br />
**[[Wineskin]] is an open-source compatibility layer which allows users to easily convert Windows software to macOS. The ports are in the form of Mac .app bundles with a self-contained Wine instance which are wrapped around the application to be converted. <br />
* [[TeknoParrot]] is a compatibility layer for Windows PCs to run games originally made for Windows-based arcade systems. Has since version 1.51 also support for some games from the Linux-based Sega Lindbergh arcade board.<br />
* [[Darling]] is a translation layer that allows you to run unmodified macOS binaries on Linux. In its nature, it is similar to the well-known [[Wine]] project. At this point, does not yet run macOS application with a GUI.<br />
<br />
==Graphics APIs==<br />
Compatibility layers may also make use of '''wrappers''', which translate a specific graphics API to another. How the user sets up the wrapper varies between each project but most involve a drop-in replacement of the original libraries.<br />
<br />
To understand why this is needed for older games, it's important to understand that during the 90s the graphics card market for [[Intel CPUs|IBM PCs and compatibles]] was in its infancy, and Direct3D wasn't an automatic choice for developers. Some games were often designed for 3Dfx's Glide API so that it would run with their Voodoo card. With 3dfx going bankrupt however, support for Glide didn't stay around and the API was made open-source, but NVIDIA and AMD never incorporated it into their drivers. A wrapper is now needed to play these games with hardware acceleration, or if we're lucky the game gets [[Game engine recreations/Source Ports|a port]] to other APIs instead.<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"<br />
|-<br />
! scope="col"|Name<br />
! scope="col"|Operating System(s)<br />
! scope="col"|Latest Version<br />
! scope="col"|Translates<br />
! scope="col"|Into<br />
! scope="col"|Active<br />
! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]<br />
|-<br />
! colspan="7"|90's APIs<br />
|-<br />
|[http://www.zeus-software.com/downloads/nglide nGlide]<br />
|Windows<br />
|[http://www.zeus-software.com/downloads/nglide 2.0]<br />
|Glide<br />
|Vulkan, Direct3D 9<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}}<br />
|-<br />
|[[Wine|Wine DirectX]]<br />
|Windows, Linux, macOS<br />
|[https://wiki.winehq.org/Download {{WineVer}}] <small>(Linux, macOS)</small><br /> [https://fdossena.com/?p=wined3d/index.frag 4.5] <small>Windows</small><br />
|DirectX 1-7<br />
|OpenGL<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}}<br />
|-<br />
|[http://dege.freeweb.hu/ dgVoodoo 2]<br />
|Windows<br />
|[http://dege.freeweb.hu/dgVoodoo2/dgVoodoo2.html 2.55.4.1]<br />
|DirectX 1-7, Direct3D 8.1, Glide<br />
|Direct3D 11<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}}<br />
|-<br />
|[https://www.dxgl.org/ DXGL]<br />
|Windows<br />
|[https://www.dxgl.org/downloads/ 0.5.15]<br />
|DirectX 1-7<br />
|OpenGL<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} <small>WIP</small><br />
|-<br />
|[http://www.glidos.net/ Glidos]<br />
|Windows<br />
|[http://www.glidos.net/download.html 1.53b]<br />
|Glide <small>(DOS)</small><br />
|?<br />
|{{✗}} ||?<br />
|-<br />
|[http://openglide.sourceforge.net/ OpenGlide]<br />
|Windows<br />
|[https://sourceforge.net/projects/openglide/files/latest/download 0.09 Alpha]<br />
|Glide<br />
|OpenGL<br />
|{{✗}} ||?<br />
|-<br />
|[https://sourceforge.net/projects/psvoodoo/ psVoodoo]<br />
|Windows<br />
|[https://sourceforge.net/projects/psvoodoo/files/latest/download 0.13]<br />
|Glide<br />
|Direct3D 9<br />
|{{✗}} ||?<br />
|-<br />
! colspan="7"|2000's and later APIs<br />
|-<br />
|[https://github.com/doitsujin/dxvk DXVK]<br />
|Linux<br />
|[https://github.com/doitsujin/dxvk/releases 1.0.2]<br />
|Direct3D 10-11<br />
|Vulkan<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}}<br />
|-<br />
|[[Wine|Wine Direct3D]]<br />
|Windows, Linux, macOS<br />
|[https://wiki.winehq.org/Download {{WineVer}}] <small>(Linux, macOS)</small><br /> [https://fdossena.com/?p=wined3d/index.frag 4.5] <small>Windows</small><br />
|Direct3D 1-11<br />
|OpenGL<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{~}}<br />
|-<br />
|[https://github.com/Joshua-Ashton/d9vk D9VK]<br />
|Linux<br />
|[https://github.com/Joshua-Ashton/d9vk Git]<br />
|Direct3D 9<br />
|Vulkan<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} <small>WIP</small><br />
|-<br />
|[https://github.com/iXit/wine-nine-standalone Gallium Nine]<br />
|Linux<br />
|[https://github.com/iXit/wine-nine-standalone 0.4]<br />
|Direct3D 9<br />
|?<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} <small>WIP</small><br />
|-<br />
|[https://source.winehq.org/git/vkd3d.git/ vkd3d]<br />
|Linux<br />
|[https://source.winehq.org/git/vkd3d.git/ 1.1]<br />
|Direct3D 12<br />
|Vulkan<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} <small>WIP</small><br />
|-<br />
|[https://github.com/Joshua-Ashton/dxup DXUP]<br />
|Windows, Linux<br />
|[https://github.com/Joshua-Ashton/dxup Git]<br />
|Direct3D 9-10<br />
|Direct3D 11<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} <small>WIP</small><br />
|-<br />
|[https://github.com/KhronosGroup/MoltenVK MoltenVK]<br />
|macOS, [[IOS emulators|iOS]]<br />
|[https://github.com/KhronosGroup/MoltenVK/releases 1.0.33]<br />
|Vulkan<br />
|Metal<br />
|{{✓}} ||?<br />
|-<br />
|[https://github.com/disks86/VK9 VK9]<br />
|Windows, Linux<br />
|[https://github.com/disks86/VK9/releases 0.29.0]<br />
|Direct3D 9<br />
|Vulkan<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Comparisons===<br />
* [http://www.zeus-software.com/downloads/nglide nGlide] is a 3Dfx Voodoo Glide wrapper. It allows you to play games designed for 3Dfx Glide API without the need for having 3Dfx Voodoo graphics card. All three API versions are supported, Glide 2.11, Glide 2.60 and Glide 3.10. nGlide emulates Glide environment with Direct3D 9 and version 2.0 implemented Vulkan support, which also makes it work under Linux using [[Wine]] Staging 2.10.0 or newer.<ref name="nglidevulkan">http://www.zeus-software.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2044</ref> Glide wrapper also supports high resolution modes. Has a [http://www.zeus-software.com/downloads/nglide/compatibility compatibility list].<br />
<br />
* [http://dege.freeweb.hu/ dgVoodoo 2] is a closed source wrapper for old graphics API's for Windows Vista/7/8/10. The API's it currently can wrap are: Glide 2.11, Glide 2.45, Glide 3.1, Glide 3.1 Napalm, DirectX 1-7 (all versions of DirectDraw and Direct3D up to version 7) and Direct3D 8.1. This wrapper can use Direct3D 11 with different device types as wrapping output such as hardware or software rendering.<br />
<br />
* [[Wine]] has an internal graphics API wrapper for Direct3D 1-11 using OpenGL. It works mostly well for older games, but is slower and has more bugs than newer wrappers using Vulkan, such as DXVK. It is possible to use Wine's wrapper in Windows using different forks.<br />
<br />
* [https://source.winehq.org/git/vkd3d.git/ vkd3d] is an internal Wine wrapper for Direct3D 12 to Vulkan translation. Sponsored by Valve. Currently a work in progress.<br />
<br />
* [https://github.com/doitsujin/dxvk DXVK] is a Vulkan-based translation layer for Direct3D 10 & 11, which allows running Windows 3D applications on Linux using [[Wine]].<br />
<br />
* [https://github.com/Joshua-Ashton/d9vk D9VK] is a Direct3D 9 to Vulkan translation layer based off DXVK's codebase. Will be merged into DXVK if it matures enough <ref name="d9vktodxvk">https://www.gamingonlinux.com/articles/dxvk-102-is-out-with-some-bug-fixes-d9vk-seems-to-be-progressing-nicely.13868/comment_id=151909</ref>.<br />
<br />
* [https://github.com/disks86/VK9 VK9] runs Direct3D 9 applications on Windows or Linux (with [[Wine]]) over Vulkan.<br />
<br />
* [https://www.dxgl.org/ DXGL] is a free replacement for the Windows ddraw.dll library, running on OpenGL. It is designed to overcome driver bugs, particularly in Windows Vista and newer operating systems. It also adds various enhancements to the graphics output such as display scaling and filtering options. DXGL supports the DirectX 7.0 graphics APIs, however it is currently under development and does not work with many programs.<br />
<br />
==External links==<br />
[https://www.gamingonlinux.com/articles/dxvk-102-is-out-with-some-bug-fixes-d9vk-seems-to-be-progressing-nicely.13868/comment_id=151939 State of Direct3D 9-12 translation layers] by DXVK author YoRHa-2B (2019-04-02)<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Compatibility layers]]</div>Windows Whistlerhttps://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=Computer_specifications&diff=29312Computer specifications2019-04-14T08:21:05Z<p>Windows Whistler: Undo revision 29307 by Azure Fang (talk) also works on NT 4.0</p>
<hr />
<div>Most emulators tend to be CPU-dependent in general, meaning that their performance is greatly determined by the CPU's speed. The GPU on the other hand, usually serves as a graphics enhancer by allowing for higher resolutions, anti-aliasing, etc. If your CPU isn't fast enough, you will not likely to be able to emulate a system at full speed. At the very least, a Core i5-2500K or a Ryzen 3 1200 is recommended for high-end emulation (e.g. [[PlayStation 2 emulators|PS2]], [[Wii emulators|Wii]]). This page will explain and state other possible choices to take, provided that the above choices are not feasible.<br />
<br />
==CPU==<br />
===Megahertz Myth===<br />
Whenever a CPU has a high clock speed (e.g: Pentium 4 580 @ 4 GHz), it does not always necessarily mean that it is powerful.<ref>http://www.computer-hardware-explained.com/megahertz-myth.html</ref> This is usually a common misconception, that stems from lack of detailed information on how a CPU works. However, it is true that a higher CPU clock speed guarantees improved emulation performance. While it is true that a high clock speed is one of the main factors for good CPU performance, it is not always the sole determining factor. For example, a Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 2.4 GHz will nearly always outperform a Pentium D 940 @ 3.2 GHz.<ref>http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2097</ref> Even though the Pentium D 940 is clocked significantly higher, the Core 2 Duo E6600 is still faster due to the reduced amount of pipeline stages and a wider execution unit. This improves the amount of instructions it can output per cycle, which means better performance at a lower clock speed. In other words, the particular architecture of the CPU itself matters more than the clock speed.<br />
<br />
AMD's FX (Bulldozer) CPUs also follows the aforementioned Pentium 4 (NetBurst) example, which has the same issue that the NetBurst-derived CPUs suffer from. They also share the same high clock speed traits, which might cause confusion and misleading performance conclusions. Because of this, it is recommended to completely avoid Bulldozer at all costs. To further discourage the use of a Bulldozer-derived CPU; its single-threaded performance is somewhat lower when compared to an equally-clocked Phenom II or Core 2,<ref>https://www.overclock.net/photopost/data/1501987/b/b1/b16fb0b4_ScreenShot005.jpeg</ref> though the multi-threaded performance of Bulldozer far exceeds the fastest Phenom II or Core 2 offerings.<ref>https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-Phenom-II-X6-1100T-vs-AMD-FX-9590/2004vs1812</ref> The actual problem here is Bulldozer's under-average single-threaded performance that will not help in high-end emulation that uses 4 or fewer cores, and the fact that Bulldozer has a shared FPU between 2 cores. What this means, is that a FX-4350 would have 2 FPUs (1 FPU per 2 cores), and a FX-9590 would have 4 FPUs (1 FPU per 2 cores x 4). This will lead to weaker performance in floating-point heavy calculations, which is also another reason why it is not recommended. If you are still not convinced, have a look at the benchmarks.<ref>https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AunYlOAfGABxdFQ0UzJyTFAxbzZhYWtGcGwySlRFa1E#gid=1></ref><ref>https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AunYlOAfGABxdFQ0UzJyTFAxbzZhYWtGcGwySlRFa1E#gid=0</ref><ref>http://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-CPU-Benchmark-designed-for-PCSX2-based-on-FFX-2?page=107</ref><ref>https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-new-dolphin-cpu-benchmark-no-game-required?page=15</ref><ref>https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-new-dolphin-cpu-benchmark-no-game-required?page=15</ref><ref>http://translate.google.com/translate?act=url&depth=1&hl=pl&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.pl&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://pclab.pl//art55934.html</ref><ref>http://wccftech.com/ultimate-cpu-gpu-floating-point-performance-battle-amd-intel/</ref><ref>http://www.anandtech.com/show/7711/floating-point-peak-performance-of-kaveri-and-other-recent-amd-and-intel-chips</ref><ref>http://vr-zone.com/articles/ivy-bridge-e-i7-4960x-vs-amd-fx-9590-battle-2013-flagships/54295.html/2</ref><ref>http://www.extremetech.com/computing/159619-5ghz-showdown-overclocked-5ghz-amd-haswell-ivy-bridge/2</ref><br />
<br />
===AMD vs. Intel===<br />
As of Ryzen (Summit Ridge), AMD's CPUs have similar single-threaded performance when compared to Intel's CPUs,<ref>https://i0.wp.com/www.solidsmack.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/AMD-Threadripper-single-thread-competition.png?ssl=1</ref> though it is still not exactly close to an equivalent Intel CPU of the same era. While Summit Ridge is slightly slower than an equally-clocked Kaby Lake in single-threaded applications, it remains as a good budget-friendly alternative for high-end emulation.<br />
<br />
The release of Pinnacle Ridge has not brought any architectural improvements to Ryzen yet, apart from it being manufactured on a better process that allows for higher clock speeds. Due to that, the instructions-per-cycle performance remains the same as Summit Ridge.<br />
<br />
===Emulation on a non-x86/ARM CPU===<br />
CPUs that are not x86-based, or are not ARM-based <small>(smartphones can run emulators with varying degrees of success)</small>, are not very likely to be good enough for emulation in general. Certain emulators have been ported or programmed for some CPUs that are not ARM or x86-based, but those are generally very old and are possibly no longer in active development. IBM PowerPC CPUs for example, had emulators ported or even programmed for it. However, these are rather outdated emulators and are not recommended for emulation.<br />
<br />
Some very specific CPU architectures such as the Elbrus, SPARC, MIPS, IA-64 (Itanium), Alpha, PA-RISC, and 68000, are heavily discouraged for emulation. This is mostly due to the lack of support and interest in them, which forces people that utilize these CPUs to resort to x86 emulation. While some of them may be capable of performing x86 emulation, not all of them have the necessary software or hardware capability to do so. Even such emulators that are native to their architecture are extremely hard to find, or non-existent. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to avoid using these CPUs in any way possible.<br />
<br />
===Desktop vs. Laptop===<br />
Laptop CPUs are typically much weaker than their desktop variants due to being clocked lower, for battery life and heat management reasons. They may also come with fewer cores when compared with their desktop variants with similar naming schemes, which may confuse you. Also, please be aware that while some laptops might come with the same CPU, their actual performance will vary from atrocious to good. This is due to their cooling system's differences, which will be either bad or good. As such, it is strongly recommended to pick a laptop with a decent cooling system for emulation. Otherwise, the CPU will clock down to prevent itself from overheating, which would mean decreased performance.<br />
<br />
Some laptops might come installed with a desktop CPU, but such laptops are not generally considered affordable.<br />
<br />
===More Cores and Threads===<br />
Emulators generally only utilize 2 cores, or with hacks, sometimes 3 or 4 cores. Thus, owning a CPU with 6 cores or more with Hyper-Threading/Simultaneous Multi-Threading, does not help or give the said CPU an advantage over a CPU with only 4 cores. Although, there are certain exceptions. One such exception is RPCS3, which can utilize more cores and threads by emulating the system's thread scheduler, that allows it to use as many cores and threads as the game makes threads.<br />
<br />
While 2-core or 4-core CPUs with very high clock speeds are usually recommended for emulation, most CPUs nowadays feature more than 4 cores with even higher clock speeds. This in comparison to the previously released 6-core or 8-core CPUs with far lower clock speeds, is a fine improvement. Therefore, purchasing a 6-core or an 8-core CPU with said higher clock speeds would hold no disadvantages over a lower core-count CPU, as it no longer forces a clock speed reduction over a similarly clocked 2-core or 4-core CPU.<br />
<br />
===Overclocking===<br />
Not all CPUs can be overclocked, and the motherboard's BIOS must be additionally capable of supporting overclocking. The CPUs in particular that can be overclocked are the usually the ones that are labeled: OverDrive, FX, Extreme Edition, Black Edition, K, and X. Although, certain engineering or qualification sample CPUs that AMD or Intel has manufactured may also be overclockable, since they were used for testing purposes and were not meant for sale. If you are not sure what kind of a CPU you have, check if it has these overclocking labels. For Intel CPUs, their overclocking labels are OverDrive, Extreme Edition, K, and X. For AMD CPUs, their overclocking labels are FX and Black Edition.<br />
<br />
Although, some special CPUs such as the Pentium E6500K, Pentium G3258, and all Ryzen CPUs are overclockable. But keep in mind that you have to be running the CPU on a motherboard that supports overclocking. The motherboards that tend to support overclocking features, comes with a chipset that also supports overclocking, which is required for the CPU to be overclockable. However, this only applies to the newer motherboards, not the older motherboards as they tend to vary from being overclockable to not overclockable. For Intel, the overclockable chipsets' name starts with an X or a Z. The other chipsets that were not mentioned, are not overclockable (B, C, H, and Q). For AMD, the overclockable chipsets' name starts with an X or a B. The other chipsets that were not mentioned, are not overclockable (A).<br />
<br />
For older desktop motherboards with older chipsets, there might be overclocking available in the form of a front-side bus setting. Use that setting with caution however, as the front-side bus clock speed gets raised, so does the rest of the other components on the motherboard (which causes instability, data corruption, etc). Unless the motherboard has a PCI/AGP lock, it is advised not to use the front-side bus setting to overclock the CPU. In further depth, there is a safer setting that can be used to overclock without suffering from instability. Called the 'CPU BSEL Select' or similar, it was intended to manually select the proper front-side bus clock speed of the CPU. By using this method, it allows us to use it for overclocking whilst staying within the factory specifications of the motherboard. This does not affect the rest of the other components on the motherboard, as the front-side bus is not overclocked and is only following the rated speeds it can achieve. Therefore, it is safer than the dangerous front-side bus setting. Also, be aware that once the CPU has hit a certain clock speed, it may be no longer capable of scaling to higher clock speeds due to voltage issues. The reasoning behind this is because of how higher clock speeds require more voltage, and these non-overclockable motherboards have a high chance of not having the ability to directly modify the CPU's core voltage.<br />
<br />
However, if there is no 'CPU BSEL Select', proceed with the front-side bus setting with caution. As a safety precaution, do whatever it takes to not allow the PCI bus' clock speed to reach above 40 MHz. This is because anything higher than the 40 MHz mark will have a very high chance of inducing instability and possible data corruption, or worse. This is also why the front-side bus setting is only recommended for motherboards that are equipped with a PCI/AGP lock, since they prevent the other components on the motherboard from being overclocked. Additionally, please be aware that your motherboard can only supply a limited amount of current before it hits its limits, which will then limit your CPU's overclocking ability. This is due to the weak voltage regulator modules that are not rated to supply a large amount of stable current to keep the CPU and the rest of the other components stable, which is common for motherboards that are not meant for overclocking. The CPU's potential overclock may also be limited by the power supply unit, so a better power supply unit with better efficiency and wattage rating may be required.<br />
<br />
If you have a laptop, overclocking will be severely limited. Most laptops in circulation do not support overclocking, and may not be capable of handling the extra heat produced from an overclocked CPU. For the few laptops that can be overclocked through the BIOS, it is more or less the same as how a desktop would be configured to overclock the CPU. For the majority that does not officially support overclocking, it may be possible to overclock it in a different approach.<br />
<br />
A common approach to overclock your laptop's CPU is to use third-party applications, such as ThrottleStop and CPUMSR. However, these applications only work with CPUs with an Extreme Edition/Black Edition/K/X label. Sometimes, special CPUs such as an engineering sample or a qualification sample may also be overclockable. And always remember this, do not overclock your laptop if you are not confident in its cooling system. If you are able to force the cooling system's fan to always run at its maximum speed, it is strongly recommended to do so. Avoid hitting temperatures higher than 100C/212F at all costs, even if the CPU is rated for a maximum of 105C/221F at the transistor-junction level.<br />
<br />
For non-overclockable laptop CPUs, you might be able to overclock it in a different way. Certain third-party applications are capable of controlling a chip that generates the clock signal for the front-side bus' clock, which is called the phase-locked loop. This is extremely unsafe and may result in potential data corruption, as it follows the same principle of overclocking the front-side bus. All laptops in existence do not have a PCI/AGP lock either, so keeping the PCI bus below 40 MHz is advised. The applications that can control the phase-locked loop are: ClockGen, CPUCool, SetFSB, SoftFSB, SetPLL, and SysTool. However, there is a catch when using these mentioned programs; none of them supports every phase-locked loop in existence. This means that each one of them has a range of phase-locked loops they support, and you must use the correct matching program that has support for your phase-locked loop. There is also no auto-detection in these programs for the phase-locked loop, as they do not have a standardized way to report their manufacturer and model name, so be careful when selecting the correct phase-locked loop that resides in your laptop.<br />
<br />
==GPU==<br />
GPUs are basically just hundreds of under-powered CPUs on the same die, or better described as a massively parallel CPU with a core count that far exceeds most traditional multi-core CPUs.<br />
<br />
The thing is, with 3D graphics, you can split the work up into hundreds of different parts and give each operation to a different core on the GPU to work on. Since it doesn't matter which order the pixels are rendered in, as long as they all get rendered for the same frame before moving on to the next frame.<br />
<br />
File compression/extraction and bitcoin mining are also good examples of programs that can make use of parallel processing. However, most programs can not do this. Dwarf Fortress, for example, can't make use of a graphics card. This is because of how every calculation it does is dependent on the one performed before it. That obviously doesn't work if you try and do them all at the same time.<br />
<br />
Pretty much any emulator is the same; it does not know what comes next until it has done what preceded it. It has to run off a single thread. It still needs some form of graphical output to output the final rendered 2D screen alone. This can be done via a GPU to put the 3D graphics on the screen, but any system capable of being emulated shouldn't be too taxing. This is called 'Hardware Rendering'. Alternatively, all of the graphics processing can be done on the CPU and will be more predictable/consistent for it, but that is also costly. This is called 'Software Rendering'.<br />
<br />
Most 3D emulators have hardware and software renderers. Software renderers use more CPU power, which may mostly be slower. They may also run on their own threads separate from other emulator parts, which would likely reduce the performance loss, but the CPU must still be fast enough in the first place.<br />
<br />
==Recommended Specifications==<br />
<br />
===[[DEmul]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 B40 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 420 or ATI Radeon HD 5750 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 @ 3.7 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 2200G @ 3.65 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 or AMD Radeon R9 280X or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Phoenix (emulator)|Phoenix]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.13 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8300 @ 2.83 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B53 @ 2.8 GHz or better <br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: XP Professional x64 with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-680 @ 3.73 GHz or AMD FX-4350 @ 4.3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT or ATI Radeon X700 XT or Intel HD Graphics (Westmere) or S3 Chrome S27 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Cxbx-Reloaded]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 @ 2.66 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ @ 2.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 545 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 or ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT or Intel HD Graphics 3000 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[RPCS3]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-2700K @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1300X @ 3.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 420 or AMD Radeon HD 7470 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.0 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-5960X @ 3.3 GHz or AMD Ryzen 7 1700X @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 or AMD Radeon HD 8990 or better<br />
*RAM: 8 GB or more<br />
<br />
For information on DualShock 3 controller support, see [[SCP Driver Package]].<br />
<br />
===[[PCSX2]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.3) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT or ATI Radeon HD 3870 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-4370 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 240GE @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 or ATI Radeon HD 5830 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
For information on DualShock 3 controller support, see [[SCP Driver Package]].<br />
<br />
===[[Mednafen|Mednafen PS1]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 545 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: XP Professional x64 with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-560 @ 3.33 GHz or AMD FX-4170 @ 4.3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[PPSSPP]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.7) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.4E (Prescott) @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (Clawhammer) @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 3000 or S3 Chrome S25 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: XP Professional x64 with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.7.5) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium D 970 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ (Windsor) @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GS or ATI Radeon X1600 or Intel GMA X4500HD or S3 Chrome 430 GT or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
Enable the dynarec option for speedups.<br />
<br />
===[[Cemu]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-970 @ 3.33 GHz or AMD Ryzen 5 1600 @ 3.3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 or AMD Radeon HD 7730 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-3970X @ 3.7 GHz or AMD Ryzen 5 1600X @ 3.7 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti or AMD Radeon R7 360 or better<br />
*RAM: 8 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Dolphin]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Yosemite (10.10) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.4.6 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 @ 3.2 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition @ 3.2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 or AMD Radeon HD 7770 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 8 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Yosemite (10.10.5) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.4.161 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 @ 3.1 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti or AMD Radeon R7 360 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
See the [[Dolphin]] page for further recommendations, such as controller setups.<br />
<br />
===[[Mupen64Plus]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) <small>(Needs msvcp120.dll and msvcr120.dll in the program's directory to run, also applies for XP x64 64-bit.)</small> or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 670 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 4000+ (San Diego) @ 2.4 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200 or ATI Radeon 8500 or 3dfx Voodoo5 6000 or Intel Extreme Graphics 2 or XGI Volari V3 XT or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 @ 2.66 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 5400+ (Brisbane) @ 2.8 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Citra]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: High Sierra (10.13) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.15 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-4370 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 240GE @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 8 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Mojave (10.14) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.15.18 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-7350K @ 4.2 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 2300X @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 or AMD Radeon HD 6990 or better<br />
*RAM: 6 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[DeSmuME]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) <small>(Needs msvcp100.dll and msvcr100.dll in the program's directory to run, [https://imgur.com/a/fgWhs proof] also applies for XP Pro x64 64-bit.)</small> or later<br />
*macOS: Leopard (10.5.8) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.4C (Northwood) @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 3400+ (Barton) @ 2.3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce2 MX100 or ATI Radeon 7000 or 3dfx Voodoo4 4500 or Intel Extreme Graphics 2 or S3 DeltaChrome S4 or PowerVR Kyro 2 or Trident XP4 or XGI Volari V3 or Matrox Millennium G450 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
Enable the dynarec option for speedups.<br />
<br />
===[[mGBA]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later <br />
*macOS: Leopard (10.5) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel kernel 4.4.161 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 2.4A (Northwood) @ 2.4 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 2400+ (Thoroughbred-B) @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce2 Pro or ATI Radeon 8500 LE or 3dfx Voodoo5 5500 or Intel Extreme Graphics 2 or Matrox Parhelia-512 or PowerVR Kyro 2 SE or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.7) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.18.20 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.2C (Northwood) @ 3.2 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 3200+ (Barton) @ 2.2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[BGB]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: NT 4.0 (16-bit/32-bit hybrid) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium MMX (P55C) @ 200 MHz or AMD K6 (Little Foot) @ 233 MHz or Cyrix 6x86MX PR366 @ 250 MHz or IDT WinChip 240 (C6) @ 240 MHz or Rise mP6 PR366 @ 250 MHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA RIVA 128 or ATI 3D Rage PRO or 3dfx Voodoo2 1000 or Intel 82740 or Matrox Mystique 220 or S3 Savage3D or SiS 6326 AGP or Trident 3DImage 9850 or Rendition Verite V2100 or PowerVR PCX2 or better<br />
*RAM: 128 MB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 2000 with Service Pack 4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 2 450 @ 450 MHz or AMD K6-2 550 @ 550 MHz or Transmeta Crusoe TM5400 @ 700 MHz or VIA C3-800 (Samuel 2) @ 800 MHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 256 SDR or ATI Radeon 7000 or 3dfx Voodoo3 3500 TV or Intel Extreme Graphics or Matrox Millennium P650 or Trident Blade XP 9980 or better<br />
*RAM: 256 MB or more<br />
<br />
===[[higan]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.7) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Mountain Lion (10.8) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-2153 @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Athlon 220GE @ 3.4 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
[[Category:FAQs]]</div>Windows Whistlerhttps://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=WoW&diff=29311WoW2019-04-14T08:20:23Z<p>Windows Whistler: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox emulator<br />
|title = WoW<br />
|logo = <br />
|version = 1809<br />
|active = Yes<br />
|platform = Windows<br />
|target = Legacy Windows (16/32-bit)<br />
|developer = Microsoft<br />
|website = <br />
}}<br />
'''Windows on Windows''' (often shortened to '''WoW''') is a component of WindowsNT that allows 16-bit programs to run in 32-bit environments, also known as '''NTVDM''', or in the case of WoW64 for x64 releases of Windows, 32-bit programs in 64-bit.<br />
<br />
==Compatibility==<br />
While WoW64 is able to run most if not all 32-bit applications and games on contemporary 64-bit versions of Windows, support for 16-bit applications in 64-bit Windows is nonexistent; attempting to run 16-bit EXEs will result in an error message saying that the program is incompatible. For this, it is recommended to use [[DOSBox]] or [[WineVDM]] in some instances. That being said, the WoW layer for 16-bit applications isn't perfect either, and suffers from compatibility issues. Some games may run too fast, while others suffer from glitches or instability.<br />
<br />
{{stub}}<br />
[[Category:Emulators]]<br />
[[Category:Compatibility layers]]<br />
[[Category:Official Emulators]]<br />
[[Category:Windows emulation software]]</div>Windows Whistlerhttps://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=User_talk:Windows_Whistler&diff=29310User talk:Windows Whistler2019-04-14T08:19:37Z<p>Windows Whistler: Undo revision 29302 by 92.217.61.215 (talk)</p>
<hr />
<div>== Just a few notes ==<br />
<br />
Looking through your edit history, I just wanted to point out a couple things:<br />
<br />
1) Windows 96 was never completed and released. The name "Windows 96" was never even official - it was a public colloquialism for "Windows Nashville". Its development was eventually cancelled, and most of its feature set was rolled into Windows 95 OSR2 (an OEM-only build of Windows 95).<br />
<br />
2) "PSX" has been used (admittedly incorrectly) as an acronym for the PS1 since the system released; PSX was used because that was a temporary internal codename for the system. In actuality, there was a real PSX - it was a secondary model of the PlayStation 2 with an integrated Digital Video Recorder, but it never released outside of Japan.<br />
<br />
3) Screaming in the edit comments makes you look like the troll you were accused to be before you blanked your talk page.<br />
<br />
[[User:Azure Fang|Azure Fang]] ([[User talk:Azure Fang|talk]]) 19:37, 12 April 2019 (EDT)<br />
<br />
:Edited my previous post to remove a space from a proper word pairing. Really? -[[User:Azure Fang|Azure Fang]] ([[User talk:Azure Fang|talk]]) 17:45, 13 April 2019 (EDT)</div>Windows Whistlerhttps://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=User_talk:Windows_Whistler&diff=29298User talk:Windows Whistler2019-04-13T19:23:48Z<p>Windows Whistler: /* Just a few notes */</p>
<hr />
<div>== Just a few notes ==<br />
<br />
Looking through your edit history, I just wanted to point out a couple things:<br />
<br />
1) Windows 96 was never completed and released. The name "Windows 96" was never even official - it was a public colloquialism for "Windows Nashville". Its development was eventually cancelled, and most of its feature set was rolled into Windows 95 OSR2 (an OEM-only build of Windows 95).<br />
<br />
2) "PSX" has been used (admittedly incorrectly) as an acronym for the PS1 since the system released; PSX was used because that was a temporary internal codename for the system. In actuality, there was a real PSX - it was a secondary model of the PlayStation 2 with an integrated Digital Video Recorder, but it never released outside of Japan.<br />
<br />
3) Screaming in the edit comments makes you look like the troll you were accused to be before you blanked your talk page.<br />
<br />
[[User:Azure Fang|Azure Fang]] ([[User talk:Azure Fang|talk]]) 19:37, 12 April 2019 (EDT)</div>Windows Whistlerhttps://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=Xbox_360_emulators&diff=29297Xbox 360 emulators2019-04-13T19:22:04Z<p>Windows Whistler: /* Comparisons */ that's 7.1</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox console<br />
|title = Xbox 360<br />
|logo = Xbox_360.png<br />
|developer = [[:Microsoft]]<br />
|type = [[:Category:Consoles|Home video game console]]<br />
|generation = [[:Category:Seventh-generation video game consoles|Seventh generation]]<br />
|release = 2005<br />
|discontinued = 2016<br />
|predecessor = [[Xbox emulators|Xbox]]<br />
|successor = [[Xbox One emulators|Xbox One]]<br />
|emulated = {{~}}<br />
}}<br />
The '''[[Wikipedia:Xbox 360|Xbox 360]]''' is a seventh-generation console released by Microsoft on November 22, 2005 and retailed for <abbr title="$508.92 in 2018 money">$399</abbr>. It had a PowerPC Tri-Core Xenon CPU at 3.2 GHz with 512MB of RAM. It had an ATI Xenos GPU. The console's life saw several updates to its OS to alter its appearance, as well as the option of a motion-sensing camera called the [[wikipedia:Kinect|Kinect]].<br />
<br />
==Emulators==<br />
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"<br />
|-<br />
! scope="col"|Name<br />
! scope="col"|Operating System(s)<br />
! scope="col"|Latest Version<br />
! scope="col"|Active<br />
! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]<br />
|-<br />
! colspan="5"|PC<br />
|-<br />
|[[Xenia]]<br />
|Windows, Linux<br />
|[https://github.com/benvanik/xenia Git]<br />
|{{✓}}<br />
|{{~}}<br />
|-<br />
! colspan="5"|Consoles<br />
|-<br />
|[[Fission]]<br />
|[[Xbox One emulators|Xbox One]]<br />
|Patch based<br />
|{{✓}}<br />
|{{✓}}<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Comparisons===<br />
;[[Xenia]]<br />
:The emulator that's made it the furthest so far. Progress on it is surprisingly fast. Only a relatively small number of games are playable, though, and those that are playable largely have issues and run slowly. <br />
<br />
:The devs have no plans on releasing Xenia for Windows 7.1 at this time.<br />
:The new DirectX12 branch making significant progress is only available for Windows 10.<br />
<br />
;[[Fission]]<br />
:The official emulator on the [[Xbox One emulators|Xbox One]] supports a growing (500+) [[wikipedia:List of Xbox 360 games compatible with Xbox One|list of games]]. Load times are faster, but emulation suffers from input lag due to forced [[vsync]]. Beyond this, playback is incredibly faithful to the original system. Xbox One X improves on the emulation further with better framerate, texture filtering and higher resolution in some games. Note that an Internet connection is required on the first run of each game to download.<br />
<br />
==Emulation issues==<br />
Due to requiring a large number of resources (see [[Dolphin]] and [[PCSX2]] for specifications for their respective consoles), as well as the hardware not being properly documented yet, '''Xbox 360 emulation currently isn't at a point where people can reliably emulate games.''' However, Xenia is quickly making progress on that front. That, plus the fact that Microsoft has implemented their own official emulation of the system through the Xbox One brings much promise to successfully emulating the system in the future.<br />
<br />
==Kinect==<br />
<br />
The [[wikipedia:Kinect|Kinect]] is a device that works just like the [http://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/PlayStation_2_emulators#EyeToy EyeToy] for the [[PlayStation_2_emulators|PS2]]. It is a camera capable of detecting gestures and voices in order to play games without any controllers unlike the [[Wii_emulators|Wii]] and its Wiimote; and the [[PlayStation_3_emulators|PS3]] and its PlayStation Move.<br />
While benefiting from native support on PC, users still made [https://openkinect.org/wiki/Main_Page open-source drivers] for it.<br />
<br />
[[Xenia]] is the only Xbox 360 emulator out there yet, and it doesn't support Kinect and no work is getting done in this direction. That does not mean that we will never be able to play Kinect Games with it, it just means that developers have higher-level or prioritized issues to tackle at the moment.<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Consoles]]<br />
[[Category:Seventh-generation video game consoles]]<br />
[[Category:Microsoft consoles]]<br />
[[Category:Very early emulation]]<br />
[[Category:Xbox 360 emulators]]</div>Windows Whistlerhttps://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=Cxbx-Reloaded&diff=29296Cxbx-Reloaded2019-04-13T19:21:32Z<p>Windows Whistler: Windows 7.1 was released in 2010</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox emulator<br />
|logo = Cxbx-Reloaded.png<br />
|active = Yes<br />
|platform = Windows 7.1 and later<br />
|architecture = x86_64<br />
|developer = PatrickvL, LukeUsher<br />
|target = [[Xbox_emulators|Xbox]], Sega Chihiro <small>(Arcade, WIP)</small><br />
|version = 0.1<br />
|website = [http://cxbx-reloaded.co.uk cxbx-reloaded.co.uk]<br />
|source = [https://github.com/Cxbx-Reloaded/Cxbx-Reloaded GitHub]<br />
|support = [https://www.patreon.com/LukeUsher Patreon]<br />
}}<br />
'''Cxbx-Reloaded''' is an open-source [[Xbox emulators|Xbox]] and Sega Chihiro <small>(WIP)</small> emulator for Windows.<br />
<br />
==Downloads==<br />
* [https://ci.appveyor.com/api/projects/SoullessSentinel/cxbx-reloaded/artifacts/export/Release.zip?branch=master&job=Configuration:%20Release&pr=false Latest automated dev build via GitHub]<br />
<br />
==Overview==<br />
"Cxbx-Reloaded began its life as a fork of [[Cxbx]], with added 64-bit support. Work is currently underway to back-port some of the improvements made from Dxbx."<br />
<br />
Cxbx-Reloaded can boot into a handful of games, but don't expect much to run yet.<br />
<br />
Historically, it patched Xbox executables (xbe's) to get them to run on the client (a [[High/Low_level_emulation|high-level]] approach); however, LLE-GPU support was introduced on April 1, 2018.<ref>https://github.com/Cxbx-Reloaded/Cxbx-Reloaded/pull/1018</ref> As a result, many more titles can boot in-game now, albeit with many issues still. The team is gradually [https://github.com/Cxbx-Reloaded/Cxbx-Reloaded/projects/2 porting] this emulator's render code from its old Direct3D 8 graphics over to Direct3D 9 including porting the pixel and vertex shaders to the Shader Model 2.X language or later. This allows the use of more instruction slots and registers, allowing Xbox pixel and vertex shaders to be more accurately converted to the host. This has the potential to solve a massive amount of rendering issues, from broken polygons, missing animations, t-pose models to crashes.<br />
<br />
* [https://github.com/Cxbx-Reloaded/game-compatibility/issues Official compatibility page]<ref group=N name=version>The official website was once designed as a compatibility list with additional categories in digits, letters, and xdk-derived symbol class numbers. It opened sometime around mid-2016 but then closed in early 2017 when xbes from pirated games were anonymously classified as playable despite that not being the case even on legitimate copies. Until a redesign is ready for the public, the link redirects to the GitHub repository.</ref><br />
* [https://github.com/Cxbx-Reloaded/game-compatibility/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+sort%3Aupdated-desc GitHub's game issues repository]<br />
*[https://obk.ee/cxbx/ Daily compatibility chart]<ref group=N>Chart is updated daily and easier to read. Percentage is out of 700+ games (Retail, demos, unlockables) and software (Dashboards, XDK samples, updates, emulators, etc) tested.</ref><br />
<br />
<br />
'''Changelog:''' [https://github.com/Cxbx-Reloaded/Cxbx-Reloaded/issues/1195#issuecomment-405622789 v0.1]. '''Milestone:''' [https://github.com/Cxbx-Reloaded/Cxbx-Reloaded/issues/1318 v0.2 planning].<br />
<br />
==Notes==<br />
<references group=N /><br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
<br />
==External links==<br />
*[https://github.com/Cxbx-Reloaded/Cxbx-Reloaded/wiki Wiki for developers]<br />
*[https://github.com/Cxbx-Reloaded/game-compatibility/wiki Wiki for miscellaneous compatibility information]<br />
