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Generally==CPU=====Megahertz Myth===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 runs off performance. While it is true that a high clock speed is one of the main factors for good CPUperformance, with it is not always the GPU allowing for higher resolutions, AA, etcsole determining factor. If your CPU isn't good enoughFor example, you can't emulate a system too well. An '''Intel Core i5 2500K, 3570K '''or '''4670K''' or above is recommended for high end emulation (e2 Duo E6600 @ 2.g4 GHz will nearly always outperform a Pentium D 940 @ 3. [[PlayStation 2|PS2]]GHz.<ref>http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2097</ref> Even though the Pentium D 940 is clocked significantly higher, [[Wii]])the Core 2 Duo E6600 is still faster due to the reduced amount of pipeline stages and a wider execution unit. This page will detail specific information for specific systemsimproves the amount of instructions it can output per cycle, which means better performance at a lower clock speed. In other words, if the above is not a viable optionparticular architecture of the CPU itself matters more than the clock speed.
Enabling dynarec options 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 things uptraits, 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. 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>
===MegaHertz Myth===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.
Just because a CPU has a high clock speed (e===Desktop vs.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, Laptop===Laptop CPUs are typically much less powerful weaker than a 3GHz i5their desktop variants due to lower clock speeds and heat management requirements. Though "i5" is quite vagueThey may also come with fewer cores when compared with their desktop variants with similar naming schemes, as that could which may be any of the generations or modelsconfusing. Also, P4s are just please be aware that weak. Newer CPUs are almost always better. Though different laptops with the particular architechture does matter. A common misconception is that a higher same CPU clock speed guarantees improved emulation may vary in actual performance. Although clock speed is one of the main factors for good CPU performance, it is not the determining factor. Newer CPUs generally perform better than older ones at similar clock speeds. For example, a 2.4 GHz dual-core Intel Core 2 processor will generally outperform a 3.2 GHz dual-core Intel Pentium D processor. Even though the Pentium D is clocked higher, the Core 2 Duo is faster due to the Core microarchitecture of the Core 2 Duo having so much higher [[instructions per clock]] than [[Netburst]] microarchitecture of the Pentium D that it can do more [[instructions per second]] despite having lower [[frequency]]. This is true of many modern Intel vs AMD processors<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>aforementioned restrictions, as the highwell as manufacturer-end Intel processors are more efficient than the high-end AMD processorsimplemented settings. Main reason for that This is because Intel processors have higher performing [[floating-point unit]]sstrongly correlated with cooling capabilities,<ref>http://wccftech.com/ultimate-cpu-gpu-floating-point-with thicker and larger laptops typically having better performance-battle-amd-intel/</ref> <ref>http://www.anandtech.com/show/7711/floating-point-peak-performance-As such, it is strongly recommended to pick a laptop with a decent cooling system if emulation is one of-kaveri-and-other-recent-amd-and-intel-chips</ref> far greater [[cache]]/memory [[bandwidth]]/lower latency<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>your primary goals.
===AMD vs Intel===Generally, Intel CPUs perform better than AMD CPUs for emulation in particularA limited number of laptops have full desktop processors: however, due to their superior single core performancethermal and power requirements, they are relatively heavy and in many cases noisy and expensive. AMD will still perform fairly wellAs above, but will rarely perform equal to the constraints of a similar generation Intel CPU at portable system often reduces the same clock speedperformance of the device, so such hybrid devices are not recommended.
Laptop While 2-core or 4-core CPUs with very high clock speeds are typically much weaker usually recommended for emulation, most CPUs nowadays feature more than their desktop variants due to being clocked lower, for battery and heat reasons. They may also have less 4 cores than desktop processors with similar nameseven higher clock speeds. For example, an i7 2This in comparison to the previously released 6-core or 8-core laptop processor CPUs with far lower clock speeds, is most often weaker than a decent i3 desktop onefine improvement. It's Therefore, purchasing a common misconception that 6-core or an i8-whatever laptop is equal in power to icore CPU with said higher clock speeds would hold no disadvantages over a lower core-whatever desktop.===More Cores===Emulators generally only utilize 2 cores (sometimes 3/4)count CPU, rarely more so having as it no longer forces a clock speed reduction over a hexa/octacore CPU, similarly clocked 2-core or one capable of hyperthreading, wont benefit you anymore than having a similar quadcore 4-core CPU. Except some more modern emulators like rpcs3 which currently can use 8 cores and maybe more in the future.
