Question Mini-PC for Emulation

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ajpiper97

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Mar 10, 2017
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The Raspberry Pi is great for running less demanding emulators like GBA emulators, but I would like to have a dedicated system for emulating Gamecube and possibly PS2 games. What kind of specs am I gonna need for a small PC dedicated to emulation for systems such as these? Going for a minimum cost. Thanks
 
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Emulating ps2 games require high end hardware that probably won't t fit on a single board computer. I'm surprised if you get even 5 fps on a raspberry Pi. I dont think mini PC hardware is that advanced in this time to play ps2 games at ps2 standards or even better. Better look towards a desktop or wait
 
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Something like a r3-2200g build you serve that purpose quite well. I recommend some videos by ETA-Prime on youtube that has a lot of emulation content and builds that are good for this kind of use. Maybe start with something like this and customize to fit your use case?

These are US prices using only amazon and newegg.

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/LYb4Hh

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($86.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI - B450M GAMING PLUS Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: GeIL - EVO SPEAR 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($70.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: SanDisk - SSD PLUS 480 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA - BR 500 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($50.20 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Custom: 50$ or less case of choice ($50.00)
Total: $498.14
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-05-29 10:56 EDT-0400
 
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I think for GameCube you need at least
Processor : A CPU with SSE2 support. A modern CPU (3 GHz and Dual Core, not older than 2008) is highly recommended
GPU: A reasonably modern graphics card (Direct3D 10.0 / OpenGL 3.0). A graphics card that supports Direct3D 11 / OpenGL 4.4 is recommended.

These are actually demanding emulators and most require Microsoft Windows which in itself is demanding to run and this won't leave enough resources for any emulator. Future sbcs will be much more powerful and perhaps not yet enough so I say stick to a desktop. If you want a small form factor is recommended with a Good CPU, GPU and RAM
 
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I'f probably look at something like this for emulation:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2400G 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($135.89 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-L9a-AM4 33.84 CFM CPU Cooler ($39.90 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock - B450 GAMING-ITX/AC Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard ($119.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill - Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($65.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Silverstone - ML04B HTPC Case ($100.03 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($84.00 @ Amazon)
Total: $545.69
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-05-29 10:57 EDT-0400

-Wolf sends
 
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I get it that you want to go cheap, but there's going cheap and then there's spending not enough to get what you want.

The processor/graphics is going to be borderline for performance.
If you want to keep just 8GB of RAM, go with 2x4GB for dual-channel efficiency. Also get faster RAM DDR4-3000/3200.

-Wolf sends
 
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