I was curious how much I should expect to spend to build a PC specifically for emulating games? What would the price difference be between a PC that can emulate PS2/Gamecube/Xbox stuff and one that can't? Thanks!
Original Xbox is currently not emulated. (one program could run Halo and some attract modes but nothing too major) Gamecube and Playstation 2 can run on some rather minimum specs, it just depend if you want them running in 1080p with all kinds filtering and looking like more modern games or if you want to run them at lower standard def resolution.
My mistake in regards to the original Xbox. I assumed it was available for emulation based on the fact that I know the Gamecube is. I don't care if the games look more modern. I'd actually prefer if they resembled how they looked on their original hardware.
You could always search eBay for a decent laptop with a broken screen, which can be had for cheap prices.
Laptop CPUs usually kind of suck compared to their desktop counterparts, though. That, and they're often a lot more noisy (smaller fans, higher rpm). If money is an issue and a screen is already available, I would (mostly) forget about PS2 and go with pretty much any used desktop system from, say, three years ago instead - should be good enough for GC unless you decide you really want to really crank up the resolution. I have a AMD-based HTPC built back in '11 or 12 and it runs Dolphin well enough. PS2 is one of the harder systems to emulate; PCSX2 can - depending on the game - max out even today's high end systems.
You can get the new HP Stream 7 Tablet for $100. Runs real Windows and can actually run Crysis and Skyrim okay. Make sure you get more ram for it if you buy one.
The bet bang for buck: 775 motherboard (preferably a DDR3 variant), modded with an E-series XEON. For emulation basically any GDD5 card with 1gb of VRAM. Use a cheap M2 drive from a DEll, you can grab a 128 M.2 drive for $45 on ebay. Either use a M.2 to PCI 4x (if the mobo supports it) or just go M.2 to sata.. The most important thing is the front end, hyperkin make one but iiirc it's bloated with drm
Can anyone tell me how good the Raspberry pi 2 would be for emulation? I may buy one in the near future and having emulators on it, would make it a must buy for me.
Depends on what you want to emulate. N64 and earlier should be okay I think, but PS2/GC you can definitely forget about.
Yes, but the Rpi 2 is not a bad idea. Maybe this site helps: http://blog.petrockblock.com/retropie/ The gpio board for arcade is also cool.
Rpi 2 is decent for maybe Atari 2600-SNES, maybe PS1. N64 might be laggy to some degree if you tweak it incorrectly. As for an emulation rig, I'd just use a Nvidia Shield Portable/Tablet. Use both daily and its great!!! Plus, it can output 4K on select TV's (at least the tablet, not so sure about the portable) via the mini-HDMI out!
You know it's not a "normal" end-user Windows but the ''IoT' version, right? As in, the embedded one you (probably don't) know from GUI-less Arduino-style devices like the Intel Edison (or maybe Galileo, not sure). Have fun with that then, and let me know how it's going.