Not every CPU can For non-overclockable laptop CPUs, you might be over clockedable 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, nor does every motherboard/BIOS support as itfollows the same principle of overclocking the front-side bus. An advantage of All laptops in existence do not have a PCI/AGP lock either, so keeping the Intel K series PCI bus below 40 MHz is advised. The applications that they can control the phase-locked loop are unlocked : ClockGen, CPUCool, SetFSB, SoftFSB, SetPLL, and can easily be overclockedSysTool. However, there is a catch when using these mentioned programs; none of them supports every phase-locked loop in existence. So if it can't play This means that each one of them has a game currently then range of phase-locked loops they support, and you canmust 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, in many casesas they do not have a standardized way to report their manufacturer and model name, overclock it until it does. Laptop CPUS often cannot so be overclocked due to BIOS limitationscareful when selecting the correct phase-locked loop that resides in your laptop.
GPUs are basically just hundreds of underpowered CPUs on the same die===[[Yuzu]]/[[Suyu]]===See [https://web. Or you can think of it as a 300 core CPUarchive.org/web/20240302185354/https://yuzu-emu.org/help/quickstart/#hardware-requirements official requirements page for yuzu]. Also see [https://github.com/MaxLastBreath/TOTK-mods?tab=readme-ov-file#--quick-installation-guide-- TOTK Optimizer recommended specs].
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 pixels are rendered in, as long as they all get rendered ===[[Ryujinx]]===See [https://github.com/Ryujinx/Ryujinx/wiki/Ryujinx-Setup-&-Configuration-Guide#system-requirements official requirements page for the same frame before moving on to the nextRyujinx].
File compression===[[Cxbx-Reloaded]]===See [https:/extraction and bitcoin mining are also good examples of programs that can make use of parallel processing/github.com/Cxbx-Reloaded/Cxbx-Reloaded?tab=readme-ov-file#system-requirements official requirements page for CXBX-Reloaded]
However, most programs can not do this===[[Xenia]]===:[https://github.com/xenia-canary/xenia-canary/wiki/Quickstart#system-requirements Official requirements page];Minimum:*Windows: 10 (x64)*Linux: Distributions based on 64-bit [https://www.kernel.org/category/releases.html active kernel releases/EOL] (you need to use [[Compatibility_layers|Proton]]. Dwarf Fortress If using [[Wrappers|VKD3D]] with D3D12 backend for example can't make Linux giving you incompatibility issues, use of a graphics cardVulkan backend, because every calculation it does is dependent on the one done before itsee [[Xenia#Linux_and_SteamOS.2FSteam_Deck|Xenia Linux and Steam Deck guide]]. That obviously doesn)*CPU: x86-64 processor with AVX support and 4-cores, 4-threads - ''(Intel Core i5-2300 or overclocked AMD FX-4350)'t work if you try '*GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750Ti or AMD RX 460*RAM: 4 GB;Recommended and using [[Xbox_360_emulators#Enhancements|enhancements]]:*CPU: [https://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html Latest lineup of x86-64 processor] with AVX2 or AVX512[https://github.com/xenia-project/xenia/blob/master/src/xenia/cpu/backend/x64/x64_backend.cc#L29] support and do them all at least 6-cores[https://discord.com/channels/308194948048486401/308194948048486401/1222104538195038228]*GPU: NVIDIA RTX 3060Ti or AMD RX 6650 XT or better::''Some of the titles needs the same timelatest lineup of graphics cards to play on 4K internal resolution.''*RAM: 8 GB or more
Pretty much any emulator is the same===[[RPCS3]]===*[https://rpcs3. It can't know what comes next until it's done what preceded itnet/quickstart#requirements_desktop Official requirements page for RPCS3]*[https://docs. It has to run on a single threadgoogle. 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 com/spreadsheets/d/1Rpq_2D4Rf3g6O-x2R1fwTSKWvJH7X63kExsVxHnT2Mc/edit#gid=0 CPU, and will be more predictable/consistent Tier List for itRPCS3]*For information on DualShock 3 controller support, but that is also costly. This is called "Software Rendering"see [[SCP Driver Package]].
