PC emulator comparisons: Difference between revisions

The PC architecture originates from the 1981, '''IBM PC / model 5150'''. Due to being designed with off-the-shelf hardware, clone manufacturers could produce compatible hardware and was only limited by the copyright on the PC's BIOS. To circumvent this, competitors such as Compaq created their own compatible BIOSes using clean-room reverse engineering. See, [https://www.quora.com/How-did-Compaq-reverse-engineered-patented-IBM-code Compaq reverse engineered patented IBM BIOS code].

:''Tons of non-active obsolete DOSBox forks for Android exists, see [https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=POS_(Pong_Consoles)_CPUs_and_Other_Chips&diff=70741&oldid=70740#x86_CPUs this page] for that.''

:''See [[:Category:x86-based]] page for other x86 based systems software emulation.''

!Latest version

![[#Enhancements|Enhancements]]

![[#Operating systems|Operating systems]]

![[Licensing|License]]

|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|Mac}}

|[http://ci.86box.net/job/86Box Dev]<br/>[https://github.com/86Box/86Box/releases {{86BoxVer}}]<br/>[https://github.com/PCBox/PCBox/actions PCBox fork]

|-

|[[PCem]]

|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|Mac}}

|-

|[[DOSBox]]<br/>[[DOSBox#Forks|and forks]]

|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}

|-

|[[DREAMM]]

|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}

|[https://aarongiles.com/dreamm {{DREAMMVer}}]

|-

|[https://github.com/dbalsom/martypc MartyPC]

|[https://github.com/dbalsom/martypc/releases {{MartyPCVer}}]

|{{~}} ||{{~}} ||MS-DOS<br/>Windows 1.0~3.0 ||{{Green}} {{License|MIT}} ({{License|Permissive}}) ||{{Ya}} ||{{~}}

|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|Mac}}

|[https://www.varcem.com/?page=dl Builds]<br>[https://github.com/VARCem/VARCem git]

|-

|[[MAME]]

|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}

|{{~}} ||{{~}} ||||{{Green}} {{License|GPLv2}}<br>{{License|BSD3}} ||{{Ya}} ||{{~}}

|-

|align=left|{{Icon|Web}}

|[https://github.com/jeffpar/pcjs git]

|-

|[[QEMU]]

|align=left|{{Icon2|WoA}}

|[https://aarongiles.com/dreamm {{DREAMMVer}}]

|-

|UniPCemu

|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}

|[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=bruenor.magicbox 1.0.84]

|-

|[[QEMU|Limbo]]

|align=left|{{Icon|WinMobile}}

|[http://www.freewarepocketpc.net/ppc-download-dosboxppc-v0-63.html 0.63]

|-

|[[Bochs]]

|{{Na}} ||{{Na}} ||||{{Green}} {{License|LGPLv21}} ({{License|Copyleft}}) ||{{Na}} ||{{Na}}

|}

|[[PCem]]/[[86Box]]/[https://pcbox-emu.xyz/ PCBox]/[https://www.varcem.com/ VARCem]:

:: One aspect commonly used to compare PCem and 86Box is the emulation performance. PCem v15 introduced a rewritten dynamic recompiler, which was primarily aimed at improving emulation performance in games; however, it also caused minor to severe performance regressions in other applications. 86Box uses the previous recompiler from PCem versions before v15, with optimizations performed by devs, as they have determined that the new one causes too many regressions to be adopted as a sensible default. There is a way for you to try out the new recompiler on 86Box, though. PCem’s emulation of some core system components, such as the Programmable Interval Timer (PIT), takes a few shortcuts to improve performance. These shortcuts are perfectly fine for games, which is what PCem targets; although, they have caused issues with the software preservation side of things. In addition to taking fewer shortcuts, 86Box also tries to follow the specifications of these components, rather than implement the minimum viable feature set, which is - once again - good enough for games, but not good enough for some other applications. Generally speaking, the more accurate a component’s emulation is made, the more host CPU horsepower it will require. In addition to taking fewer shortcuts, 86Box also tries to follow the specifications of these components, rather than implement the minimum viable feature set, which is - once again - good enough for games, but not good enough for some other applications. [https://86box.net/2022/01/07/pcem-migration-guide.html See this guide for more information].

|-

|[https://dosbox-x.com/ DOSBox-X]/[https://docs.libretro.com/library/dosbox_pure/ DOSBox Pure]/[https://github.com/realnc/dosbox-core DOSBox-core]/[https://dosbox-staging.github.io/ DOSBox Staging]:

:::[{{YouTubeVideo|fA5SaT9uDa4|0.9.5 version}} brings 3dfx emulation support.