*[https://github.com/donwayo/xbox-db An Xbox Classic game database] ([https://xbox-db.herokuapp.com/ Link])<br />
*[https://gitter.im/Cxbx-Reloaded/Lobby Official Gitter chat channel]<br />
*[https://discordapp.com/invite/26Xjx23 Official Discord chat channel] (For general and development discussions on OG Xbox emulation, especially for Cxbx-R, but also XQEMU and OpenXBOX)<br />
*[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5JgcabuM9iN8zuKp8Y1o21N6Qn8yjnkR&pbjreload=10 YouTube channel] (From lead programmer Luke U.)<br />
*[https://youtu.be/JsZwnCvnef0 Cxbx-R Showcase. (Pre-Stable 0.1).] (Esppiral V. June 10, 2018.)<br />
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFshB_nQ_qM&t=0s&list=PLEtk6GvDeuAVR_jluiqY0PtMTUqiof-i5&index=2 Cxbx-R v0.1 - Multi Test (Gameplay) Huge Progress #1] (Emulators for PC. Published on Jul 8, 2018. 4 games.)<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category:Emulators]]<br />
[[Category:Windows emulation software]]<br />
[[Category:Xbox emulators]]</div>Windows Whistlerhttps://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=Nova&diff=29295Nova2019-04-13T19:20:15Z<p>Windows Whistler: /* Requirements */ its 7.1</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox emulator<br />
|title = Nova<br />
|logo =<br />
|logowidth =<br />
|version = 0.5<br />
|active = Yes<br />
|platform = Windows<br />
|target = [[Sega Saturn emulators|Sega Saturn]], ST-V <small>(Arcade)</small><br />
|developer = [https://twitter.com/realSteveKwok Steve Kwok]<br />
|prog-lang =<br />
|support = [https://www.patreon.com/nova_emu Patreon]<br />
|source =<br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''Nova''' is a closed-source [[Sega Saturn emulators|Sega Saturn]] and Sega Titan Video (ST-V) arcade hardware emulator.<br />
<br />
==Overview==<br />
The author's goals for Nova is to make it:<br />
:1. Fast<br />
:2. Compatible<br />
:3. Accurate<br />
:4. Run smoothly<br />
:5. User friendly<br />
:6. Support rich functions like cheat, states save/load, debugging, recording, texture upscaling etc.<br />
<br />
* '''Compatibility:'''<br />
Nova gets better compatibility now compared with the initial release. Hector Tomazella (AKA 'literalmente-game') made a compatibility list for Nova<br />
:https://literalmente-game.github.io/compatibility_lists/nova.html<br />
<br />
===Requirements===<br />
:- CPU: 2.0GHz<br />
:- Memory: 1GB<br />
:- Display card: Support DirectX9<br />
:- OS: Windows 7.1 and above<br />
:- In addition, you may need to install the following components:<br />
:- 1.VS2017 runtime redistributable<br />
:- 2.DirectX runtime redistributable (June 2010)<br />
<br />
==Controls==<br />
''Information captured from Nova builds' readme.txt document.''<br />
<br />
<u>1.Key mapping:</u><br />
{|width="60%"<br />
|- valign="top"<br />
|* '''SATURN:'''<br />
: UP: W<br />
: DOWN: S<br />
: LEFT: A<br />
: RIGHT: D<br />
: START: H<br />
: A: J<br />
: B: K<br />
: C: L<br />
: X: U<br />
: Y: I<br />
: Z: O<br />
: L: Y<br />
: R: P<br />
: START of Shuttle Mouse: Scroll down the wheel<br />
|* '''TITAN:'''<br />
: UP: W<br />
: DOWN: S<br />
: LEFT: A<br />
: RIGHT: D<br />
: SW1: J<br />
: SW2: K<br />
: SW3: L<br />
: COIN: Y<br />
: START: H<br />
: TEST: I<br />
: SERVICE: O<br />
|<br />
: 1: NBG0 ON/OFF<br />
: 2: NBG1 ON/OFF<br />
: 3: NBG2 ON/OFF<br />
: 4: NBG3 ON/OFF<br />
: 5: RBG0 ON/OFF<br />
: 8: Sprite ON/OFF<br />
: 9: VDP2_C++/VDP2_JIT/NO_GFX toggle<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<u>2.Note:</u><br />
:(1).Nova only supports one player currently.<br />
:(2).Nova can start from command line. The syntax is very simple: > nova "path"<br />
<br />
==External Links==<br />
* [https://discordapp.com/invite/yAQBa5C Discord] (Invite from SteveKwok. [https://discordapp.com/invite/RwGTYG2 Alternate address] for same channel by Strelok.)<br />
* [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLph9xgFt_cC0g7t8dJrHnvVzsRC2qVE3L YouTube] (Literalmente{Game}'s Saturn PL)<br />
* [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMqaMG7GgKMd7KNA9aVM8fA/search?query=st-v YouTube list for ST-V games] (Literalmente{Game}'s channel)<br />
<br />
[[Category:Emulators]]<br />
[[Category:Sega Saturn emulators]]<br />
[[Category:Windows emulation software]]</div>Windows Whistlerhttps://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=GroovyMAME&diff=29294GroovyMAME2019-04-13T19:19:33Z<p>Windows Whistler: Windows 7.1 was released in 2010</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox emulator<br />
|version = 0.195 <small>(SwitchRes v0.017b)</small><br />
|active = Yes<br />
|platform = Multi-platform<br />
|target = Thousands of electronics<br />
|developer = Calamity<br/>VeS<br />
|website = [http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/board,52.0.html GroovyMAME Forum]<br />
}}<br />
'''GroovyMAME''', also known as '''GroovyUME''', is a multi-platform fork of [[MAME]]/UME with greater emphasis on CRT monitor support, in order to provide smoother gameplay with less input lag than using regular MAME on an LCD screen. It is available as both a downloadable emulator and as a GNU/Linux live CD, as Linux is the preferred platform for using it. To use it in Windows with a similar amount of fluidity, Windows XP (deprecated; not recommended) and a modified ATI Catalyst named CRT_Emudriver must be used, based on either Catalyst 6.5 or 9.3. It will work best on the ATI Radeon 9250 (AGP), ATI Radeon X300-X600 (PCIe) and the ATI Radeon HD 4350 (PCIe), but should work on other cards supported by these versions. There is a Windows 7.1 version of the driver undergoing beta testing.<br />
<br />
==Download==<br />
[https://googledrive.com/host/0B5iMjDor3P__aEFpcVNkVW5jbEE/v0.153_015b/ GroovyMAME/UME 0.153 SwitchRes v0.015b]<br />
<br />
[http://mame.3feetunder.com/windows-ati-crt-emudriver/ CRT_Emudriver] <br />
<br />
[https://code.google.com/p/groovyarcade/ GroovyArcade] (Arch Linux-based live CD)<br />
<br />
==Supported Cards==<br />
'''Catalyst 9.3''':<br />
ATI Radeon 9500, 9550, 9600, 9700, 9800, X300, X550, X600, X700, X740, X800, X850, X1050, X1200, X1300, X1550, X1600, X1650, X1800, X1900, X1950, HD 2350, HD 2400, HD 2600, HD 2900, HD 3200, HD 3300, HD 3400, HD 3410, HD 3450, HD 3550, HD 3570, HD 3600, HD 3610, HD 3690, HD 3730, HD 3750, HD 3800, HD 3830, HD 3850, HD 3870, HD 4230, HD 4250, HD 4350, HD 4550, HD 4570, HD 4580, HD 4650, HD 4670, HD 4730, HD 4750, HD 4800, HD 4850, HD 4870, HD 4890, etc.<br />
<br />
'''Catalyst 6.5''':<br />
ATI Radeon 7000, 7200, 7500, 8500, 9000, 9100, 9200, 9250, 9500, 9550, 9600, 9700, 9800, X300, X550, X600, X700, X800, X850, X1300, X1600, X1800, X1900, X1950, ArcadeVGA 9200/9250, etc.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Emulators]]<br />
[[Category:Arcade emulators]]</div>Windows Whistlerhttps://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=Computer_specifications&diff=29293Computer specifications2019-04-13T19:16:21Z<p>Windows Whistler: /* mGBA */ non libretro core can even run on windows xp</p>
<hr />
<div>Most emulators tend to be CPU-dependent in general, meaning that their performance is greatly determined by the CPU's speed. The GPU on the other hand, usually serves as a graphics enhancer by allowing for higher resolutions, anti-aliasing, etc. If your CPU isn't fast enough, you will not likely to be able to emulate a system at full speed. At the very least, a Core i5-2500K or a Ryzen 3 1200 is recommended for high-end emulation (e.g. [[PlayStation 2 emulators|PS2]], [[Wii emulators|Wii]]). This page will explain and state other possible choices to take, provided that the above choices are not feasible.<br />
<br />
==CPU==<br />
===Megahertz Myth===<br />
Whenever a CPU has a high clock speed (e.g: Pentium 4 580 @ 4 GHz), it does not always necessarily mean that it is powerful.<ref>http://www.computer-hardware-explained.com/megahertz-myth.html</ref> This is usually a common misconception, that stems from lack of detailed information on how a CPU works. However, it is true that a higher CPU clock speed guarantees improved emulation performance. While it is true that a high clock speed is one of the main factors for good CPU performance, it is not always the sole determining factor. For example, a Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 2.4 GHz will nearly always outperform a Pentium D 940 @ 3.2 GHz.<ref>http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2097</ref> Even though the Pentium D 940 is clocked significantly higher, the Core 2 Duo E6600 is still faster due to the reduced amount of pipeline stages and a wider execution unit. This improves the amount of instructions it can output per cycle, which means better performance at a lower clock speed. In other words, the particular architecture of the CPU itself matters more than the clock speed.<br />
<br />
AMD's FX (Bulldozer) CPUs also follows the aforementioned Pentium 4 (NetBurst) example, which has the same issue that the NetBurst-derived CPUs suffer from. They also share the same high clock speed traits, which might cause confusion and misleading performance conclusions. Because of this, it is recommended to completely avoid Bulldozer at all costs. To further discourage the use of a Bulldozer-derived CPU; its single-threaded performance is somewhat lower when compared to an equally-clocked Phenom II or Core 2,<ref>https://www.overclock.net/photopost/data/1501987/b/b1/b16fb0b4_ScreenShot005.jpeg</ref> though the multi-threaded performance of Bulldozer far exceeds the fastest Phenom II or Core 2 offerings.<ref>https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-Phenom-II-X6-1100T-vs-AMD-FX-9590/2004vs1812</ref> The actual problem here is Bulldozer's under-average single-threaded performance that will not help in high-end emulation that uses 4 or fewer cores, and the fact that Bulldozer has a shared FPU between 2 cores. What this means, is that a FX-4350 would have 2 FPUs (1 FPU per 2 cores), and a FX-9590 would have 4 FPUs (1 FPU per 2 cores x 4). This will lead to weaker performance in floating-point heavy calculations, which is also another reason why it is not recommended. If you are still not convinced, have a look at the benchmarks.<ref>https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AunYlOAfGABxdFQ0UzJyTFAxbzZhYWtGcGwySlRFa1E#gid=1></ref><ref>https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AunYlOAfGABxdFQ0UzJyTFAxbzZhYWtGcGwySlRFa1E#gid=0</ref><ref>http://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-CPU-Benchmark-designed-for-PCSX2-based-on-FFX-2?page=107</ref><ref>https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-new-dolphin-cpu-benchmark-no-game-required?page=15</ref><ref>https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-new-dolphin-cpu-benchmark-no-game-required?page=15</ref><ref>http://translate.google.com/translate?act=url&depth=1&hl=pl&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.pl&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://pclab.pl//art55934.html</ref><ref>http://wccftech.com/ultimate-cpu-gpu-floating-point-performance-battle-amd-intel/</ref><ref>http://www.anandtech.com/show/7711/floating-point-peak-performance-of-kaveri-and-other-recent-amd-and-intel-chips</ref><ref>http://vr-zone.com/articles/ivy-bridge-e-i7-4960x-vs-amd-fx-9590-battle-2013-flagships/54295.html/2</ref><ref>http://www.extremetech.com/computing/159619-5ghz-showdown-overclocked-5ghz-amd-haswell-ivy-bridge/2</ref><br />
<br />
===AMD vs. Intel===<br />
As of Ryzen (Summit Ridge), AMD's CPUs have similar single-threaded performance when compared to Intel's CPUs,<ref>https://i0.wp.com/www.solidsmack.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/AMD-Threadripper-single-thread-competition.png?ssl=1</ref> though it is still not exactly close to an equivalent Intel CPU of the same era. While Summit Ridge is slightly slower than an equally-clocked Kaby Lake in single-threaded applications, it remains as a good budget-friendly alternative for high-end emulation.<br />
<br />
The release of Pinnacle Ridge has not brought any architectural improvements to Ryzen yet, apart from it being manufactured on a better process that allows for higher clock speeds. Due to that, the instructions-per-cycle performance remains the same as Summit Ridge.<br />
<br />
===Emulation on a non-x86/ARM CPU===<br />
CPUs that are not x86-based, or are not ARM-based <small>(smartphones can run emulators with varying degrees of success)</small>, are not very likely to be good enough for emulation in general. Certain emulators have been ported or programmed for some CPUs that are not ARM or x86-based, but those are generally very old and are possibly no longer in active development. IBM PowerPC CPUs for example, had emulators ported or even programmed for it. However, these are rather outdated emulators and are not recommended for emulation.<br />
<br />
Some very specific CPU architectures such as the Elbrus, SPARC, MIPS, IA-64 (Itanium), Alpha, PA-RISC, and 68000, are heavily discouraged for emulation. This is mostly due to the lack of support and interest in them, which forces people that utilize these CPUs to resort to x86 emulation. While some of them may be capable of performing x86 emulation, not all of them have the necessary software or hardware capability to do so. Even such emulators that are native to their architecture are extremely hard to find, or non-existent. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to avoid using these CPUs in any way possible.<br />
<br />
===Desktop vs. Laptop===<br />
Laptop CPUs are typically much weaker than their desktop variants due to being clocked lower, for battery life and heat management reasons. They may also come with fewer cores when compared with their desktop variants with similar naming schemes, which may confuse you. Also, please be aware that while some laptops might come with the same CPU, their actual performance will vary from atrocious to good. This is due to their cooling system's differences, which will be either bad or good. As such, it is strongly recommended to pick a laptop with a decent cooling system for emulation. Otherwise, the CPU will clock down to prevent itself from overheating, which would mean decreased performance.<br />
<br />
Some laptops might come installed with a desktop CPU, but such laptops are not generally considered affordable.<br />
<br />
===More Cores and Threads===<br />
Emulators generally only utilize 2 cores, or with hacks, sometimes 3 or 4 cores. Thus, owning a CPU with 6 cores or more with Hyper-Threading/Simultaneous Multi-Threading, does not help or give the said CPU an advantage over a CPU with only 4 cores. Although, there are certain exceptions. One such exception is RPCS3, which can utilize more cores and threads by emulating the system's thread scheduler, that allows it to use as many cores and threads as the game makes threads.<br />
<br />
While 2-core or 4-core CPUs with very high clock speeds are usually recommended for emulation, most CPUs nowadays feature more than 4 cores with even higher clock speeds. This in comparison to the previously released 6-core or 8-core CPUs with far lower clock speeds, is a fine improvement. Therefore, purchasing a 6-core or an 8-core CPU with said higher clock speeds would hold no disadvantages over a lower core-count CPU, as it no longer forces a clock speed reduction over a similarly clocked 2-core or 4-core CPU.<br />
<br />
===Overclocking===<br />
Not all CPUs can be overclocked, and the motherboard's BIOS must be additionally capable of supporting overclocking. The CPUs in particular that can be overclocked are the usually the ones that are labeled: OverDrive, FX, Extreme Edition, Black Edition, K, and X. Although, certain engineering or qualification sample CPUs that AMD or Intel has manufactured may also be overclockable, since they were used for testing purposes and were not meant for sale. If you are not sure what kind of a CPU you have, check if it has these overclocking labels. For Intel CPUs, their overclocking labels are OverDrive, Extreme Edition, K, and X. For AMD CPUs, their overclocking labels are FX and Black Edition.<br />
<br />
Although, some special CPUs such as the Pentium E6500K, Pentium G3258, and all Ryzen CPUs are overclockable. But keep in mind that you have to be running the CPU on a motherboard that supports overclocking. The motherboards that tend to support overclocking features, comes with a chipset that also supports overclocking, which is required for the CPU to be overclockable. However, this only applies to the newer motherboards, not the older motherboards as they tend to vary from being overclockable to not overclockable. For Intel, the overclockable chipsets' name starts with an X or a Z. The other chipsets that were not mentioned, are not overclockable (B, C, H, and Q). For AMD, the overclockable chipsets' name starts with an X or a B. The other chipsets that were not mentioned, are not overclockable (A).<br />
<br />
For older desktop motherboards with older chipsets, there might be overclocking available in the form of a front-side bus setting. Use that setting with caution however, as the front-side bus clock speed gets raised, so does the rest of the other components on the motherboard (which causes instability, data corruption, etc). Unless the motherboard has a PCI/AGP lock, it is advised not to use the front-side bus setting to overclock the CPU. In further depth, there is a safer setting that can be used to overclock without suffering from instability. Called the 'CPU BSEL Select' or similar, it was intended to manually select the proper front-side bus clock speed of the CPU. By using this method, it allows us to use it for overclocking whilst staying within the factory specifications of the motherboard. This does not affect the rest of the other components on the motherboard, as the front-side bus is not overclocked and is only following the rated speeds it can achieve. Therefore, it is safer than the dangerous front-side bus setting. Also, be aware that once the CPU has hit a certain clock speed, it may be no longer capable of scaling to higher clock speeds due to voltage issues. The reasoning behind this is because of how higher clock speeds require more voltage, and these non-overclockable motherboards have a high chance of not having the ability to directly modify the CPU's core voltage.<br />
<br />
However, if there is no 'CPU BSEL Select', proceed with the front-side bus setting with caution. As a safety precaution, do whatever it takes to not allow the PCI bus' clock speed to reach above 40 MHz. This is because anything higher than the 40 MHz mark will have a very high chance of inducing instability and possible data corruption, or worse. This is also why the front-side bus setting is only recommended for motherboards that are equipped with a PCI/AGP lock, since they prevent the other components on the motherboard from being overclocked. Additionally, please be aware that your motherboard can only supply a limited amount of current before it hits its limits, which will then limit your CPU's overclocking ability. This is due to the weak voltage regulator modules that are not rated to supply a large amount of stable current to keep the CPU and the rest of the other components stable, which is common for motherboards that are not meant for overclocking. The CPU's potential overclock may also be limited by the power supply unit, so a better power supply unit with better efficiency and wattage rating may be required.<br />
<br />
If you have a laptop, overclocking will be severely limited. Most laptops in circulation do not support overclocking, and may not be capable of handling the extra heat produced from an overclocked CPU. For the few laptops that can be overclocked through the BIOS, it is more or less the same as how a desktop would be configured to overclock the CPU. For the majority that does not officially support overclocking, it may be possible to overclock it in a different approach.<br />
<br />
A common approach to overclock your laptop's CPU is to use third-party applications, such as ThrottleStop and CPUMSR. However, these applications only work with CPUs with an Extreme Edition/Black Edition/K/X label. Sometimes, special CPUs such as an engineering sample or a qualification sample may also be overclockable. And always remember this, do not overclock your laptop if you are not confident in its cooling system. If you are able to force the cooling system's fan to always run at its maximum speed, it is strongly recommended to do so. Avoid hitting temperatures higher than 100C/212F at all costs, even if the CPU is rated for a maximum of 105C/221F at the transistor-junction level.<br />
<br />
For non-overclockable laptop CPUs, you might be able to overclock it in a different way. Certain third-party applications are capable of controlling a chip that generates the clock signal for the front-side bus' clock, which is called the phase-locked loop. This is extremely unsafe and may result in potential data corruption, as it follows the same principle of overclocking the front-side bus. All laptops in existence do not have a PCI/AGP lock either, so keeping the PCI bus below 40 MHz is advised. The applications that can control the phase-locked loop are: ClockGen, CPUCool, SetFSB, SoftFSB, SetPLL, and SysTool. However, there is a catch when using these mentioned programs; none of them supports every phase-locked loop in existence. This means that each one of them has a range of phase-locked loops they support, and you must use the correct matching program that has support for your phase-locked loop. There is also no auto-detection in these programs for the phase-locked loop, as they do not have a standardized way to report their manufacturer and model name, so be careful when selecting the correct phase-locked loop that resides in your laptop.<br />
<br />
==GPU==<br />
GPUs are basically just hundreds of under-powered CPUs on the same die, or better described as a massively parallel CPU with a core count that far exceeds most traditional multi-core CPUs.<br />
<br />
The thing is, with 3D graphics, you can split the work up into hundreds of different parts and give each operation to a different core on the GPU to work on. Since it doesn't matter which order the pixels are rendered in, as long as they all get rendered for the same frame before moving on to the next frame.<br />
<br />
File compression/extraction and bitcoin mining are also good examples of programs that can make use of parallel processing. However, most programs can not do this. Dwarf Fortress, for example, can't make use of a graphics card. This is because of how every calculation it does is dependent on the one performed before it. That obviously doesn't work if you try and do them all at the same time.<br />
<br />
Pretty much any emulator is the same; it does not know what comes next until it has done what preceded it. It has to run off a single thread. It still needs some form of graphical output to output the final rendered 2D screen alone. This can be done via a GPU to put the 3D graphics on the screen, but any system capable of being emulated shouldn't be too taxing. This is called 'Hardware Rendering'. Alternatively, all of the graphics processing can be done on the CPU and will be more predictable/consistent for it, but that is also costly. This is called 'Software Rendering'.<br />
<br />
Most 3D emulators have hardware and software renderers. Software renderers use more CPU power, which may mostly be slower. They may also run on their own threads separate from other emulator parts, which would likely reduce the performance loss, but the CPU must still be fast enough in the first place.<br />
<br />
==Recommended Specifications==<br />
<br />
===[[DEmul]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 B40 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 420 or ATI Radeon HD 5750 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 @ 3.7 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 2200G @ 3.65 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 or AMD Radeon R9 280X or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Phoenix (emulator)|Phoenix]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.13 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8300 @ 2.83 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B53 @ 2.8 GHz or better <br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: XP Professional x64 with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-680 @ 3.73 GHz or AMD FX-4350 @ 4.3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT or ATI Radeon X700 XT or Intel HD Graphics (Westmere) or S3 Chrome S27 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Cxbx-Reloaded]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 @ 2.66 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ @ 2.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 545 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 or ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT or Intel HD Graphics 3000 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[RPCS3]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-2700K @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1300X @ 3.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 420 or AMD Radeon HD 7470 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.0 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-5960X @ 3.3 GHz or AMD Ryzen 7 1700X @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 or AMD Radeon HD 8990 or better<br />
*RAM: 8 GB or more<br />
<br />
For information on DualShock 3 controller support, see [[SCP Driver Package]].<br />
<br />
===[[PCSX2]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.3) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT or ATI Radeon HD 3870 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-4370 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 240GE @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 or ATI Radeon HD 5830 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
For information on DualShock 3 controller support, see [[SCP Driver Package]].<br />
<br />
===[[Mednafen|Mednafen PS1]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 545 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: XP Professional x64 with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-560 @ 3.33 GHz or AMD FX-4170 @ 4.3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[PPSSPP]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.7) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.4E (Prescott) @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (Clawhammer) @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 3000 or S3 Chrome S25 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: XP Professional x64 with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.7.5) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium D 970 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ (Windsor) @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GS or ATI Radeon X1600 or Intel GMA X4500HD or S3 Chrome 430 GT or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
Enable the dynarec option for speedups.<br />
<br />
===[[Cemu]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-970 @ 3.33 GHz or AMD Ryzen 5 1600 @ 3.3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 or AMD Radeon HD 7730 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-3970X @ 3.7 GHz or AMD Ryzen 5 1600X @ 3.7 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti or AMD Radeon R7 360 or better<br />
*RAM: 8 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Dolphin]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Yosemite (10.10) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.4.6 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 @ 3.2 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition @ 3.2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 or AMD Radeon HD 7770 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 8 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Yosemite (10.10.5) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.4.161 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 @ 3.1 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti or AMD Radeon R7 360 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
See the [[Dolphin]] page for further recommendations, such as controller setups.<br />
<br />
===[[Mupen64Plus]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) <small>(Needs msvcp120.dll and msvcr120.dll in the program's directory to run, also applies for XP x64 64-bit.)</small> or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 670 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 4000+ (San Diego) @ 2.4 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200 or ATI Radeon 8500 or 3dfx Voodoo5 6000 or Intel Extreme Graphics 2 or XGI Volari V3 XT or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 @ 2.66 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 5400+ (Brisbane) @ 2.8 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Citra]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: High Sierra (10.13) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.15 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-4370 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 240GE @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 8 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Mojave (10.14) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.15.18 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-7350K @ 4.2 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 2300X @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 or AMD Radeon HD 6990 or better<br />
*RAM: 6 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[DeSmuME]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) <small>(Needs msvcp100.dll and msvcr100.dll in the program's directory to run, [https://imgur.com/a/fgWhs proof] also applies for XP Pro x64 64-bit.)</small> or later<br />
*macOS: Leopard (10.5.8) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.4C (Northwood) @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 3400+ (Barton) @ 2.3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce2 MX100 or ATI Radeon 7000 or 3dfx Voodoo4 4500 or Intel Extreme Graphics 2 or S3 DeltaChrome S4 or PowerVR Kyro 2 or Trident XP4 or XGI Volari V3 or Matrox Millennium G450 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
Enable the dynarec option for speedups.<br />
<br />
===[[mGBA]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later <br />
*macOS: Leopard (10.5) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel kernel 4.4.161 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 2.4A (Northwood) @ 2.4 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 2400+ (Thoroughbred-B) @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce2 Pro or ATI Radeon 8500 LE or 3dfx Voodoo5 5500 or Intel Extreme Graphics 2 or Matrox Parhelia-512 or PowerVR Kyro 2 SE or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.7) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.18.20 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.2C (Northwood) @ 3.2 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 3200+ (Barton) @ 2.2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[BGB]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: NT 4.0 (16-bit/32-bit hybrid) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium MMX (P55C) @ 200 MHz or AMD K6 (Little Foot) @ 233 MHz or Cyrix 6x86MX PR366 @ 250 MHz or IDT WinChip 240 (C6) @ 240 MHz or Rise mP6 PR366 @ 250 MHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA RIVA 128 or ATI 3D Rage PRO or 3dfx Voodoo2 1000 or Intel 82740 or Matrox Mystique 220 or S3 Savage3D or SiS 6326 AGP or Trident 3DImage 9850 or Rendition Verite V2100 or PowerVR PCX2 or better<br />
*RAM: 128 MB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 2000 with Service Pack 4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 2 450 @ 450 MHz or AMD K6-2 550 @ 550 MHz or Transmeta Crusoe TM5400 @ 700 MHz or VIA C3-800 (Samuel 2) @ 800 MHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 256 SDR or ATI Radeon 7000 or 3dfx Voodoo3 3500 TV or Intel Extreme Graphics or Matrox Millennium P650 or Trident Blade XP 9980 or better<br />
*RAM: 256 MB or more<br />
<br />
===[[higan]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.7) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Mountain Lion (10.8) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-2153 @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Athlon 220GE @ 3.4 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
[[Category:FAQs]]</div>Windows Whistlerhttps://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=Computer_specifications&diff=29292Computer specifications2019-04-13T19:13:16Z<p>Windows Whistler: /* BGB */ can run on windows NT 4.0</p>
<hr />
<div>Most emulators tend to be CPU-dependent in general, meaning that their performance is greatly determined by the CPU's speed. The GPU on the other hand, usually serves as a graphics enhancer by allowing for higher resolutions, anti-aliasing, etc. If your CPU isn't fast enough, you will not likely to be able to emulate a system at full speed. At the very least, a Core i5-2500K or a Ryzen 3 1200 is recommended for high-end emulation (e.g. [[PlayStation 2 emulators|PS2]], [[Wii emulators|Wii]]). This page will explain and state other possible choices to take, provided that the above choices are not feasible.<br />
<br />
==CPU==<br />
===Megahertz Myth===<br />
Whenever a CPU has a high clock speed (e.g: Pentium 4 580 @ 4 GHz), it does not always necessarily mean that it is powerful.<ref>http://www.computer-hardware-explained.com/megahertz-myth.html</ref> This is usually a common misconception, that stems from lack of detailed information on how a CPU works. However, it is true that a higher CPU clock speed guarantees improved emulation performance. While it is true that a high clock speed is one of the main factors for good CPU performance, it is not always the sole determining factor. For example, a Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 2.4 GHz will nearly always outperform a Pentium D 940 @ 3.2 GHz.<ref>http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2097</ref> Even though the Pentium D 940 is clocked significantly higher, the Core 2 Duo E6600 is still faster due to the reduced amount of pipeline stages and a wider execution unit. This improves the amount of instructions it can output per cycle, which means better performance at a lower clock speed. In other words, the particular architecture of the CPU itself matters more than the clock speed.<br />
<br />
AMD's FX (Bulldozer) CPUs also follows the aforementioned Pentium 4 (NetBurst) example, which has the same issue that the NetBurst-derived CPUs suffer from. They also share the same high clock speed traits, which might cause confusion and misleading performance conclusions. Because of this, it is recommended to completely avoid Bulldozer at all costs. To further discourage the use of a Bulldozer-derived CPU; its single-threaded performance is somewhat lower when compared to an equally-clocked Phenom II or Core 2,<ref>https://www.overclock.net/photopost/data/1501987/b/b1/b16fb0b4_ScreenShot005.jpeg</ref> though the multi-threaded performance of Bulldozer far exceeds the fastest Phenom II or Core 2 offerings.<ref>https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-Phenom-II-X6-1100T-vs-AMD-FX-9590/2004vs1812</ref> The actual problem here is Bulldozer's under-average single-threaded performance that will not help in high-end emulation that uses 4 or fewer cores, and the fact that Bulldozer has a shared FPU between 2 cores. What this means, is that a FX-4350 would have 2 FPUs (1 FPU per 2 cores), and a FX-9590 would have 4 FPUs (1 FPU per 2 cores x 4). This will lead to weaker performance in floating-point heavy calculations, which is also another reason why it is not recommended. If you are still not convinced, have a look at the benchmarks.<ref>https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AunYlOAfGABxdFQ0UzJyTFAxbzZhYWtGcGwySlRFa1E#gid=1></ref><ref>https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AunYlOAfGABxdFQ0UzJyTFAxbzZhYWtGcGwySlRFa1E#gid=0</ref><ref>http://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-CPU-Benchmark-designed-for-PCSX2-based-on-FFX-2?page=107</ref><ref>https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-new-dolphin-cpu-benchmark-no-game-required?page=15</ref><ref>https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-new-dolphin-cpu-benchmark-no-game-required?page=15</ref><ref>http://translate.google.com/translate?act=url&depth=1&hl=pl&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.pl&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://pclab.pl//art55934.html</ref><ref>http://wccftech.com/ultimate-cpu-gpu-floating-point-performance-battle-amd-intel/</ref><ref>http://www.anandtech.com/show/7711/floating-point-peak-performance-of-kaveri-and-other-recent-amd-and-intel-chips</ref><ref>http://vr-zone.com/articles/ivy-bridge-e-i7-4960x-vs-amd-fx-9590-battle-2013-flagships/54295.html/2</ref><ref>http://www.extremetech.com/computing/159619-5ghz-showdown-overclocked-5ghz-amd-haswell-ivy-bridge/2</ref><br />
<br />
===AMD vs. Intel===<br />
As of Ryzen (Summit Ridge), AMD's CPUs have similar single-threaded performance when compared to Intel's CPUs,<ref>https://i0.wp.com/www.solidsmack.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/AMD-Threadripper-single-thread-competition.png?ssl=1</ref> though it is still not exactly close to an equivalent Intel CPU of the same era. While Summit Ridge is slightly slower than an equally-clocked Kaby Lake in single-threaded applications, it remains as a good budget-friendly alternative for high-end emulation.<br />
<br />
The release of Pinnacle Ridge has not brought any architectural improvements to Ryzen yet, apart from it being manufactured on a better process that allows for higher clock speeds. Due to that, the instructions-per-cycle performance remains the same as Summit Ridge.<br />
<br />
===Emulation on a non-x86/ARM CPU===<br />
CPUs that are not x86-based, or are not ARM-based <small>(smartphones can run emulators with varying degrees of success)</small>, are not very likely to be good enough for emulation in general. Certain emulators have been ported or programmed for some CPUs that are not ARM or x86-based, but those are generally very old and are possibly no longer in active development. IBM PowerPC CPUs for example, had emulators ported or even programmed for it. However, these are rather outdated emulators and are not recommended for emulation.<br />
<br />
Some very specific CPU architectures such as the Elbrus, SPARC, MIPS, IA-64 (Itanium), Alpha, PA-RISC, and 68000, are heavily discouraged for emulation. This is mostly due to the lack of support and interest in them, which forces people that utilize these CPUs to resort to x86 emulation. While some of them may be capable of performing x86 emulation, not all of them have the necessary software or hardware capability to do so. Even such emulators that are native to their architecture are extremely hard to find, or non-existent. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to avoid using these CPUs in any way possible.<br />
<br />
===Desktop vs. Laptop===<br />
Laptop CPUs are typically much weaker than their desktop variants due to being clocked lower, for battery life and heat management reasons. They may also come with fewer cores when compared with their desktop variants with similar naming schemes, which may confuse you. Also, please be aware that while some laptops might come with the same CPU, their actual performance will vary from atrocious to good. This is due to their cooling system's differences, which will be either bad or good. As such, it is strongly recommended to pick a laptop with a decent cooling system for emulation. Otherwise, the CPU will clock down to prevent itself from overheating, which would mean decreased performance.<br />
<br />
Some laptops might come installed with a desktop CPU, but such laptops are not generally considered affordable.<br />
<br />
===More Cores and Threads===<br />
Emulators generally only utilize 2 cores, or with hacks, sometimes 3 or 4 cores. Thus, owning a CPU with 6 cores or more with Hyper-Threading/Simultaneous Multi-Threading, does not help or give the said CPU an advantage over a CPU with only 4 cores. Although, there are certain exceptions. One such exception is RPCS3, which can utilize more cores and threads by emulating the system's thread scheduler, that allows it to use as many cores and threads as the game makes threads.<br />
<br />
While 2-core or 4-core CPUs with very high clock speeds are usually recommended for emulation, most CPUs nowadays feature more than 4 cores with even higher clock speeds. This in comparison to the previously released 6-core or 8-core CPUs with far lower clock speeds, is a fine improvement. Therefore, purchasing a 6-core or an 8-core CPU with said higher clock speeds would hold no disadvantages over a lower core-count CPU, as it no longer forces a clock speed reduction over a similarly clocked 2-core or 4-core CPU.<br />
<br />
===Overclocking===<br />
Not all CPUs can be overclocked, and the motherboard's BIOS must be additionally capable of supporting overclocking. The CPUs in particular that can be overclocked are the usually the ones that are labeled: OverDrive, FX, Extreme Edition, Black Edition, K, and X. Although, certain engineering or qualification sample CPUs that AMD or Intel has manufactured may also be overclockable, since they were used for testing purposes and were not meant for sale. If you are not sure what kind of a CPU you have, check if it has these overclocking labels. For Intel CPUs, their overclocking labels are OverDrive, Extreme Edition, K, and X. For AMD CPUs, their overclocking labels are FX and Black Edition.<br />
<br />
Although, some special CPUs such as the Pentium E6500K, Pentium G3258, and all Ryzen CPUs are overclockable. But keep in mind that you have to be running the CPU on a motherboard that supports overclocking. The motherboards that tend to support overclocking features, comes with a chipset that also supports overclocking, which is required for the CPU to be overclockable. However, this only applies to the newer motherboards, not the older motherboards as they tend to vary from being overclockable to not overclockable. For Intel, the overclockable chipsets' name starts with an X or a Z. The other chipsets that were not mentioned, are not overclockable (B, C, H, and Q). For AMD, the overclockable chipsets' name starts with an X or a B. The other chipsets that were not mentioned, are not overclockable (A).<br />
<br />
For older desktop motherboards with older chipsets, there might be overclocking available in the form of a front-side bus setting. Use that setting with caution however, as the front-side bus clock speed gets raised, so does the rest of the other components on the motherboard (which causes instability, data corruption, etc). Unless the motherboard has a PCI/AGP lock, it is advised not to use the front-side bus setting to overclock the CPU. In further depth, there is a safer setting that can be used to overclock without suffering from instability. Called the 'CPU BSEL Select' or similar, it was intended to manually select the proper front-side bus clock speed of the CPU. By using this method, it allows us to use it for overclocking whilst staying within the factory specifications of the motherboard. This does not affect the rest of the other components on the motherboard, as the front-side bus is not overclocked and is only following the rated speeds it can achieve. Therefore, it is safer than the dangerous front-side bus setting. Also, be aware that once the CPU has hit a certain clock speed, it may be no longer capable of scaling to higher clock speeds due to voltage issues. The reasoning behind this is because of how higher clock speeds require more voltage, and these non-overclockable motherboards have a high chance of not having the ability to directly modify the CPU's core voltage.<br />
<br />
However, if there is no 'CPU BSEL Select', proceed with the front-side bus setting with caution. As a safety precaution, do whatever it takes to not allow the PCI bus' clock speed to reach above 40 MHz. This is because anything higher than the 40 MHz mark will have a very high chance of inducing instability and possible data corruption, or worse. This is also why the front-side bus setting is only recommended for motherboards that are equipped with a PCI/AGP lock, since they prevent the other components on the motherboard from being overclocked. Additionally, please be aware that your motherboard can only supply a limited amount of current before it hits its limits, which will then limit your CPU's overclocking ability. This is due to the weak voltage regulator modules that are not rated to supply a large amount of stable current to keep the CPU and the rest of the other components stable, which is common for motherboards that are not meant for overclocking. The CPU's potential overclock may also be limited by the power supply unit, so a better power supply unit with better efficiency and wattage rating may be required.<br />
<br />
If you have a laptop, overclocking will be severely limited. Most laptops in circulation do not support overclocking, and may not be capable of handling the extra heat produced from an overclocked CPU. For the few laptops that can be overclocked through the BIOS, it is more or less the same as how a desktop would be configured to overclock the CPU. For the majority that does not officially support overclocking, it may be possible to overclock it in a different approach.<br />
<br />
A common approach to overclock your laptop's CPU is to use third-party applications, such as ThrottleStop and CPUMSR. However, these applications only work with CPUs with an Extreme Edition/Black Edition/K/X label. Sometimes, special CPUs such as an engineering sample or a qualification sample may also be overclockable. And always remember this, do not overclock your laptop if you are not confident in its cooling system. If you are able to force the cooling system's fan to always run at its maximum speed, it is strongly recommended to do so. Avoid hitting temperatures higher than 100C/212F at all costs, even if the CPU is rated for a maximum of 105C/221F at the transistor-junction level.<br />
<br />
