Cheapest Desktop PC for Emulation?

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He wants to run them at 1080p or something though. Don't ask me why though. I pretty much agree with you, I'd rather use the original hardware since emulation is far from perfect.

 

get an i 7 core processor , also it is giving me chest pains typing this but you may want to get windows if you haven't already thought of it , i am one of those "mac fags" as people with windows refer to us . windows is compatible though mac has almost no viruses ,there is a dolphin emulator on mac .

 

I can see why he wants 1080p, the Wii has very low resolution

 

Have you even used PCSX2 or Dolphin?

Emulation is near spot on perfect for a lot of games.

Plus with bluetooth and a homeade sensor bar you can play it as if you were playing the real thing.

And Image Quality is improved tons.

Take Tales of Graces for example
Using Dolphin the game looks almost exactly the same as the PS3 version. Which obviously didn't upgrade the graphics engine much.
They added a few more polygons to the character models and slightly higher res textures.



ToG Dolphinnot my screenshot)


ToG PS3:

 

I'm definitely a video quality freak which is my reason for wanting to use Dolphin and PS2 emulators.

For older consoles, the ability to display nicely on a HDTV is my main reason for emulation.
Plus a lot of old games can't be bought for reasonable prices.
Like Earthbound on SNES.

Also, portable titles would be cool to emulate as well.

 

put FFX into a ps2 and run it in HD through pcsx2 and you'll want that FOREVER.

i just tried tales of eternia and i was shocked how incredibly great it gets through pcsx2.

 

I wanted to run PCSX2 because my PS2 looks horrendous on my HDTV (connected to my media-PC) and because I no longer have a decent PS2 controller for 3D games.

... my computer is woefully inadequate, though. No surprise (Intel Core Duo, 2 gigas, Nvidia 7600 GS. Not even close to enough to run PS2 at 480p)

When I have enough money to upgrade, though, I'll certainly take these pieces of advise. Even more so when I see that Tales of Graces screenshot.

I wonder what this uber-resolution upgrade will do for Ace Combat 5 or Super Mario Galaxy or Zone of the Enders 2.

Nice.

Vosse has sold the idea to me completely. I just wish I had the cash to upgrade the old PC..

 

Odd I always thought that high level emulation (or enhanced emu) would do nothing but highlight the flaws in games. After all, most games assets are optimised to display at SD resolution and as such usually look crappy (blurry/murky) at higher resolution, though I can't use PCSX2 or Dolphin at decent FPS and, as such never bothered with them. So I'll take people's word for it.

 

Why getting an i7 when you can get a Sandy Bridge i5?

 

Er, do you mean another Tales of Game?
Because ToE was a PS1 game. haha


Anyways, PCSX2 does handle 2D games very well when Texture Filtering for 2D is enabled.


Here is a video I made a while back running Metal Gear 2 Solid Snake from MGS3:S 3840X2160(which is why the main menu's frame rate is just a hair under full speed)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1BM_9VnbsE


an i7 (1st or 2nd gen) Will only be outperformed by a 2nd generation i5 when it's overclocked to the extreme.(like 4.6+ all the way up to 5.6ghz)
though it will be plenty adequate for emulation.

 

I guess I don't get it. Seeing games meant to be rendered in resolutions like 640x480 in some insane 1080P doesn't seem worth the insane amount of cash and potential problems. Also I really don't think all these games run "perfect" necessarily. Just because you don't notice problems or flaws doesn't mean they aren't there. Unless you've played through entire games and scrutinized everything there may still be problems. And for PCSX2 and Dolphin the last look at both compatibility lists looked FAR from perfect.

Meanwhile my actual PS2 and Wii (which I don't play really) have perfect compatibility.

It's not like these games have 1080P PS3 or Xbox 360 detail but oh no you can't see it cause Sony or Nintendo were giant dicks and limited the system to 640x480 or under. I guess it's the same for me with PS1. I'd rather play them on the real deal, not some emulator rendering them in 10 times the original resolution with antialiasing and other glitter.

 

Go play your real deal PS1 @320x240 on a 1920x1080 TV and get back to me.