Most 3D ===[[xemu]]===:[https://xemu.app/docs/about/#system-requirements Official requirements page for xemu]As mentioned in [[Xbox emulators have #Comparisons]] section, some titles require powerful hardware and software renderersfor full-speed emulation, particularly [https://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread. Software renderers use much more CPU powerhtml single-threaded performance], which may be sloweris often the bottleneck. They Additionally, using demanding graphical [[#Enhancements|enhancements]] may also run require a strong GPU.;Minimum:*Windows: 10 (x64)*Linux: Distributions based on their own 64-bit [https://www.kernel.org/category/releases.html active kernel releases/EOL]*macOS: [[Wikipedia:Template:MacOS_versions|Still maintained version]]*CPU: x86-64 processor with SSE4.2 support[https://github.com/xemu-project/xemu/issues/1492#issuecomment-1793758595] and 4-cores, 4-threads separate from other emulator parts- ''(Intel Core i5-750 or AMD FX 4350)''*GPU: OpenGL 4.0-compatible hardware*RAM: 4 GB;Recommended and using [[Xbox_emulators#Enhancements|enhancements]]:*CPU: [https://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html Latest lineup of x86-64 processor] with AVX2 or AVX512 support and at least 4-cores, which would likely reduce 8-threads*GPU: NVIDIA GTX 1650 or AMD RX 570::''Some of the performance loss, but titles needs the CPU must still be strong enough in the first placelatest lineup of graphics cards to play on 4K internal resolution.''*RAM: 8 GB or more
==Recommended Specs==
Minimum*[https://pcsx2.net/docs/setup/requirements/#system-requirements Official requirements page for PCSX2]:*Windows Vista [https://wiki.pcsx2.net/ Windows 7 32Category:CPU_intensive_games CPU-bitintensive games (PCSX2 wiki)], [http://64forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-LIST-The-Most-CPU-Intensive-Games CPU-bitintensive games (PCSX2 forum thread)] and [https://wiki.pcsx2.net/Category:Software_rendering_only_games Software rendering only (PCSX2 wiki)]:*CPU[http: Intel Core 2 Duo @ 3//forums.pcsx2.2 GHz or betternet/Thread-LIST-Games-that-don-t-need-a-strong-CPU-to-emulate Games that don-t need a strong CPU to emulate for weak processors]:*[https://wiki.pcsx2.net/Category:GPU_intensive_games GPU-intensive games (PCSX2 wiki)], [http: 8600 GT or better//forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-LIST-The-Most-GPU-Intensive-Games GPU-intensive games (PCSX2 forum thread)]*1GB RAM (2GB if For information on Vista DualShock 3 controller support, see [[SCP Driver Package]].*See [[PCSX2#Windows_XP.2F7.2F8.1_Compatibility|Windows XP/ 7/8.1 compatibility]] section for running specific PCSX2 build with older Windows 7)Recommended:OSes.
CPU===[[Mednafen]]===Depends on which core used for emulation.*[https: Intel Core i5 2500k, i5 3570K or i5 4670K//mednafen.github.io/documentation/ss.html Official requirements for Saturn core page]*[https://mednafen.github.io/documentation/psx.html#Section_intro Official requirements for PSX core page]
For those with DualShock 3 controllers, use the new ===[[XInput Wrapper SCPPPSSPP]].===See [https://www.ppsspp.org/docs/getting-started/system-requirements/ official requirements page for PPSSPP]. Also see [Dolphinhttps://github.com/hrydgard/ppsspp/issues/10560#issuecomment-360733737 this issue page]]===.;Minimum:*3 GHz+ dual core CPU: Any reasonably modern CPU will be just fine.*DX10 GPU: Any GPU that can handle OpenGL 3.0 should have no issue.*2 GB+ RAM: Minimum amount required by the operating system;Recommended:*Windows: Windows 10 (64-bit) or later*macOS: Any M1 or later Mac*Linux: Distributions based on 64-bit [https://www.kernel.org/category/releases.html active kernel releases/EOL]*CPU: Any AVX2 instruction set supported x86-64 hardware or [[Wikipedia:ARM_architecture_family#Cores|ARM64 v8-A or later]]*GPU: Any Vulkan 1.3 supported hardware*RAM: 4 GB or more