For non-overclockable laptop CPUs, you might be able to overclock it in a different way. Certain third-party applications are capable of controlling a chip that generates the clock signal for the front-side bus' clock, which is called the phase-locked loop. This is extremely unsafe and may result in potential data corruption, as it follows the same principle of overclocking the front-side bus. All laptops in existence do not have a PCI/AGP lock either, so keeping the PCI bus below 40 MHz is advised. The applications that can control the phase-locked loop are: ClockGen, CPUCool, SetFSB, SoftFSB, SetPLL, and SysTool. However, there is a catch when using these mentioned programs; none of them supports every phase-locked loop in existence. This means that each one of them has a range of phase-locked loops they support, and you must use the correct matching program that has support for your phase-locked loop. There is also no auto-detection in these programs for the phase-locked loop, as they do not have a standardized way to report their manufacturer and model name, so be careful when selecting the correct phase-locked loop that resides in your laptop.<br />
<br />
==GPU==<br />
GPUs are basically just hundreds of under-powered CPUs on the same die, or better described as a massively parallel CPU with a core count that far exceeds most traditional multi-core CPUs.<br />
<br />
The thing is, with 3D graphics, you can split the work up into hundreds of different parts and give each operation to a different core on the GPU to work on. Since it doesn't matter which order the pixels are rendered in, as long as they all get rendered for the same frame before moving on to the next frame.<br />
<br />
File compression/extraction and bitcoin mining are also good examples of programs that can make use of parallel processing. However, most programs can not do this. Dwarf Fortress, for example, can't make use of a graphics card. This is because of how every calculation it does is dependent on the one performed before it. That obviously doesn't work if you try and do them all at the same time.<br />
<br />
Pretty much any emulator is the same; it does not know what comes next until it has done what preceded it. It has to run off a single thread. It still needs some form of graphical output to output the final rendered 2D screen alone. This can be done via a GPU to put the 3D graphics on the screen, but any system capable of being emulated shouldn't be too taxing. This is called 'Hardware Rendering'. Alternatively, all of the graphics processing can be done on the CPU and will be more predictable/consistent for it, but that is also costly. This is called 'Software Rendering'.<br />
<br />
Most 3D emulators have hardware and software renderers. Software renderers use more CPU power, which may mostly be slower. They may also run on their own threads separate from other emulator parts, which would likely reduce the performance loss, but the CPU must still be fast enough in the first place.<br />
<br />
==Recommended Specifications==<br />
<br />
===[[DEmul]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 B40 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 420 or ATI Radeon HD 5750 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 @ 3.7 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 2200G @ 3.65 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 or AMD Radeon R9 280X or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Phoenix (emulator)|Phoenix]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.13 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8300 @ 2.83 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B53 @ 2.8 GHz or better <br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: XP Professional x64 with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-680 @ 3.73 GHz or AMD FX-4350 @ 4.3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT or ATI Radeon X700 XT or Intel HD Graphics (Westmere) or S3 Chrome S27 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Cxbx-Reloaded]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 @ 2.66 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ @ 2.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 545 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 or ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT or Intel HD Graphics 3000 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[RPCS3]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-2700K @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1300X @ 3.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 420 or AMD Radeon HD 7470 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.0 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-5960X @ 3.3 GHz or AMD Ryzen 7 1700X @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 or AMD Radeon HD 8990 or better<br />
*RAM: 8 GB or more<br />
<br />
For information on DualShock 3 controller support, see [[SCP Driver Package]].<br />
<br />
===[[PCSX2]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.3) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT or ATI Radeon HD 3870 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-4370 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 240GE @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 or ATI Radeon HD 5830 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
For information on DualShock 3 controller support, see [[SCP Driver Package]].<br />
<br />
===[[Mednafen|Mednafen PS1]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 545 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: XP Professional x64 with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-560 @ 3.33 GHz or AMD FX-4170 @ 4.3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[PPSSPP]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.7) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.4E (Prescott) @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (Clawhammer) @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 3000 or S3 Chrome S25 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: XP Professional x64 with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.7.5) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium D 970 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ (Windsor) @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GS or ATI Radeon X1600 or Intel GMA X4500HD or S3 Chrome 430 GT or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
Enable the dynarec option for speedups.<br />
<br />
===[[Cemu]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-970 @ 3.33 GHz or AMD Ryzen 5 1600 @ 3.3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 or AMD Radeon HD 7730 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-3970X @ 3.7 GHz or AMD Ryzen 5 1600X @ 3.7 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti or AMD Radeon R7 360 or better<br />
*RAM: 8 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Dolphin]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Yosemite (10.10) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.4.6 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 @ 3.2 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition @ 3.2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 or AMD Radeon HD 7770 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 8 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Yosemite (10.10.5) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.4.161 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 @ 3.1 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti or AMD Radeon R7 360 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
See the [[Dolphin]] page for further recommendations, such as controller setups.<br />
<br />
===[[Mupen64Plus]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) <small>(Needs msvcp120.dll and msvcr120.dll in the program's directory to run, also applies for XP x64 64-bit.)</small> or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 670 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 4000+ (San Diego) @ 2.4 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200 or ATI Radeon 8500 or 3dfx Voodoo5 6000 or Intel Extreme Graphics 2 or XGI Volari V3 XT or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 @ 2.66 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 5400+ (Brisbane) @ 2.8 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Citra]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: High Sierra (10.13) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.15 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-4370 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 240GE @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 8 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Mojave (10.14) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.15.18 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-7350K @ 4.2 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 2300X @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 or AMD Radeon HD 6990 or better<br />
*RAM: 6 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[DeSmuME]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) <small>(Needs msvcp100.dll and msvcr100.dll in the program's directory to run, [https://imgur.com/a/fgWhs proof] also applies for XP Pro x64 64-bit.)</small> or later<br />
*macOS: Leopard (10.5.8) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.4C (Northwood) @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 3400+ (Barton) @ 2.3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce2 MX100 or ATI Radeon 7000 or 3dfx Voodoo4 4500 or Intel Extreme Graphics 2 or S3 DeltaChrome S4 or PowerVR Kyro 2 or Trident XP4 or XGI Volari V3 or Matrox Millennium G450 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
Enable the dynarec option for speedups.<br />
<br />
===[[mGBA]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later <small>(Libretro core only. The standalone executable cannot be ran under any version of XP, due to a missing Direct3DCreate9Ex function in XP's d3d9.dll)</small><br />
*macOS: Leopard (10.5) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel kernel 4.4.161 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 2.4A (Northwood) @ 2.4 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 2400+ (Thoroughbred-B) @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce2 Pro or ATI Radeon 8500 LE or 3dfx Voodoo5 5500 or Intel Extreme Graphics 2 or Matrox Parhelia-512 or PowerVR Kyro 2 SE or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.7) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.18.20 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.2C (Northwood) @ 3.2 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 3200+ (Barton) @ 2.2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[BGB]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: NT 4.0 (16-bit/32-bit hybrid) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium MMX (P55C) @ 200 MHz or AMD K6 (Little Foot) @ 233 MHz or Cyrix 6x86MX PR366 @ 250 MHz or IDT WinChip 240 (C6) @ 240 MHz or Rise mP6 PR366 @ 250 MHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA RIVA 128 or ATI 3D Rage PRO or 3dfx Voodoo2 1000 or Intel 82740 or Matrox Mystique 220 or S3 Savage3D or SiS 6326 AGP or Trident 3DImage 9850 or Rendition Verite V2100 or PowerVR PCX2 or better<br />
*RAM: 128 MB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 2000 with Service Pack 4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 2 450 @ 450 MHz or AMD K6-2 550 @ 550 MHz or Transmeta Crusoe TM5400 @ 700 MHz or VIA C3-800 (Samuel 2) @ 800 MHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 256 SDR or ATI Radeon 7000 or 3dfx Voodoo3 3500 TV or Intel Extreme Graphics or Matrox Millennium P650 or Trident Blade XP 9980 or better<br />
*RAM: 256 MB or more<br />
<br />
===[[higan]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.7) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Mountain Lion (10.8) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-2153 @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Athlon 220GE @ 3.4 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
[[Category:FAQs]]</div>Windows Whistlerhttps://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=Computer_specifications&diff=29291Computer specifications2019-04-13T19:11:17Z<p>Windows Whistler: </p>
<hr />
<div>Most emulators tend to be CPU-dependent in general, meaning that their performance is greatly determined by the CPU's speed. The GPU on the other hand, usually serves as a graphics enhancer by allowing for higher resolutions, anti-aliasing, etc. If your CPU isn't fast enough, you will not likely to be able to emulate a system at full speed. At the very least, a Core i5-2500K or a Ryzen 3 1200 is recommended for high-end emulation (e.g. [[PlayStation 2 emulators|PS2]], [[Wii emulators|Wii]]). This page will explain and state other possible choices to take, provided that the above choices are not feasible.<br />
<br />
==CPU==<br />
===Megahertz Myth===<br />
Whenever a CPU has a high clock speed (e.g: Pentium 4 580 @ 4 GHz), it does not always necessarily mean that it is powerful.<ref>http://www.computer-hardware-explained.com/megahertz-myth.html</ref> This is usually a common misconception, that stems from lack of detailed information on how a CPU works. However, it is true that a higher CPU clock speed guarantees improved emulation performance. While it is true that a high clock speed is one of the main factors for good CPU performance, it is not always the sole determining factor. For example, a Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 2.4 GHz will nearly always outperform a Pentium D 940 @ 3.2 GHz.<ref>http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2097</ref> Even though the Pentium D 940 is clocked significantly higher, the Core 2 Duo E6600 is still faster due to the reduced amount of pipeline stages and a wider execution unit. This improves the amount of instructions it can output per cycle, which means better performance at a lower clock speed. In other words, the particular architecture of the CPU itself matters more than the clock speed.<br />
<br />
AMD's FX (Bulldozer) CPUs also follows the aforementioned Pentium 4 (NetBurst) example, which has the same issue that the NetBurst-derived CPUs suffer from. They also share the same high clock speed traits, which might cause confusion and misleading performance conclusions. Because of this, it is recommended to completely avoid Bulldozer at all costs. To further discourage the use of a Bulldozer-derived CPU; its single-threaded performance is somewhat lower when compared to an equally-clocked Phenom II or Core 2,<ref>https://www.overclock.net/photopost/data/1501987/b/b1/b16fb0b4_ScreenShot005.jpeg</ref> though the multi-threaded performance of Bulldozer far exceeds the fastest Phenom II or Core 2 offerings.<ref>https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-Phenom-II-X6-1100T-vs-AMD-FX-9590/2004vs1812</ref> The actual problem here is Bulldozer's under-average single-threaded performance that will not help in high-end emulation that uses 4 or fewer cores, and the fact that Bulldozer has a shared FPU between 2 cores. What this means, is that a FX-4350 would have 2 FPUs (1 FPU per 2 cores), and a FX-9590 would have 4 FPUs (1 FPU per 2 cores x 4). This will lead to weaker performance in floating-point heavy calculations, which is also another reason why it is not recommended. If you are still not convinced, have a look at the benchmarks.<ref>https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AunYlOAfGABxdFQ0UzJyTFAxbzZhYWtGcGwySlRFa1E#gid=1></ref><ref>https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AunYlOAfGABxdFQ0UzJyTFAxbzZhYWtGcGwySlRFa1E#gid=0</ref><ref>http://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-CPU-Benchmark-designed-for-PCSX2-based-on-FFX-2?page=107</ref><ref>https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-new-dolphin-cpu-benchmark-no-game-required?page=15</ref><ref>https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-new-dolphin-cpu-benchmark-no-game-required?page=15</ref><ref>http://translate.google.com/translate?act=url&depth=1&hl=pl&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.pl&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://pclab.pl//art55934.html</ref><ref>http://wccftech.com/ultimate-cpu-gpu-floating-point-performance-battle-amd-intel/</ref><ref>http://www.anandtech.com/show/7711/floating-point-peak-performance-of-kaveri-and-other-recent-amd-and-intel-chips</ref><ref>http://vr-zone.com/articles/ivy-bridge-e-i7-4960x-vs-amd-fx-9590-battle-2013-flagships/54295.html/2</ref><ref>http://www.extremetech.com/computing/159619-5ghz-showdown-overclocked-5ghz-amd-haswell-ivy-bridge/2</ref><br />
<br />
===AMD vs. Intel===<br />
As of Ryzen (Summit Ridge), AMD's CPUs have similar single-threaded performance when compared to Intel's CPUs,<ref>https://i0.wp.com/www.solidsmack.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/AMD-Threadripper-single-thread-competition.png?ssl=1</ref> though it is still not exactly close to an equivalent Intel CPU of the same era. While Summit Ridge is slightly slower than an equally-clocked Kaby Lake in single-threaded applications, it remains as a good budget-friendly alternative for high-end emulation.<br />
<br />
The release of Pinnacle Ridge has not brought any architectural improvements to Ryzen yet, apart from it being manufactured on a better process that allows for higher clock speeds. Due to that, the instructions-per-cycle performance remains the same as Summit Ridge.<br />
<br />
===Emulation on a non-x86/ARM CPU===<br />
CPUs that are not x86-based, or are not ARM-based <small>(smartphones can run emulators with varying degrees of success)</small>, are not very likely to be good enough for emulation in general. Certain emulators have been ported or programmed for some CPUs that are not ARM or x86-based, but those are generally very old and are possibly no longer in active development. IBM PowerPC CPUs for example, had emulators ported or even programmed for it. However, these are rather outdated emulators and are not recommended for emulation.<br />
<br />
Some very specific CPU architectures such as the Elbrus, SPARC, MIPS, IA-64 (Itanium), Alpha, PA-RISC, and 68000, are heavily discouraged for emulation. This is mostly due to the lack of support and interest in them, which forces people that utilize these CPUs to resort to x86 emulation. While some of them may be capable of performing x86 emulation, not all of them have the necessary software or hardware capability to do so. Even such emulators that are native to their architecture are extremely hard to find, or non-existent. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to avoid using these CPUs in any way possible.<br />
<br />
===Desktop vs. Laptop===<br />
Laptop CPUs are typically much weaker than their desktop variants due to being clocked lower, for battery life and heat management reasons. They may also come with fewer cores when compared with their desktop variants with similar naming schemes, which may confuse you. Also, please be aware that while some laptops might come with the same CPU, their actual performance will vary from atrocious to good. This is due to their cooling system's differences, which will be either bad or good. As such, it is strongly recommended to pick a laptop with a decent cooling system for emulation. Otherwise, the CPU will clock down to prevent itself from overheating, which would mean decreased performance.<br />
<br />
Some laptops might come installed with a desktop CPU, but such laptops are not generally considered affordable.<br />
<br />
===More Cores and Threads===<br />
Emulators generally only utilize 2 cores, or with hacks, sometimes 3 or 4 cores. Thus, owning a CPU with 6 cores or more with Hyper-Threading/Simultaneous Multi-Threading, does not help or give the said CPU an advantage over a CPU with only 4 cores. Although, there are certain exceptions. One such exception is RPCS3, which can utilize more cores and threads by emulating the system's thread scheduler, that allows it to use as many cores and threads as the game makes threads.<br />
<br />
While 2-core or 4-core CPUs with very high clock speeds are usually recommended for emulation, most CPUs nowadays feature more than 4 cores with even higher clock speeds. This in comparison to the previously released 6-core or 8-core CPUs with far lower clock speeds, is a fine improvement. Therefore, purchasing a 6-core or an 8-core CPU with said higher clock speeds would hold no disadvantages over a lower core-count CPU, as it no longer forces a clock speed reduction over a similarly clocked 2-core or 4-core CPU.<br />
<br />
===Overclocking===<br />
Not all CPUs can be overclocked, and the motherboard's BIOS must be additionally capable of supporting overclocking. The CPUs in particular that can be overclocked are the usually the ones that are labeled: OverDrive, FX, Extreme Edition, Black Edition, K, and X. Although, certain engineering or qualification sample CPUs that AMD or Intel has manufactured may also be overclockable, since they were used for testing purposes and were not meant for sale. If you are not sure what kind of a CPU you have, check if it has these overclocking labels. For Intel CPUs, their overclocking labels are OverDrive, Extreme Edition, K, and X. For AMD CPUs, their overclocking labels are FX and Black Edition.<br />
<br />
Although, some special CPUs such as the Pentium E6500K, Pentium G3258, and all Ryzen CPUs are overclockable. But keep in mind that you have to be running the CPU on a motherboard that supports overclocking. The motherboards that tend to support overclocking features, comes with a chipset that also supports overclocking, which is required for the CPU to be overclockable. However, this only applies to the newer motherboards, not the older motherboards as they tend to vary from being overclockable to not overclockable. For Intel, the overclockable chipsets' name starts with an X or a Z. The other chipsets that were not mentioned, are not overclockable (B, C, H, and Q). For AMD, the overclockable chipsets' name starts with an X or a B. The other chipsets that were not mentioned, are not overclockable (A).<br />
<br />
For older desktop motherboards with older chipsets, there might be overclocking available in the form of a front-side bus setting. Use that setting with caution however, as the front-side bus clock speed gets raised, so does the rest of the other components on the motherboard (which causes instability, data corruption, etc). Unless the motherboard has a PCI/AGP lock, it is advised not to use the front-side bus setting to overclock the CPU. In further depth, there is a safer setting that can be used to overclock without suffering from instability. Called the 'CPU BSEL Select' or similar, it was intended to manually select the proper front-side bus clock speed of the CPU. By using this method, it allows us to use it for overclocking whilst staying within the factory specifications of the motherboard. This does not affect the rest of the other components on the motherboard, as the front-side bus is not overclocked and is only following the rated speeds it can achieve. Therefore, it is safer than the dangerous front-side bus setting. Also, be aware that once the CPU has hit a certain clock speed, it may be no longer capable of scaling to higher clock speeds due to voltage issues. The reasoning behind this is because of how higher clock speeds require more voltage, and these non-overclockable motherboards have a high chance of not having the ability to directly modify the CPU's core voltage.<br />
<br />
However, if there is no 'CPU BSEL Select', proceed with the front-side bus setting with caution. As a safety precaution, do whatever it takes to not allow the PCI bus' clock speed to reach above 40 MHz. This is because anything higher than the 40 MHz mark will have a very high chance of inducing instability and possible data corruption, or worse. This is also why the front-side bus setting is only recommended for motherboards that are equipped with a PCI/AGP lock, since they prevent the other components on the motherboard from being overclocked. Additionally, please be aware that your motherboard can only supply a limited amount of current before it hits its limits, which will then limit your CPU's overclocking ability. This is due to the weak voltage regulator modules that are not rated to supply a large amount of stable current to keep the CPU and the rest of the other components stable, which is common for motherboards that are not meant for overclocking. The CPU's potential overclock may also be limited by the power supply unit, so a better power supply unit with better efficiency and wattage rating may be required.<br />
<br />
If you have a laptop, overclocking will be severely limited. Most laptops in circulation do not support overclocking, and may not be capable of handling the extra heat produced from an overclocked CPU. For the few laptops that can be overclocked through the BIOS, it is more or less the same as how a desktop would be configured to overclock the CPU. For the majority that does not officially support overclocking, it may be possible to overclock it in a different approach.<br />
<br />
A common approach to overclock your laptop's CPU is to use third-party applications, such as ThrottleStop and CPUMSR. However, these applications only work with CPUs with an Extreme Edition/Black Edition/K/X label. Sometimes, special CPUs such as an engineering sample or a qualification sample may also be overclockable. And always remember this, do not overclock your laptop if you are not confident in its cooling system. If you are able to force the cooling system's fan to always run at its maximum speed, it is strongly recommended to do so. Avoid hitting temperatures higher than 100C/212F at all costs, even if the CPU is rated for a maximum of 105C/221F at the transistor-junction level.<br />
<br />
For non-overclockable laptop CPUs, you might be able to overclock it in a different way. Certain third-party applications are capable of controlling a chip that generates the clock signal for the front-side bus' clock, which is called the phase-locked loop. This is extremely unsafe and may result in potential data corruption, as it follows the same principle of overclocking the front-side bus. All laptops in existence do not have a PCI/AGP lock either, so keeping the PCI bus below 40 MHz is advised. The applications that can control the phase-locked loop are: ClockGen, CPUCool, SetFSB, SoftFSB, SetPLL, and SysTool. However, there is a catch when using these mentioned programs; none of them supports every phase-locked loop in existence. This means that each one of them has a range of phase-locked loops they support, and you must use the correct matching program that has support for your phase-locked loop. There is also no auto-detection in these programs for the phase-locked loop, as they do not have a standardized way to report their manufacturer and model name, so be careful when selecting the correct phase-locked loop that resides in your laptop.<br />
<br />
==GPU==<br />
GPUs are basically just hundreds of under-powered CPUs on the same die, or better described as a massively parallel CPU with a core count that far exceeds most traditional multi-core CPUs.<br />
<br />
The thing is, with 3D graphics, you can split the work up into hundreds of different parts and give each operation to a different core on the GPU to work on. Since it doesn't matter which order the pixels are rendered in, as long as they all get rendered for the same frame before moving on to the next frame.<br />
<br />
File compression/extraction and bitcoin mining are also good examples of programs that can make use of parallel processing. However, most programs can not do this. Dwarf Fortress, for example, can't make use of a graphics card. This is because of how every calculation it does is dependent on the one performed before it. That obviously doesn't work if you try and do them all at the same time.<br />
<br />
Pretty much any emulator is the same; it does not know what comes next until it has done what preceded it. It has to run off a single thread. It still needs some form of graphical output to output the final rendered 2D screen alone. This can be done via a GPU to put the 3D graphics on the screen, but any system capable of being emulated shouldn't be too taxing. This is called 'Hardware Rendering'. Alternatively, all of the graphics processing can be done on the CPU and will be more predictable/consistent for it, but that is also costly. This is called 'Software Rendering'.<br />
<br />
Most 3D emulators have hardware and software renderers. Software renderers use more CPU power, which may mostly be slower. They may also run on their own threads separate from other emulator parts, which would likely reduce the performance loss, but the CPU must still be fast enough in the first place.<br />
<br />
==Recommended Specifications==<br />
<br />
===[[DEmul]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 B40 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 420 or ATI Radeon HD 5750 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 @ 3.7 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 2200G @ 3.65 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 or AMD Radeon R9 280X or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Phoenix (emulator)|Phoenix]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.13 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8300 @ 2.83 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B53 @ 2.8 GHz or better <br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: XP Professional x64 with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-680 @ 3.73 GHz or AMD FX-4350 @ 4.3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT or ATI Radeon X700 XT or Intel HD Graphics (Westmere) or S3 Chrome S27 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Cxbx-Reloaded]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 @ 2.66 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ @ 2.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 545 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 or ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT or Intel HD Graphics 3000 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[RPCS3]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-2700K @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1300X @ 3.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 420 or AMD Radeon HD 7470 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.0 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-5960X @ 3.3 GHz or AMD Ryzen 7 1700X @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 or AMD Radeon HD 8990 or better<br />
*RAM: 8 GB or more<br />
<br />
For information on DualShock 3 controller support, see [[SCP Driver Package]].<br />
<br />
===[[PCSX2]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.3) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT or ATI Radeon HD 3870 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-4370 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 240GE @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 or ATI Radeon HD 5830 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
For information on DualShock 3 controller support, see [[SCP Driver Package]].<br />
<br />
===[[Mednafen|Mednafen PS1]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 545 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: XP Professional x64 with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-560 @ 3.33 GHz or AMD FX-4170 @ 4.3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[PPSSPP]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.7) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.4E (Prescott) @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (Clawhammer) @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 3000 or S3 Chrome S25 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: XP Professional x64 with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.7.5) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium D 970 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ (Windsor) @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GS or ATI Radeon X1600 or Intel GMA X4500HD or S3 Chrome 430 GT or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
Enable the dynarec option for speedups.<br />
<br />
===[[Cemu]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-970 @ 3.33 GHz or AMD Ryzen 5 1600 @ 3.3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 or AMD Radeon HD 7730 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-3970X @ 3.7 GHz or AMD Ryzen 5 1600X @ 3.7 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti or AMD Radeon R7 360 or better<br />
*RAM: 8 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Dolphin]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Yosemite (10.10) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.4.6 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 @ 3.2 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition @ 3.2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 or AMD Radeon HD 7770 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 8 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Yosemite (10.10.5) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.4.161 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 @ 3.1 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti or AMD Radeon R7 360 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
See the [[Dolphin]] page for further recommendations, such as controller setups.<br />
<br />
===[[Mupen64Plus]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) <small>(Needs msvcp120.dll and msvcr120.dll in the program's directory to run, also applies for XP x64 64-bit.)</small> or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 670 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 4000+ (San Diego) @ 2.4 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200 or ATI Radeon 8500 or 3dfx Voodoo5 6000 or Intel Extreme Graphics 2 or XGI Volari V3 XT or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 @ 2.66 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 5400+ (Brisbane) @ 2.8 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Citra]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: High Sierra (10.13) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.15 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-4370 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 240GE @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 8 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Mojave (10.14) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.15.18 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-7350K @ 4.2 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 2300X @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 or AMD Radeon HD 6990 or better<br />
*RAM: 6 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[DeSmuME]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) <small>(Needs msvcp100.dll and msvcr100.dll in the program's directory to run, [https://imgur.com/a/fgWhs proof] also applies for XP Pro x64 64-bit.)</small> or later<br />
*macOS: Leopard (10.5.8) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.4C (Northwood) @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 3400+ (Barton) @ 2.3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce2 MX100 or ATI Radeon 7000 or 3dfx Voodoo4 4500 or Intel Extreme Graphics 2 or S3 DeltaChrome S4 or PowerVR Kyro 2 or Trident XP4 or XGI Volari V3 or Matrox Millennium G450 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
Enable the dynarec option for speedups.<br />
<br />
===[[mGBA]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later <small>(Libretro core only. The standalone executable cannot be ran under any version of XP, due to a missing Direct3DCreate9Ex function in XP's d3d9.dll)</small><br />
*macOS: Leopard (10.5) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel kernel 4.4.161 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 2.4A (Northwood) @ 2.4 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 2400+ (Thoroughbred-B) @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce2 Pro or ATI Radeon 8500 LE or 3dfx Voodoo5 5500 or Intel Extreme Graphics 2 or Matrox Parhelia-512 or PowerVR Kyro 2 SE or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.7) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.18.20 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.2C (Northwood) @ 3.2 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 3200+ (Barton) @ 2.2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[BGB]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 98 Second Edition (16-bit/32-bit hybrid) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium MMX (P55C) @ 200 MHz or AMD K6 (Little Foot) @ 233 MHz or Cyrix 6x86MX PR366 @ 250 MHz or IDT WinChip 240 (C6) @ 240 MHz or Rise mP6 PR366 @ 250 MHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA RIVA 128 or ATI 3D Rage PRO or 3dfx Voodoo2 1000 or Intel 82740 or Matrox Mystique 220 or S3 Savage3D or SiS 6326 AGP or Trident 3DImage 9850 or Rendition Verite V2100 or PowerVR PCX2 or better<br />
*RAM: 128 MB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 2000 with Service Pack 4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 2 450 @ 450 MHz or AMD K6-2 550 @ 550 MHz or Transmeta Crusoe TM5400 @ 700 MHz or VIA C3-800 (Samuel 2) @ 800 MHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 256 SDR or ATI Radeon 7000 or 3dfx Voodoo3 3500 TV or Intel Extreme Graphics or Matrox Millennium P650 or Trident Blade XP 9980 or better<br />
*RAM: 256 MB or more<br />
<br />
===[[higan]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.7) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Mountain Lion (10.8) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-2153 @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Athlon 220GE @ 3.4 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
[[Category:FAQs]]</div>Windows Whistlerhttps://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=Computer_specifications&diff=29290Computer specifications2019-04-13T19:10:08Z<p>Windows Whistler: /* Mednafen PSX */ correct spelling</p>
<hr />
<div>Most emulators tend to be CPU-dependent in general, meaning that their performance is greatly determined by the CPU's speed. The GPU on the other hand, usually serves as a graphics enhancer by allowing for higher resolutions, anti-aliasing, etc. If your CPU isn't fast enough, you will not likely to be able to emulate a system at full speed. At the very least, a Core i5-2500K or a Ryzen 3 1200 is recommended for high-end emulation (e.g. [[PlayStation 2 emulators|PS2]], [[Wii emulators|Wii]]). This page will explain and state other possible choices to take, provided that the above choices are not feasible.<br />
<br />
==CPU==<br />
===Megahertz Myth===<br />
Whenever a CPU has a high clock speed (e.g: Pentium 4 580 @ 4 GHz), it does not always necessarily mean that it is powerful.<ref>http://www.computer-hardware-explained.com/megahertz-myth.html</ref> This is usually a common misconception, that stems from lack of detailed information on how a CPU works. However, it is true that a higher CPU clock speed guarantees improved emulation performance. While it is true that a high clock speed is one of the main factors for good CPU performance, it is not always the sole determining factor. For example, a Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 2.4 GHz will nearly always outperform a Pentium D 940 @ 3.2 GHz.<ref>http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2097</ref> Even though the Pentium D 940 is clocked significantly higher, the Core 2 Duo E6600 is still faster due to the reduced amount of pipeline stages and a wider execution unit. This improves the amount of instructions it can output per cycle, which means better performance at a lower clock speed. In other words, the particular architecture of the CPU itself matters more than the clock speed.<br />
<br />
AMD's FX (Bulldozer) CPUs also follows the aforementioned Pentium 4 (NetBurst) example, which has the same issue that the NetBurst-derived CPUs suffer from. They also share the same high clock speed traits, which might cause confusion and misleading performance conclusions. Because of this, it is recommended to completely avoid Bulldozer at all costs. To further discourage the use of a Bulldozer-derived CPU; its single-threaded performance is somewhat lower when compared to an equally-clocked Phenom II or Core 2,<ref>https://www.overclock.net/photopost/data/1501987/b/b1/b16fb0b4_ScreenShot005.jpeg</ref> though the multi-threaded performance of Bulldozer far exceeds the fastest Phenom II or Core 2 offerings.<ref>https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-Phenom-II-X6-1100T-vs-AMD-FX-9590/2004vs1812</ref> The actual problem here is Bulldozer's under-average single-threaded performance that will not help in high-end emulation that uses 4 or fewer cores, and the fact that Bulldozer has a shared FPU between 2 cores. What this means, is that a FX-4350 would have 2 FPUs (1 FPU per 2 cores), and a FX-9590 would have 4 FPUs (1 FPU per 2 cores x 4). This will lead to weaker performance in floating-point heavy calculations, which is also another reason why it is not recommended. If you are still not convinced, have a look at the benchmarks.<ref>https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AunYlOAfGABxdFQ0UzJyTFAxbzZhYWtGcGwySlRFa1E#gid=1></ref><ref>https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AunYlOAfGABxdFQ0UzJyTFAxbzZhYWtGcGwySlRFa1E#gid=0</ref><ref>http://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-CPU-Benchmark-designed-for-PCSX2-based-on-FFX-2?page=107</ref><ref>https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-new-dolphin-cpu-benchmark-no-game-required?page=15</ref><ref>https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-new-dolphin-cpu-benchmark-no-game-required?page=15</ref><ref>http://translate.google.com/translate?act=url&depth=1&hl=pl&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.pl&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://pclab.pl//art55934.html</ref><ref>http://wccftech.com/ultimate-cpu-gpu-floating-point-performance-battle-amd-intel/</ref><ref>http://www.anandtech.com/show/7711/floating-point-peak-performance-of-kaveri-and-other-recent-amd-and-intel-chips</ref><ref>http://vr-zone.com/articles/ivy-bridge-e-i7-4960x-vs-amd-fx-9590-battle-2013-flagships/54295.html/2</ref><ref>http://www.extremetech.com/computing/159619-5ghz-showdown-overclocked-5ghz-amd-haswell-ivy-bridge/2</ref><br />
<br />
===AMD vs. Intel===<br />
As of Ryzen (Summit Ridge), AMD's CPUs have similar single-threaded performance when compared to Intel's CPUs,<ref>https://i0.wp.com/www.solidsmack.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/AMD-Threadripper-single-thread-competition.png?ssl=1</ref> though it is still not exactly close to an equivalent Intel CPU of the same era. While Summit Ridge is slightly slower than an equally-clocked Kaby Lake in single-threaded applications, it remains as a good budget-friendly alternative for high-end emulation.<br />
<br />
The release of Pinnacle Ridge has not brought any architectural improvements to Ryzen yet, apart from it being manufactured on a better process that allows for higher clock speeds. Due to that, the instructions-per-cycle performance remains the same as Summit Ridge.<br />
<br />
===Emulation on a non-x86/ARM CPU===<br />
CPUs that are not x86-based, or are not ARM-based <small>(smartphones can run emulators with varying degrees of success)</small>, are not very likely to be good enough for emulation in general. Certain emulators have been ported or programmed for some CPUs that are not ARM or x86-based, but those are generally very old and are possibly no longer in active development. IBM PowerPC CPUs for example, had emulators ported or even programmed for it. However, these are rather outdated emulators and are not recommended for emulation.<br />
<br />
Some very specific CPU architectures such as the Elbrus, SPARC, MIPS, IA-64 (Itanium), Alpha, PA-RISC, and 68000, are heavily discouraged for emulation. This is mostly due to the lack of support and interest in them, which forces people that utilize these CPUs to resort to x86 emulation. While some of them may be capable of performing x86 emulation, not all of them have the necessary software or hardware capability to do so. Even such emulators that are native to their architecture are extremely hard to find, or non-existent. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to avoid using these CPUs in any way possible.<br />
<br />
===Desktop vs. Laptop===<br />
Laptop CPUs are typically much weaker than their desktop variants due to being clocked lower, for battery life and heat management reasons. They may also come with fewer cores when compared with their desktop variants with similar naming schemes, which may confuse you. Also, please be aware that while some laptops might come with the same CPU, their actual performance will vary from atrocious to good. This is due to their cooling system's differences, which will be either bad or good. As such, it is strongly recommended to pick a laptop with a decent cooling system for emulation. Otherwise, the CPU will clock down to prevent itself from overheating, which would mean decreased performance.<br />
<br />
Some laptops might come installed with a desktop CPU, but such laptops are not generally considered affordable.<br />
<br />
===More Cores and Threads===<br />
Emulators generally only utilize 2 cores, or with hacks, sometimes 3 or 4 cores. Thus, owning a CPU with 6 cores or more with Hyper-Threading/Simultaneous Multi-Threading, does not help or give the said CPU an advantage over a CPU with only 4 cores. Although, there are certain exceptions. One such exception is RPCS3, which can utilize more cores and threads by emulating the system's thread scheduler, that allows it to use as many cores and threads as the game makes threads.<br />
<br />
While 2-core or 4-core CPUs with very high clock speeds are usually recommended for emulation, most CPUs nowadays feature more than 4 cores with even higher clock speeds. This in comparison to the previously released 6-core or 8-core CPUs with far lower clock speeds, is a fine improvement. Therefore, purchasing a 6-core or an 8-core CPU with said higher clock speeds would hold no disadvantages over a lower core-count CPU, as it no longer forces a clock speed reduction over a similarly clocked 2-core or 4-core CPU.<br />
<br />
===Overclocking===<br />
