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Emu System hardware best practices (Not that dead horse again...)
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atomikbohm:
Hi everyone,

I've been away from emulation for a couple of years and find myself back at it again.  I'm building 2 new PCs (1 arcade cab and 1 HTPC / console emu) and was hoping to call on the community to help me put together a resource for all of us to use.  I've spent the last week trying to spec these two systems using info from the web and I'm having a lot of trouble sorting thought it.  Most of the "How good of a computer do I need?" posts are quite old and completely out of date with where the current version of the mentioned emu is at today.

So, I'm hoping to put together a thread that will give a basic idea of where you should be investing your $ if you want to run a specific emulator.  Example: MAME

MAME
CPU - High clock speed, more than 2 or 3 cores are wasted
GPU - a good one but don't go crazy
RAM - 4GB should cover it, more is good but again don't go crazy
HDD - ??? I could find almost nothing on HDD impacting performance for good or bad.  Anyone?

Keep in mind that I found articles that dated back to when MAME only used 1 CPU core and didn't use the GPU for anything so this article will need some maintenance too.

Lastly, please don't turn this thread into an Intel vs AMD or AMD vs NVIDA hissy fit.  I'm hoping for a resource for the community, not yet another troll party.

Thanks everyone.
keilmillerjr:
A hard drive can definitely effect performance! The OS will definitely load quicker with an SSD, but they tend to cost more. SSD might be feasible if your only going to have a few games. Otherwise, I'd just get a large frisbee drive.

Ram is finally cheap. You can get 8gb stick for cheap and call it a day. No need to skimp too much here.

I went with an i3 with built in graphics and have had zero issues. Other people have had some issues with built in graphics. I don't know. I'm happy with my purchase. Runs gauntlet just fine, as well as steam games.

1 x Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz LGA 1155 65W Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I32100
ark_ader:
Pickup a cheap xbox and mod it.
kahlid74:

--- Quote from: keilmillerjr on May 07, 2014, 07:01:36 am --- Runs gauntlet just fine, as well as steam games.


--- End quote ---

I'd be interested to see you run NFL Blitz 99 or SF Rush.  From my tests and original gatherings 8Ghz of processing power is needed for NFL Blitz 99 and SF Rush.  I want to say Gauntlet needed 6 Ghz of processing power so that may be how you think it's running nicely.  You should run the FPS command and see what you actually get for FPS on Gauntlet.

Processor - To run all MAME games including NFL Blitz 99, SF RUSH, Gauntlet, etc.  you need ~4 Ghz of processing per core with two cores.  So obtaining a 3.X and overclocking to 4 ish.
Memory - 8 Gb or more.  You can get away with 4 if rolling XP but there's no reason, memory is so cheap.
GPU - GPU helps with many things and as emulators advance they'll loop in GPU's more and more
HDD - PC Games and boot up are the only real receivers of benefits to a faster HDD.  Typically not worth it.  a good 1 TB 7200 SATA will be fast enough for everything you could want to do.
Generic Eric:

--- Quote from: ark_ader on May 07, 2014, 08:02:17 am ---Pickup a cheap xbox and mod it.

--- End quote ---

Everyone should do this for the punch hole on their geek/nerd card.
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