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Most 3D emulators have hardware and software renderers. Software renderers use much more CPU power, which may 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 strong enough in the first place.{{reflist}}
Moving down. Turning into a ref
Enabling dynarec options also speed things up.
==CPU==
===MegaHertz Myth===
Just because a CPU has a high clock speed (e.g. in GHz) doesn't mean that it is powerful.<ref> http://www.computer-hardware-explained.com/megahertz-myth.html</ref> For example, a 4GHz Pentium 4 is much, much less powerful than a 3GHz i5. Though "i5" is quite vague, as that could be any of the generations or models, P4s are just that weak. Newer CPUs are almost always better. Though the particular architechture does matter.
===AMD vs Intel===
Generally, Intel CPUs perform better than AMD CPUs for emulation in particular, due to their superior single core performance. AMD will still perform fairly well, but will rarely perform equal to a similar generation Intel CPU at the same clock speed.
===Desktop vs. laptop===
Laptop CPUs are typically much weaker than their desktop variants due to being clocked lower, for battery and heat reasons. They may also have less cores than desktop processors with similar names. For example, an i7 2-core laptop processor is most often weaker than a decent i3 desktop one. It's a common misconception that an i-whatever laptop is equal in power to i-whatever desktop.
===More Cores===
Emulators generally only utilize 2 cores (sometimes 3), so having a hexa/octacore CPU, or one capable of hyperthreading, wont benefit you anymore than having a similar quadcore CPU.
===Overclocking===
Not every CPU can be over clocked, nor does every motherboard/BIOS support it. An advantage of the intel K series is that they are unlocked and can easily be overclocked. So if it can't play a game currently then you can, in many cases, overclock it until it does. Laptop CPUS often cannot be overclocked due to BIOS limitations.
==GPU==
GPUs are basically just hundreds of underpowered CPUs on the same die. Or you can think of it as a 300 core CPU.
The thing is with 3D graphics is you can split the work up into hundreds of different parts and give each piece to a different core on the GPU since it doesn't matter which order the polys are rendered in, as long as they all get rendered for the same frame before moving on to the next.
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 done before it. That obviously doesn't work if you try and do them all at the same time.
Pretty much any emulator is the same. It can't know what comes next until it's done what preceded it. It has to run on 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 emulatable system 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".
Most 3D emulators have hardware and software renderers. Software renderers use much more CPU power, which may 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 strong enough in the first place.
==Recommended Specs==
CPU: Intel Core i5 2500k, i5 3570K or i5 4570K
For those with DualShock 3 controllers, use the new [[XInput Wrapper SCP]].
CPU: Intel Core i5 2500k, i5 3570K or i5 4570K
See the [[Dolphin]] page for further recommendations, such as controller setups.
A 2.0 GHz Intel dual-core processor will run most games full speed.
'''bsnes - Accuracy'''???
===[[DeSmuMe]]===
*Windows Vista SP2 or later
Enable the dynarec option for speedups.
==CPUReferences== ===MegaHertz Myth===http://www.computer-hardware-explained.com/megahertz-myth.html Summarising the above, just because a CPU has a high clock speed (e.g. in GHz) doesn't mean that it is powerful. For example, a 4GHz Pentium 4 is much, much less powerful than a 3GHz i5. Though "i5" is quite vague, as that could be any of the generations or models, P4s are just that weak. Newer CPUs are almost always better. Though the particular architechture does matter. ===AMD vs Intel===Generally, Intel CPUs perform better than AMD CPUs for emulation in particular, due to their superior single core performance. AMD will still perform fairly well, but will rarely perform equal to a similar generation Intel CPU at the same clock speed. ===Desktop vs. laptop=== Laptop CPUs are typically much weaker than their desktop variants due to being clocked lower, for battery and heat reasons. They may also have less cores than desktop processors with similar names. For example, an i7 2-core laptop processor is most often weaker than a decent i3 desktop one. It's a common misconception that an i-whatever laptop is equal in power to i-whatever desktop.===More Cores===Emulators generally only utilize 2 cores (sometimes 3), so having a hexa/octacore CPU, or one capable of hyperthreading, wont benefit you anymore than having a similar quadcore CPU. ===Overclocking=== Not every CPU can be over clocked, nor does every motherboard/BIOS support it. An advantage of the intel K series is that they are unlocked and can easily be overclocked. So if it can't play a game currently then you can, in many cases, overclock it until it does. Laptop CPUS often cannot be overclocked due to BIOS limitations. ==GPU== GPUs are basically just hundreds of underpowered CPUs on the same die. Or you can think of it as a 300 core CPU. The thing is with 3D graphics is you can split the work up into hundreds of different parts and give each piece to a different core on the GPU since it doesn't matter which order the polys are rendered in, as long as they all get rendered for the same frame before moving on to the next. 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 done before it. That obviously doesn't work if you try and do them all at the same time. Pretty much any emulator is the same. It can't know what comes next until it's done what preceded it. It has to run on 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 emulatable system 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".
[[Category:FAQs]]