Not all CPUs can be overclocked, and the motherboard's BIOS must be additionally capable of supporting overclocking. The CPUs in particular that can be overclocked are the usually the ones that are labeled: OverDrive, FX, Extreme Edition, Black Edition, K, and X. Although, certain engineering or qualification sample CPUs that AMD or Intel has manufactured may also be overclockable, since they were used for testing purposes and were not meant for sale. If you are not sure what kind of a CPU you have, check if it has these overclocking labels. For Intel CPUs, their overclocking labels are OverDrive, Extreme Edition, K, and X. For AMD CPUs, their overclocking labels are FX and Black Edition.<br />
<br />
Although, some special CPUs such as the Pentium E6500K, Pentium G3258, and all Ryzen CPUs are overclockable. But keep in mind that you have to be running the CPU on a motherboard that supports overclocking. The motherboards that tend to support overclocking features, comes with a chipset that also supports overclocking, which is required for the CPU to be overclockable. However, this only applies to the newer motherboards, not the older motherboards as they tend to vary from being overclockable to not overclockable. For Intel, the overclockable chipsets' name starts with an X or a Z. The other chipsets that were not mentioned, are not overclockable (B, C, H, and Q). For AMD, the overclockable chipsets' name starts with an X or a B. The other chipsets that were not mentioned, are not overclockable (A).<br />
<br />
For older desktop motherboards with older chipsets, there might be overclocking available in the form of a front-side bus setting. Use that setting with caution however, as the front-side bus clock speed gets raised, so does the rest of the other components on the motherboard (which causes instability, data corruption, etc). Unless the motherboard has a PCI/AGP lock, it is advised not to use the front-side bus setting to overclock the CPU. In further depth, there is a safer setting that can be used to overclock without suffering from instability. Called the 'CPU BSEL Select' or similar, it was intended to manually select the proper front-side bus clock speed of the CPU. By using this method, it allows us to use it for overclocking whilst staying within the factory specifications of the motherboard. This does not affect the rest of the other components on the motherboard, as the front-side bus is not overclocked and is only following the rated speeds it can achieve. Therefore, it is safer than the dangerous front-side bus setting. Also, be aware that once the CPU has hit a certain clock speed, it may be no longer capable of scaling to higher clock speeds due to voltage issues. The reasoning behind this is because of how higher clock speeds require more voltage, and these non-overclockable motherboards have a high chance of not having the ability to directly modify the CPU's core voltage.<br />
<br />
However, if there is no 'CPU BSEL Select', proceed with the front-side bus setting with caution. As a safety precaution, do whatever it takes to not allow the PCI bus' clock speed to reach above 40 MHz. This is because anything higher than the 40 MHz mark will have a very high chance of inducing instability and possible data corruption, or worse. This is also why the front-side bus setting is only recommended for motherboards that are equipped with a PCI/AGP lock, since they prevent the other components on the motherboard from being overclocked. Additionally, please be aware that your motherboard can only supply a limited amount of current before it hits its limits, which will then limit your CPU's overclocking ability. This is due to the weak voltage regulator modules that are not rated to supply a large amount of stable current to keep the CPU and the rest of the other components stable, which is common for motherboards that are not meant for overclocking. The CPU's potential overclock may also be limited by the power supply unit, so a better power supply unit with better efficiency and wattage rating may be required.<br />
<br />
If you have a laptop, overclocking will be severely limited. Most laptops in circulation do not support overclocking, and may not be capable of handling the extra heat produced from an overclocked CPU. For the few laptops that can be overclocked through the BIOS, it is more or less the same as how a desktop would be configured to overclock the CPU. For the majority that does not officially support overclocking, it may be possible to overclock it in a different approach.<br />
<br />
A common approach to overclock your laptop's CPU is to use third-party applications, such as ThrottleStop and CPUMSR. However, these applications only work with CPUs with an Extreme Edition/Black Edition/K/X label. Sometimes, special CPUs such as an engineering sample or a qualification sample may also be overclockable. And always remember this, do not overclock your laptop if you are not confident in its cooling system. If you are able to force the cooling system's fan to always run at its maximum speed, it is strongly recommended to do so. Avoid hitting temperatures higher than 100C/212F at all costs, even if the CPU is rated for a maximum of 105C/221F at the transistor-junction level.<br />
<br />
For non-overclockable laptop CPUs, you might be able to overclock it in a different way. Certain third-party applications are capable of controlling a chip that generates the clock signal for the front-side bus' clock, which is called the phase-locked loop. This is extremely unsafe and may result in potential data corruption, as it follows the same principle of overclocking the front-side bus. All laptops in existence do not have a PCI/AGP lock either, so keeping the PCI bus below 40 MHz is advised. The applications that can control the phase-locked loop are: ClockGen, CPUCool, SetFSB, SoftFSB, SetPLL, and SysTool. However, there is a catch when using these mentioned programs; none of them supports every phase-locked loop in existence. This means that each one of them has a range of phase-locked loops they support, and you must use the correct matching program that has support for your phase-locked loop. There is also no auto-detection in these programs for the phase-locked loop, as they do not have a standardized way to report their manufacturer and model name, so be careful when selecting the correct phase-locked loop that resides in your laptop.<br />
<br />
==GPU==<br />
GPUs are basically just hundreds of under-powered CPUs on the same die, or better described as a massively parallel CPU with a core count that far exceeds most traditional multi-core CPUs.<br />
<br />
The thing is, with 3D graphics, you can split the work up into hundreds of different parts and give each operation to a different core on the GPU to work on. Since it doesn't matter which order the pixels are rendered in, as long as they all get rendered for the same frame before moving on to the next frame.<br />
<br />
File compression/extraction and bitcoin mining are also good examples of programs that can make use of parallel processing. However, most programs can not do this. Dwarf Fortress, for example, can't make use of a graphics card. This is because of how every calculation it does is dependent on the one performed before it. That obviously doesn't work if you try and do them all at the same time.<br />
<br />
Pretty much any emulator is the same; it does not know what comes next until it has done what preceded it. It has to run off a single thread. It still needs some form of graphical output to output the final rendered 2D screen alone. This can be done via a GPU to put the 3D graphics on the screen, but any system capable of being emulated shouldn't be too taxing. This is called 'Hardware Rendering'. Alternatively, all of the graphics processing can be done on the CPU and will be more predictable/consistent for it, but that is also costly. This is called 'Software Rendering'.<br />
<br />
Most 3D emulators have hardware and software renderers. Software renderers use more CPU power, which may mostly be slower. They may also run on their own threads separate from other emulator parts, which would likely reduce the performance loss, but the CPU must still be fast enough in the first place.<br />
<br />
==Recommended Specifications==<br />
<br />
===[[DEmul]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 B40 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 420 or ATI Radeon HD 5750 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 @ 3.7 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 2200G @ 3.65 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 or AMD Radeon R9 280X or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Phoenix (emulator)|Phoenix]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.13 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8300 @ 2.83 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B53 @ 2.8 GHz or better <br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: XP Professional x64 with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-680 @ 3.73 GHz or AMD FX-4350 @ 4.3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT or ATI Radeon X700 XT or Intel HD Graphics (Westmere) or S3 Chrome S27 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Cxbx-Reloaded]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 @ 2.66 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ @ 2.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 545 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 or ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT or Intel HD Graphics 3000 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[RPCS3]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-2700K @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1300X @ 3.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 420 or AMD Radeon HD 7470 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.0 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-5960X @ 3.3 GHz or AMD Ryzen 7 1700X @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 or AMD Radeon HD 8990 or better<br />
*RAM: 8 GB or more<br />
<br />
For information on DualShock 3 controller support, see [[SCP Driver Package]].<br />
<br />
===[[PCSX2]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.3) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT or ATI Radeon HD 3870 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-4370 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 240GE @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 or ATI Radeon HD 5830 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
For information on DualShock 3 controller support, see [[SCP Driver Package]].<br />
<br />
===[[Mednafen|Mednafen PS1]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 545 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: XP Professional x64 with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-560 @ 3.33 GHz or AMD FX-4170 @ 4.3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[PPSSPP]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.7) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.4E (Prescott) @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (Clawhammer) @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 3000 or S3 Chrome S25 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: XP Professional x64 with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.7.5) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium D 970 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ (Windsor) @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GS or ATI Radeon X1600 or Intel GMA X4500HD or S3 Chrome 430 GT or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
Enable the dynarec option for speedups.<br />
<br />
===[[Cemu]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-970 @ 3.33 GHz or AMD Ryzen 5 1600 @ 3.3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 or AMD Radeon HD 7730 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-3970X @ 3.7 GHz or AMD Ryzen 5 1600X @ 3.7 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti or AMD Radeon R7 360 or better<br />
*RAM: 8 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Dolphin]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Yosemite (10.10) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.4.6 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 @ 3.2 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition @ 3.2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 or AMD Radeon HD 7770 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 8 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Yosemite (10.10.5) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.4.161 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 @ 3.1 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti or AMD Radeon R7 360 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
See the [[Dolphin]] page for further recommendations, such as controller setups.<br />
<br />
===[[Mupen64Plus]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) <small>(Needs msvcp120.dll and msvcr120.dll in the program's directory to run, also applies for XP x64 64-bit.)</small> or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 670 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 4000+ (San Diego) @ 2.4 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200 or ATI Radeon 8500 or 3dfx Voodoo5 6000 or Intel Extreme Graphics 2 or XGI Volari V3 XT or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 @ 2.66 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 5400+ (Brisbane) @ 2.8 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Citra]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: High Sierra (10.13) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.15 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-4370 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 240GE @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 8.1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Mojave (10.14) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.15.18 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-7350K @ 4.2 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 2300X @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 or AMD Radeon HD 6990 or better<br />
*RAM: 6 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[DeSmuME]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) <small>(Needs msvcp100.dll and msvcr100.dll in the program's directory to run, [https://imgur.com/a/fgWhs proof] also applies for XP Pro x64 64-bit.)</small> or later<br />
*macOS: Leopard (10.5.8) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.4C (Northwood) @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 3400+ (Barton) @ 2.3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce2 MX100 or ATI Radeon 7000 or 3dfx Voodoo4 4500 or Intel Extreme Graphics 2 or S3 DeltaChrome S4 or PowerVR Kyro 2 or Trident XP4 or XGI Volari V3 or Matrox Millennium G450 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
Enable the dynarec option for speedups.<br />
<br />
===[[mGBA]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later <small>(Libretro core only. The standalone executable cannot be ran under any version of XP, due to a missing Direct3DCreate9Ex function in XP's d3d9.dll)</small><br />
*macOS: Leopard (10.5) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel kernel 4.4.161 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 2.4A (Northwood) @ 2.4 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 2400+ (Thoroughbred-B) @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce2 Pro or ATI Radeon 8500 LE or 3dfx Voodoo5 5500 or Intel Extreme Graphics 2 or Matrox Parhelia-512 or PowerVR Kyro 2 SE or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.7) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.18.20 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.2C (Northwood) @ 3.2 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 3200+ (Barton) @ 2.2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[BGB]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 98 Second Edition (16-bit/32-bit hybrid) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium MMX (P55C) @ 200 MHz or AMD K6 (Little Foot) @ 233 MHz or Cyrix 6x86MX PR366 @ 250 MHz or IDT WinChip 240 (C6) @ 240 MHz or Rise mP6 PR366 @ 250 MHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA RIVA 128 or ATI 3D Rage PRO or 3dfx Voodoo2 1000 or Intel 82740 or Matrox Mystique 220 or S3 Savage3D or SiS 6326 AGP or Trident 3DImage 9850 or Rendition Verite V2100 or PowerVR PCX2 or better<br />
*RAM: 128 MB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 2000 with Service Pack 4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 2 450 @ 450 MHz or AMD K6-2 550 @ 550 MHz or Transmeta Crusoe TM5400 @ 700 MHz or VIA C3-800 (Samuel 2) @ 800 MHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 256 SDR or ATI Radeon 7000 or 3dfx Voodoo3 3500 TV or Intel Extreme Graphics or Matrox Millennium P650 or Trident Blade XP 9980 or better<br />
*RAM: 256 MB or more<br />
<br />
===[[higan]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.7) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Mountain Lion (10.8) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-2153 @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Athlon 220GE @ 3.4 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
[[Category:FAQs]]</div>Windows Whistlerhttps://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=Computer_specifications&diff=29289Computer specifications2019-04-13T19:08:36Z<p>Windows Whistler: /* Dolphin */ it's 8</p>
<hr />
<div>Most emulators tend to be CPU-dependent in general, meaning that their performance is greatly determined by the CPU's speed. The GPU on the other hand, usually serves as a graphics enhancer by allowing for higher resolutions, anti-aliasing, etc. If your CPU isn't fast enough, you will not likely to be able to emulate a system at full speed. At the very least, a Core i5-2500K or a Ryzen 3 1200 is recommended for high-end emulation (e.g. [[PlayStation 2 emulators|PS2]], [[Wii emulators|Wii]]). This page will explain and state other possible choices to take, provided that the above choices are not feasible.<br />
<br />
==CPU==<br />
===Megahertz Myth===<br />
Whenever a CPU has a high clock speed (e.g: Pentium 4 580 @ 4 GHz), it does not always necessarily mean that it is powerful.<ref>http://www.computer-hardware-explained.com/megahertz-myth.html</ref> This is usually a common misconception, that stems from lack of detailed information on how a CPU works. However, it is true that a higher CPU clock speed guarantees improved emulation performance. While it is true that a high clock speed is one of the main factors for good CPU performance, it is not always the sole determining factor. For example, a Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 2.4 GHz will nearly always outperform a Pentium D 940 @ 3.2 GHz.<ref>http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2097</ref> Even though the Pentium D 940 is clocked significantly higher, the Core 2 Duo E6600 is still faster due to the reduced amount of pipeline stages and a wider execution unit. This improves the amount of instructions it can output per cycle, which means better performance at a lower clock speed. In other words, the particular architecture of the CPU itself matters more than the clock speed.<br />
<br />
AMD's FX (Bulldozer) CPUs also follows the aforementioned Pentium 4 (NetBurst) example, which has the same issue that the NetBurst-derived CPUs suffer from. They also share the same high clock speed traits, which might cause confusion and misleading performance conclusions. Because of this, it is recommended to completely avoid Bulldozer at all costs. To further discourage the use of a Bulldozer-derived CPU; its single-threaded performance is somewhat lower when compared to an equally-clocked Phenom II or Core 2,<ref>https://www.overclock.net/photopost/data/1501987/b/b1/b16fb0b4_ScreenShot005.jpeg</ref> though the multi-threaded performance of Bulldozer far exceeds the fastest Phenom II or Core 2 offerings.<ref>https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-Phenom-II-X6-1100T-vs-AMD-FX-9590/2004vs1812</ref> The actual problem here is Bulldozer's under-average single-threaded performance that will not help in high-end emulation that uses 4 or fewer cores, and the fact that Bulldozer has a shared FPU between 2 cores. What this means, is that a FX-4350 would have 2 FPUs (1 FPU per 2 cores), and a FX-9590 would have 4 FPUs (1 FPU per 2 cores x 4). This will lead to weaker performance in floating-point heavy calculations, which is also another reason why it is not recommended. If you are still not convinced, have a look at the benchmarks.<ref>https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AunYlOAfGABxdFQ0UzJyTFAxbzZhYWtGcGwySlRFa1E#gid=1></ref><ref>https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AunYlOAfGABxdFQ0UzJyTFAxbzZhYWtGcGwySlRFa1E#gid=0</ref><ref>http://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-CPU-Benchmark-designed-for-PCSX2-based-on-FFX-2?page=107</ref><ref>https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-new-dolphin-cpu-benchmark-no-game-required?page=15</ref><ref>https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-new-dolphin-cpu-benchmark-no-game-required?page=15</ref><ref>http://translate.google.com/translate?act=url&depth=1&hl=pl&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.pl&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://pclab.pl//art55934.html</ref><ref>http://wccftech.com/ultimate-cpu-gpu-floating-point-performance-battle-amd-intel/</ref><ref>http://www.anandtech.com/show/7711/floating-point-peak-performance-of-kaveri-and-other-recent-amd-and-intel-chips</ref><ref>http://vr-zone.com/articles/ivy-bridge-e-i7-4960x-vs-amd-fx-9590-battle-2013-flagships/54295.html/2</ref><ref>http://www.extremetech.com/computing/159619-5ghz-showdown-overclocked-5ghz-amd-haswell-ivy-bridge/2</ref><br />
<br />
===AMD vs. Intel===<br />
As of Ryzen (Summit Ridge), AMD's CPUs have similar single-threaded performance when compared to Intel's CPUs,<ref>https://i0.wp.com/www.solidsmack.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/AMD-Threadripper-single-thread-competition.png?ssl=1</ref> though it is still not exactly close to an equivalent Intel CPU of the same era. While Summit Ridge is slightly slower than an equally-clocked Kaby Lake in single-threaded applications, it remains as a good budget-friendly alternative for high-end emulation.<br />
<br />
The release of Pinnacle Ridge has not brought any architectural improvements to Ryzen yet, apart from it being manufactured on a better process that allows for higher clock speeds. Due to that, the instructions-per-cycle performance remains the same as Summit Ridge.<br />
<br />
===Emulation on a non-x86/ARM CPU===<br />
CPUs that are not x86-based, or are not ARM-based <small>(smartphones can run emulators with varying degrees of success)</small>, are not very likely to be good enough for emulation in general. Certain emulators have been ported or programmed for some CPUs that are not ARM or x86-based, but those are generally very old and are possibly no longer in active development. IBM PowerPC CPUs for example, had emulators ported or even programmed for it. However, these are rather outdated emulators and are not recommended for emulation.<br />
<br />
Some very specific CPU architectures such as the Elbrus, SPARC, MIPS, IA-64 (Itanium), Alpha, PA-RISC, and 68000, are heavily discouraged for emulation. This is mostly due to the lack of support and interest in them, which forces people that utilize these CPUs to resort to x86 emulation. While some of them may be capable of performing x86 emulation, not all of them have the necessary software or hardware capability to do so. Even such emulators that are native to their architecture are extremely hard to find, or non-existent. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to avoid using these CPUs in any way possible.<br />
<br />
===Desktop vs. Laptop===<br />
Laptop CPUs are typically much weaker than their desktop variants due to being clocked lower, for battery life and heat management reasons. They may also come with fewer cores when compared with their desktop variants with similar naming schemes, which may confuse you. Also, please be aware that while some laptops might come with the same CPU, their actual performance will vary from atrocious to good. This is due to their cooling system's differences, which will be either bad or good. As such, it is strongly recommended to pick a laptop with a decent cooling system for emulation. Otherwise, the CPU will clock down to prevent itself from overheating, which would mean decreased performance.<br />
<br />
Some laptops might come installed with a desktop CPU, but such laptops are not generally considered affordable.<br />
<br />
===More Cores and Threads===<br />
Emulators generally only utilize 2 cores, or with hacks, sometimes 3 or 4 cores. Thus, owning a CPU with 6 cores or more with Hyper-Threading/Simultaneous Multi-Threading, does not help or give the said CPU an advantage over a CPU with only 4 cores. Although, there are certain exceptions. One such exception is RPCS3, which can utilize more cores and threads by emulating the system's thread scheduler, that allows it to use as many cores and threads as the game makes threads.<br />
<br />
While 2-core or 4-core CPUs with very high clock speeds are usually recommended for emulation, most CPUs nowadays feature more than 4 cores with even higher clock speeds. This in comparison to the previously released 6-core or 8-core CPUs with far lower clock speeds, is a fine improvement. Therefore, purchasing a 6-core or an 8-core CPU with said higher clock speeds would hold no disadvantages over a lower core-count CPU, as it no longer forces a clock speed reduction over a similarly clocked 2-core or 4-core CPU.<br />
<br />
===Overclocking===<br />
Not all CPUs can be overclocked, and the motherboard's BIOS must be additionally capable of supporting overclocking. The CPUs in particular that can be overclocked are the usually the ones that are labeled: OverDrive, FX, Extreme Edition, Black Edition, K, and X. Although, certain engineering or qualification sample CPUs that AMD or Intel has manufactured may also be overclockable, since they were used for testing purposes and were not meant for sale. If you are not sure what kind of a CPU you have, check if it has these overclocking labels. For Intel CPUs, their overclocking labels are OverDrive, Extreme Edition, K, and X. For AMD CPUs, their overclocking labels are FX and Black Edition.<br />
<br />
Although, some special CPUs such as the Pentium E6500K, Pentium G3258, and all Ryzen CPUs are overclockable. But keep in mind that you have to be running the CPU on a motherboard that supports overclocking. The motherboards that tend to support overclocking features, comes with a chipset that also supports overclocking, which is required for the CPU to be overclockable. However, this only applies to the newer motherboards, not the older motherboards as they tend to vary from being overclockable to not overclockable. For Intel, the overclockable chipsets' name starts with an X or a Z. The other chipsets that were not mentioned, are not overclockable (B, C, H, and Q). For AMD, the overclockable chipsets' name starts with an X or a B. The other chipsets that were not mentioned, are not overclockable (A).<br />
<br />
For older desktop motherboards with older chipsets, there might be overclocking available in the form of a front-side bus setting. Use that setting with caution however, as the front-side bus clock speed gets raised, so does the rest of the other components on the motherboard (which causes instability, data corruption, etc). Unless the motherboard has a PCI/AGP lock, it is advised not to use the front-side bus setting to overclock the CPU. In further depth, there is a safer setting that can be used to overclock without suffering from instability. Called the 'CPU BSEL Select' or similar, it was intended to manually select the proper front-side bus clock speed of the CPU. By using this method, it allows us to use it for overclocking whilst staying within the factory specifications of the motherboard. This does not affect the rest of the other components on the motherboard, as the front-side bus is not overclocked and is only following the rated speeds it can achieve. Therefore, it is safer than the dangerous front-side bus setting. Also, be aware that once the CPU has hit a certain clock speed, it may be no longer capable of scaling to higher clock speeds due to voltage issues. The reasoning behind this is because of how higher clock speeds require more voltage, and these non-overclockable motherboards have a high chance of not having the ability to directly modify the CPU's core voltage.<br />
<br />
However, if there is no 'CPU BSEL Select', proceed with the front-side bus setting with caution. As a safety precaution, do whatever it takes to not allow the PCI bus' clock speed to reach above 40 MHz. This is because anything higher than the 40 MHz mark will have a very high chance of inducing instability and possible data corruption, or worse. This is also why the front-side bus setting is only recommended for motherboards that are equipped with a PCI/AGP lock, since they prevent the other components on the motherboard from being overclocked. Additionally, please be aware that your motherboard can only supply a limited amount of current before it hits its limits, which will then limit your CPU's overclocking ability. This is due to the weak voltage regulator modules that are not rated to supply a large amount of stable current to keep the CPU and the rest of the other components stable, which is common for motherboards that are not meant for overclocking. The CPU's potential overclock may also be limited by the power supply unit, so a better power supply unit with better efficiency and wattage rating may be required.<br />
<br />
If you have a laptop, overclocking will be severely limited. Most laptops in circulation do not support overclocking, and may not be capable of handling the extra heat produced from an overclocked CPU. For the few laptops that can be overclocked through the BIOS, it is more or less the same as how a desktop would be configured to overclock the CPU. For the majority that does not officially support overclocking, it may be possible to overclock it in a different approach.<br />
<br />
A common approach to overclock your laptop's CPU is to use third-party applications, such as ThrottleStop and CPUMSR. However, these applications only work with CPUs with an Extreme Edition/Black Edition/K/X label. Sometimes, special CPUs such as an engineering sample or a qualification sample may also be overclockable. And always remember this, do not overclock your laptop if you are not confident in its cooling system. If you are able to force the cooling system's fan to always run at its maximum speed, it is strongly recommended to do so. Avoid hitting temperatures higher than 100C/212F at all costs, even if the CPU is rated for a maximum of 105C/221F at the transistor-junction level.<br />
<br />
For non-overclockable laptop CPUs, you might be able to overclock it in a different way. Certain third-party applications are capable of controlling a chip that generates the clock signal for the front-side bus' clock, which is called the phase-locked loop. This is extremely unsafe and may result in potential data corruption, as it follows the same principle of overclocking the front-side bus. All laptops in existence do not have a PCI/AGP lock either, so keeping the PCI bus below 40 MHz is advised. The applications that can control the phase-locked loop are: ClockGen, CPUCool, SetFSB, SoftFSB, SetPLL, and SysTool. However, there is a catch when using these mentioned programs; none of them supports every phase-locked loop in existence. This means that each one of them has a range of phase-locked loops they support, and you must use the correct matching program that has support for your phase-locked loop. There is also no auto-detection in these programs for the phase-locked loop, as they do not have a standardized way to report their manufacturer and model name, so be careful when selecting the correct phase-locked loop that resides in your laptop.<br />
<br />
==GPU==<br />
GPUs are basically just hundreds of under-powered CPUs on the same die, or better described as a massively parallel CPU with a core count that far exceeds most traditional multi-core CPUs.<br />
<br />
The thing is, with 3D graphics, you can split the work up into hundreds of different parts and give each operation to a different core on the GPU to work on. Since it doesn't matter which order the pixels are rendered in, as long as they all get rendered for the same frame before moving on to the next frame.<br />
<br />
File compression/extraction and bitcoin mining are also good examples of programs that can make use of parallel processing. However, most programs can not do this. Dwarf Fortress, for example, can't make use of a graphics card. This is because of how every calculation it does is dependent on the one performed before it. That obviously doesn't work if you try and do them all at the same time.<br />
<br />
Pretty much any emulator is the same; it does not know what comes next until it has done what preceded it. It has to run off a single thread. It still needs some form of graphical output to output the final rendered 2D screen alone. This can be done via a GPU to put the 3D graphics on the screen, but any system capable of being emulated shouldn't be too taxing. This is called 'Hardware Rendering'. Alternatively, all of the graphics processing can be done on the CPU and will be more predictable/consistent for it, but that is also costly. This is called 'Software Rendering'.<br />
<br />
Most 3D emulators have hardware and software renderers. Software renderers use more CPU power, which may mostly be slower. They may also run on their own threads separate from other emulator parts, which would likely reduce the performance loss, but the CPU must still be fast enough in the first place.<br />
<br />
==Recommended Specifications==<br />
<br />
===[[DEmul]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 B40 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 420 or ATI Radeon HD 5750 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 @ 3.7 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 2200G @ 3.65 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 or AMD Radeon R9 280X or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Phoenix (emulator)|Phoenix]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.13 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8300 @ 2.83 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B53 @ 2.8 GHz or better <br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: XP Professional x64 with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-680 @ 3.73 GHz or AMD FX-4350 @ 4.3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT or ATI Radeon X700 XT or Intel HD Graphics (Westmere) or S3 Chrome S27 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Cxbx-Reloaded]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 @ 2.66 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ @ 2.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 545 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 or ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT or Intel HD Graphics 3000 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[RPCS3]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-2700K @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1300X @ 3.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 420 or AMD Radeon HD 7470 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.0 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-5960X @ 3.3 GHz or AMD Ryzen 7 1700X @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 or AMD Radeon HD 8990 or better<br />
*RAM: 8 GB or more<br />
<br />
For information on DualShock 3 controller support, see [[SCP Driver Package]].<br />
<br />
===[[PCSX2]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.3) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT or ATI Radeon HD 3870 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-4370 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 240GE @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 or ATI Radeon HD 5830 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
For information on DualShock 3 controller support, see [[SCP Driver Package]].<br />
<br />
===[[Mednafen|Mednafen PSX]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 545 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: XP Professional x64 with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-560 @ 3.33 GHz or AMD FX-4170 @ 4.3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[PPSSPP]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.7) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.4E (Prescott) @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (Clawhammer) @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 3000 or S3 Chrome S25 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: XP Professional x64 with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.7.5) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium D 970 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ (Windsor) @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GS or ATI Radeon X1600 or Intel GMA X4500HD or S3 Chrome 430 GT or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
Enable the dynarec option for speedups.<br />
<br />
===[[Cemu]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-970 @ 3.33 GHz or AMD Ryzen 5 1600 @ 3.3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 or AMD Radeon HD 7730 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-3970X @ 3.7 GHz or AMD Ryzen 5 1600X @ 3.7 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti or AMD Radeon R7 360 or better<br />
*RAM: 8 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Dolphin]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Yosemite (10.10) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.4.6 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 @ 3.2 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition @ 3.2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 or AMD Radeon HD 7770 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 8 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Yosemite (10.10.5) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.4.161 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 @ 3.1 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti or AMD Radeon R7 360 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
See the [[Dolphin]] page for further recommendations, such as controller setups.<br />
<br />
===[[Mupen64Plus]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) <small>(Needs msvcp120.dll and msvcr120.dll in the program's directory to run, also applies for XP x64 64-bit.)</small> or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 670 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 4000+ (San Diego) @ 2.4 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200 or ATI Radeon 8500 or 3dfx Voodoo5 6000 or Intel Extreme Graphics 2 or XGI Volari V3 XT or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 @ 2.66 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 5400+ (Brisbane) @ 2.8 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Citra]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: High Sierra (10.13) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.15 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-4370 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 240GE @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 8.1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Mojave (10.14) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.15.18 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-7350K @ 4.2 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 2300X @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 or AMD Radeon HD 6990 or better<br />
*RAM: 6 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[DeSmuME]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) <small>(Needs msvcp100.dll and msvcr100.dll in the program's directory to run, [https://imgur.com/a/fgWhs proof] also applies for XP Pro x64 64-bit.)</small> or later<br />
*macOS: Leopard (10.5.8) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.4C (Northwood) @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 3400+ (Barton) @ 2.3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce2 MX100 or ATI Radeon 7000 or 3dfx Voodoo4 4500 or Intel Extreme Graphics 2 or S3 DeltaChrome S4 or PowerVR Kyro 2 or Trident XP4 or XGI Volari V3 or Matrox Millennium G450 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
Enable the dynarec option for speedups.<br />
<br />
===[[mGBA]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later <small>(Libretro core only. The standalone executable cannot be ran under any version of XP, due to a missing Direct3DCreate9Ex function in XP's d3d9.dll)</small><br />
*macOS: Leopard (10.5) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel kernel 4.4.161 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 2.4A (Northwood) @ 2.4 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 2400+ (Thoroughbred-B) @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce2 Pro or ATI Radeon 8500 LE or 3dfx Voodoo5 5500 or Intel Extreme Graphics 2 or Matrox Parhelia-512 or PowerVR Kyro 2 SE or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.7) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.18.20 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.2C (Northwood) @ 3.2 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 3200+ (Barton) @ 2.2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[BGB]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 98 Second Edition (16-bit/32-bit hybrid) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium MMX (P55C) @ 200 MHz or AMD K6 (Little Foot) @ 233 MHz or Cyrix 6x86MX PR366 @ 250 MHz or IDT WinChip 240 (C6) @ 240 MHz or Rise mP6 PR366 @ 250 MHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA RIVA 128 or ATI 3D Rage PRO or 3dfx Voodoo2 1000 or Intel 82740 or Matrox Mystique 220 or S3 Savage3D or SiS 6326 AGP or Trident 3DImage 9850 or Rendition Verite V2100 or PowerVR PCX2 or better<br />
*RAM: 128 MB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 2000 with Service Pack 4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 2 450 @ 450 MHz or AMD K6-2 550 @ 550 MHz or Transmeta Crusoe TM5400 @ 700 MHz or VIA C3-800 (Samuel 2) @ 800 MHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 256 SDR or ATI Radeon 7000 or 3dfx Voodoo3 3500 TV or Intel Extreme Graphics or Matrox Millennium P650 or Trident Blade XP 9980 or better<br />
*RAM: 256 MB or more<br />
<br />
===[[higan]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.7) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Mountain Lion (10.8) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-2153 @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Athlon 220GE @ 3.4 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
[[Category:FAQs]]</div>Windows Whistlerhttps://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=WoW&diff=29275WoW2019-04-12T14:31:26Z<p>Windows Whistler: windows 96 was released on 1996</p>
<hr />
<div>'''Windows on Windows''' (often shortened to '''WoW''') is a feature developed by Microsoft that allows 16-bit programs to run in 32-bit environments, or (more commonly) 32-bit programs in 64-bit environments. This means some games designed for 3.x and 9x can be run on any 32-bit versions of Windows. However, software support seems to be very poor and while selecting Windows 95, Windows 96, or Windows 98 in compatibility mode may help, most consider Windows XP to get the best compatibility even though it's unsupported by Microsoft.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Emulators]]<br />
[[Category:Compatibility layers]]<br />
[[Category:Windows emulation software]]</div>Windows Whistlerhttps://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=Computer_specifications&diff=29274Computer specifications2019-04-12T14:29:04Z<p>Windows Whistler: Undo revision 29273 by 92.211.5.44 (talk) STOP IT'S FUCKING PS1. PSX IS NOT A CONSOLE.</p>
<hr />
<div>Most emulators tend to be CPU-dependent in general, meaning that their performance is greatly affected by the CPU's speed. The GPU on the other hand, mostly serves as a graphics enhancer by allowing for higher resolutions, anti-aliasing, etc. If your CPU isn't fast enough, you will most likely be not able to emulate a system at full speed. At the very least, a Core i5-2500K or a Ryzen 3 1200 or better is recommended for high-end emulation (e.g. [[PlayStation 2 emulators|PS2]], [[Wii emulators|Wii]]). This page will explain and state other possible choices to take, provided that the above choices are not feasible.<br />
<br />
==CPU==<br />
===Megahertz Myth===<br />
Whenever a CPU has a high clock speed (Pentium 4 672 @ 3.8 GHz), it does not always necessarily mean that it is powerful.<ref>http://www.computer-hardware-explained.com/megahertz-myth.html</ref> This is usually a common misconception, that stems from lack of detailed information on how a CPU works. However, it is true that a higher CPU clock speed guarantees improved emulation performance. While it is true that a high clock speed is one of the main factors for good CPU performance, it is not always the sole determining factor. For example, a Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 2.4GHz will nearly always outperform a Pentium D 940 @ 3.2GHz.<ref>http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2097</ref> Even though the Pentium D 940 is clocked significantly higher, the Core 2 Duo E6600 is faster due to the reduced amount of pipeline stages and a wider execution unit. This improves the amount of instructions it can output per cycle, which means better performance at a lower clock speed. In other words, the particular architecture of the CPU itself matters more than the clock speed.<br />
<br />