Now , if you didn't have an LCD and only have a CRT then that's fine. The OG systems look great on CRT tv's that aren't digital(or have component 480i).
But they look like shit on an LCDTV over composite. That's one reason why upscalers and emulators are popular. You can use your Original Controller with an adapter and even put your console and game next to it to make it feel more authentic while reaping the rewards of image quality.


Also, Not every game works. But that's natural.
I mean look at the PS3 with Software emulated PS2, some games don't run at all and others have severe problems. Plus the PS3 doesn't upscale PS2 games as well.
Same thing with PS1 on PS2.
Xbox on Xbox360 and so on.



And spending money on a PC capable of emulating these consoles is not a waste of money because you also get a GREAT PC that can Play most if not all modern games maxed out. You can Record Music using professional DAW programs, Edit Videos, Do 3D rendering or just about anything a high end PC can do.

 

Hooked up my PS1 to a 42inch HD LCD tv via Svideo.... it's like 8bit pixel art lol. Went with composite and now it's a little better. FF9 is more legible now but still crisp .

For those who have Intels..... overclock that shit. Give it a shot and see if you notice any improvement.

i7 930 @3.8ghz here. I don't emulate though...

 

tales of the abyss actually lapsus!

 

I play my PS1 on a Sony Trinitron RGB Monitor. It looks fantastic. I know better than to play an old console with an analog signal on a Digital TV. If other people don't then that's on them. I didn't vote to get rid of analog TVs. I should collect more of them.

I will give you that I'd rather emulate and play on a HDTV than play an original console which it will display terribly and maybe with lag. But we are talking about PS2 and Wii... They can display 480P. So your point loses it there.

I will say I think PS1 on a RGB monitor looks better than on some emulator upscaled/rendered at 1920x1080. It just isn't supposed to look like that. PS2 or Wii might not look quite as bad due to a higher detail level but still it isn't supposed to look like that.

To each their own though.

 

i guess you never tried the experience, just that.

 

What do you mean? I have run both Wii and PS1 emulators at higher resolutions. I didn't go crazy for it though.

 

1.Get a trinitron or other flat crt tube tv (free->60$ on craigslist)
2.Get a wii (100->150[new])
3.Get wode (80$)


100% compatibility, you will save money, the picture will be clearer, and depending on the size of the tv, it most likely will take up less space(when you take a tower into account).

A game rendered at 640x480 will always look 640x480. Unless your using texture packs, but even then it's not the original game anymore.

The issue that you are having on the original console hardware, and a digital connection is this:
digital->analog->digital
lots of loss and lots of latency

you need :
digital->analog
there is very minimal loss or latency because there is not much processing going on here. Infact its been done for years before, and it is almost negligible for videofiles to tell the difference between analog and digital pictures at the same resolution. The reason why the industry wanted to shy away from analog was copy protection, and the fact that hdmi replaces both audio and video signals with one cable.


You could argue that the digital->digital signal is better..well your pocketbook says different. also all signals need to be encoded/decoded with HDMI's HDCP, and it still needs to be processed by your tv's controller(hence latency on gutair hero type games & FPS's with lcds&plasmas)

 

Yeah pretty much this.


PS1 games that are 3D upscaled via emulator look far superior to their original counterparts and most times look just as good if not better than Dreamcast games.

And while games look good in their original resolutions(NOT 640x480 AS OFTEN AS YOU WOULD THINK) The level of detail is dramatically increased via upscaling.

Like this shot of KH A friend of mine took.

Rendering @5120x2400 on a 6970




And you're really gonna tell me that on an HDTV,
This will look better


But again, this will look fine on an analog SDTV over composite and fine over component on a digital SDTV.
The level of detail will be far lower still. But it will fine.And building a PC for emulation will open up your doors to an insane range of things you can do with the PC because of how powerful it is.
And come'on this is a GREAT time to be buying High-end PC's for 1000$
I bought a PC back in 04 for 1500$ that is 20+X less powerful than a PC for half that price.
And my first PC (pre-pentium, I think it had a 25mhz CPU) cost my parents a few grand back in the day with DOS.