:::[https://old.reddit.com/r/emulation/comments/18ctij3/dosbox_pure_098_released/ 0.9.8 version] brings further improvements to the ATAPI CD-ROM emulation for Windows 9x games with CD copy protection, add support for uncompressed CHD version 5 CD images and [https://www.libretro.com/index.php/retroarch-1-17-new-netplay-features/ add netplay] for multiplayer games that used IPX, Ethernet or a modem over the internet.

|[[MAME]]:

The emulation of various CPU types seen here regarding MAME are all over the place in the changelogs and seem confusing. However, MAME has preliminary support for the families of 286, 386/i386, 486/i486, and almost the entire range of Pentium CPUs. However, only the 286/386/486 emulation is acceptable at the moment. According to [http://www.progettoemma.net/mess/sysset.php ProjectMESS], many [http://www.progettoemma.net/mess/system.php?machine=ibm5170 IBM PC/AT 5170] family PCs running the 286 CPU have preliminary support. MAME [https://wiki.mamedev.org/index.php/MAME_0.146u3 0.146u3] (Jul 2012) added CPU types for Pentium MMX, Pentium Pro, Pentium II, Pentium III, and Pentium 4, but don't expect miracles.

::- [https://wiki.mamedev.org/index.php?title=Special:Search&limit=500&offset=0&profile=default&search=pentium wiki.mamedev.org's search results for Pentium] (e.g. 0.100u4, 0.103u4, 0.146u3, 0.148, 0.152, 0.156)

::- [https://wiki.mamedev.org/index.php/MNW wiki.mamedev.org's list] for MACHINE_NOT_WORKING (Few systems based on a Pentium CPU)

! MAME

|-

|Disguise peripheral support through Passthrough<br /><small>Tricking the software into think that the original controller was connected even those identify themselves with different device IDs. When a game tries to identify a connected 'nearly the same internally' controller, emulator will tell it that the equivalent original controller is connected instead, allowing it to work.</small>||{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|-

|{{Na}}

|{{Na}}

|{{Dunno}}

|-

|{{Ya}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Na}}

|-

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|-

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|-

|{{Ya}}

|{{Ya}}

|{{Ya}}

|-

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|-

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|-

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Ya}}

|-

|Fast-forward/turbo speed

|{{Na}}

|{{Na}}

|-

|Automatic updater

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|-

|Built-in [http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,106405 custom resolution/CRTSwitchRes]<br /><small>For using this on Windows OS you need [http://geedorah.com/eiusdemmodi/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=1009#p1009 CRT Emudriver].<br />Another option is using EDID editor tool such as "Custom Resolution Utility".</small>

|-

|[[Ripping games|Capable image format support]]

|{{Ya}}

|-

|AI service<br /><small>With the help of <abbr title="optical character recognition">OCR</abbr> and other techniques, the AI service can provide a live translation of a game, or text-to-speech capabilities for the visually impaired among other things, either on demand or automatically.</small>

|Exclusive to [https://docs.libretro.com/guides/ai-service/ libretro cores] at the moment.

|-

|[[Virtual_reality#VR_game_room_simulations|EmuVR support]]

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Na}}

|}

==Operating systems==

{{for|virtualization of these legacy operating systems|Windows NT 5.x emulators#Hypervisors}}

{{for|extensive list of OS support solely for 86Box emulator|86Box#OS_support}}

! style="width:50%" |Name

! 86Box

|-

|[[Windows NT 5.x emulators|Windows NT 5.x]]

|{{Na}}

|{{Na}}

|{{Dunno}}

|}

==Hardware and peripheral support==

*''PAE: Supported by 86Box and PCem for Pentium Pro and Pentium II. DOSBox forks may not fully emulate PAE due to their simplified CPU emulation.