AMD's Bulldozer-derived CPUs also follows the aforementioned Pentium 4 (NetBurst) example, which has the same issue that the NetBurst-derived CPUs suffer from. They also similarly share the same high clock speed traits, which might cause confusion and misleading performance conclusions. Because of this, it is therefore recommended to completely avoid Bulldozer at all costs. The single-threaded performance of Bulldozer is somewhat slower when compared to an equally-clocked Phenom II or a Core 2,<ref>https://www.overclock.net/photopost/data/1501987/b/b1/b16fb0b4_ScreenShot005.jpeg</ref> though the multi-threaded performance of Bulldozer far exceeds the fastest Phenom II or Core 2 offerings.<ref>https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-Phenom-II-X6-1100T-vs-AMD-FX-9590/2004vs1812</ref> The real problem here is Bulldozer's under-average single-threaded performance that will not help in high-end emulation that uses 4 or fewer cores, and the fact that Bulldozer has a shared FPU between 2 cores. What this means, is that a FX-4350 would have 2 FPUs (1 FPU per 2 cores), and a FX-9590 would have 4 FPUs (1 FPU per 2 cores x 4). This will lead to weaker performance in floating-point heavy calculations, and this is another reason why it is not recommended. If you are still not convinced, have a look at the benchmarks.<ref>https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AunYlOAfGABxdFQ0UzJyTFAxbzZhYWtGcGwySlRFa1E#gid=1></ref><ref>https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AunYlOAfGABxdFQ0UzJyTFAxbzZhYWtGcGwySlRFa1E#gid=0</ref><ref>http://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-CPU-Benchmark-designed-for-PCSX2-based-on-FFX-2?page=107</ref><ref>https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-new-dolphin-cpu-benchmark-no-game-required?page=15</ref><ref>https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-new-dolphin-cpu-benchmark-no-game-required?page=15</ref><ref>http://translate.google.com/translate?act=url&depth=1&hl=pl&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.pl&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://pclab.pl//art55934.html</ref><ref>http://wccftech.com/ultimate-cpu-gpu-floating-point-performance-battle-amd-intel/</ref><ref>http://www.anandtech.com/show/7711/floating-point-peak-performance-of-kaveri-and-other-recent-amd-and-intel-chips</ref><ref>http://vr-zone.com/articles/ivy-bridge-e-i7-4960x-vs-amd-fx-9590-battle-2013-flagships/54295.html/2</ref><ref>http://www.extremetech.com/computing/159619-5ghz-showdown-overclocked-5ghz-amd-haswell-ivy-bridge/2</ref><br />
<br />
===AMD vs. Intel===<br />
As of Ryzen (Summit Ridge), AMD CPUs have similar single-threaded performance when compared to Intel CPUs <ref>https://i0.wp.com/www.solidsmack.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/AMD-Threadripper-single-thread-competition.png?ssl=1</ref>, though still not exactly close to an equivalent Intel CPU of the same era. Summit Ridge is slightly slower than an equivalent Kaby Lake in single-threaded applications, but it remains a good choice for emulation.<br />
<br />
===Emulation on a non-x86 CPU===<br />
CPUs that are not x86-based, or are not ARM-based <small>(phones can run emulators with varying degrees of success)</small>, are very likely to not be good enough for emulation in general. Certain emulators have been ported or programmed for some CPUs that are not ARM or x86-based, but those are very old and are possibly no longer in active development. IBM PowerPC CPUs for example, had emulators ported for it. However, these are rather outdated emulators and are not recommended for emulation.<br />
<br />
Some specific CPU architectures such as the SPARC, MIPS, IA-64 (Itanium), Alpha, and PA-RISC, are heavily discouraged for emulation. This is due to the lack of support for them; although the MIPS architecture may be capable of running a few emulators native to them. Some of them may be capable of running x86 emulators, but that depends on their software or hardware code-translation capabilities, in which the Itanium does have (but it's very weak). Emulators that are native to them are extremely hard to find, or non-existent. Therefore, it is recommended to avoid these CPUs in any way possible.<br />
<br />
===Desktop vs. Laptop===<br />
Laptop CPUs are typically much weaker than their desktop variants due to being clocked lower, for battery conservation and heat management reasons. They may also have fewer cores than desktop CPUs with similar naming schemes, which may confuse you. Be aware that some laptops might come with the same CPU, but their cooling systems vary from atrocious to good. This means that even the same CPU in two different laptops would yield different results. As such, it is recommended to pick a laptop with a decent cooling system for emulation. Therefore, it is suggested to research on the laptop CPU-of-choice's performance and the specific laptop's cooling system, before making the purchase.<br />
<br />
===More Cores and Threads===<br />
Emulators generally only utilize 2 cores, or with hacks, sometimes 3 or 4 cores. Thus, owning a CPU with 6 cores or more with Hyper-Threading/Simultaneous Multi-Threading, does not help or give the said CPU an advantage over a CPU with only 4 cores. Although, certain exceptions such as newer system emulators (e.g: RPCS3) can utilize more cores and threads by emulating the system's thread scheduler, which allows it to use as many cores and threads as much as the game makes threads.<br />
<br />
While 2-core or 4-core CPUs with very high clock speeds are usually recommended for emulation, most CPUs nowadays feature more than 4 cores with even higher clock speeds. This in comparison to the previously released 6-core or 8-core CPUs with far lower clock speeds, is an improvement. Therefore, purchasing a 6-core or an 8-core CPU with said higher clock speeds would be fine, as it offers no performance reduction over a similarly clocked 2-core or 4-core CPU.<br />
<br />
===Overclocking===<br />
Not all CPUs can be overclocked, and the motherboard's BIOS must be additionally capable of supporting overclocking. The CPUs in particular that can be overclocked are the usually the ones that are labeled: OverDrive, FX, Extreme Edition, Black Edition, K, and X. Also, certain engineering or qualification sample CPUs that AMD or Intel has manufactured may also be overclockable, since they were used for testing purposes and were not meant for sale. If you are not sure what kind of a CPU you have, check if it has these overclocking labels. For Intel CPUs, their overclocking labels are OverDrive, Extreme Edition, K, and X. For AMD CPUs, their overclocking labels are FX and Black Edition.<br />
<br />
Although, some special CPUs such as the Pentium G3258 and any Ryzen are overclockable. But keep in mind that you have to be running the CPU on a motherboard that supports overclocking. The motherboards that tend to support overclocking features, comes with a chipset that also supports overclocking, which is required for the CPU to be overclockable. However, this only applies to the newer motherboards, not the older motherboards as they tend to vary from being overclockable to not overclockable. For Intel, the overclockable chipsets' name starts with an X or a Z. The other chipsets that were not mentioned, are not overclockable (B, C, H, and Q). For AMD, the overclockable chipsets' name starts with an X or a B. The other chipsets that were not mentioned, are not overclockable (A).<br />
<br />
For older desktop motherboards with older chipsets, there might be overclocking available in the form of a front-side bus setting. Use that setting with caution however, as the front-side bus clock speed gets raised, so does the rest of the other components on the motherboard (which causes instability, data corruption, etc). Unless the motherboard has a PCI/AGP lock, it is advised not to use the front-side bus setting to overclock the CPU. In further depth, there is a safer setting that can be used to overclock without suffering from instability. Called the 'CPU BSEL Select' or similar, it was intended to manually select the proper front-side bus clock speed of the CPU. Though, by this, it allows us to exploit that feature and use it to overclock while staying within the factory specifications of the motherboard. This does not affect the rest of the other components on the motherboard, as the front-side bus is not overclocked and is only following the rated speeds it can achieve. Therefore, it is safer than the dangerous front-side bus setting. Also, be aware that once the CPU has hit a certain clock speed, it can no longer overclock due to voltage issues. The reasoning behind this is because of how higher clock speeds require more voltage, and these non-overclockable motherboards have a high chance of not having the ability to modify the input voltage to the CPU.<br />
<br />
However, if there is no 'CPU BSEL Select', proceed with the front-side bus setting with caution. As a safety precaution, do whatever it takes to not allow the PCI bus' clock speed to reach above 40 MHz. As anything higher than the 40 MHz mark will have a very high chance of inducing instability and possible data corruption, or worse. This is why the front-side bus setting is only recommended for motherboards that are equipped with a PCI/AGP lock, since they prevent the other components on the motherboard from being overclocked. Also, be aware that your motherboard can only supply a limited amount of current before it hits its limits. This is due to the voltage regulator modules not being rated to supply a large amount of current to keep the CPU and the rest of the other components stable, which is common for motherboards that are not meant for overclocking. The CPU's potential overclock may also be limited by the power supply unit, so a better power supply unit with better efficiency and wattage rating may be required.<br />
<br />
If you have a laptop, overclocking will be severely limited. Most laptops in circulation do not support overclocking, and may not be capable of handling the extra heat produced from an overclocked CPU. For the few laptops that can be overclocked through the BIOS, it is more or less the same as how a desktop would be configured to overclock the CPU. For the majority that does not officially support overclocking, it may be possible to overclock it in a different manner or method.<br />
<br />
A common method to overclock your laptop's CPU is to use third-party applications, such as ThrottleStop and CPUMSR. However, these applications only work with CPUs with an Extreme Edition/Black Edition/K/X label. Sometimes, special CPUs such as an engineering sample or a qualification sample may also be overclockable. And always remember this, do not overclock your laptop if you are not confident in its cooling system. If you are able to force the cooling system's fan to always run at its maximum speed, it is strongly recommended to do so. Avoid hitting temperatures higher than 100C/212F at all costs, even if the CPU is rated for a maximum of 105C/221F at the transistor-junction level.<br />
<br />
For non-overclockable laptop CPUs, you might be able to overclock it in a different way. Certain third-party applications are capable of controlling a chip that generates the clock signal for the front-side bus' clock, which is called the phase-locked loop. This is extremely unsafe and may result in potential data corruption, as it follows the same principle of overclocking the front-side bus. All laptops in existence do not have a PCI/AGP lock either, so keeping the PCI bus below 40 MHz is advised. The applications that can control the phase-locked loop are: ClockGen, CPUCool, SetFSB, SoftFSB, SetPLL, and SysTool. However, there is a catch when using these mentioned programs; none of them supports every phase-locked loop in existence. Each one of them has a range of phase-locked loops they support, and you must use the correct matching program that has support for your phase-locked loop. There is also no auto-detection in these programs for the phase-locked loop, as they do not have a way to report their manufacturer and model name, so be careful when selecting the correct phase-locked loop that resides in your laptop.<br />
<br />
==GPU==<br />
GPUs are basically just hundreds of under-powered CPUs on the same die, or better described as a massively parallel CPU with a core count that far exceeds most traditional multi-core CPUs.<br />
<br />
The thing is, with 3D graphics, you can split the work up into hundreds of different parts and give each piece to a different core on the GPU to work on. Since it doesn't matter which order the pixels are rendered in, as long as they all get rendered for the same frame before moving on to the next frame.<br />
<br />
File compression/extraction and bitcoin mining are also good examples of programs that can make use of parallel processing. However, most programs can not do this. Dwarf Fortress, for example, can't make use of a graphics card. Because every calculation it does is dependent on the one performed before it. That obviously doesn't work if you try and do them all at the same time.<br />
<br />
Pretty much any emulator is the same; it does not know what comes next until it has done what preceded it. It has to run off a single thread. It still needs some form of graphical output to output the final rendered 2D screen alone. This can be done via a GPU to put the 3D graphics on the screen, but any system capable of being emulated shouldn't be too taxing. This is called 'Hardware Rendering'. Alternatively, all of the graphics processing can be done on the CPU and will be more predictable/consistent for it, but that is also costly. This is called 'Software Rendering'.<br />
<br />
Most 3D emulators have hardware and software renderers. Software renderers use more CPU power, which may mostly be slower. They may also run on their own threads separate from other emulator parts, which would likely reduce the performance loss, but the CPU must still be fast enough in the first place.<br />
<br />
==Recommended Specifications==<br />
<br />
===[[DEmul]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 @ 3.1 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 420 or AMD Radeon HD 7470 or better<br />
*RAM: 3 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1300X @ 3.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 or AMD Radeon R9 280X or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Phoenix (emulator)|Phoenix]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.13 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 570 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 4000+ @ 2.4 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: XP Professional x64 with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ @ 3.2 GHz or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Cxbx-Reloaded]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 @ 2.66 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ @ 2.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 545 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 or ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT or Intel HD Graphics 3000 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[RPCS3]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 @ 3.2 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition @ 3.2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 420 or AMD Radeon HD 7470 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.0 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 @ 3.1 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 or AMD Radeon HD 7750 or better<br />
*RAM: 6 GB or more<br />
<br />
For information on DualShock 3 controller support, see [[SCP Driver Package]].<br />
<br />
===[[PCSX2]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.3) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT or ATI Radeon HD 3870 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 @ 3.1 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 or ATI Radeon HD 5830 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
For information on DualShock 3 controller support, see [[SCP Driver Package]].<br />
<br />
===[[Mednafen|Mednafen PS1]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 545 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: XP Professional x64 with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[PPSSPP]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Mountain Lion (10.8) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.4C (Northwood) @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (Clawhammer) @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 3000 or S3 Chrome S25 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium D 960 @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ (Windsor) @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 6200 or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel GMA 4500 or S3 Chrome 430 GT or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
Enable the dynarec option for speedups.<br />
<br />
===[[Cemu]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-970 @ 3.33 GHz or AMD Ryzen 5 1400 @ 3.2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 or AMD Radeon HD 7730 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-5930K @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Ryzen 5 1600X @ 3.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti or AMD Radeon R7 360 or better<br />
*RAM: 8 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Dolphin]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Yosemite (10.10) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.4.6 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 @ 3.2 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition @ 3.2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 or AMD Radeon HD 7770 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.4.161 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 @ 3.1 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti or AMD Radeon R7 360 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
See the [[Dolphin]] page for further recommendations, such as controller setups.<br />
<br />
===[[Mupen64Plus]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) <small>(needs msvcp120.dll and msvcr120.dll in the program's directory to run, also applies for XP Pro x64/64-bit)</small> or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 570 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 3800+ (Orleans) @ 2.4 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce2 Ultra or ATI Radeon 7200 or 3dfx Voodoo 5 5500 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 @ 2.33 GHz or AMD Athlon X2 5600 @ 2.3 GHz or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[DeSmuME]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) <small>(needs msvcp100.dll and msvcr100.dll in the program's directory to run, [https://imgur.com/a/fgWhs proof] also applies for XP Pro x64/64-bit)</small> or later<br />
*macOS: Leopard (10.5.8) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 @ 2 GHz or AMD Athlon II X2 270u @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce2 MX100 or ATI Radeon 7000 or Intel Extreme Graphics 2 or 3dfx Voodoo4 4500 or PowerVR Series3 Kyro II or S3 DeltaChrome S4 or Trident XP4 or XGI Volari V3 or Matrox Millennium G400 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 545 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
Enable the dynarec option for speedups.<br />
<br />
===[[mGBA]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later <small>(Libretro core only. The standalone executable cannot be ran under any version of XP, due to a missing Direct3DCreate9Ex function in XP's d3d9.dll)</small><br />
*macOS: Leopard (10.5) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Atom 230 @ 1.6 GHz or AMD Geode NX 1750+ @ 1.4 GHz or VIA C7 1.6 @ 1.6 GHz or Transmeta Efficeon TM8800 @ 1.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 256 SDR or ATI Radeon 7000 or 3dfx Voodoo3 1000 or Intel Extreme Graphics or Matrox Millennium G400 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.7) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.0A (Northwood) @ 3 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 2900+ @ 2 GHz<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[BGB]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 98 (16-bit/32-bit hybrid) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium MMX (P55C) @ 200 MHz or AMD K6 (Little Foot) @ 233 MHz or Cyrix 6x86MX PR366 @ 250 MHz or IDT WinChip 240 (C6) @ 240 MHz or Rise mP6 PR366 @ 250 MHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 256 SDR or ATI Radeon 7000 or 3dfx Voodoo4 4500 or Intel Extreme Graphics or Matrox Millennium P650 or better<br />
*RAM: 128 MB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 2000 with Service Pack 4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 2 450 @ 450 MHz or AMD K6-2 550 @ 550 MHz or Transmeta Crusoe TM5400 @ 700 MHz or VIA C3-800 (Samuel 2) @ 800 MHz or better<br />
*RAM: 256 MB or more<br />
<br />
===[[higan]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.7) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-2153 @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Athlon 220GE @ 3.4 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
[[Category:FAQs]]</div>Windows Whistlerhttps://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=Computer_specifications&diff=29271Computer specifications2019-04-12T10:58:05Z<p>Windows Whistler: Undo revision 29269 by 88.1.20.143 (talk)you fuck</p>
<hr />
<div>Most emulators tend to be CPU-dependent in general, meaning that their performance is greatly affected by the CPU's speed. The GPU on the other hand, mostly serves as a graphics enhancer by allowing for higher resolutions, anti-aliasing, etc. If your CPU isn't fast enough, you will most likely be not able to emulate a system at full speed. At the very least, a Core i5-2500K or a Ryzen 3 1200 or better is recommended for high-end emulation (e.g. [[PlayStation 2 emulators|PS2]], [[Wii emulators|Wii]]). This page will explain and state other possible choices to take, provided that the above choices are not feasible.<br />
<br />
==CPU==<br />
===Megahertz Myth===<br />
Whenever a CPU has a high clock speed (Pentium 4 672 @ 3.8 GHz), it does not always necessarily mean that it is powerful.<ref>http://www.computer-hardware-explained.com/megahertz-myth.html</ref> This is usually a common misconception, that stems from lack of detailed information on how a CPU works. However, it is true that a higher CPU clock speed guarantees improved emulation performance. While it is true that a high clock speed is one of the main factors for good CPU performance, it is not always the sole determining factor. For example, a Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 2.4GHz will nearly always outperform a Pentium D 940 @ 3.2GHz.<ref>http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2097</ref> Even though the Pentium D 940 is clocked significantly higher, the Core 2 Duo E6600 is faster due to the reduced amount of pipeline stages and a wider execution unit. This improves the amount of instructions it can output per cycle, which means better performance at a lower clock speed. In other words, the particular architecture of the CPU itself matters more than the clock speed.<br />
<br />
AMD's Bulldozer-derived CPUs also follows the aforementioned Pentium 4 (NetBurst) example, which has the same issue that the NetBurst-derived CPUs suffer from. They also similarly share the same high clock speed traits, which might cause confusion and misleading performance conclusions. Because of this, it is therefore recommended to completely avoid Bulldozer at all costs. The single-threaded performance of Bulldozer is somewhat slower when compared to an equally-clocked Phenom II or a Core 2,<ref>https://www.overclock.net/photopost/data/1501987/b/b1/b16fb0b4_ScreenShot005.jpeg</ref> though the multi-threaded performance of Bulldozer far exceeds the fastest Phenom II or Core 2 offerings.<ref>https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-Phenom-II-X6-1100T-vs-AMD-FX-9590/2004vs1812</ref> The real problem here is Bulldozer's under-average single-threaded performance that will not help in high-end emulation that uses 4 or fewer cores, and the fact that Bulldozer has a shared FPU between 2 cores. What this means, is that a FX-4350 would have 2 FPUs (1 FPU per 2 cores), and a FX-9590 would have 4 FPUs (1 FPU per 2 cores x 4). This will lead to weaker performance in floating-point heavy calculations, and this is another reason why it is not recommended. If you are still not convinced, have a look at the benchmarks.<ref>https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AunYlOAfGABxdFQ0UzJyTFAxbzZhYWtGcGwySlRFa1E#gid=1></ref><ref>https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AunYlOAfGABxdFQ0UzJyTFAxbzZhYWtGcGwySlRFa1E#gid=0</ref><ref>http://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-CPU-Benchmark-designed-for-PCSX2-based-on-FFX-2?page=107</ref><ref>https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-new-dolphin-cpu-benchmark-no-game-required?page=15</ref><ref>https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-new-dolphin-cpu-benchmark-no-game-required?page=15</ref><ref>http://translate.google.com/translate?act=url&depth=1&hl=pl&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.pl&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://pclab.pl//art55934.html</ref><ref>http://wccftech.com/ultimate-cpu-gpu-floating-point-performance-battle-amd-intel/</ref><ref>http://www.anandtech.com/show/7711/floating-point-peak-performance-of-kaveri-and-other-recent-amd-and-intel-chips</ref><ref>http://vr-zone.com/articles/ivy-bridge-e-i7-4960x-vs-amd-fx-9590-battle-2013-flagships/54295.html/2</ref><ref>http://www.extremetech.com/computing/159619-5ghz-showdown-overclocked-5ghz-amd-haswell-ivy-bridge/2</ref><br />
<br />
===AMD vs. Intel===<br />
As of Ryzen (Summit Ridge), AMD CPUs have similar single-threaded performance when compared to Intel CPUs <ref>https://i0.wp.com/www.solidsmack.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/AMD-Threadripper-single-thread-competition.png?ssl=1</ref>, though still not exactly close to an equivalent Intel CPU of the same era. Summit Ridge is slightly slower than an equivalent Kaby Lake in single-threaded applications, but it remains a good choice for emulation.<br />
<br />
===Emulation on a non-x86 CPU===<br />
CPUs that are not x86-based, or are not ARM-based <small>(phones can run emulators with varying degrees of success)</small>, are very likely to not be good enough for emulation in general. Certain emulators have been ported or programmed for some CPUs that are not ARM or x86-based, but those are very old and are possibly no longer in active development. IBM PowerPC CPUs for example, had emulators ported for it. However, these are rather outdated emulators and are not recommended for emulation.<br />
<br />
Some specific CPU architectures such as the SPARC, MIPS, IA-64 (Itanium), Alpha, and PA-RISC, are heavily discouraged for emulation. This is due to the lack of support for them; although the MIPS architecture may be capable of running a few emulators native to them. Some of them may be capable of running x86 emulators, but that depends on their software or hardware code-translation capabilities, in which the Itanium does have (but it's very weak). Emulators that are native to them are extremely hard to find, or non-existent. Therefore, it is recommended to avoid these CPUs in any way possible.<br />
<br />
===Desktop vs. Laptop===<br />
Laptop CPUs are typically much weaker than their desktop variants due to being clocked lower, for battery conservation and heat management reasons. They may also have fewer cores than desktop CPUs with similar naming schemes, which may confuse you. Be aware that some laptops might come with the same CPU, but their cooling systems vary from atrocious to good. This means that even the same CPU in two different laptops would yield different results. As such, it is recommended to pick a laptop with a decent cooling system for emulation. Therefore, it is suggested to research on the laptop CPU-of-choice's performance and the specific laptop's cooling system, before making the purchase.<br />
<br />
===More Cores and Threads===<br />
Emulators generally only utilize 2 cores, or with hacks, sometimes 3 or 4 cores. Thus, owning a CPU with 6 cores or more with Hyper-Threading/Simultaneous Multi-Threading, does not help or give the said CPU an advantage over a CPU with only 4 cores. Although, certain exceptions such as newer system emulators (e.g: RPCS3) can utilize more cores and threads by emulating the system's thread scheduler, which allows it to use as many cores and threads as much as the game makes threads.<br />
<br />
While 2-core or 4-core CPUs with very high clock speeds are usually recommended for emulation, most CPUs nowadays feature more than 4 cores with even higher clock speeds. This in comparison to the previously released 6-core or 8-core CPUs with far lower clock speeds, is an improvement. Therefore, purchasing a 6-core or an 8-core CPU with said higher clock speeds would be fine, as it offers no performance reduction over a similarly clocked 2-core or 4-core CPU.<br />
<br />
===Overclocking===<br />
Not all CPUs can be overclocked, and the motherboard's BIOS must be additionally capable of supporting overclocking. The CPUs in particular that can be overclocked are the usually the ones that are labeled: OverDrive, FX, Extreme Edition, Black Edition, K, and X. Also, certain engineering or qualification sample CPUs that AMD or Intel has manufactured may also be overclockable, since they were used for testing purposes and were not meant for sale. If you are not sure what kind of a CPU you have, check if it has these overclocking labels. For Intel CPUs, their overclocking labels are OverDrive, Extreme Edition, K, and X. For AMD CPUs, their overclocking labels are FX and Black Edition.<br />
<br />
Although, some special CPUs such as the Pentium G3258 and any Ryzen are overclockable. But keep in mind that you have to be running the CPU on a motherboard that supports overclocking. The motherboards that tend to support overclocking features, comes with a chipset that also supports overclocking, which is required for the CPU to be overclockable. However, this only applies to the newer motherboards, not the older motherboards as they tend to vary from being overclockable to not overclockable. For Intel, the overclockable chipsets' name starts with an X or a Z. The other chipsets that were not mentioned, are not overclockable (B, C, H, and Q). For AMD, the overclockable chipsets' name starts with an X or a B. The other chipsets that were not mentioned, are not overclockable (A).<br />
<br />
For older desktop motherboards with older chipsets, there might be overclocking available in the form of a front-side bus setting. Use that setting with caution however, as the front-side bus clock speed gets raised, so does the rest of the other components on the motherboard (which causes instability, data corruption, etc). Unless the motherboard has a PCI/AGP lock, it is advised not to use the front-side bus setting to overclock the CPU. In further depth, there is a safer setting that can be used to overclock without suffering from instability. Called the 'CPU BSEL Select' or similar, it was intended to manually select the proper front-side bus clock speed of the CPU. Though, by this, it allows us to exploit that feature and use it to overclock while staying within the factory specifications of the motherboard. This does not affect the rest of the other components on the motherboard, as the front-side bus is not overclocked and is only following the rated speeds it can achieve. Therefore, it is safer than the dangerous front-side bus setting. Also, be aware that once the CPU has hit a certain clock speed, it can no longer overclock due to voltage issues. The reasoning behind this is because of how higher clock speeds require more voltage, and these non-overclockable motherboards have a high chance of not having the ability to modify the input voltage to the CPU.<br />
<br />
However, if there is no 'CPU BSEL Select', proceed with the front-side bus setting with caution. As a safety precaution, do whatever it takes to not allow the PCI bus' clock speed to reach above 40 MHz. As anything higher than the 40 MHz mark will have a very high chance of inducing instability and possible data corruption, or worse. This is why the front-side bus setting is only recommended for motherboards that are equipped with a PCI/AGP lock, since they prevent the other components on the motherboard from being overclocked. Also, be aware that your motherboard can only supply a limited amount of current before it hits its limits. This is due to the voltage regulator modules not being rated to supply a large amount of current to keep the CPU and the rest of the other components stable, which is common for motherboards that are not meant for overclocking. The CPU's potential overclock may also be limited by the power supply unit, so a better power supply unit with better efficiency and wattage rating may be required.<br />
<br />
If you have a laptop, overclocking will be severely limited. Most laptops in circulation do not support overclocking, and may not be capable of handling the extra heat produced from an overclocked CPU. For the few laptops that can be overclocked through the BIOS, it is more or less the same as how a desktop would be configured to overclock the CPU. For the majority that does not officially support overclocking, it may be possible to overclock it in a different manner or method.<br />
<br />
A common method to overclock your laptop's CPU is to use third-party applications, such as ThrottleStop and CPUMSR. However, these applications only work with CPUs with an Extreme Edition/Black Edition/K/X label. Sometimes, special CPUs such as an engineering sample or a qualification sample may also be overclockable. And always remember this, do not overclock your laptop if you are not confident in its cooling system. If you are able to force the cooling system's fan to always run at its maximum speed, it is strongly recommended to do so. Avoid hitting temperatures higher than 100C/212F at all costs, even if the CPU is rated for a maximum of 105C/221F at the transistor-junction level.<br />
<br />
For non-overclockable laptop CPUs, you might be able to overclock it in a different way. Certain third-party applications are capable of controlling a chip that generates the clock signal for the front-side bus' clock, which is called the phase-locked loop. This is extremely unsafe and may result in potential data corruption, as it follows the same principle of overclocking the front-side bus. All laptops in existence do not have a PCI/AGP lock either, so keeping the PCI bus below 40 MHz is advised. The applications that can control the phase-locked loop are: ClockGen, CPUCool, SetFSB, SoftFSB, SetPLL, and SysTool. However, there is a catch when using these mentioned programs; none of them supports every phase-locked loop in existence. Each one of them has a range of phase-locked loops they support, and you must use the correct matching program that has support for your phase-locked loop. There is also no auto-detection in these programs for the phase-locked loop, as they do not have a way to report their manufacturer and model name, so be careful when selecting the correct phase-locked loop that resides in your laptop.<br />
<br />
==GPU==<br />
GPUs are basically just hundreds of under-powered CPUs on the same die, or better described as a massively parallel CPU with a core count that far exceeds most traditional multi-core CPUs.<br />
<br />
The thing is, with 3D graphics, you can split the work up into hundreds of different parts and give each piece to a different core on the GPU to work on. Since it doesn't matter which order the pixels are rendered in, as long as they all get rendered for the same frame before moving on to the next frame.<br />
<br />
File compression/extraction and bitcoin mining are also good examples of programs that can make use of parallel processing. However, most programs can not do this. Dwarf Fortress, for example, can't make use of a graphics card. Because every calculation it does is dependent on the one performed before it. That obviously doesn't work if you try and do them all at the same time.<br />
<br />
Pretty much any emulator is the same; it does not know what comes next until it has done what preceded it. It has to run off a single thread. It still needs some form of graphical output to output the final rendered 2D screen alone. This can be done via a GPU to put the 3D graphics on the screen, but any system capable of being emulated shouldn't be too taxing. This is called 'Hardware Rendering'. Alternatively, all of the graphics processing can be done on the CPU and will be more predictable/consistent for it, but that is also costly. This is called 'Software Rendering'.<br />
<br />
Most 3D emulators have hardware and software renderers. Software renderers use more CPU power, which may mostly be slower. They may also run on their own threads separate from other emulator parts, which would likely reduce the performance loss, but the CPU must still be fast enough in the first place.<br />
<br />
==Recommended Specifications==<br />
<br />
===[[DEmul]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 @ 3.1 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 420 or AMD Radeon HD 7470 or better<br />
*RAM: 3 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1300X @ 3.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 or AMD Radeon R9 280X or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Phoenix (emulator)|Phoenix]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.13 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 570 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 4000+ @ 2.4 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: XP Professional x64 with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ @ 3.2 GHz or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Cxbx-Reloaded]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 @ 2.66 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ @ 2.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 545 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 or ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT or Intel HD Graphics 3000 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[RPCS3]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 @ 3.2 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition @ 3.2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 420 or AMD Radeon HD 7470 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.0 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 @ 3.1 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 or AMD Radeon HD 7750 or better<br />
*RAM: 6 GB or more<br />
<br />
For information on DualShock 3 controller support, see [[SCP Driver Package]].<br />
<br />
===[[PCSX2]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.3) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT or ATI Radeon HD 3870 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 @ 3.1 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 or ATI Radeon HD 5830 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
For information on DualShock 3 controller support, see [[SCP Driver Package]].<br />
<br />
===[[Mednafen|Mednafen PS1]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 545 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: XP Professional x64 with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[PPSSPP]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Mountain Lion (10.8) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.4C (Northwood) @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (Clawhammer) @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 3000 or S3 Chrome S25 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium D 960 @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ (Windsor) @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 6200 or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel GMA 4500 or S3 Chrome 430 GT or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
Enable the dynarec option for speedups.<br />
<br />
===[[Cemu]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-970 @ 3.33 GHz or AMD Ryzen 5 1400 @ 3.2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 or AMD Radeon HD 7730 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-5930K @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Ryzen 5 1600X @ 3.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti or AMD Radeon R7 360 or better<br />
*RAM: 8 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Dolphin]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Yosemite (10.10) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.4.6 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 @ 3.2 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition @ 3.2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 or AMD Radeon HD 7770 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.4.161 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 @ 3.1 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti or AMD Radeon R7 360 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
See the [[Dolphin]] page for further recommendations, such as controller setups.<br />
<br />
===[[Mupen64Plus]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) <small>(needs msvcp120.dll and msvcr120.dll in the program's directory to run, also applies for XP Pro x64/64-bit)</small> or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 570 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 3800+ (Orleans) @ 2.4 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce2 Ultra or ATI Radeon 7200 or 3dfx Voodoo 5 5500 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 @ 2.33 GHz or AMD Athlon X2 5600 @ 2.3 GHz or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[DeSmuME]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) <small>(needs msvcp100.dll and msvcr100.dll in the program's directory to run, [https://imgur.com/a/fgWhs proof] also applies for XP Pro x64/64-bit)</small> or later<br />
*macOS: Leopard (10.5.8) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 @ 2 GHz or AMD Athlon II X2 270u @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce2 MX100 or ATI Radeon 7000 or Intel Extreme Graphics 2 or 3dfx Voodoo4 4500 or PowerVR Series3 Kyro II or S3 DeltaChrome S4 or Trident XP4 or XGI Volari V3 or Matrox Millennium G400 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 545 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
Enable the dynarec option for speedups.<br />
<br />
===[[mGBA]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later <small>(Libretro core only. The standalone executable cannot be ran under any version of XP, due to a missing Direct3DCreate9Ex function in XP's d3d9.dll)</small><br />
*macOS: Leopard (10.5) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Atom 230 @ 1.6 GHz or AMD Geode NX 1750+ @ 1.4 GHz or VIA C7 1.6 @ 1.6 GHz or Transmeta Efficeon TM8800 @ 1.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 256 SDR or ATI Radeon 7000 or 3dfx Voodoo3 1000 or Intel Extreme Graphics or Matrox Millennium G400 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.7) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.0A (Northwood) @ 3 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 2900+ @ 2 GHz<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[BGB]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 98 (16-bit/32-bit hybrid) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium MMX (P55C) @ 200 MHz or AMD K6 (Little Foot) @ 233 MHz or Cyrix 6x86MX PR366 @ 250 MHz or IDT WinChip 240 (C6) @ 240 MHz or Rise mP6 PR366 @ 250 MHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 256 SDR or ATI Radeon 7000 or 3dfx Voodoo4 4500 or Intel Extreme Graphics or Matrox Millennium P650 or better<br />
*RAM: 128 MB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 2000 with Service Pack 4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 2 450 @ 450 MHz or AMD K6-2 550 @ 550 MHz or Transmeta Crusoe TM5400 @ 700 MHz or VIA C3-800 (Samuel 2) @ 800 MHz or better<br />
*RAM: 256 MB or more<br />
<br />
===[[higan]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.7) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-2153 @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Athlon 220GE @ 3.4 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
[[Category:FAQs]]</div>Windows Whistlerhttps://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=User_talk:Windows_Whistler&diff=29270User talk:Windows Whistler2019-04-12T10:57:20Z<p>Windows Whistler: Blanked the page</p>
<hr />
<div></div>Windows Whistlerhttps://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=GpSP&diff=29264GpSP2019-04-11T12:46:32Z<p>Windows Whistler: Undo revision 29259 by 76.184.65.226 (talk)</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox emulator<br />
|title = gpSP<br />
|last-version = 0.9<br />
|active = No<br />
|platform = [[PlayStation Portable emulators|PlayStation Portable]]<br />
|target = [[Game Boy Advance emulators|Game Boy Advance]]<br />
|developer = Exophase<br />
|website = [http://gpsp-dev.blogspot.com/ Blogspot]<br />
|source = [http://dl.openhandhelds.org/cgi-bin/wiz.cgi?0,0,0,0,46,102 Zip]<br />
}}<br />
'''gpSP''' is an open-source [[Game Boy Advance emulators|Game Boy Advance emulator]] created by Exophase for the [[PlayStation Portable emulators|PlayStation Portable]]. Compatibility is very good and is recommended for using GBA ports of SNES games rather than [[Super Nintendo emulators|SNES emulators]] themselves due to poor focus on the PSP. Its open-source nature makes it a good candidate for porting to similar lightweight platforms like the Raspberry Pi.<br />
<br />
__TOC__<br />
==Downloads==<br />
* '''[http://downloads.exophase.com/346/gpsp-09/ gpSP]''' 0.9<br />
* [http://dl.qj.net/psp/emulators/gpsp-mod-20090720.html gpSPmod] (2009-07-20)<br />
* [http://filetrip.net/psp-downloads/homebrew/download-gpsp-j-12-06-16-f29570.html gpSP-J] (2012-06-16)<br />
* [http://filetrip.net/psp-downloads/homebrew/download-gpsp-kai-34-test-3-build-152-f31137.html gpSP Kai] 3.4 Test 3 Build 152<br />
* [https://github.com/notaz/gpsp/tree/master/pandora gpSP] [http://repo.openpandora.org/?page=detail&app=package.gpsp.notaz 0.9.2.8] (App for Pandora's open-source handheld PC.)<br />
<br />
gpSP 0.9 is the last official release by Exophase. It has since been forked and improved upon by other developers, like gpSPmod and gpSP-J. While gpSP-J has more compatibility, gpSPmod has more options for customization (full screen, cheats, etc), but both are better options than Kai.<br />
<br />
===gpSPmod===<br />
The variant '''gbSPmod''' is a fork of gbSP for the PSP. It is generally recommended to use either gpSPmod or gpSP-J (Rather than original gbSP or gPSP Kai).<br />
<br />
:[https://github.com/bibanon/android-development-codex/wiki/gPSP Guide on GitHub]<br />