See the ===[[Dolphin]] ===See [https://en.dolphin-emu.org/docs/guides/performance-guide/ official requirements page for further recommendationsDolphin];Minimum:*Windows: 10 1803 (64-bit)*Linux: Distributions based on 64-bit [https://www.kernel.org/category/releases.html active kernel releases/EOL]*RAM: 4GB*Desktop CPU: Intel Core i5-750 or AMD FX 4350*Mobile CPU: Any x86-64 or AArch64 processor::''Some release titles and 2D games which underutilized the GameCube and Wii hardware may run on even less powerful hardware such as: Core 2 Duo E8400 or AMD Athlon II X2 255 CPUs, on top of that there are several performance and hack options such as "VBI Skip" which is a powerful tool for weaker devices, especially in games that struggle. It's obviously not perfect, but the mixture of slowdown and frameskip keeps the game fairly playable[https://dolphin-emu.org/blog/2023/02/12/dolphin-progress-report-december-2022-january-2023/#50-18271-video-hack-vbi-skip-by-sam-belliveau].*Desktop GPU: Direct3D 11 / OpenGL 4.4 required.*Mobile GPU: OpenGL ES 3.0 required;Recommended:*RAM: 8 GB or more*Desktop CPU: Any AVX2 instruction set supported x86-64 hardware[https://github.com/PCSX2/pcsx2/issues/634#issuecomment-119015467] and at least 4-cores, 4-threads - Intel Core i5-4460 or AMD Ryzen 3 1200::''Some intensive titles and incompatible ones with performance options such as controller setups"[https://en.dolphin-emu.org/docs/guides/performance-guide/#Dolphin_Configuration dual core]"[https://dolphin-emu.org/blog/2022/07/07/dolphin-progress-report-may-and-june-2022/#50-16448-fix-some-dual-core-full-screen-panic-alert-deadlocks-by-josjuice][https://dolphin-emu.org/blog/2022/02/08/dolphin-progress-report-nov-and-dec-2021-jan-2022/#50-15579-delay-single-core-gpu-interrupts-by-phire][https://dolphin-emu.org/blog/2021/08/01/dolphin-progress-report-june-and-july-2021/#50-14359-aarch64-jit-fix-branch-following-optimization-by-josjuice][https://dolphin-emu.org/blog/2021/06/06/dolphin-progress-report-april-and-may-2021/#50-14019-fifo-runsync-with-the-gpu-on-command-processor-register-access-by-stenzek] '''may''' require Intel Core i5-7600 or OC'ed AMD Ryzen 3 2300X level of [https://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html single thread performance] for running on full speed.''*Mobile CPU: For Qualcomm devices, processors with 2 or more "big cores" recommended. Snapdragon 700 or newer is typically recommended.*Desktop GPU: Vulkan 1.1 supported hardware. ''NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 or AMD RX 460''*Mobile GPU: OpenGL ES 3.2 / Vulkan 1.1 supported hardware:;For using enhancements[https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/GameCube_emulators#Enhancements][https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/Wii_emulators#Enhancements];:*Desktop GPU: NVIDIA GTX 1650 or AMD RX 570 or better:*Mobile GPU: Recent RDNA2 or Snapdragon based graphics processors hardware
===:See the [[Mednafen|Mednafen PSXDolphin]]===page for further recommendations, such as controller setups.
It is generally recommended that people have an Intel 2===[[Citra]]===See [http://web.0GHz dualarchive.org/web/20240228020658/https://citra-emu.org/wiki/faq/#can-i-expect-_citra_-to-play-game-at-full-core processor or better speed official requirements page for good performance with this emulatorCitra].
'''bsnes ===[[mGBA]]===See [https://mgba.io/faq.html#what- Performanceare-the-system-requirements-for-mgba official requirements page for mGBA], bsnes also see [https://github.com/mgba-emu/mgba?tab=readme-ov-file#system- Balanced'''requirements this section].
A 2.0 GHz Intel dual-core processor will run most games full speed. '''bsnes - Accuracy''' ???===[[DeSmuMe]]===*Windows Vista SP2 or later*Mac OS X;Minimum: v10.6.8 Snow Leopard or later*Linux: Any recent Linux distribution with a 2Distributions based on 64-bit [https://www.6 kernel.*3.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU or equivalent*2GB+ RAMEnable the dynarec option for speedupsorg/category/releases.===[[PPSSPPhtml active kernel releases/EOL]]===*Modern CPU: Any x86 processor with SSE2 instructions*GPU: Any OpenGL 21.1-compliant GPUsupported hardwareEnable *RAM: Minimum amount required by the dynarec option for speedups.operating system
→Dolphin
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.