! style="width:50%" |Name

! 86Box

|-

|[[Wikipedia:Athlon#Athlon_Classic_(1999)|Athlon Classic]]

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}||{{Na}}

|{{Na}}

|-

|[[Wikipedia:Athlon#Athlon_XP_(2001–2003)|Athlon XP]]

|{{Na}}

|{{Dunno}}||{{Na}}

|{{Ya}}

|{{Ya}}

|{{Dunno}}||{{Ya}}

|{{Ya}}

|{{Ya}}

|{{Ya}}

|{{Ya}}

|{{Dunno}}||{{Ya}}<ref>https://github.com/mamedev/mame/blob/master/src/devices/cpu/i86/i286.cpp</ref>

|{{Ya}}

|{{Ya}}

|{{Ya}}

|{{Dunno}}||{{Ya}}<ref>https://github.com/mamedev/mame/blob/master/src/devices/cpu/i386/i386.cpp</ref>

|{{Ya}}

|{{Ya}}

|{{Ya}}

|{{Dunno}}||{{Ya}}<ref>https://github.com/mamedev/mame/blob/master/src/devices/cpu/i386/i386.cpp</ref>

|{{Ya}}

|{{Ya}}

|{{Ya}}

|{{Dunno}}||{{Ya}}<ref>https://github.com/mamedev/mame/blob/master/src/devices/cpu/i386/i386.cpp</ref>

|{{Ya}}

|{{Ya}}

|{{Dunno}}||{{Na}}

|{{Ya}}

|-

|[[Wikipedia:Pentium_Pro|Pentium Pro]]

|{{Dunno}}||{{Na}}<ref>https://github.com/schellingb/dosbox-pure/issues/300</ref>||{{Dunno}}||{{Na}}

|{{Ya}}

|-

|[[Wikipedia:Pentium_II|Pentium II]]

|{{Ya}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}||{{Na}}

|{{Ya}}

|-

|[[Wikipedia:Celeron#P6-based_Celerons|Celeron (P6)]]

|-

|[[Wikipedia:Pentium_III|Pentium III]]

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}||{{Na}}

|{{Na}}

|-

|[[Wikipedia:Pentium_4|Pentium 4]]

|{{Na}}

|-

! colspan="10" |Kombinat Mikroelektronik Erfurt

|-

|[[Wikipedia:VIA C3|VIA C3]]

|{{Na}}

|{{Dunno}}||{{Dunno}}||{{Dunno}}||{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}||{{Dunno}}

|}

===Graphics Cards & GPU's===

''This table includes graphics cards and GPUs, as well as graphics chips used by third-party manufacturers who produced cards based on these chips.'' '''[https://www.vgamuseum.info wip], any volunteer?'''

''OpenGL 1.3 to 2.0, [[Wrappers|DirectX 7]] and [[Wrappers|DirectX 8.1]] [[wikipedia:Transform,_clipping,_and_lighting|T&L]] capable hardware will not be included (even though it is significant for late [[Windows_95/98/ME_emulators|Windows 9x era]]) until significant advancements in development. Furthermore, [[Wrappers|DirectX 9.0a]], [[Wrappers|9.0b]], [[Wrappers|9.0c]] and [[wikipedia:High-Level_Shader_Language#Shader_model_comparison|shader model]] 3.0 hardware are critical for the [[Windows NT 5.x emulators|Windows XP]] era, with [[Wrappers|DirectX 10.0]], [[Wrappers|10.1]] and [[wikipedia:High-Level_Shader_Language#Shader_model_comparison|shader model]] 4.1 vital for [[Windows_NT_6.x_emulators|Vista]]. However, given the current challenges with [[#x86_CPU.27s|SSE, SSE2 and SSE3 CPU hardware]] emulation and the seemingly unattainable goal of [[Wrappers|DirectX 7]] GPU emulation via [[High/Low_level_emulation|LLE method]], progress remains limited. Future developments, as discussed in the [[#Emulation issues]] and [[#References]] sections, may provide alternative methods to make this possible.''

! 86Box

! PCem

! MartyPC

! UniPCemu

! MAME

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