:[http://emulation-general.wikia.com/wiki/gpSP Emulation General wikia] (Download links for all gbSP forks for PSP)<br />
:[https://psp.brewology.com/downloads/download.php?id=9929 Brewology] (PSP applications site)<br />
:[https://www.emucr.com/2009/07/gpsp-mod-20090720.html EmuCR.com] (Download)<br />
<br />
==TempGBA==<br />
TempGBA was a Game Boy Advance emulator written for the Supercard DSTWO, a third-party flash cart where GBA ROMs can be installed on to play on the GBA. An open-source BIOS file (Based on [[VisualBoy Advance#VBA-M|VBA-M]]'s high-level BIOS emulation) made by Normmatt was bundled with this emulator. Though, a legal GBA BIOS should offer better compatibility. The latest version was 1.45, dated 2013-09-14.<br />
<br />
It is based on:<br />
<br />
:gameplaySP (gpSP) 0.9 by Exophase, with help from various GBA developers<br />
:gpSP Kai unofficial 3.3 by Takka<br />
:The [[CATSFC]] GUI by ShadauxCat and Nebuleon (improving over BAGSFC) with language files contributed by the GBAtemp community for CATSFC<br />
<br />
*[https://github.com/Nebuleon/TempGBA GitHub]<br />
*[https://gbatemp.net/threads/tempgba-ndsgba-revival.343210/ GBAtemp's thread] by the author, Nebuleon<br />
*[https://wiki.gbatemp.net/wiki/TempGBA_Compatibility Compatibility wiki]<br />
*[https://emulationrealm.net/downloads/file/2712-tempgba Download] (The Emulation Realm)<br />
*[https://github.com/libretro/TempGBA-libretro Libretro port] (Works on PSP only)<br />
<br />
===PSP version===<br />
{{Main|Emulators on PSP#Game Boy Advance}}<br />
<br />
There is also a version likewise based on the gbSP built for Sony's PlayStation Portable called '''TempGBA4PSP'''. A [http://wololo.net/talk/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=38577#p350588 Japanese coder] [https://gbatemp.net/threads/tempgba4psp.361298/#post-4903805 modeled it after TempGBA] for the NDS. It may work with problematic titles like ''Golden Sun'' and ''Kingdom Hearts''. However, it and another emulator named '''gPSP-J''' have mixed performance results on the PSP. One alternative that has good performance is '''gPSP Kai''' that can be used in exchange for bad sound quality. So in the end, a little known gbSP variant called '''gpSPmod 20090720''' has great performance and sound, although it may not be able to run some problematic games.<ref name="gpSPmod_20090720">{{cite web|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/PSP/comments/5ioysx/a_great_fork_of_gpsp_you_might_not_have_heard_of/|title=A great fork of gPSP you might not have heard of|publisher=Youtube|accessdate=2018-08-16|date=2016-12-17}}</ref><br />
<br />
*[https://github.com/phoe-nix/TempGBA4PSP-mod TempGBA4PSP-mod's GitHub] (Updated 2016 releases based on older version. Has cleaned up menus and the X/O buttons work correctly, but it also removed the cheat function and fullscreen scaling. It will also require frameskipping set to auto/2 to get acceptable speed.)<br />
*[https://www.reddit.com/r/PSP/comments/2euqu3/tempgba4psp_emulator/ Reddit thread] (Aug 29, 2014)<br />
<br />
;Downloads:<br />
:[https://gbatemp.net/download/tempgba4psp.33545/ GBAtemp]<br />
:[https://mega.nz/#!BksQEATb!UdK3ZmxnEcvxr8ncu6XeKJBDy9qkxEie5pov6SQKSmk Mega.nz]<br />
:[https://filetrip.net/dl?w4kpaAO20k Filetrip.net] (Latest version without GitHub's mod)<br />
:[http://blog.livedoor.jp/kotetujun/archives/51437876.html Japanese blog] (Old download files for PSP & NDS here)<br />
:[http://www2.axfc.net/u/3063963 Axfc UpLoader] (Japanese site. Old files.)<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
<br />
{{lowercase title}}<br />
[[Category:Emulators]]<br />
[[Category:Game Boy Advance emulators]]</div>Windows Whistlerhttps://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=Computer_specifications&diff=29263Computer specifications2019-04-11T12:44:23Z<p>Windows Whistler: /* BGB */ 2000 is officially NT 5.0</p>
<hr />
<div>Most emulators tend to be CPU-dependent in general, meaning that their performance is greatly affected by the CPU's speed. The GPU on the other hand, mostly serves as a graphics enhancer by allowing for higher resolutions, anti-aliasing, etc. If your CPU isn't fast enough, you will most likely be not able to emulate a system at full speed. At the very least, a Core i5-2500K or a Ryzen 3 1200 or better is recommended for high-end emulation (e.g. [[PlayStation 2 emulators|PS2]], [[Wii emulators|Wii]]). This page will explain and state other possible choices to take, provided that the above choices are not feasible.<br />
<br />
==CPU==<br />
===Megahertz Myth===<br />
Whenever a CPU has a high clock speed (Pentium 4 672 @ 3.8 GHz), it does not always necessarily mean that it is powerful.<ref>http://www.computer-hardware-explained.com/megahertz-myth.html</ref> This is usually a common misconception, that stems from lack of detailed information on how a CPU works. However, it is true that a higher CPU clock speed guarantees improved emulation performance. While it is true that a high clock speed is one of the main factors for good CPU performance, it is not always the sole determining factor. For example, a Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 2.4GHz will nearly always outperform a Pentium D 940 @ 3.2GHz.<ref>http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2097</ref> Even though the Pentium D 940 is clocked significantly higher, the Core 2 Duo E6600 is faster due to the reduced amount of pipeline stages and a wider execution unit. This improves the amount of instructions it can output per cycle, which means better performance at a lower clock speed. In other words, the particular architecture of the CPU itself matters more than the clock speed.<br />
<br />
AMD's Bulldozer-derived CPUs also follows the aforementioned Pentium 4 (NetBurst) example, which has the same issue that the NetBurst-derived CPUs suffer from. They also similarly share the same high clock speed traits, which might cause confusion and misleading performance conclusions. Because of this, it is therefore recommended to completely avoid Bulldozer at all costs. The single-threaded performance of Bulldozer is somewhat slower when compared to an equally-clocked Phenom II or a Core 2,<ref>https://www.overclock.net/photopost/data/1501987/b/b1/b16fb0b4_ScreenShot005.jpeg</ref> though the multi-threaded performance of Bulldozer far exceeds the fastest Phenom II or Core 2 offerings.<ref>https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-Phenom-II-X6-1100T-vs-AMD-FX-9590/2004vs1812</ref> The real problem here is Bulldozer's under-average single-threaded performance that will not help in high-end emulation that uses 4 or fewer cores, and the fact that Bulldozer has a shared FPU between 2 cores. What this means, is that a FX-4350 would have 2 FPUs (1 FPU per 2 cores), and a FX-9590 would have 4 FPUs (1 FPU per 2 cores x 4). This will lead to weaker performance in floating-point heavy calculations, and this is another reason why it is not recommended. If you are still not convinced, have a look at the benchmarks.<ref>https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AunYlOAfGABxdFQ0UzJyTFAxbzZhYWtGcGwySlRFa1E#gid=1></ref><ref>https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AunYlOAfGABxdFQ0UzJyTFAxbzZhYWtGcGwySlRFa1E#gid=0</ref><ref>http://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-CPU-Benchmark-designed-for-PCSX2-based-on-FFX-2?page=107</ref><ref>https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-new-dolphin-cpu-benchmark-no-game-required?page=15</ref><ref>https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-new-dolphin-cpu-benchmark-no-game-required?page=15</ref><ref>http://translate.google.com/translate?act=url&depth=1&hl=pl&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.pl&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://pclab.pl//art55934.html</ref><ref>http://wccftech.com/ultimate-cpu-gpu-floating-point-performance-battle-amd-intel/</ref><ref>http://www.anandtech.com/show/7711/floating-point-peak-performance-of-kaveri-and-other-recent-amd-and-intel-chips</ref><ref>http://vr-zone.com/articles/ivy-bridge-e-i7-4960x-vs-amd-fx-9590-battle-2013-flagships/54295.html/2</ref><ref>http://www.extremetech.com/computing/159619-5ghz-showdown-overclocked-5ghz-amd-haswell-ivy-bridge/2</ref><br />
<br />
===AMD vs. Intel===<br />
As of Ryzen (Summit Ridge), AMD CPUs have similar single-threaded performance when compared to Intel CPUs <ref>https://i0.wp.com/www.solidsmack.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/AMD-Threadripper-single-thread-competition.png?ssl=1</ref>, though still not exactly close to an equivalent Intel CPU of the same era. Summit Ridge is slightly slower than an equivalent Kaby Lake in single-threaded applications, but it remains a good choice for emulation.<br />
<br />
===Emulation on a non-x86 CPU===<br />
CPUs that are not x86-based, or are not ARM-based <small>(phones can run emulators with varying degrees of success)</small>, are very likely to not be good enough for emulation in general. Certain emulators have been ported or programmed for some CPUs that are not ARM or x86-based, but those are very old and are possibly no longer in active development. IBM PowerPC CPUs for example, had emulators ported for it. However, these are rather outdated emulators and are not recommended for emulation.<br />
<br />
Some specific CPU architectures such as the SPARC, MIPS, IA-64 (Itanium), Alpha, and PA-RISC, are heavily discouraged for emulation. This is due to the lack of support for them; although the MIPS architecture may be capable of running a few emulators native to them. Some of them may be capable of running x86 emulators, but that depends on their software or hardware code-translation capabilities, in which the Itanium does have (but it's very weak). Emulators that are native to them are extremely hard to find, or non-existent. Therefore, it is recommended to avoid these CPUs in any way possible.<br />
<br />
===Desktop vs. Laptop===<br />
Laptop CPUs are typically much weaker than their desktop variants due to being clocked lower, for battery conservation and heat management reasons. They may also have fewer cores than desktop CPUs with similar naming schemes, which may confuse you. Be aware that some laptops might come with the same CPU, but their cooling systems vary from atrocious to good. This means that even the same CPU in two different laptops would yield different results. As such, it is recommended to pick a laptop with a decent cooling system for emulation. Therefore, it is suggested to research on the laptop CPU-of-choice's performance and the specific laptop's cooling system, before making the purchase.<br />
<br />
===More Cores and Threads===<br />
Emulators generally only utilize 2 cores, or with hacks, sometimes 3 or 4 cores. Thus, owning a CPU with 6 cores or more with Hyper-Threading/Simultaneous Multi-Threading, does not help or give the said CPU an advantage over a CPU with only 4 cores. Although, certain exceptions such as newer system emulators (e.g: RPCS3) can utilize more cores and threads by emulating the system's thread scheduler, which allows it to use as many cores and threads as much as the game makes threads.<br />
<br />
While 2-core or 4-core CPUs with very high clock speeds are usually recommended for emulation, most CPUs nowadays feature more than 4 cores with even higher clock speeds. This in comparison to the previously released 6-core or 8-core CPUs with far lower clock speeds, is an improvement. Therefore, purchasing a 6-core or an 8-core CPU with said higher clock speeds would be fine, as it offers no performance reduction over a similarly clocked 2-core or 4-core CPU.<br />
<br />
===Overclocking===<br />
Not all CPUs can be overclocked, and the motherboard's BIOS must be additionally capable of supporting overclocking. The CPUs in particular that can be overclocked are the usually the ones that are labeled: OverDrive, FX, Extreme Edition, Black Edition, K, and X. Also, certain engineering or qualification sample CPUs that AMD or Intel has manufactured may also be overclockable, since they were used for testing purposes and were not meant for sale. If you are not sure what kind of a CPU you have, check if it has these overclocking labels. For Intel CPUs, their overclocking labels are OverDrive, Extreme Edition, K, and X. For AMD CPUs, their overclocking labels are FX and Black Edition.<br />
<br />
Although, some special CPUs such as the Pentium G3258 and any Ryzen are overclockable. But keep in mind that you have to be running the CPU on a motherboard that supports overclocking. The motherboards that tend to support overclocking features, comes with a chipset that also supports overclocking, which is required for the CPU to be overclockable. However, this only applies to the newer motherboards, not the older motherboards as they tend to vary from being overclockable to not overclockable. For Intel, the overclockable chipsets' name starts with an X or a Z. The other chipsets that were not mentioned, are not overclockable (B, C, H, and Q). For AMD, the overclockable chipsets' name starts with an X or a B. The other chipsets that were not mentioned, are not overclockable (A).<br />
<br />
For older desktop motherboards with older chipsets, there might be overclocking available in the form of a front-side bus setting. Use that setting with caution however, as the front-side bus clock speed gets raised, so does the rest of the other components on the motherboard (which causes instability, data corruption, etc). Unless the motherboard has a PCI/AGP lock, it is advised not to use the front-side bus setting to overclock the CPU. In further depth, there is a safer setting that can be used to overclock without suffering from instability. Called the 'CPU BSEL Select' or similar, it was intended to manually select the proper front-side bus clock speed of the CPU. Though, by this, it allows us to exploit that feature and use it to overclock while staying within the factory specifications of the motherboard. This does not affect the rest of the other components on the motherboard, as the front-side bus is not overclocked and is only following the rated speeds it can achieve. Therefore, it is safer than the dangerous front-side bus setting. Also, be aware that once the CPU has hit a certain clock speed, it can no longer overclock due to voltage issues. The reasoning behind this is because of how higher clock speeds require more voltage, and these non-overclockable motherboards have a high chance of not having the ability to modify the input voltage to the CPU.<br />
<br />
However, if there is no 'CPU BSEL Select', proceed with the front-side bus setting with caution. As a safety precaution, do whatever it takes to not allow the PCI bus' clock speed to reach above 40 MHz. As anything higher than the 40 MHz mark will have a very high chance of inducing instability and possible data corruption, or worse. This is why the front-side bus setting is only recommended for motherboards that are equipped with a PCI/AGP lock, since they prevent the other components on the motherboard from being overclocked. Also, be aware that your motherboard can only supply a limited amount of current before it hits its limits. This is due to the voltage regulator modules not being rated to supply a large amount of current to keep the CPU and the rest of the other components stable, which is common for motherboards that are not meant for overclocking. The CPU's potential overclock may also be limited by the power supply unit, so a better power supply unit with better efficiency and wattage rating may be required.<br />
<br />
If you have a laptop, overclocking will be severely limited. Most laptops in circulation do not support overclocking, and may not be capable of handling the extra heat produced from an overclocked CPU. For the few laptops that can be overclocked through the BIOS, it is more or less the same as how a desktop would be configured to overclock the CPU. For the majority that does not officially support overclocking, it may be possible to overclock it in a different manner or method.<br />
<br />
A common method to overclock your laptop's CPU is to use third-party applications, such as ThrottleStop and CPUMSR. However, these applications only work with CPUs with an Extreme Edition/Black Edition/K/X label. Sometimes, special CPUs such as an engineering sample or a qualification sample may also be overclockable. And always remember this, do not overclock your laptop if you are not confident in its cooling system. If you are able to force the cooling system's fan to always run at its maximum speed, it is strongly recommended to do so. Avoid hitting temperatures higher than 100C/212F at all costs, even if the CPU is rated for a maximum of 105C/221F at the transistor-junction level.<br />
<br />
For non-overclockable laptop CPUs, you might be able to overclock it in a different way. Certain third-party applications are capable of controlling a chip that generates the clock signal for the front-side bus' clock, which is called the phase-locked loop. This is extremely unsafe and may result in potential data corruption, as it follows the same principle of overclocking the front-side bus. All laptops in existence do not have a PCI/AGP lock either, so keeping the PCI bus below 40 MHz is advised. The applications that can control the phase-locked loop are: ClockGen, CPUCool, SetFSB, SoftFSB, SetPLL, and SysTool. However, there is a catch when using these mentioned programs; none of them supports every phase-locked loop in existence. Each one of them has a range of phase-locked loops they support, and you must use the correct matching program that has support for your phase-locked loop. There is also no auto-detection in these programs for the phase-locked loop, as they do not have a way to report their manufacturer and model name, so be careful when selecting the correct phase-locked loop that resides in your laptop.<br />
<br />
==GPU==<br />
GPUs are basically just hundreds of under-powered CPUs on the same die, or better described as a massively parallel CPU with a core count that far exceeds most traditional multi-core CPUs.<br />
<br />
The thing is, with 3D graphics, you can split the work up into hundreds of different parts and give each piece to a different core on the GPU to work on. Since it doesn't matter which order the pixels are rendered in, as long as they all get rendered for the same frame before moving on to the next frame.<br />
<br />
File compression/extraction and bitcoin mining are also good examples of programs that can make use of parallel processing. However, most programs can not do this. Dwarf Fortress, for example, can't make use of a graphics card. Because every calculation it does is dependent on the one performed before it. That obviously doesn't work if you try and do them all at the same time.<br />
<br />
Pretty much any emulator is the same; it does not know what comes next until it has done what preceded it. It has to run off a single thread. It still needs some form of graphical output to output the final rendered 2D screen alone. This can be done via a GPU to put the 3D graphics on the screen, but any system capable of being emulated shouldn't be too taxing. This is called 'Hardware Rendering'. Alternatively, all of the graphics processing can be done on the CPU and will be more predictable/consistent for it, but that is also costly. This is called 'Software Rendering'.<br />
<br />
Most 3D emulators have hardware and software renderers. Software renderers use more CPU power, which may mostly be slower. They may also run on their own threads separate from other emulator parts, which would likely reduce the performance loss, but the CPU must still be fast enough in the first place.<br />
<br />
==Recommended Specifications==<br />
<br />
===[[DEmul]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 @ 3.1 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 420 or AMD Radeon HD 7470 or better<br />
*RAM: 3 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 7.1 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1300X @ 3.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 or AMD Radeon R9 280X or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Phoenix (emulator)|Phoenix]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.60) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.13 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 570 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 4000+ @ 2.4 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: XP Professional x64 with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.68) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ @ 3.2 GHz or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Cxbx-Reloaded]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7.1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 @ 2.66 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ @ 2.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 545 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 or ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT or Intel HD Graphics 3000 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[RPCS3]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7.1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 @ 3.2 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition @ 3.2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 420 or AMD Radeon HD 7470 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.0 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 @ 3.1 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 or AMD Radeon HD 7750 or better<br />
*RAM: 6 GB or more<br />
<br />
For information on DualShock 3 controller support, see [[SCP Driver Package]].<br />
<br />
===[[PCSX2]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.63) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT or ATI Radeon HD 3870 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.68) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 @ 3.1 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 or ATI Radeon HD 5830 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
For information on DualShock 3 controller support, see [[SCP Driver Package]].<br />
<br />
===[[Mednafen|Mednafen PS1]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 545 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: XP Professional x64 with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[PPSSPP]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Mountain Lion (10.80) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.4C (Northwood) @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (Clawhammer) @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 3000 or S3 Chrome S25 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium D 960 @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ (Windsor) @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 6200 or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel GMA 4500 or S3 Chrome 430 GT or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
Enable the dynarec option for speedups.<br />
<br />
===[[Cemu]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7.1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-970 @ 3.33 GHz or AMD Ryzen 5 1400 @ 3.2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 or AMD Radeon HD 7730 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-5930K @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Ryzen 5 1600X @ 3.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti or AMD Radeon R7 360 or better<br />
*RAM: 8 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Dolphin]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7.1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Yosemite (10.100) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.4.6 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 @ 3.2 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition @ 3.2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 or AMD Radeon HD 7770 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.4.161 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 @ 3.1 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti or AMD Radeon R7 360 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
See the [[Dolphin]] page for further recommendations, such as controller setups.<br />
<br />
===[[Mupen64Plus]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) <small>(needs msvcp120.dll and msvcr120.dll in the program's directory to run, also applies for XP Pro x64/64-bit)</small> or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.60) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 570 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 3800+ (Orleans) @ 2.4 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce2 Ultra or ATI Radeon 7200 or 3dfx Voodoo 5 5500 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.68) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 @ 2.33 GHz or AMD Athlon X2 5600 @ 2.3 GHz or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[DeSmuME]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) <small>(needs msvcp100.dll and msvcr100.dll in the program's directory to run, [https://imgur.com/a/fgWhs proof] also applies for XP Pro x64/64-bit)</small> or later<br />
*macOS: Leopard (10.58) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 @ 2 GHz or AMD Athlon II X2 270u @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce2 MX100 or ATI Radeon 7000 or Intel Extreme Graphics 2 or 3dfx Voodoo4 4500 or PowerVR Series3 Kyro II or S3 DeltaChrome S4 or Trident XP4 or XGI Volari V3 or Matrox Millennium G400 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.68) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 545 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
Enable the dynarec option for speedups.<br />
<br />
===[[mGBA]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later <br />
*macOS: Leopard (10.50) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Atom 230 @ 1.6 GHz or AMD Geode NX 1750+ @ 1.4 GHz or VIA C7 1.6 @ 1.6 GHz or Transmeta Efficeon TM8800 @ 1.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 256 SDR or ATI Radeon 7000 or 3dfx Voodoo3 1000 or Intel Extreme Graphics or Matrox Millennium G400 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.70) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.0A (Northwood) @ 3 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 2900+ @ 2 GHz<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[BGB]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 96 (16-bit/32-bit hybrid) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium MMX (P55C) @ 200 MHz or AMD K6 (Little Foot) @ 233 MHz or Cyrix 6x86MX PR366 @ 250 MHz or IDT WinChip 240 (C6) @ 240 MHz or Rise mP6 PR366 @ 250 MHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 256 SDR or ATI Radeon 7000 or 3dfx Voodoo4 4500 or Intel Extreme Graphics or Matrox Millennium P650 or better<br />
*RAM: 128 MB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: NT 5.0 with Service Pack 4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 2 450 @ 450 MHz or AMD K6-2 550 @ 550 MHz or Transmeta Crusoe TM5400 @ 700 MHz or VIA C3-800 (Samuel 2) @ 800 MHz or better<br />
*RAM: 256 MB or more<br />
<br />
===[[higan]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7.1 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.70) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 7.1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-2153 @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Athlon 220GE @ 3.4 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
[[Category:FAQs]]</div>Windows Whistlerhttps://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=Computer_specifications&diff=29262Computer specifications2019-04-11T12:43:50Z<p>Windows Whistler: /* Recommended Specifications */ corrected</p>
<hr />
<div>Most emulators tend to be CPU-dependent in general, meaning that their performance is greatly affected by the CPU's speed. The GPU on the other hand, mostly serves as a graphics enhancer by allowing for higher resolutions, anti-aliasing, etc. If your CPU isn't fast enough, you will most likely be not able to emulate a system at full speed. At the very least, a Core i5-2500K or a Ryzen 3 1200 or better is recommended for high-end emulation (e.g. [[PlayStation 2 emulators|PS2]], [[Wii emulators|Wii]]). This page will explain and state other possible choices to take, provided that the above choices are not feasible.<br />
<br />
==CPU==<br />
===Megahertz Myth===<br />
Whenever a CPU has a high clock speed (Pentium 4 672 @ 3.8 GHz), it does not always necessarily mean that it is powerful.<ref>http://www.computer-hardware-explained.com/megahertz-myth.html</ref> This is usually a common misconception, that stems from lack of detailed information on how a CPU works. However, it is true that a higher CPU clock speed guarantees improved emulation performance. While it is true that a high clock speed is one of the main factors for good CPU performance, it is not always the sole determining factor. For example, a Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 2.4GHz will nearly always outperform a Pentium D 940 @ 3.2GHz.<ref>http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2097</ref> Even though the Pentium D 940 is clocked significantly higher, the Core 2 Duo E6600 is faster due to the reduced amount of pipeline stages and a wider execution unit. This improves the amount of instructions it can output per cycle, which means better performance at a lower clock speed. In other words, the particular architecture of the CPU itself matters more than the clock speed.<br />
<br />
AMD's Bulldozer-derived CPUs also follows the aforementioned Pentium 4 (NetBurst) example, which has the same issue that the NetBurst-derived CPUs suffer from. They also similarly share the same high clock speed traits, which might cause confusion and misleading performance conclusions. Because of this, it is therefore recommended to completely avoid Bulldozer at all costs. The single-threaded performance of Bulldozer is somewhat slower when compared to an equally-clocked Phenom II or a Core 2,<ref>https://www.overclock.net/photopost/data/1501987/b/b1/b16fb0b4_ScreenShot005.jpeg</ref> though the multi-threaded performance of Bulldozer far exceeds the fastest Phenom II or Core 2 offerings.<ref>https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-Phenom-II-X6-1100T-vs-AMD-FX-9590/2004vs1812</ref> The real problem here is Bulldozer's under-average single-threaded performance that will not help in high-end emulation that uses 4 or fewer cores, and the fact that Bulldozer has a shared FPU between 2 cores. What this means, is that a FX-4350 would have 2 FPUs (1 FPU per 2 cores), and a FX-9590 would have 4 FPUs (1 FPU per 2 cores x 4). This will lead to weaker performance in floating-point heavy calculations, and this is another reason why it is not recommended. If you are still not convinced, have a look at the benchmarks.<ref>https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AunYlOAfGABxdFQ0UzJyTFAxbzZhYWtGcGwySlRFa1E#gid=1></ref><ref>https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AunYlOAfGABxdFQ0UzJyTFAxbzZhYWtGcGwySlRFa1E#gid=0</ref><ref>http://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-CPU-Benchmark-designed-for-PCSX2-based-on-FFX-2?page=107</ref><ref>https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-new-dolphin-cpu-benchmark-no-game-required?page=15</ref><ref>https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-new-dolphin-cpu-benchmark-no-game-required?page=15</ref><ref>http://translate.google.com/translate?act=url&depth=1&hl=pl&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.pl&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://pclab.pl//art55934.html</ref><ref>http://wccftech.com/ultimate-cpu-gpu-floating-point-performance-battle-amd-intel/</ref><ref>http://www.anandtech.com/show/7711/floating-point-peak-performance-of-kaveri-and-other-recent-amd-and-intel-chips</ref><ref>http://vr-zone.com/articles/ivy-bridge-e-i7-4960x-vs-amd-fx-9590-battle-2013-flagships/54295.html/2</ref><ref>http://www.extremetech.com/computing/159619-5ghz-showdown-overclocked-5ghz-amd-haswell-ivy-bridge/2</ref><br />
<br />
===AMD vs. Intel===<br />
As of Ryzen (Summit Ridge), AMD CPUs have similar single-threaded performance when compared to Intel CPUs <ref>https://i0.wp.com/www.solidsmack.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/AMD-Threadripper-single-thread-competition.png?ssl=1</ref>, though still not exactly close to an equivalent Intel CPU of the same era. Summit Ridge is slightly slower than an equivalent Kaby Lake in single-threaded applications, but it remains a good choice for emulation.<br />
<br />
===Emulation on a non-x86 CPU===<br />
CPUs that are not x86-based, or are not ARM-based <small>(phones can run emulators with varying degrees of success)</small>, are very likely to not be good enough for emulation in general. Certain emulators have been ported or programmed for some CPUs that are not ARM or x86-based, but those are very old and are possibly no longer in active development. IBM PowerPC CPUs for example, had emulators ported for it. However, these are rather outdated emulators and are not recommended for emulation.<br />
<br />
Some specific CPU architectures such as the SPARC, MIPS, IA-64 (Itanium), Alpha, and PA-RISC, are heavily discouraged for emulation. This is due to the lack of support for them; although the MIPS architecture may be capable of running a few emulators native to them. Some of them may be capable of running x86 emulators, but that depends on their software or hardware code-translation capabilities, in which the Itanium does have (but it's very weak). Emulators that are native to them are extremely hard to find, or non-existent. Therefore, it is recommended to avoid these CPUs in any way possible.<br />
<br />
===Desktop vs. Laptop===<br />
Laptop CPUs are typically much weaker than their desktop variants due to being clocked lower, for battery conservation and heat management reasons. They may also have fewer cores than desktop CPUs with similar naming schemes, which may confuse you. Be aware that some laptops might come with the same CPU, but their cooling systems vary from atrocious to good. This means that even the same CPU in two different laptops would yield different results. As such, it is recommended to pick a laptop with a decent cooling system for emulation. Therefore, it is suggested to research on the laptop CPU-of-choice's performance and the specific laptop's cooling system, before making the purchase.<br />
<br />
===More Cores and Threads===<br />
Emulators generally only utilize 2 cores, or with hacks, sometimes 3 or 4 cores. Thus, owning a CPU with 6 cores or more with Hyper-Threading/Simultaneous Multi-Threading, does not help or give the said CPU an advantage over a CPU with only 4 cores. Although, certain exceptions such as newer system emulators (e.g: RPCS3) can utilize more cores and threads by emulating the system's thread scheduler, which allows it to use as many cores and threads as much as the game makes threads.<br />
<br />
While 2-core or 4-core CPUs with very high clock speeds are usually recommended for emulation, most CPUs nowadays feature more than 4 cores with even higher clock speeds. This in comparison to the previously released 6-core or 8-core CPUs with far lower clock speeds, is an improvement. Therefore, purchasing a 6-core or an 8-core CPU with said higher clock speeds would be fine, as it offers no performance reduction over a similarly clocked 2-core or 4-core CPU.<br />
<br />
===Overclocking===<br />
Not all CPUs can be overclocked, and the motherboard's BIOS must be additionally capable of supporting overclocking. The CPUs in particular that can be overclocked are the usually the ones that are labeled: OverDrive, FX, Extreme Edition, Black Edition, K, and X. Also, certain engineering or qualification sample CPUs that AMD or Intel has manufactured may also be overclockable, since they were used for testing purposes and were not meant for sale. If you are not sure what kind of a CPU you have, check if it has these overclocking labels. For Intel CPUs, their overclocking labels are OverDrive, Extreme Edition, K, and X. For AMD CPUs, their overclocking labels are FX and Black Edition.<br />
<br />
Although, some special CPUs such as the Pentium G3258 and any Ryzen are overclockable. But keep in mind that you have to be running the CPU on a motherboard that supports overclocking. The motherboards that tend to support overclocking features, comes with a chipset that also supports overclocking, which is required for the CPU to be overclockable. However, this only applies to the newer motherboards, not the older motherboards as they tend to vary from being overclockable to not overclockable. For Intel, the overclockable chipsets' name starts with an X or a Z. The other chipsets that were not mentioned, are not overclockable (B, C, H, and Q). For AMD, the overclockable chipsets' name starts with an X or a B. The other chipsets that were not mentioned, are not overclockable (A).<br />
<br />
For older desktop motherboards with older chipsets, there might be overclocking available in the form of a front-side bus setting. Use that setting with caution however, as the front-side bus clock speed gets raised, so does the rest of the other components on the motherboard (which causes instability, data corruption, etc). Unless the motherboard has a PCI/AGP lock, it is advised not to use the front-side bus setting to overclock the CPU. In further depth, there is a safer setting that can be used to overclock without suffering from instability. Called the 'CPU BSEL Select' or similar, it was intended to manually select the proper front-side bus clock speed of the CPU. Though, by this, it allows us to exploit that feature and use it to overclock while staying within the factory specifications of the motherboard. This does not affect the rest of the other components on the motherboard, as the front-side bus is not overclocked and is only following the rated speeds it can achieve. Therefore, it is safer than the dangerous front-side bus setting. Also, be aware that once the CPU has hit a certain clock speed, it can no longer overclock due to voltage issues. The reasoning behind this is because of how higher clock speeds require more voltage, and these non-overclockable motherboards have a high chance of not having the ability to modify the input voltage to the CPU.<br />
<br />
However, if there is no 'CPU BSEL Select', proceed with the front-side bus setting with caution. As a safety precaution, do whatever it takes to not allow the PCI bus' clock speed to reach above 40 MHz. As anything higher than the 40 MHz mark will have a very high chance of inducing instability and possible data corruption, or worse. This is why the front-side bus setting is only recommended for motherboards that are equipped with a PCI/AGP lock, since they prevent the other components on the motherboard from being overclocked. Also, be aware that your motherboard can only supply a limited amount of current before it hits its limits. This is due to the voltage regulator modules not being rated to supply a large amount of current to keep the CPU and the rest of the other components stable, which is common for motherboards that are not meant for overclocking. The CPU's potential overclock may also be limited by the power supply unit, so a better power supply unit with better efficiency and wattage rating may be required.<br />
<br />
If you have a laptop, overclocking will be severely limited. Most laptops in circulation do not support overclocking, and may not be capable of handling the extra heat produced from an overclocked CPU. For the few laptops that can be overclocked through the BIOS, it is more or less the same as how a desktop would be configured to overclock the CPU. For the majority that does not officially support overclocking, it may be possible to overclock it in a different manner or method.<br />
<br />
A common method to overclock your laptop's CPU is to use third-party applications, such as ThrottleStop and CPUMSR. However, these applications only work with CPUs with an Extreme Edition/Black Edition/K/X label. Sometimes, special CPUs such as an engineering sample or a qualification sample may also be overclockable. And always remember this, do not overclock your laptop if you are not confident in its cooling system. If you are able to force the cooling system's fan to always run at its maximum speed, it is strongly recommended to do so. Avoid hitting temperatures higher than 100C/212F at all costs, even if the CPU is rated for a maximum of 105C/221F at the transistor-junction level.<br />
<br />
For non-overclockable laptop CPUs, you might be able to overclock it in a different way. Certain third-party applications are capable of controlling a chip that generates the clock signal for the front-side bus' clock, which is called the phase-locked loop. This is extremely unsafe and may result in potential data corruption, as it follows the same principle of overclocking the front-side bus. All laptops in existence do not have a PCI/AGP lock either, so keeping the PCI bus below 40 MHz is advised. The applications that can control the phase-locked loop are: ClockGen, CPUCool, SetFSB, SoftFSB, SetPLL, and SysTool. However, there is a catch when using these mentioned programs; none of them supports every phase-locked loop in existence. Each one of them has a range of phase-locked loops they support, and you must use the correct matching program that has support for your phase-locked loop. There is also no auto-detection in these programs for the phase-locked loop, as they do not have a way to report their manufacturer and model name, so be careful when selecting the correct phase-locked loop that resides in your laptop.<br />
<br />
==GPU==<br />
GPUs are basically just hundreds of under-powered CPUs on the same die, or better described as a massively parallel CPU with a core count that far exceeds most traditional multi-core CPUs.<br />
<br />
The thing is, with 3D graphics, you can split the work up into hundreds of different parts and give each piece to a different core on the GPU to work on. Since it doesn't matter which order the pixels are rendered in, as long as they all get rendered for the same frame before moving on to the next frame.<br />
<br />
File compression/extraction and bitcoin mining are also good examples of programs that can make use of parallel processing. However, most programs can not do this. Dwarf Fortress, for example, can't make use of a graphics card. Because every calculation it does is dependent on the one performed before it. That obviously doesn't work if you try and do them all at the same time.<br />
<br />
Pretty much any emulator is the same; it does not know what comes next until it has done what preceded it. It has to run off a single thread. It still needs some form of graphical output to output the final rendered 2D screen alone. This can be done via a GPU to put the 3D graphics on the screen, but any system capable of being emulated shouldn't be too taxing. This is called 'Hardware Rendering'. Alternatively, all of the graphics processing can be done on the CPU and will be more predictable/consistent for it, but that is also costly. This is called 'Software Rendering'.<br />
<br />
Most 3D emulators have hardware and software renderers. Software renderers use more CPU power, which may mostly be slower. They may also run on their own threads separate from other emulator parts, which would likely reduce the performance loss, but the CPU must still be fast enough in the first place.<br />
<br />
==Recommended Specifications==<br />
<br />
===[[DEmul]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 @ 3.1 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 420 or AMD Radeon HD 7470 or better<br />
*RAM: 3 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 7.1 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1300X @ 3.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 or AMD Radeon R9 280X or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Phoenix (emulator)|Phoenix]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.60) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.13 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 570 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 4000+ @ 2.4 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: XP Professional x64 with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.68) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ @ 3.2 GHz or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Cxbx-Reloaded]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7.1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 @ 2.66 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ @ 2.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 545 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 or ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT or Intel HD Graphics 3000 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[RPCS3]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7.1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 @ 3.2 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition @ 3.2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 420 or AMD Radeon HD 7470 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.0 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 @ 3.1 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 or AMD Radeon HD 7750 or better<br />
*RAM: 6 GB or more<br />
<br />
For information on DualShock 3 controller support, see [[SCP Driver Package]].<br />
<br />
===[[PCSX2]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.63) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT or ATI Radeon HD 3870 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.68) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 @ 3.1 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 or ATI Radeon HD 5830 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
For information on DualShock 3 controller support, see [[SCP Driver Package]].<br />
<br />
===[[Mednafen|Mednafen PS1]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 545 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: XP Professional x64 with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[PPSSPP]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Mountain Lion (10.80) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.4C (Northwood) @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (Clawhammer) @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 3000 or S3 Chrome S25 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium D 960 @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ (Windsor) @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 6200 or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel GMA 4500 or S3 Chrome 430 GT or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
