Mame/n64/SNES/Genesis Emulator Computer Requirements?

[iAtoria]

First off I was wondering if it matters if the processor is dual-core or not for MAME, n64, and/or other emulators.  (ie do they utilize dual core)

Secondly, what would be the minimum requirement (video card, ram, processor) to run all these emulators at full speed without any lagging?

I was currently thinking:
AMD 3800 x2 (2.0GHz w/ 512KB L2 cache-per-core (1MB total L2))
2gb RAM
nVidia 5800 128MB

[Blanka]

It really depends on what games you like.
N64 will do fine on a P4 2Ghz with a Radeon 9200/GMA 950 or better video.
Mame depends on the games. MK3 plays bad on even the best dualcores today, but all pre-1998 stuff does great on that same 2ghz P4.

[Turnarcades]

Again, here is an extract from one of the many threads I've posted in.....

You're going to get a huge range of opinions on this so let me just give you some benchmarks I'm happy with after much testing:

P3 1Ghz, 128/256mb RAM, on-board graphics and sound; More than good enough to cover most arcade games (even Neo-Geo) excluding most .chd games and more advanced polygonal (post-16-bit era) games like Tekken etc. Some Midway games will run ok with a small amount of frameskip but others will be far too choppy to play properly. Will be able to play pretty much all 16-bit era consoles and lower with no trouble. 32X+Mega CD emulation is near-perfect, and if you add a decent graphics card you should be able to squeeze N64 emulation out of it or similar.

P4 1.6Ghz+, 256/512mb RAM, on-board graphics+sound; As above but will play some .chd and Midway games better, plus you will see noticable improvements in 3D fighters etc. N64 emulation is great even without an extra graphics card, plus you can run PS1 and a few other consoles on the same level with little trouble. Noticable improvements in rom boot times and lag/frameskip across all platforms.

P4 2.4Ghz+, 1Gb RAM, decent graphics+sound cards; As previously but will be closer to achieving playable speed on the most demanding MAME games. More RAM should improve seamless launching between emulators/games/frontends and allow for more front-end frills and visual filter effects on games with little impact on performance.

This is just my opinion after much testing of various-grade platforms. I advise using XP (but be sure to remove/stop all unwanted services and memory-sapping background apps) and simpler front-ends that don't demand too many resources if you go further down the scale. I will also add that when using either of the first two specs You would be better off with a pre-0.106 build of MAME as newer versions have compatibility problems on older hardware (trust me on this one) and from 0.100 onwards don't really bring much worthwhile to the table anyway.

[Blanka]

With that P1 you might be able to get N64 to work graphically, but for decent sound I found out that 2Ghz is minimum.

[Malenko]

It really depends on what games you like.
N64 will do fine on a P4 2Ghz with a Radeon 9200/GMA 950 or better video.
Mame depends on the games. MK3 plays bad on even the best dualcores today, but all pre-1998 stuff does great on that same 2ghz P4.

?? I ran UMK3 just fine on a P4 1.8

[Turnarcades]

The motherboards I've done these benchmarks on have decent on-board NVIDIA graphics and sound and they have no trouble at all with either when running N64. A mate of mine has his running sweet on a 1Ghz P3 with good graphics and sound cards.

[Blanka]

Guess I have the hiccups under 2 Ghz because of 1920x1200 resolution.

[sean-o-mac]

It also depends on the version of MAME youre using and what your settings are.  MAME32 119 runs most of the newer, 1995-2002 games perfectly, but cant run even Pac-Man without lagging.  My MAME32 67 runs all the NEO-GEO perfectly but sucks with everything else.  And this is with all of the versions default settings too.

I have a custom, hardcore gaming PC for playing BF2142, which really crunches the processors and for the most part it runs perfect, but even with a $1,500 gaming PC, it runs MAME like crap.  For me its hit and miss with MAME and most of the emulators.

[Mauzy]

I got away with a 1.8 ghz with a geforce 5500 for all of the emulated N64 games and 85% of MAME games. This would emulate sight and control perfect with very few, small sound glitches (i.e. a hiccup in the sound of a music track stalling for a half a second). Super Mario 64 on a laptop has saved me through many boring nights in hotel rooms over the last year or so.