===AMD vs. Intel===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 CPUof 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. 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. Current processors manufactured by both Intel and AMD (including Rocket Lake and Alder lake from Intel and Vermeer from AMD) have significantly improved single-threaded performance compared to previous generations of hardware from both companies. Of these, the Alder Lake architecture displays the best single threaded performance, followed by Vermeer and finally Rocket Lake<ref> https://www.tomshardware.com/amp/features/intel-core-i9-11900K-vs-amd-ryzen-9-5900x</ref>. ===Emulation on a non-x86/ARM CPU===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.
===Desktop vs. laptopMore Cores and Threads===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.
===Overclocking===
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
==GPU==
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.
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.
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.
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'.
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.
==Recommended Specifications==
;Before diving in:
*This list excludes inactive or unsupported emulators as much as possible, see [[History of emulation]] page for older software emulators. For seeing recommended specifications for obsolete, non-active and older emulators, see [https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=Computer_specifications&diff=77290&oldid=77289#Recommended_Specifications this page].
*'''We discourage recommending outdated hardware[https://www.nvidia.com/download/index.aspx][https://www.amd.com/en/support], operating systems, or inactive emulators'''.
::Why? Because active and popular emulators such as Dolphin, Ryujinx, PCSX2 and others[https://old.reddit.com/r/emulation/comments/ucit8l/ryujinx_will_officially_drop_support_for_windows/i6btthj/] implements newest frontends, API related stuff and functions from time to time such as "XAudio2 situation[https://github.com/RPCS3/rpcs3/pull/15248][https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/PCSX2#Windows_XP.2F7.2F8.1_Compatibility][https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/xaudio2/xaudio2-versions]", "using [https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/test/hlk/testref/d82297bd-09ae-47d2-a40e-02977e6fd773 D3D12]", "[https://github.com/qt/qtbase qt6]" "[https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/memoryapi/nf-memoryapi-virtualalloc2 VirtualAlloc2]", "[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/memoryapi/nf-memoryapi-mapviewoffile3 mapviewoffile3]" which usually depends on latest operating system versions (considering using binaries provided by official sources, not building software by yourself without some serious patching).
*Provide only the official system requirements page URL if available (nothing else), but for emulators '''lacking detailed''' official information, we offer unofficial guidelines/data to help you decide.
*Also see [https://www.youtube.com/@natemasterson7274 Nate Masterson's YouTube channel] for benchmarks with emulators using obsolete hardware. [https://github.com/xemu-project/xemu/issues/1492#issuecomment-1646644783 Supported instruction sets for various chips].
===[[PCSX2]]===
===[[Cemu]]===See [https://cemu.info/ official requirements page for cemu];Minimum: Similar to [[#PCSX2]] situation, some release titles and 2D games which underutilized the Wii U hardware may run on less powerful hardware, but for the best experience you need something like below.*CPU: Any SSE4.2 x86-64 hardware and 4-cores, 4-threads - ''i5-750 or AMD FX-4100''*GPU: OpenGL 4.5 or Vulkan 1.2 required - ''NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 or AMD RX 460''*RAM: 4 GB;Recommended and using enhancements[https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/Wii_U_emulators#Enhancements]:*CPU: Any AVX2[https://cemu.info/changelog/cemu_1_11_0.txt][https://cemu.info/changelog/cemu_1_16_1.txt] (including AVX[https://cemu.info/changelog/cemu_1_8_2.txt]) and BMI supported[https://cemu.info/changelog/cemu_1_5_1.txt] x86-64 hardware and at least 4-cores, 8-threads - ''Intel Core i5 2500k, i5 3570K i7-4770 or AMD Ryzen 5 1600AF or i5 4670Kbetter''*GPU: Nvidia 8800GT equivalent NVIDIA GTX 1660 or AMD RX 580 or better*RAM: 4 8 GB+or more
===[[HiganDeSmuME]]===See [https://wiki.desmume.org/index.php?title=Faq#What_are_the_minimum_hardware_requirements_for_DeSmuME.3F official requirements page for DeSmuME].
==References==