Enable the dynarec option for speedups.<br />
<br />
===[[Cemu]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7.1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-970 @ 3.33 GHz or AMD Ryzen 5 1400 @ 3.2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 or AMD Radeon HD 7730 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-5930K @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Ryzen 5 1600X @ 3.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti or AMD Radeon R7 360 or better<br />
*RAM: 8 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Dolphin]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7.1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Yosemite (10.100) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.4.6 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 @ 3.2 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition @ 3.2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 or AMD Radeon HD 7770 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.4.161 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 @ 3.1 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti or AMD Radeon R7 360 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
See the [[Dolphin]] page for further recommendations, such as controller setups.<br />
<br />
===[[Mupen64Plus]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) <small>(needs msvcp120.dll and msvcr120.dll in the program's directory to run, also applies for XP Pro x64/64-bit)</small> or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.60) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 570 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 3800+ (Orleans) @ 2.4 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce2 Ultra or ATI Radeon 7200 or 3dfx Voodoo 5 5500 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.68) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 @ 2.33 GHz or AMD Athlon X2 5600 @ 2.3 GHz or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[DeSmuME]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) <small>(needs msvcp100.dll and msvcr100.dll in the program's directory to run, [https://imgur.com/a/fgWhs proof] also applies for XP Pro x64/64-bit)</small> or later<br />
*macOS: Leopard (10.58) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 @ 2 GHz or AMD Athlon II X2 270u @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce2 MX100 or ATI Radeon 7000 or Intel Extreme Graphics 2 or 3dfx Voodoo4 4500 or PowerVR Series3 Kyro II or S3 DeltaChrome S4 or Trident XP4 or XGI Volari V3 or Matrox Millennium G400 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.68) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 545 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
Enable the dynarec option for speedups.<br />
<br />
===[[mGBA]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later <br />
*macOS: Leopard (10.50) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Atom 230 @ 1.6 GHz or AMD Geode NX 1750+ @ 1.4 GHz or VIA C7 1.6 @ 1.6 GHz or Transmeta Efficeon TM8800 @ 1.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 256 SDR or ATI Radeon 7000 or 3dfx Voodoo3 1000 or Intel Extreme Graphics or Matrox Millennium G400 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.70) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.0A (Northwood) @ 3 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 2900+ @ 2 GHz<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[BGB]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 96 (16-bit/32-bit hybrid) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium MMX (P55C) @ 200 MHz or AMD K6 (Little Foot) @ 233 MHz or Cyrix 6x86MX PR366 @ 250 MHz or IDT WinChip 240 (C6) @ 240 MHz or Rise mP6 PR366 @ 250 MHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 256 SDR or ATI Radeon 7000 or 3dfx Voodoo4 4500 or Intel Extreme Graphics or Matrox Millennium P650 or better<br />
*RAM: 128 MB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 2000 with Service Pack 4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 2 450 @ 450 MHz or AMD K6-2 550 @ 550 MHz or Transmeta Crusoe TM5400 @ 700 MHz or VIA C3-800 (Samuel 2) @ 800 MHz or better<br />
*RAM: 256 MB or more<br />
<br />
===[[higan]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7.1 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.70) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 7.1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-2153 @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Athlon 220GE @ 3.4 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
[[Category:FAQs]]</div>Windows Whistlerhttps://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=Computer_specifications&diff=29261Computer specifications2019-04-11T12:40:33Z<p>Windows Whistler: /* Recommended Specifications */ 7 with service pack 1 is officially 7.1. windows 96 was released on 1996. bgb can even run on windows NT 4.0 and 96.</p>
<hr />
<div>Most emulators tend to be CPU-dependent in general, meaning that their performance is greatly affected by the CPU's speed. The GPU on the other hand, mostly serves as a graphics enhancer by allowing for higher resolutions, anti-aliasing, etc. If your CPU isn't fast enough, you will most likely be not able to emulate a system at full speed. At the very least, a Core i5-2500K or a Ryzen 3 1200 or better is recommended for high-end emulation (e.g. [[PlayStation 2 emulators|PS2]], [[Wii emulators|Wii]]). This page will explain and state other possible choices to take, provided that the above choices are not feasible.<br />
<br />
==CPU==<br />
===Megahertz Myth===<br />
Whenever a CPU has a high clock speed (Pentium 4 672 @ 3.8 GHz), it does not always necessarily mean that it is powerful.<ref>http://www.computer-hardware-explained.com/megahertz-myth.html</ref> This is usually a common misconception, that stems from lack of detailed information on how a CPU works. However, it is true that a higher CPU clock speed guarantees improved emulation performance. While it is true that a high clock speed is one of the main factors for good CPU performance, it is not always the sole determining factor. For example, a Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 2.4GHz will nearly always outperform a Pentium D 940 @ 3.2GHz.<ref>http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2097</ref> Even though the Pentium D 940 is clocked significantly higher, the Core 2 Duo E6600 is faster due to the reduced amount of pipeline stages and a wider execution unit. This improves the amount of instructions it can output per cycle, which means better performance at a lower clock speed. In other words, the particular architecture of the CPU itself matters more than the clock speed.<br />
<br />
AMD's Bulldozer-derived CPUs also follows the aforementioned Pentium 4 (NetBurst) example, which has the same issue that the NetBurst-derived CPUs suffer from. They also similarly share the same high clock speed traits, which might cause confusion and misleading performance conclusions. Because of this, it is therefore recommended to completely avoid Bulldozer at all costs. The single-threaded performance of Bulldozer is somewhat slower when compared to an equally-clocked Phenom II or a Core 2,<ref>https://www.overclock.net/photopost/data/1501987/b/b1/b16fb0b4_ScreenShot005.jpeg</ref> though the multi-threaded performance of Bulldozer far exceeds the fastest Phenom II or Core 2 offerings.<ref>https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-Phenom-II-X6-1100T-vs-AMD-FX-9590/2004vs1812</ref> The real problem here is Bulldozer's under-average single-threaded performance that will not help in high-end emulation that uses 4 or fewer cores, and the fact that Bulldozer has a shared FPU between 2 cores. What this means, is that a FX-4350 would have 2 FPUs (1 FPU per 2 cores), and a FX-9590 would have 4 FPUs (1 FPU per 2 cores x 4). This will lead to weaker performance in floating-point heavy calculations, and this is another reason why it is not recommended. If you are still not convinced, have a look at the benchmarks.<ref>https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AunYlOAfGABxdFQ0UzJyTFAxbzZhYWtGcGwySlRFa1E#gid=1></ref><ref>https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AunYlOAfGABxdFQ0UzJyTFAxbzZhYWtGcGwySlRFa1E#gid=0</ref><ref>http://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-CPU-Benchmark-designed-for-PCSX2-based-on-FFX-2?page=107</ref><ref>https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-new-dolphin-cpu-benchmark-no-game-required?page=15</ref><ref>https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-new-dolphin-cpu-benchmark-no-game-required?page=15</ref><ref>http://translate.google.com/translate?act=url&depth=1&hl=pl&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.pl&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://pclab.pl//art55934.html</ref><ref>http://wccftech.com/ultimate-cpu-gpu-floating-point-performance-battle-amd-intel/</ref><ref>http://www.anandtech.com/show/7711/floating-point-peak-performance-of-kaveri-and-other-recent-amd-and-intel-chips</ref><ref>http://vr-zone.com/articles/ivy-bridge-e-i7-4960x-vs-amd-fx-9590-battle-2013-flagships/54295.html/2</ref><ref>http://www.extremetech.com/computing/159619-5ghz-showdown-overclocked-5ghz-amd-haswell-ivy-bridge/2</ref><br />
<br />
===AMD vs. Intel===<br />
As of Ryzen (Summit Ridge), AMD CPUs have similar single-threaded performance when compared to Intel CPUs <ref>https://i0.wp.com/www.solidsmack.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/AMD-Threadripper-single-thread-competition.png?ssl=1</ref>, though still not exactly close to an equivalent Intel CPU of the same era. Summit Ridge is slightly slower than an equivalent Kaby Lake in single-threaded applications, but it remains a good choice for emulation.<br />
<br />
===Emulation on a non-x86 CPU===<br />
CPUs that are not x86-based, or are not ARM-based <small>(phones can run emulators with varying degrees of success)</small>, are very likely to not be good enough for emulation in general. Certain emulators have been ported or programmed for some CPUs that are not ARM or x86-based, but those are very old and are possibly no longer in active development. IBM PowerPC CPUs for example, had emulators ported for it. However, these are rather outdated emulators and are not recommended for emulation.<br />
<br />
Some specific CPU architectures such as the SPARC, MIPS, IA-64 (Itanium), Alpha, and PA-RISC, are heavily discouraged for emulation. This is due to the lack of support for them; although the MIPS architecture may be capable of running a few emulators native to them. Some of them may be capable of running x86 emulators, but that depends on their software or hardware code-translation capabilities, in which the Itanium does have (but it's very weak). Emulators that are native to them are extremely hard to find, or non-existent. Therefore, it is recommended to avoid these CPUs in any way possible.<br />
<br />
===Desktop vs. Laptop===<br />
Laptop CPUs are typically much weaker than their desktop variants due to being clocked lower, for battery conservation and heat management reasons. They may also have fewer cores than desktop CPUs with similar naming schemes, which may confuse you. Be aware that some laptops might come with the same CPU, but their cooling systems vary from atrocious to good. This means that even the same CPU in two different laptops would yield different results. As such, it is recommended to pick a laptop with a decent cooling system for emulation. Therefore, it is suggested to research on the laptop CPU-of-choice's performance and the specific laptop's cooling system, before making the purchase.<br />
<br />
===More Cores and Threads===<br />
Emulators generally only utilize 2 cores, or with hacks, sometimes 3 or 4 cores. Thus, owning a CPU with 6 cores or more with Hyper-Threading/Simultaneous Multi-Threading, does not help or give the said CPU an advantage over a CPU with only 4 cores. Although, certain exceptions such as newer system emulators (e.g: RPCS3) can utilize more cores and threads by emulating the system's thread scheduler, which allows it to use as many cores and threads as much as the game makes threads.<br />
<br />
While 2-core or 4-core CPUs with very high clock speeds are usually recommended for emulation, most CPUs nowadays feature more than 4 cores with even higher clock speeds. This in comparison to the previously released 6-core or 8-core CPUs with far lower clock speeds, is an improvement. Therefore, purchasing a 6-core or an 8-core CPU with said higher clock speeds would be fine, as it offers no performance reduction over a similarly clocked 2-core or 4-core CPU.<br />
<br />
===Overclocking===<br />
Not all CPUs can be overclocked, and the motherboard's BIOS must be additionally capable of supporting overclocking. The CPUs in particular that can be overclocked are the usually the ones that are labeled: OverDrive, FX, Extreme Edition, Black Edition, K, and X. Also, certain engineering or qualification sample CPUs that AMD or Intel has manufactured may also be overclockable, since they were used for testing purposes and were not meant for sale. If you are not sure what kind of a CPU you have, check if it has these overclocking labels. For Intel CPUs, their overclocking labels are OverDrive, Extreme Edition, K, and X. For AMD CPUs, their overclocking labels are FX and Black Edition.<br />
<br />
Although, some special CPUs such as the Pentium G3258 and any Ryzen are overclockable. But keep in mind that you have to be running the CPU on a motherboard that supports overclocking. The motherboards that tend to support overclocking features, comes with a chipset that also supports overclocking, which is required for the CPU to be overclockable. However, this only applies to the newer motherboards, not the older motherboards as they tend to vary from being overclockable to not overclockable. For Intel, the overclockable chipsets' name starts with an X or a Z. The other chipsets that were not mentioned, are not overclockable (B, C, H, and Q). For AMD, the overclockable chipsets' name starts with an X or a B. The other chipsets that were not mentioned, are not overclockable (A).<br />
<br />
For older desktop motherboards with older chipsets, there might be overclocking available in the form of a front-side bus setting. Use that setting with caution however, as the front-side bus clock speed gets raised, so does the rest of the other components on the motherboard (which causes instability, data corruption, etc). Unless the motherboard has a PCI/AGP lock, it is advised not to use the front-side bus setting to overclock the CPU. In further depth, there is a safer setting that can be used to overclock without suffering from instability. Called the 'CPU BSEL Select' or similar, it was intended to manually select the proper front-side bus clock speed of the CPU. Though, by this, it allows us to exploit that feature and use it to overclock while staying within the factory specifications of the motherboard. This does not affect the rest of the other components on the motherboard, as the front-side bus is not overclocked and is only following the rated speeds it can achieve. Therefore, it is safer than the dangerous front-side bus setting. Also, be aware that once the CPU has hit a certain clock speed, it can no longer overclock due to voltage issues. The reasoning behind this is because of how higher clock speeds require more voltage, and these non-overclockable motherboards have a high chance of not having the ability to modify the input voltage to the CPU.<br />
<br />
However, if there is no 'CPU BSEL Select', proceed with the front-side bus setting with caution. As a safety precaution, do whatever it takes to not allow the PCI bus' clock speed to reach above 40 MHz. As anything higher than the 40 MHz mark will have a very high chance of inducing instability and possible data corruption, or worse. This is why the front-side bus setting is only recommended for motherboards that are equipped with a PCI/AGP lock, since they prevent the other components on the motherboard from being overclocked. Also, be aware that your motherboard can only supply a limited amount of current before it hits its limits. This is due to the voltage regulator modules not being rated to supply a large amount of current to keep the CPU and the rest of the other components stable, which is common for motherboards that are not meant for overclocking. The CPU's potential overclock may also be limited by the power supply unit, so a better power supply unit with better efficiency and wattage rating may be required.<br />
<br />
If you have a laptop, overclocking will be severely limited. Most laptops in circulation do not support overclocking, and may not be capable of handling the extra heat produced from an overclocked CPU. For the few laptops that can be overclocked through the BIOS, it is more or less the same as how a desktop would be configured to overclock the CPU. For the majority that does not officially support overclocking, it may be possible to overclock it in a different manner or method.<br />
<br />
A common method to overclock your laptop's CPU is to use third-party applications, such as ThrottleStop and CPUMSR. However, these applications only work with CPUs with an Extreme Edition/Black Edition/K/X label. Sometimes, special CPUs such as an engineering sample or a qualification sample may also be overclockable. And always remember this, do not overclock your laptop if you are not confident in its cooling system. If you are able to force the cooling system's fan to always run at its maximum speed, it is strongly recommended to do so. Avoid hitting temperatures higher than 100C/212F at all costs, even if the CPU is rated for a maximum of 105C/221F at the transistor-junction level.<br />
<br />
For non-overclockable laptop CPUs, you might be able to overclock it in a different way. Certain third-party applications are capable of controlling a chip that generates the clock signal for the front-side bus' clock, which is called the phase-locked loop. This is extremely unsafe and may result in potential data corruption, as it follows the same principle of overclocking the front-side bus. All laptops in existence do not have a PCI/AGP lock either, so keeping the PCI bus below 40 MHz is advised. The applications that can control the phase-locked loop are: ClockGen, CPUCool, SetFSB, SoftFSB, SetPLL, and SysTool. However, there is a catch when using these mentioned programs; none of them supports every phase-locked loop in existence. Each one of them has a range of phase-locked loops they support, and you must use the correct matching program that has support for your phase-locked loop. There is also no auto-detection in these programs for the phase-locked loop, as they do not have a way to report their manufacturer and model name, so be careful when selecting the correct phase-locked loop that resides in your laptop.<br />
<br />
==GPU==<br />
GPUs are basically just hundreds of under-powered CPUs on the same die, or better described as a massively parallel CPU with a core count that far exceeds most traditional multi-core CPUs.<br />
<br />
The thing is, with 3D graphics, you can split the work up into hundreds of different parts and give each piece to a different core on the GPU to work on. Since it doesn't matter which order the pixels are rendered in, as long as they all get rendered for the same frame before moving on to the next frame.<br />
<br />
File compression/extraction and bitcoin mining are also good examples of programs that can make use of parallel processing. However, most programs can not do this. Dwarf Fortress, for example, can't make use of a graphics card. Because every calculation it does is dependent on the one performed before it. That obviously doesn't work if you try and do them all at the same time.<br />
<br />
Pretty much any emulator is the same; it does not know what comes next until it has done what preceded it. It has to run off a single thread. It still needs some form of graphical output to output the final rendered 2D screen alone. This can be done via a GPU to put the 3D graphics on the screen, but any system capable of being emulated shouldn't be too taxing. This is called 'Hardware Rendering'. Alternatively, all of the graphics processing can be done on the CPU and will be more predictable/consistent for it, but that is also costly. This is called 'Software Rendering'.<br />
<br />
Most 3D emulators have hardware and software renderers. Software renderers use more CPU power, which may mostly be slower. They may also run on their own threads separate from other emulator parts, which would likely reduce the performance loss, but the CPU must still be fast enough in the first place.<br />
<br />
==Recommended Specifications==<br />
<br />
===[[DEmul]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 @ 3.1 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 420 or AMD Radeon HD 7470 or better<br />
*RAM: 3 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 7.1 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1300X @ 3.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 or AMD Radeon R9 280X or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Phoenix (emulator)|Phoenix]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.13 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 570 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 4000+ @ 2.4 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: XP Professional x64 with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ @ 3.2 GHz or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Cxbx-Reloaded]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7.1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 @ 2.66 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ @ 2.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 545 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 or ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT or Intel HD Graphics 3000 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[RPCS3]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7.1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 @ 3.2 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition @ 3.2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 420 or AMD Radeon HD 7470 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.0 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 @ 3.1 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 or AMD Radeon HD 7750 or better<br />
*RAM: 6 GB or more<br />
<br />
For information on DualShock 3 controller support, see [[SCP Driver Package]].<br />
<br />
===[[PCSX2]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.3) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT or ATI Radeon HD 3870 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 @ 3.1 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 or ATI Radeon HD 5830 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
For information on DualShock 3 controller support, see [[SCP Driver Package]].<br />
<br />
===[[Mednafen|Mednafen PS1]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 545 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: XP Professional x64 with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[PPSSPP]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Mountain Lion (10.8) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.4C (Northwood) @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (Clawhammer) @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 3000 or S3 Chrome S25 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium D 960 @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ (Windsor) @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 6200 or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel GMA 4500 or S3 Chrome 430 GT or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
Enable the dynarec option for speedups.<br />
<br />
===[[Cemu]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7.1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-970 @ 3.33 GHz or AMD Ryzen 5 1400 @ 3.2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 or AMD Radeon HD 7730 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-5930K @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Ryzen 5 1600X @ 3.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti or AMD Radeon R7 360 or better<br />
*RAM: 8 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Dolphin]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7.1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Yosemite (10.10) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.4.6 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 @ 3.2 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition @ 3.2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 or AMD Radeon HD 7770 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.4.161 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 @ 3.1 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti or AMD Radeon R7 360 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
See the [[Dolphin]] page for further recommendations, such as controller setups.<br />
<br />
===[[Mupen64Plus]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) <small>(needs msvcp120.dll and msvcr120.dll in the program's directory to run, also applies for XP Pro x64/64-bit)</small> or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 570 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 3800+ (Orleans) @ 2.4 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce2 Ultra or ATI Radeon 7200 or 3dfx Voodoo 5 5500 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 @ 2.33 GHz or AMD Athlon X2 5600 @ 2.3 GHz or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[DeSmuME]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) <small>(needs msvcp100.dll and msvcr100.dll in the program's directory to run, [https://imgur.com/a/fgWhs proof] also applies for XP Pro x64/64-bit)</small> or later<br />
*macOS: Leopard (10.5.8) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 @ 2 GHz or AMD Athlon II X2 270u @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce2 MX100 or ATI Radeon 7000 or Intel Extreme Graphics 2 or 3dfx Voodoo4 4500 or PowerVR Series3 Kyro II or S3 DeltaChrome S4 or Trident XP4 or XGI Volari V3 or Matrox Millennium G400 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 545 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
Enable the dynarec option for speedups.<br />
<br />
===[[mGBA]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later <br />
*macOS: Leopard (10.5) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Atom 230 @ 1.6 GHz or AMD Geode NX 1750+ @ 1.4 GHz or VIA C7 1.6 @ 1.6 GHz or Transmeta Efficeon TM8800 @ 1.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 256 SDR or ATI Radeon 7000 or 3dfx Voodoo3 1000 or Intel Extreme Graphics or Matrox Millennium G400 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.7) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.0A (Northwood) @ 3 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 2900+ @ 2 GHz<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[BGB]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 96 (16-bit/32-bit hybrid) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium MMX (P55C) @ 200 MHz or AMD K6 (Little Foot) @ 233 MHz or Cyrix 6x86MX PR366 @ 250 MHz or IDT WinChip 240 (C6) @ 240 MHz or Rise mP6 PR366 @ 250 MHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 256 SDR or ATI Radeon 7000 or 3dfx Voodoo4 4500 or Intel Extreme Graphics or Matrox Millennium P650 or better<br />
*RAM: 128 MB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 2000 with Service Pack 4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 2 450 @ 450 MHz or AMD K6-2 550 @ 550 MHz or Transmeta Crusoe TM5400 @ 700 MHz or VIA C3-800 (Samuel 2) @ 800 MHz or better<br />
*RAM: 256 MB or more<br />
<br />
===[[higan]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7.1 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.7) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 7.1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-2153 @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Athlon 220GE @ 3.4 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
[[Category:FAQs]]</div>Windows Whistlerhttps://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=Computer_specifications&diff=29260Computer specifications2019-04-11T12:34:45Z<p>Windows Whistler: /* Mednafen PSX */ fucking called ps1</p>
<hr />
<div>Most emulators tend to be CPU-dependent in general, meaning that their performance is greatly affected by the CPU's speed. The GPU on the other hand, mostly serves as a graphics enhancer by allowing for higher resolutions, anti-aliasing, etc. If your CPU isn't fast enough, you will most likely be not able to emulate a system at full speed. At the very least, a Core i5-2500K or a Ryzen 3 1200 or better is recommended for high-end emulation (e.g. [[PlayStation 2 emulators|PS2]], [[Wii emulators|Wii]]). This page will explain and state other possible choices to take, provided that the above choices are not feasible.<br />
<br />
==CPU==<br />
===Megahertz Myth===<br />
Whenever a CPU has a high clock speed (Pentium 4 672 @ 3.8 GHz), it does not always necessarily mean that it is powerful.<ref>http://www.computer-hardware-explained.com/megahertz-myth.html</ref> This is usually a common misconception, that stems from lack of detailed information on how a CPU works. However, it is true that a higher CPU clock speed guarantees improved emulation performance. While it is true that a high clock speed is one of the main factors for good CPU performance, it is not always the sole determining factor. For example, a Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 2.4GHz will nearly always outperform a Pentium D 940 @ 3.2GHz.<ref>http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2097</ref> Even though the Pentium D 940 is clocked significantly higher, the Core 2 Duo E6600 is faster due to the reduced amount of pipeline stages and a wider execution unit. This improves the amount of instructions it can output per cycle, which means better performance at a lower clock speed. In other words, the particular architecture of the CPU itself matters more than the clock speed.<br />
<br />
AMD's Bulldozer-derived CPUs also follows the aforementioned Pentium 4 (NetBurst) example, which has the same issue that the NetBurst-derived CPUs suffer from. They also similarly share the same high clock speed traits, which might cause confusion and misleading performance conclusions. Because of this, it is therefore recommended to completely avoid Bulldozer at all costs. The single-threaded performance of Bulldozer is somewhat slower when compared to an equally-clocked Phenom II or a Core 2,<ref>https://www.overclock.net/photopost/data/1501987/b/b1/b16fb0b4_ScreenShot005.jpeg</ref> though the multi-threaded performance of Bulldozer far exceeds the fastest Phenom II or Core 2 offerings.<ref>https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-Phenom-II-X6-1100T-vs-AMD-FX-9590/2004vs1812</ref> The real problem here is Bulldozer's under-average single-threaded performance that will not help in high-end emulation that uses 4 or fewer cores, and the fact that Bulldozer has a shared FPU between 2 cores. What this means, is that a FX-4350 would have 2 FPUs (1 FPU per 2 cores), and a FX-9590 would have 4 FPUs (1 FPU per 2 cores x 4). This will lead to weaker performance in floating-point heavy calculations, and this is another reason why it is not recommended. If you are still not convinced, have a look at the benchmarks.<ref>https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AunYlOAfGABxdFQ0UzJyTFAxbzZhYWtGcGwySlRFa1E#gid=1></ref><ref>https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AunYlOAfGABxdFQ0UzJyTFAxbzZhYWtGcGwySlRFa1E#gid=0</ref><ref>http://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-CPU-Benchmark-designed-for-PCSX2-based-on-FFX-2?page=107</ref><ref>https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-new-dolphin-cpu-benchmark-no-game-required?page=15</ref><ref>https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-new-dolphin-cpu-benchmark-no-game-required?page=15</ref><ref>http://translate.google.com/translate?act=url&depth=1&hl=pl&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.pl&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://pclab.pl//art55934.html</ref><ref>http://wccftech.com/ultimate-cpu-gpu-floating-point-performance-battle-amd-intel/</ref><ref>http://www.anandtech.com/show/7711/floating-point-peak-performance-of-kaveri-and-other-recent-amd-and-intel-chips</ref><ref>http://vr-zone.com/articles/ivy-bridge-e-i7-4960x-vs-amd-fx-9590-battle-2013-flagships/54295.html/2</ref><ref>http://www.extremetech.com/computing/159619-5ghz-showdown-overclocked-5ghz-amd-haswell-ivy-bridge/2</ref><br />
<br />
===AMD vs. Intel===<br />
As of Ryzen (Summit Ridge), AMD CPUs have similar single-threaded performance when compared to Intel CPUs <ref>https://i0.wp.com/www.solidsmack.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/AMD-Threadripper-single-thread-competition.png?ssl=1</ref>, though still not exactly close to an equivalent Intel CPU of the same era. Summit Ridge is slightly slower than an equivalent Kaby Lake in single-threaded applications, but it remains a good choice for emulation.<br />
<br />
===Emulation on a non-x86 CPU===<br />
CPUs that are not x86-based, or are not ARM-based <small>(phones can run emulators with varying degrees of success)</small>, are very likely to not be good enough for emulation in general. Certain emulators have been ported or programmed for some CPUs that are not ARM or x86-based, but those are very old and are possibly no longer in active development. IBM PowerPC CPUs for example, had emulators ported for it. However, these are rather outdated emulators and are not recommended for emulation.<br />
<br />
Some specific CPU architectures such as the SPARC, MIPS, IA-64 (Itanium), Alpha, and PA-RISC, are heavily discouraged for emulation. This is due to the lack of support for them; although the MIPS architecture may be capable of running a few emulators native to them. Some of them may be capable of running x86 emulators, but that depends on their software or hardware code-translation capabilities, in which the Itanium does have (but it's very weak). Emulators that are native to them are extremely hard to find, or non-existent. Therefore, it is recommended to avoid these CPUs in any way possible.<br />
<br />
===Desktop vs. Laptop===<br />
Laptop CPUs are typically much weaker than their desktop variants due to being clocked lower, for battery conservation and heat management reasons. They may also have fewer cores than desktop CPUs with similar naming schemes, which may confuse you. Be aware that some laptops might come with the same CPU, but their cooling systems vary from atrocious to good. This means that even the same CPU in two different laptops would yield different results. As such, it is recommended to pick a laptop with a decent cooling system for emulation. Therefore, it is suggested to research on the laptop CPU-of-choice's performance and the specific laptop's cooling system, before making the purchase.<br />
<br />
===More Cores and Threads===<br />
Emulators generally only utilize 2 cores, or with hacks, sometimes 3 or 4 cores. Thus, owning a CPU with 6 cores or more with Hyper-Threading/Simultaneous Multi-Threading, does not help or give the said CPU an advantage over a CPU with only 4 cores. Although, certain exceptions such as newer system emulators (e.g: RPCS3) can utilize more cores and threads by emulating the system's thread scheduler, which allows it to use as many cores and threads as much as the game makes threads.<br />
<br />
While 2-core or 4-core CPUs with very high clock speeds are usually recommended for emulation, most CPUs nowadays feature more than 4 cores with even higher clock speeds. This in comparison to the previously released 6-core or 8-core CPUs with far lower clock speeds, is an improvement. Therefore, purchasing a 6-core or an 8-core CPU with said higher clock speeds would be fine, as it offers no performance reduction over a similarly clocked 2-core or 4-core CPU.<br />
<br />
===Overclocking===<br />
Not all CPUs can be overclocked, and the motherboard's BIOS must be additionally capable of supporting overclocking. The CPUs in particular that can be overclocked are the usually the ones that are labeled: OverDrive, FX, Extreme Edition, Black Edition, K, and X. Also, certain engineering or qualification sample CPUs that AMD or Intel has manufactured may also be overclockable, since they were used for testing purposes and were not meant for sale. If you are not sure what kind of a CPU you have, check if it has these overclocking labels. For Intel CPUs, their overclocking labels are OverDrive, Extreme Edition, K, and X. For AMD CPUs, their overclocking labels are FX and Black Edition.<br />
<br />
Although, some special CPUs such as the Pentium G3258 and any Ryzen are overclockable. But keep in mind that you have to be running the CPU on a motherboard that supports overclocking. The motherboards that tend to support overclocking features, comes with a chipset that also supports overclocking, which is required for the CPU to be overclockable. However, this only applies to the newer motherboards, not the older motherboards as they tend to vary from being overclockable to not overclockable. For Intel, the overclockable chipsets' name starts with an X or a Z. The other chipsets that were not mentioned, are not overclockable (B, C, H, and Q). For AMD, the overclockable chipsets' name starts with an X or a B. The other chipsets that were not mentioned, are not overclockable (A).<br />
<br />
For older desktop motherboards with older chipsets, there might be overclocking available in the form of a front-side bus setting. Use that setting with caution however, as the front-side bus clock speed gets raised, so does the rest of the other components on the motherboard (which causes instability, data corruption, etc). Unless the motherboard has a PCI/AGP lock, it is advised not to use the front-side bus setting to overclock the CPU. In further depth, there is a safer setting that can be used to overclock without suffering from instability. Called the 'CPU BSEL Select' or similar, it was intended to manually select the proper front-side bus clock speed of the CPU. Though, by this, it allows us to exploit that feature and use it to overclock while staying within the factory specifications of the motherboard. This does not affect the rest of the other components on the motherboard, as the front-side bus is not overclocked and is only following the rated speeds it can achieve. Therefore, it is safer than the dangerous front-side bus setting. Also, be aware that once the CPU has hit a certain clock speed, it can no longer overclock due to voltage issues. The reasoning behind this is because of how higher clock speeds require more voltage, and these non-overclockable motherboards have a high chance of not having the ability to modify the input voltage to the CPU.<br />
<br />
However, if there is no 'CPU BSEL Select', proceed with the front-side bus setting with caution. As a safety precaution, do whatever it takes to not allow the PCI bus' clock speed to reach above 40 MHz. As anything higher than the 40 MHz mark will have a very high chance of inducing instability and possible data corruption, or worse. This is why the front-side bus setting is only recommended for motherboards that are equipped with a PCI/AGP lock, since they prevent the other components on the motherboard from being overclocked. Also, be aware that your motherboard can only supply a limited amount of current before it hits its limits. This is due to the voltage regulator modules not being rated to supply a large amount of current to keep the CPU and the rest of the other components stable, which is common for motherboards that are not meant for overclocking. The CPU's potential overclock may also be limited by the power supply unit, so a better power supply unit with better efficiency and wattage rating may be required.<br />
<br />
If you have a laptop, overclocking will be severely limited. Most laptops in circulation do not support overclocking, and may not be capable of handling the extra heat produced from an overclocked CPU. For the few laptops that can be overclocked through the BIOS, it is more or less the same as how a desktop would be configured to overclock the CPU. For the majority that does not officially support overclocking, it may be possible to overclock it in a different manner or method.<br />
<br />
A common method to overclock your laptop's CPU is to use third-party applications, such as ThrottleStop and CPUMSR. However, these applications only work with CPUs with an Extreme Edition/Black Edition/K/X label. Sometimes, special CPUs such as an engineering sample or a qualification sample may also be overclockable. And always remember this, do not overclock your laptop if you are not confident in its cooling system. If you are able to force the cooling system's fan to always run at its maximum speed, it is strongly recommended to do so. Avoid hitting temperatures higher than 100C/212F at all costs, even if the CPU is rated for a maximum of 105C/221F at the transistor-junction level.<br />
<br />
For non-overclockable laptop CPUs, you might be able to overclock it in a different way. Certain third-party applications are capable of controlling a chip that generates the clock signal for the front-side bus' clock, which is called the phase-locked loop. This is extremely unsafe and may result in potential data corruption, as it follows the same principle of overclocking the front-side bus. All laptops in existence do not have a PCI/AGP lock either, so keeping the PCI bus below 40 MHz is advised. The applications that can control the phase-locked loop are: ClockGen, CPUCool, SetFSB, SoftFSB, SetPLL, and SysTool. However, there is a catch when using these mentioned programs; none of them supports every phase-locked loop in existence. Each one of them has a range of phase-locked loops they support, and you must use the correct matching program that has support for your phase-locked loop. There is also no auto-detection in these programs for the phase-locked loop, as they do not have a way to report their manufacturer and model name, so be careful when selecting the correct phase-locked loop that resides in your laptop.<br />
<br />
==GPU==<br />
GPUs are basically just hundreds of under-powered CPUs on the same die, or better described as a massively parallel CPU with a core count that far exceeds most traditional multi-core CPUs.<br />
<br />
The thing is, with 3D graphics, you can split the work up into hundreds of different parts and give each piece to a different core on the GPU to work on. Since it doesn't matter which order the pixels are rendered in, as long as they all get rendered for the same frame before moving on to the next frame.<br />
<br />
File compression/extraction and bitcoin mining are also good examples of programs that can make use of parallel processing. However, most programs can not do this. Dwarf Fortress, for example, can't make use of a graphics card. Because every calculation it does is dependent on the one performed before it. That obviously doesn't work if you try and do them all at the same time.<br />
<br />
Pretty much any emulator is the same; it does not know what comes next until it has done what preceded it. It has to run off a single thread. It still needs some form of graphical output to output the final rendered 2D screen alone. This can be done via a GPU to put the 3D graphics on the screen, but any system capable of being emulated shouldn't be too taxing. This is called 'Hardware Rendering'. Alternatively, all of the graphics processing can be done on the CPU and will be more predictable/consistent for it, but that is also costly. This is called 'Software Rendering'.<br />
<br />
Most 3D emulators have hardware and software renderers. Software renderers use more CPU power, which may mostly be slower. They may also run on their own threads separate from other emulator parts, which would likely reduce the performance loss, but the CPU must still be fast enough in the first place.<br />
<br />
==Recommended Specifications==<br />
<br />
===[[DEmul]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 @ 3.1 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 420 or AMD Radeon HD 7470 or better<br />
*RAM: 3 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1300X @ 3.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 or AMD Radeon R9 280X or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Phoenix (emulator)|Phoenix]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.13 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 570 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 4000+ @ 2.4 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: XP Professional x64 with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ @ 3.2 GHz or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Cxbx-Reloaded]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 @ 2.66 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ @ 2.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 545 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 or ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT or Intel HD Graphics 3000 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[RPCS3]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 @ 3.2 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition @ 3.2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 420 or AMD Radeon HD 7470 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.0 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 @ 3.1 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 or AMD Radeon HD 7750 or better<br />
*RAM: 6 GB or more<br />
<br />
For information on DualShock 3 controller support, see [[SCP Driver Package]].<br />
<br />
===[[PCSX2]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.3) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT or ATI Radeon HD 3870 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 @ 3.1 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 or ATI Radeon HD 5830 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
For information on DualShock 3 controller support, see [[SCP Driver Package]].<br />
<br />
===[[Mednafen|Mednafen PS1]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 545 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: XP Professional x64 with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[PPSSPP]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Mountain Lion (10.8) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.4C (Northwood) @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (Clawhammer) @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 3000 or S3 Chrome S25 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium D 960 @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ (Windsor) @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 6200 or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel GMA 4500 or S3 Chrome 430 GT or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
Enable the dynarec option for speedups.<br />
<br />
===[[Cemu]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-970 @ 3.33 GHz or AMD Ryzen 5 1400 @ 3.2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 or AMD Radeon HD 7730 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-5930K @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Ryzen 5 1600X @ 3.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti or AMD Radeon R7 360 or better<br />
*RAM: 8 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Dolphin]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Yosemite (10.10) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.4.6 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 @ 3.2 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition @ 3.2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 or AMD Radeon HD 7770 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.4.161 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 @ 3.1 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti or AMD Radeon R7 360 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
See the [[Dolphin]] page for further recommendations, such as controller setups.<br />
<br />
===[[Mupen64Plus]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) <small>(needs msvcp120.dll and msvcr120.dll in the program's directory to run, also applies for XP Pro x64/64-bit)</small> or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 570 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 3800+ (Orleans) @ 2.4 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce2 Ultra or ATI Radeon 7200 or 3dfx Voodoo 5 5500 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 @ 2.33 GHz or AMD Athlon X2 5600 @ 2.3 GHz or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[DeSmuME]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) <small>(needs msvcp100.dll and msvcr100.dll in the program's directory to run, [https://imgur.com/a/fgWhs proof] also applies for XP Pro x64/64-bit)</small> or later<br />
*macOS: Leopard (10.5.8) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 @ 2 GHz or AMD Athlon II X2 270u @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce2 MX100 or ATI Radeon 7000 or Intel Extreme Graphics 2 or 3dfx Voodoo4 4500 or PowerVR Series3 Kyro II or S3 DeltaChrome S4 or Trident XP4 or XGI Volari V3 or Matrox Millennium G400 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 545 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
Enable the dynarec option for speedups.<br />
<br />
===[[mGBA]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later <small>(Libretro core only. The standalone executable cannot be ran under any version of XP, due to a missing Direct3DCreate9Ex function in XP's d3d9.dll)</small><br />
*macOS: Leopard (10.5) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Atom 230 @ 1.6 GHz or AMD Geode NX 1750+ @ 1.4 GHz or VIA C7 1.6 @ 1.6 GHz or Transmeta Efficeon TM8800 @ 1.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 256 SDR or ATI Radeon 7000 or 3dfx Voodoo3 1000 or Intel Extreme Graphics or Matrox Millennium G400 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.7) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.0A (Northwood) @ 3 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 2900+ @ 2 GHz<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[BGB]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 98 (16-bit/32-bit hybrid) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium MMX (P55C) @ 200 MHz or AMD K6 (Little Foot) @ 233 MHz or Cyrix 6x86MX PR366 @ 250 MHz or IDT WinChip 240 (C6) @ 240 MHz or Rise mP6 PR366 @ 250 MHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 256 SDR or ATI Radeon 7000 or 3dfx Voodoo4 4500 or Intel Extreme Graphics or Matrox Millennium P650 or better<br />
*RAM: 128 MB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 2000 with Service Pack 4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 2 450 @ 450 MHz or AMD K6-2 550 @ 550 MHz or Transmeta Crusoe TM5400 @ 700 MHz or VIA C3-800 (Samuel 2) @ 800 MHz or better<br />
*RAM: 256 MB or more<br />
<br />
===[[higan]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.7) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-2153 @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Athlon 220GE @ 3.4 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
[[Category:FAQs]]</div>Windows Whistlerhttps://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=Discrete_circuitry-based_arcade_games&diff=29215Discrete circuitry-based arcade games2019-04-07T05:14:14Z<p>Windows Whistler: Windows Whistler moved page Discrete Circuitry-Based to Discrete Circuitry-Based Arcade Games: expanded</p>
<hr />
<div>{{stub}}<br />
<br />
{{Infobox console<br />
|title = Discrete Circuitry-Based Arcade Games<br />
|logo = <br />
|developer = Misc<br />
|type = [[:Category:Arcade|Arcade systems]]<br />
|release = 1971<br />
|discontinued = 1979?<br />
|emulated = {{✓}}<br />
}}<br />
The earliest [[arcade emulators|arcade]] games lacked any type of CPU, consisting only of discrete logic components. The first arcade video game, as well as the first commercial game, released was [[wikipedia:Computer_Space|Computer Space]] in 1971.<br />
<br />
==Emulators==<br />
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"<br />
! scope="col"|Name<br />
! scope="col"|Operating System(s)<br />
! scope="col"|Latest Version<br />
! scope="col"|Active<br />
! scope="col"|[[libretro|Libretro Core]]<br />
! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]<br />
|-<br />
! colspan="6"|PC<br />
|-<br />
|[[DICE]]<br />
|Windows, Linux, macOS<br />
|[http://sourceforge.net/projects/dice/files/DICE/ 0.9]<br />
|{{✗}}<br />
|{{✗}}<br />
|{{✓}}<br />
|-<br />
|[[MAME]]<br />
|Multi-platform<br />
|[http://www.mamedev.org/release.html {{MAMEVer}}]<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}<br />
|-<br />
|[http://hbmame.1emulation.com/ HBMAME]<br />
|Windows<br />
|[http://hbmame.1emulation.com/ {{MAMEVer}}]<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{~}}<br />
|}<br />
<br />
=== Comparisons ===<br />
*'''[[DICE]]''' works by simulating each logic chip on the board individually.<br />
*'''[[MAME]]''' has support for<br />
*'''HBMAME''' is a derivative of MAME, and contains various hacks and homebrews. It is based on the latest MAME source at the time of release. Has support for [[wikipedia:Monaco_GP_(video_game)|Monaco G.P.]] which was Sega's final game to rely primarily upon discrete analog circuitry - an oddity for a game made in 1979, some three years after microprocessors were introduced to the market. As this was among the most complex games of its kind, don't bet on seeing it working in MAME anytime soon.<br />
<br />
==Games==<br />
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"<br />
! scope="col"|Game<br />
! scope="col"|DICE<br />
! scope="col"|MAME<br />
! scope="col"|HBMAME<br />
! scope="col"|Ports*<br />
|-<br />
|Anti-Aircraft <br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}}<br />
|-<br />
|Attack<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||?<br />
|-<br />
|Breakout<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}<br />
|-<br />
|Clean Sweep<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||?<br />
|-<br />
|Computer Space<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
|Crash 'N Score<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||?<br />
|-<br />
|Crossfire<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||?<br />
|-<br />
|Destruction Derby<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
|Doctor Pong<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
|F-1<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
|Gotcha <br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||?<br />
|-<br />
|Hi-Way<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||?<br />
|-<br />
|Indy 4<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||?<br />
|-<br />
|Indy 800<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||?<br />
|-<br />
|Jet Fighter<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||?<br />
|-<br />
|Monaco GP<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}<br />
|-<br />
|Outlaw<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}}<br />
|-<br />
|Pin Pong<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||?<br />
|-<br />
|Pong<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}<br />
|-<br />
|Pong Doubles<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||?<br />
|-<br />
|Pursuit<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
|Quadrapong<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||?<br />
|-<br />
|Qwak!<br />
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}<br />
|-<br />
|Rebound<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||?<br />
|-<br />
|Shark JAWS<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||?<br />
|-<br />
|Space Race<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||?<br />
|-<br />
|Steeplechase<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||?<br />
|-<br />
|Stunt Cycle<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||?<br />
|-<br />
|TV Basketball<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||?<br />
|-<br />
|Wipe Out<br />
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||?<br />
|}<br />
<small>This list is updated as of MAME 0.208, HBMAME 0.208 and DICE 0.9. This currently only lists emulated games and a few noteworthy that are not yet emulated, not all released games.</small><br />
<br />
<nowiki>*</nowiki> Most ports where released for the [[Atari 2600 emulators|Atari 2600]]<br />
<br />
==External links==<br />
[http://www.system16.com/list.php?type=h&search=discrete System 16 Discrete Logic]<br />
<br />
[[Category:Arcade]]<br />
[[Category:Arcade emulators]]</div>Windows Whistlerhttps://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=Discrete_Circuitry-Based&diff=29216Discrete Circuitry-Based2019-04-07T05:14:14Z<p>Windows Whistler: Windows Whistler moved page Discrete Circuitry-Based to Discrete Circuitry-Based Arcade Games: expanded</p>
<hr />
<div>#REDIRECT [[Discrete Circuitry-Based Arcade Games]]</div>Windows Whistlerhttps://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=Computer_specifications&diff=29214Computer specifications2019-04-07T05:12:55Z<p>Windows Whistler: /* mGBA */ Can only run in Windows XP and later.</p>
<hr />
<div>Most emulators tend to be CPU-dependent in general, meaning that their performance is greatly affected by the CPU's speed. The GPU on the other hand, mostly serves as a graphics enhancer by allowing for higher resolutions, anti-aliasing, etc. If your CPU isn't fast enough, you will most likely be not able to emulate a system at full speed. At the very least, a Core i5-2500K or a Ryzen 3 1300X or better is recommended for high-end emulation (e.g. [[PlayStation 2 emulators|PS2]], [[Wii emulators|Wii]]). This page will explain and state other possible choices to take, provided that the above choices are not feasible.<br />
<br />
==CPU==<br />
===Megahertz Myth===<br />
Whenever a CPU has a high clock speed (Pentium 4 HT 672 @ 3.8 GHz), it does not always necessarily mean that it is powerful.<ref>http://www.computer-hardware-explained.com/megahertz-myth.html</ref> This is usually a common misconception, that stems from lack of detailed information on how a CPU works. However, it is true that a higher CPU clock speed guarantees improved emulation performance. While it is true that a high clock speed is one of the main factors for good CPU performance, it is not always the sole determining factor. For example, a Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 2.4GHz will nearly always outperform a Pentium D 940 @ 3.2GHz.<ref>http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2097</ref> Even though the Pentium D 940 is clocked significantly higher, the Core 2 Duo E6600 is faster due to the reduced amount of pipeline stages and a wider execution unit. This improves the amount of instructions it can output per cycle, which means better performance at a lower clock speed. In other words, the particular architecture of the CPU itself matters more than the clock speed.<br />
<br />
AMD's Bulldozer-derived CPUs also follows the aforementioned Pentium 4 (NetBurst) example, which has the same issue that the NetBurst-derived CPUs suffer from. They also similarly share the same high clock speed traits, which might cause confusion and misleading performance conclusions. Because of this, it is therefore recommended to completely avoid Bulldozer at all costs. The single-threaded performance of Bulldozer is somewhat slower when compared to an equally-clocked Phenom II or a Core 2,<ref>https://www.overclock.net/photopost/data/1501987/b/b1/b16fb0b4_ScreenShot005.jpeg</ref> though the multi-threaded performance of Bulldozer far exceeds the fastest Phenom II or Core 2 offerings.<ref>https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-Phenom-II-X6-1100T-vs-AMD-FX-9590/2004vs1812</ref> The real problem here is Bulldozer's under-average single-threaded performance that will not help in high-end emulation that uses 4 or fewer cores, and the fact that Bulldozer has a shared FPU between 2 cores. What this means, is that a FX-4350 would have 2 FPUs (1 FPU per 2 cores), and a FX-9590 would have 4 FPUs (1 FPU per 2 cores x 4). This will lead to weaker performance in floating-point heavy calculations, and this is another reason why it is not recommended. If you are still not convinced, have a look at the benchmarks.<ref>https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AunYlOAfGABxdFQ0UzJyTFAxbzZhYWtGcGwySlRFa1E#gid=1></ref><ref>https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AunYlOAfGABxdFQ0UzJyTFAxbzZhYWtGcGwySlRFa1E#gid=0</ref><ref>http://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-CPU-Benchmark-designed-for-PCSX2-based-on-FFX-2?page=107</ref><ref>https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-new-dolphin-cpu-benchmark-no-game-required?page=15</ref><ref>https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-new-dolphin-cpu-benchmark-no-game-required?page=15</ref><ref>http://translate.google.com/translate?act=url&depth=1&hl=pl&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.pl&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://pclab.pl//art55934.html</ref><ref>http://wccftech.com/ultimate-cpu-gpu-floating-point-performance-battle-amd-intel/</ref><ref>http://www.anandtech.com/show/7711/floating-point-peak-performance-of-kaveri-and-other-recent-amd-and-intel-chips</ref><ref>http://vr-zone.com/articles/ivy-bridge-e-i7-4960x-vs-amd-fx-9590-battle-2013-flagships/54295.html/2</ref><ref>http://www.extremetech.com/computing/159619-5ghz-showdown-overclocked-5ghz-amd-haswell-ivy-bridge/2</ref><br />
<br />
===AMD vs. Intel===<br />
As of Ryzen (Summit Ridge), AMD CPUs have similar single-threaded performance when compared to Intel CPUs <ref>https://i0.wp.com/www.solidsmack.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/AMD-Threadripper-single-thread-competition.png?ssl=1</ref>, though still not exactly close to an equivalent Intel CPU of the same era. Summit Ridge is slightly slower than an equivalent Kaby Lake in single-threaded applications, but it remains a good choice for emulation.<br />
<br />
===Emulation on a non-x86 CPU===<br />
CPUs that are not x86-based, or are not ARM-based <small>(phones can run emulators with varying degrees of success)</small>, are very likely to not be good enough for emulation in general. Certain emulators have been ported or programmed for some CPUs that are not ARM or x86-based, but those are very old and are possibly no longer in active development. IBM PowerPC CPUs for example, had emulators ported for it. However, these are rather outdated emulators and are not recommended for emulation.<br />
<br />
Some specific CPU architectures like the SPARC, MIPS, Itanium, Alpha, and PA-RISC, are heavily discouraged for emulation. This is due to the lack of support for them; although the MIPS architecture may be capable of running a few emulators native to them. Some of them may be capable of running x86 emulators, but that depends on their software or hardware code-translation capabilities, in which the Itanium does have (but it's very weak). Emulators that are native to them are extremely hard to find, or non-existent. Therefore, it is recommended to avoid these CPUs in any way possible.<br />
<br />
===Desktop vs. Laptop===<br />
Laptop CPUs are typically much weaker than their desktop variants due to being clocked lower, for battery conservation and heat management reasons. They may also have fewer cores than desktop CPUs with similar naming schemes, which may confuse you. Be aware that some laptops might come with the same CPU, but their cooling systems vary from atrocious to good. This means that even the same CPU in two different laptops would yield different results. As such, it is recommended to pick a laptop with a decent cooling system for emulation. Therefore, it is suggested to research on the laptop CPU-of-choice's performance and the specific laptop's cooling system, before making the purchase.<br />
<br />
===More Cores and Threads===<br />
Emulators generally only utilize 2 cores, or with hacks, sometimes 3 or 4 cores. Thus, owning a 6 or an 8-core CPU, or one equipped with Hyper-Threading/Simultaneous-Multithreading, won't give you an advantage over a similar quad-core CPU. Although, certain exceptions such as newer system emulators (e.g: RPCS3) can utilize more cores and threads by emulating the system's thread scheduler, which allows it to use as many cores and threads as much as the game makes threads.<br />
<br />
Therefore, the general recommendation is to go for a higher-clocked 2/4-core CPU, as most emulators currently cannot fully utilize 6 cores or more. Examples include the Core i3-7350K and the Core i7-7740X.<br />
<br />
===Overclocking===<br />
Not all CPUs can be overclocked, and the motherboard's BIOS must be additionally capable of supporting overclocking. The CPUs in particular that can be overclocked are the usually the ones that are labeled: OverDrive, FX, Extreme Edition, Black Edition, K, and X. Also, certain engineering or qualification sample CPUs that AMD or Intel has manufactured may also be overclockable, since they were used for testing purposes and were not meant for sale. If you are not sure what kind of a CPU you have, check if it has these overclocking labels. For Intel CPUs, their overclocking labels are OverDrive, Extreme Edition, K, and X. For AMD CPUs, their overclocking labels are FX and Black Edition.<br />
<br />
Although, special processors such as the Pentium G3258 and any Ryzen with the exception of the PRO variants, are overclockable. But keep in mind that you have to be running the CPU on a motherboard that supports overclocking. The motherboards that tend to support overclocking features, comes with a chipset that also supports overclocking, which is required for the CPU to be overclockable. However, this only applies to the newer motherboards, not the older motherboards as they tend to vary from being overclockable to not overclockable. For Intel, the overclockable chipsets' name starts with an X or a Z. The other chipsets that were not mentioned, are not overclockable (B, C, H, and Q). For AMD, the overclockable chipsets' name starts with an X or a B. The other chipsets that were not mentioned, are not overclockable (A).<br />
<br />
For older desktop motherboards with older chipsets, there might be overclocking available in the form of a front-side bus setting. Use that setting with caution however, as the front-side bus clock speed gets raised, so does the rest of the other components on the motherboard (which causes instability, data corruption, etc). Unless the motherboard has a PCI/AGP lock, it is advised not to use the front-side bus setting to overclock the CPU. In further depth, there is a safer setting that can be used to overclock without suffering from instability. Called the 'CPU BSEL Select' or similar, it was intended to manually select the proper front-side bus clock speed of the CPU. Though, by this, it allows us to exploit that feature and use it to overclock while staying within the factory specifications of the motherboard. This does not affect the rest of the other components on the motherboard, as the front-side bus is not overclocked and is only following the rated speeds it can achieve. Therefore, it is safer than the dangerous front-side bus setting. Also, be aware that once the CPU has hit a certain clock speed, it can no longer overclock due to voltage issues. The reasoning behind this is because of how higher clock speeds require more voltage, and these non-overclockable motherboards have a high chance of not having the ability to modify the input voltage to the CPU.<br />
<br />
However, if there is no 'CPU BSEL Select', proceed with the front-side bus setting with caution. As a safety precaution, do whatever it takes to not allow the PCI bus' clock speed to reach above 40 MHz. As anything higher than the 40 MHz mark will have a very high chance of inducing instability and possible data corruption, or worse. This is why the front-side bus setting is only recommended for motherboards that are equipped with a PCI/AGP lock, since they prevent the other components on the motherboard from being overclocked. Also, be aware that your motherboard can only supply a limited amount of current before it hits its limits. This is due to the voltage regulator modules not being rated to supply a large amount of current to keep the CPU and the rest of the other components stable, which is common for motherboards that are not meant for overclocking. The CPU's potential overclock may also be limited by the power supply unit, so a better power supply unit with better efficiency and wattage rating may be required.<br />
<br />
If you have a laptop, overclocking will be severely limited. Most laptops in circulation do not support overclocking, and may not be capable of handling the extra heat produced from an overclocked CPU. For the few laptops that can be overclocked through the BIOS, it is more or less the same as how a desktop would be configured to overclock the CPU. For the majority that does not officially support overclocking, it may be possible to overclock it in a different manner or method.<br />
<br />
A common method to overclock your laptop's CPU is to use third-party applications, such as ThrottleStop and CPUMSR. However, these applications only work with CPUs with an Extreme Edition/Black Edition/K/X label. Sometimes, special CPUs such as an engineering sample or a qualification sample may also be overclockable. And always remember this, do not overclock your laptop if you are not confident in its cooling system. If you are able to force the cooling system's fan to always run at its maximum speed, it is strongly recommended to do so. Avoid hitting temperatures higher than 100C/212F at all costs, even if the CPU is rated for a maximum of 105C/221F at the transistor-junction level.<br />
<br />
For non-overclockable laptop CPUs, you might be able to overclock it in a different way. Certain third-party applications are capable of controlling a chip that generates the clock signal for the front-side bus' clock, which is called the phase-locked loop. This is extremely unsafe and may result in potential data corruption, as it follows the same principle of overclocking the front-side bus. All laptops in existence do not have a PCI/AGP lock either, so keeping the PCI bus below 40 MHz is advised. The applications that can control the phase-locked loop are: ClockGen, CPUCool, SetFSB, SoftFSB, SetPLL, and SysTool. However, there is a catch when using these mentioned programs; none of them supports every phase-locked loop in existence. Each one of them has a range of phase-locked loops they support, and you must use the correct matching program that has support for your phase-locked loop. There is also no auto-detection in these programs for the phase-locked loop, as they do not have a way to report their manufacturer and model name, so be careful when selecting the correct phase-locked loop that resides in your laptop.<br />
<br />
==GPU==<br />
GPUs are basically just hundreds of under-powered CPUs on the same die, or better described as a massively parallel CPU with a core count that far exceeds most traditional multi-core CPUs.<br />
<br />
The thing is, with 3D graphics, you can split the work up into hundreds of different parts and give each piece to a different core on the GPU to work on. Since it doesn't matter which order the pixels are rendered in, as long as they all get rendered for the same frame before moving on to the next frame.<br />
<br />
File compression/extraction and bitcoin mining are also good examples of programs that can make use of parallel processing. However, most programs can not do this. Dwarf Fortress, for example, can't make use of a graphics card. Because every calculation it does is dependent on the one performed before it. That obviously doesn't work if you try and do them all at the same time.<br />
<br />
Pretty much any emulator is the same; it does not know what comes next until it has done what preceded it. It has to run off a single thread. It still needs some form of graphical output to output the final rendered 2D screen alone. This can be done via a GPU to put the 3D graphics on the screen, but any system capable of being emulated shouldn't be too taxing. This is called 'Hardware Rendering'. Alternatively, all of the graphics processing can be done on the CPU and will be more predictable/consistent for it, but that is also costly. This is called 'Software Rendering'.<br />
<br />
Most 3D emulators have hardware and software renderers. Software renderers use more CPU power, which may mostly be slower. They may also run on their own threads separate from other emulator parts, which would likely reduce the performance loss, but the CPU must still be fast enough in the first place.<br />
<br />
==Recommended Specifications==<br />
<br />
===[[Phoenix (emulator)|Phoenix]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.13 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 HT 620 @ 2.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 2600+ @ 1.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 @ 2.93 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ @ 2.9 GHz or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Cxbx-Reloaded]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 @ 3.2 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition @ 3.2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-870 @ 3.2 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 @ 3.1 GHz or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[RPCS3]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 @ 3.2 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition @ 3.2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 420 or AMD Radeon HD 7470 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.0 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1300X @ 3.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 or AMD Radeon HD 7750 or better<br />
*RAM: 6 GB or more<br />
<br />
For information on DualShock 3 controller support, see [[SCP Driver Package]].<br />
<br />
===[[PCSX2]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.3) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT or ATI Radeon HD 3870 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1300X @ 3.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 or ATI Radeon HD 5830 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
For information on DualShock 3 controller support, see [[SCP Driver Package]].<br />
<br />
===[[Mednafen|Mednafen PS1]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 545 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: XP Professional x64 with Service Pack 2 (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 B60 @ 3.5 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[PPSSPP]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Mountain Lion (10.8) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 HT 3.4C (Northwood-C) @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (Clawhammer) @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 3000 or S3 Chrome S25 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium D 960 @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ (Windsor) @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 6200 or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel GMA 4500 or S3 Chrome 430 GT or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
Enable the dynarec option for speedups.<br />
<br />
===[[Cemu]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Xeon X7460 @ 2.66 GHz or AMD Opteron 4180 @ 2.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 or AMD Radeon HD 7730 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i7-5930K @ 3.6 GHz or AMD Ryzen 5 1600X @ 3.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti or AMD Radeon R7 360 or better<br />
*RAM: 8 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[Dolphin]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Yosemite (10.10) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.4.6 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 @ 3.2 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition @ 3.2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 or AMD Radeon HD 7770 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 4.4.161 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1300X @ 3.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti or AMD Radeon R7 360 or better<br />
*RAM: 4 GB or more<br />
<br />
See the [[Dolphin]] page for further recommendations, such as controller setups.<br />
<br />
===[[Mupen64Plus]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) <small>(needs msvcp120.dll and msvcr120.dll in the program's directory to run, also applies for XP Pro x64/64-bit)</small> or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 HT 570 @ 3.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 3800+ (Orleans) @ 2.4 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce2 Ultra or ATI Radeon 7200 or 3dfx Voodoo 5 5500 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 @ 2.33 GHz or AMD Athlon X2 5600 @ 2.3 GHz or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[DeSmuME]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) <small>(needs msvcp100.dll and msvcr100.dll in the program's directory to run, [https://imgur.com/a/fgWhs proof] also applies for XP Pro x64/64-bit)</small> or later<br />
*macOS: Leopard (10.5.8) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 @ 2 GHz or AMD Athlon II X2 270u @ 2 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce2 MX100 or ATI Radeon 7000 or Intel Extreme Graphics 2 or 3dfx Voodoo4 4500 or PowerVR Series3 Kyro II or S3 DeltaChrome S4 or Trident XP4 or XGI Volari V3 or Matrox Millennium G400 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: Vista with Service Pack 2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Snow Leopard (10.6.8) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 545 @ 3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
Enable the dynarec option for speedups.<br />
<br />
===[[mGBA]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: XP with Service Pack 3 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Leopard (10.5) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Atom 230 @ 1.6 GHz or AMD Geode NX 1750+ @ 1.4 GHz or VIA C7 1.6 @ 1.6 GHz or Transmeta Efficeon TM8800 @ 1.6 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 256 SDR or ATI Radeon 7000 or 3dfx Voodoo3 1000 or Intel Extreme Graphics or Matrox Millennium G400 or better<br />
*RAM: 1 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.7) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 2.6.39.4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.0A (Northwood-A) @ 3 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 3000+ (Barton) @ 2.1 GHz<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
<br />
===[[BGB]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 98 (16-bit/32-bit hybrid) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium MMX (P55C) @ 200 MHz or AMD K6 (Little Foot) @ 233 MHz or Cyrix 6x86MX PR366 @ 250 MHz or IDT WinChip 240 (C6) @ 240 MHz or Rise mP6 PR366 @ 250 MHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 256 SDR or ATI Radeon 7000 or 3dfx Voodoo4 4500 or Intel Extreme Graphics or Matrox Millennium P650 or better<br />
*RAM: 128 MB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 2000 with Service Pack 4 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Pentium 2 450 (Deschutes) @ 450 MHz or AMD K6-2 550 (Chomper Extended) @ 550 MHz or Transmeta Crusoe TM5400 @ 700 MHz or VIA C3-800 (Samuel) @ 800 MHz or better<br />
*RAM: 256 MB or more<br />
<br />
===[[higan]]===<br />
;Minimum:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (32-bit) or later<br />
*macOS: Lion (10.7) (32-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.2 (32-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 @ 3.33 GHz or AMD Phenom II X2 560 Black Edition @ 3.3 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 or ATI Radeon 9550 or Intel GMA 900 or S3 GammaChrome S14 or better<br />
*RAM: 2 GB or more<br />
;Recommended:<br />
*Windows: 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) or later<br />
*Linux: Distributions using kernel 3.18.124 (64-bit) or later<br />
*CPU: Intel Core i3-3250T @ 3 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 @ 3.1 GHz or better<br />
*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or ATI Radeon HD 2350 PRO or Intel HD Graphics 2500 or better<br />
*RAM: 3 GB or more<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
[[Category:FAQs]]</div>Windows Whistlerhttps://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=VisualBoyAdvance&diff=29213VisualBoyAdvance2019-04-07T05:09:22Z<p>Windows Whistler: Corrected spelling/grammar</p>
<hr />
<div>'''VisualBoyAdvance''' is an open-source [[Game Boy/Game Boy Color emulators|Game Boy/Color]] and [[Game Boy Advance emulators|Game Boy Advance]] emulator.<br />
<br />
==Downloads==<br />
*[https://github.com/visualboyadvance-m/visualboyadvance-m VisualBoyAdvance-M GitHub] (VBA-M)<br />
*[http://www.emucr.com/search/label/VisualBoyAdvance-M/ VisualBoyAdvance-M Dev Builds] (VBA-M)<br />
*[https://github.com/dborth/vbagx VisualBoyAdvance GX (Wii/GCN only)]<br />
*[http://projectpokemon.org/forums/showthread.php?42433-RELEASE-VBA-LINK-E-READER VBA Link e-Reader]<br />
<br />
==Versions==<br />
===VBA===<br />
{{Infobox emulator<br />
|title = VisualBoyAdvance<br />
|last-version = 1.8.0-beta3<br />
|active = No<br />
|platform = Windows<br />
|target = [[Game Boy Advance emulators|Game Boy Advance]]<br/>[[Game Boy/Game Boy Color emulators|Game Boy/Color]]<br />
|developer = Forgotten, VBA Team<br />
|website = [http://vba.ngemu.com/ Official site] (now redirects to forums), [http://www.vbalink.info/ VBA Link]<br />
|source = [[sourceforge:projects/vba/files/VisualBoyAdvance/|SourceForge]]<br />
}}<br />
The original VBA emulator is ancient and has ceased development in 2004. VBA-M begun as a multiplayer branch of it to become ever since a continuation of VBA, as it is regularly updated.<br />
<br />
VisualBoyAdvance 1.8.0 is the latest version of the original emulator. While still very useful and functional, and including emulation for tilt controls in Kirby Tilt'n Tumble (GBC), it doesn't emulate some features of special cartridges with solar or gyroscopic controls (those need ROM patches to function for that version), and doesn't include Link cable emulation (VBA-M originally was a multiplayer branch) or e-Reader emulation (earlier mods for 1.7 and 1.6 versions tried to, but only covered standalone e-Card emulation, not linked e-Card/GBA game or linked e-Card/GC game).<br />
<br />
Be sure you have "vba-over.ini" in the same folder as VBA to avoid save type issues. Current VBA-M builds come with this by default. libretro versions of VBA have this baked into the binary, but also output a different save format that needs to be converted with a tool to be used with standalone VBA.<br />
<br />
===VBA Link e-Reader===<br />
Project Pokémon made a version of VBA 1.73 that adds both e-Reader and Link Cable support. While they were once available separately, this version permits the use of battle e-cards. <br />
<br />
Using the e-Reader functionality requires a ROM of the Nintendo e-Reader. Load the ROM, then navigate to "Scan Dot Code." The emulator will ask for a dump of the e-Reader card barcode. Choose one that you had previously downloaded from your computer. (You can download the raw dumps as No-Intro's e-Reader set)<br />
<br />
<!-- Previous link, dead now, for reference: http://www.get-your-rom.com/ner-nintendo-e-reader-roms --><br />
===VBA-M===<br />
{{Infobox emulator<br />
|title = VisualBoyAdvance-M<br />
|version = {{VBAMVer}}<br />
|active = Yes<br />
|platform = Multi-platform<br />
|target = [[Game Boy Advance emulators|Game Boy Advance]]<br/>[[Game Boy/Game Boy Color emulators|Game Boy/Color]]<br />
|developer = ZachBacon, rkitover, VBA-M Team<br />
|website = [http://vba-m.com/ VBA-M.com]<br />
|source = [https://github.com/visualboyadvance-m/visualboyadvance-m GitHub]<br />
}}<br />
The newer open-source active GBA emulator. Includes Link cable emulation between two GBA gamepacks, and as of v0956, Joylink GCN/GBA emulation, which saw a huge compatibility overhaul in early 2015 (fixing notably Navi Trackers and Wind Waker). e-Reader emulation is being slowly added too (none of the emulators so far emulate all three types of e-Reader connectivity - e-Reader only, e-Reader/GBA cartridge, and e-Reader/GameCube). Still doesn't emulate gyroscopic sensor. VBA-M is available for Windows, Linux, macOS, BeOS, [[GameCube emulators|GameCube]] and [[Wii emulators|Wii]].<br />
<br />
===VBA-Next===<br />
VBA-Next is an optimized version of an older revision of VBA-M with speedhacks and is available as a [[libretro]] core for [[RetroArch]], making it recommended for Wii (over VBA-GX, from a speed perspective) and [[Android emulators|Android]]. There is also a libretro version of the latest VBA-M, which is slower but has fewer compatibility issues and regressions.<br />
<br />
===VBA-GX===<br />
Wii-exclusive VBA-M optimized port (though less optimized than the VBA-Next core of RetroArch). Supports various Wii controllers and also offers [https://wiibrew.org/wiki/Visual_Boy_Advance_GX/Match_Wii_Controls special Wii controls]. <br />
<br />
It is the only version of the emulator to support solar sensor emulation (Boktai series) and gyroscopic sensors (WarioWare Twisted, Yoshi's Universal Gravitation) as well as the tilt sensors for Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble, but requires clean ROMs of these as their emulation ROM patches break their proper functionality here. They are controlled using the Wiimote. As for the solar sensor games, pointing the Wiimote skyward charges the Gun deSol while pointing it to the ground blocks sunlight. Has other optional motion-based Wiimote controls for other notable games.<br />
<br />
===VBA-M JS===<br />
Javascript port for playing on computer web browsers. Available [http://dl.dropbox.com/u/20328726/vbamjs/index.html here].<br />
<br />
{{Game Boy Advance emulators}}<br />
[[Category:Emulators]]<br />
[[Category:Game Boy/Game Boy Color emulators]]<br />
[[Category:Game Boy Advance emulators]]<br />
[[Category:Windows emulation software]]<br />
[[Category:Linux emulation software]]<br />
[[Category:macOS emulation software]]</div>Windows Whistlerhttps://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=VisualBoyAdvance&diff=29211VisualBoyAdvance2019-04-07T05:07:58Z<p>Windows Whistler: Windows Whistler moved page VisualBoy Advance to VisualBoyAdvance: You don't need a space</p>
<hr />
<div>'''VisualBoy Advance''' is an open-source [[Game Boy/Game Boy Color emulators|Game Boy/Color]] and [[Game Boy Advance emulators|Game Boy Advance]] emulator.<br />
<br />
==Downloads==<br />
*[https://github.com/visualboyadvance-m/visualboyadvance-m VisualBoy Advance-M GitHub] (VBA-M)<br />
*[http://www.emucr.com/search/label/VisualBoyAdvance-M/ VisualBoy Advance-M Dev Builds] (VBA-M)<br />
*[https://github.com/dborth/vbagx VisualBoy Advance GX (Wii/GCN only)]<br />
*[http://projectpokemon.org/forums/showthread.php?42433-RELEASE-VBA-LINK-E-READER VBA Link e-Reader]<br />
<br />
==Versions==<br />
===VBA===<br />
{{Infobox emulator<br />
|title = VisualBoyAdvance<br />
|last-version = 1.8.0-beta3<br />
|active = No<br />
|platform = Windows<br />
|target = [[Game Boy Advance emulators|Game Boy Advance]]<br/>[[Game Boy/Game Boy Color emulators|Game Boy/Color]]<br />
|developer = Forgotten, VBA Team<br />
|website = [http://vba.ngemu.com/ Official site] (now redirects to forums), [http://www.vbalink.info/ VBA Link]<br />
|source = [[sourceforge:projects/vba/files/VisualBoyAdvance/|SourceForge]]<br />
}}<br />
The original VBA emulator is ancient and has ceased development in 2004. VBA-M begun as a multiplayer branch of it to become ever since a continuation of VBA, as it is regularly updated.<br />
<br />
VisualBoyAdvance 1.8.0 is the latest version of the original emulator. While still very useful and functional, and including emulation for tilt controls in Kirby Tilt'n Tumble (GBC), it doesn't emulate some features of special cartridges with solar or gyroscopic controls (those need ROM patches to function for that version), and doesn't include Link cable emulation (VBA-M originally was a multiplayer branch) or e-Reader emulation (earlier mods for 1.7 and 1.6 versions tried to, but only covered standalone e-Card emulation, not linked e-Card/GBA game or linked e-Card/GC game).<br />
<br />
Be sure you have "vba-over.ini" in the same folder as VBA to avoid save type issues. Current VBA-M builds come with this by default. libretro versions of VBA have this baked into the binary, but also output a different save format that needs to be converted with a tool to be used with standalone VBA.<br />
<br />
===VBA Link e-Reader===<br />
Project Pokémon made a version of VBA 1.73 that adds both e-Reader and Link Cable support. While they were once available separately, this version permits the use of battle e-cards. <br />
<br />
Using the e-Reader functionality requires a ROM of the Nintendo e-Reader. Load the ROM, then navigate to "Scan Dot Code." The emulator will ask for a dump of the e-Reader card barcode. Choose one that you had previously downloaded from your computer. (You can download the raw dumps as No-Intro's e-Reader set)<br />
<br />
<!-- Previous link, dead now, for reference: http://www.get-your-rom.com/ner-nintendo-e-reader-roms --><br />
===VBA-M===<br />
{{Infobox emulator<br />
|title = VisualBoyAdvance-M<br />
|version = {{VBAMVer}}<br />
|active = Yes<br />
|platform = Multi-platform<br />
|target = [[Game Boy Advance emulators|Game Boy Advance]]<br/>[[Game Boy/Game Boy Color emulators|Game Boy/Color]]<br />
|developer = ZachBacon, rkitover, VBA-M Team<br />
|website = [http://vba-m.com/ VBA-M.com]<br />
|source = [https://github.com/visualboyadvance-m/visualboyadvance-m GitHub]<br />
}}<br />
The newer open-source active GBA emulator. Includes Link cable emulation between two GBA gamepacks, and as of v0956, Joylink GCN/GBA emulation, which saw a huge compatibility overhaul in early 2015 (fixing notably Navi Trackers and Wind Waker). e-Reader emulation is being slowly added too (none of the emulators so far emulate all three types of e-Reader connectivity - e-Reader only, e-Reader/GBA cartridge, and e-Reader/GameCube). Still doesn't emulate gyroscopic sensor. VBA-M is available for Windows, Linux, macOS, BeOS, [[GameCube emulators|GameCube]] and [[Wii emulators|Wii]].<br />
<br />
===VBA-Next===<br />
VBA-Next is an optimized version of an older revision of VBA-M with speedhacks and is available as a [[libretro]] core for [[RetroArch]], making it recommended for Wii (over VBA-GX, from a speed perspective) and [[Android emulators|Android]]. There is also a libretro version of the latest VBA-M, which is slower but has fewer compatibility issues and regressions.<br />
<br />
===VBA-GX===<br />
Wii-exclusive VBA-M optimized port (though less optimized than the VBA-Next core of RetroArch). Supports various Wii controllers and also offers [https://wiibrew.org/wiki/Visual_Boy_Advance_GX/Match_Wii_Controls special Wii controls]. <br />
<br />
It is the only version of the emulator to support solar sensor emulation (Boktai series) and gyroscopic sensors (WarioWare Twisted, Yoshi's Universal Gravitation) as well as the tilt sensors for Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble, but requires clean ROMs of these as their emulation ROM patches break their proper functionality here. They are controlled using the Wiimote. As for the solar sensor games, pointing the Wiimote skyward charges the Gun deSol while pointing it to the ground blocks sunlight. Has other optional motion-based Wiimote controls for other notable games.<br />
<br />
===VBA-M JS===<br />
Javascript port for playing on computer web browsers. Available [http://dl.dropbox.com/u/20328726/vbamjs/index.html here].<br />
<br />
{{Game Boy Advance emulators}}<br />
[[Category:Emulators]]<br />
[[Category:Game Boy/Game Boy Color emulators]]<br />
[[Category:Game Boy Advance emulators]]<br />
[[Category:Windows emulation software]]<br />
[[Category:Linux emulation software]]<br />
[[Category:macOS emulation software]]</div>Windows Whistlerhttps://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=VisualBoy_Advance&diff=29212VisualBoy Advance2019-04-07T05:07:58Z<p>Windows Whistler: Windows Whistler moved page VisualBoy Advance to VisualBoyAdvance: You don't need a space</p>
<hr />
<div>#REDIRECT [[VisualBoyAdvance]]</div>Windows Whistler