Updating a PC mainly for emulating and not very high end games

[oldtimerdiscopants]

I don't want to fork out for a graphics card that's going to cost an arm and a leg would this motherboard and APU do the job of running games emulators and most games on the market?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CCL-3-9G...h=item5914dff044:g:eHkAAOSwPuRb8wDt:rk:3:pf:0

 

[aguero93:20]

@TCIB

 

[oldtimerdiscopants]

@TCIB

There is so much conflicting advice on this online mate, how much RAM etc, I don't want to set the world on fire have flashing lights stealth murder mouse and keyboard with tactical drone compliant headset, if you know what I mean :)

 

[aguero93:20]

There is so much conflicting advice on this online mate, how much RAM etc, I don't want to set the world on fire have flashing lights stealth murder mouse and keyboard with tactical drone compliant headset, if you know what I mean :)

Yeah you'll always get different opinions on what you need (based more on that other people would want than what you need) TCIB is usually good though.

The one question I'd ask and he probably will as well is; what platform are to looking to emulate for games?

 

[oldtimerdiscopants]

Yeah you'll always get different opinions on what you need (based more on that other people would want than what you need) TCIB is usually good though.

The one question I'd ask and he probably will as well is; what platform are to looking to emulate for games?

Dolphin
PPSSPP

Those are the main 2 with PSX and SFF thrown in.

I have managed to install Retropi on the raspberry pi and that's fine but I want to introduce my grandchildren to retro-gaming and want a PC that's up to the job mate without having the juice to initiate defcon 5.

 

[aguero93:20]

Dolphin
PPSSPP

Those are the main 2 with PSX and SFF thrown in.

I have managed to install Retropi on the raspberry pi and that's fine but I want to introduce my grandchildren to retro-gaming and want a PC that's up to the job mate without having the juice to initiate defcon 5.

Never used dolphin but what you have there should piss the other 3, I'm running PSX on a tablet with a fraction of that.

 

[oldtimerdiscopants]

Never used dolphin but what you have there should piss the other 3, I'm running PSX on a tablet with a fraction of that.

At present I have a AMD A6-6400k with a Radeon r5 340x graphics card and 8 gigs of RAM.
Windows 7 as an OS.

It just seems sluggish and the system is 5 or so years old mate.

 

[Machiavelli]

At present I have a AMD A6-6400k with a Radeon r5 340x graphics card and 8 gigs of RAM.
Windows 7 as an OS.

It just seems sluggish and the system is 5 or so years old mate.

I’ve only just seen this.
Are you increasing the graphics up to 1080p, 4K etc in the emulators? Dolphin will hammer a lesser card for upscaling graphic definition (GC was 480 native and Wii was 720 native). I have a GTX 960 in mine and it handles everything fine in 1080p/4K. I’ve even added RPCS3 running PS3 games comfortably but it takes some grunt to handle it.

I use retroarch for everything from NES/SMS up to and including PS1, the PS1 games can be upscaled to HD with the beetle HW core. It has a decent PSP core as well.
PCSX2 for PS2 - again the graphics can be increased comfortably.
Dolphin for GC and Wii, I use a ‘dolphin bar’ to use the wiimotes for Wii and a USB ‘smash bros. 4 port GC controller adapter’ to use the original GC controllers which have analog shoulder buttons (essential for certain games on the GC)
Cemu for Wii U - although I have a hacked Wii U that runs GC/Wii/Wii U without emulation via ‘Haxchi’, which I’ve had for a few years.
There’s even a Switch emulator in its infancy called ‘Yuzu’ which is already coming on leaps and bounds.

 

[oldtimerdiscopants]

I’ve only just seen this.
Are you increasing the graphics up to 1080p, 4K etc in the emulators? Dolphin will hammer a lesser card for upscaling graphic definition (GC was 480 native and Wii was 720 native). I have a GTX 960 in mine and it handles everything fine in 1080p/4K. I’ve even added RPCS3 running PS3 games comfortably but it takes some grunt to handle it.

I use retroarch for everything from NES/SMS up to and including PS1, the PS1 games can be upscaled to HD with the beetle HW core. It has a decent PSP core as well.
PCSX2 for PS2 - again the graphics can be increased comfortably.
Dolphin for GC and Wii, I use a ‘dolphin bar’ to use the wiimotes for Wii and a USB ‘smash bros. 4 port GC controller adapter’ to use the original GC controllers which have analog shoulder buttons (essential for certain games on the GC)
Cemu for Wii U - although I have a hacked Wii U that runs GC/Wii/Wii U without emulation via ‘Haxchi’, which I’ve had for a few years.
There’s even a Switch emulator in its infancy called ‘Yuzu’ which is already coming on leaps and bounds.

Thanks for the reply mate, looks like you're enjoying the emulator stuff too. If I understand what you are saying I'd be better off getting a chip like the AMD Ryzen 5 1600X and match it with a GTX-960?

Ohh I am not bothered about 4k my eyes barely see in 2d nowadays, 1060 would be nice though.

A switch emulator already :)

 

[Machiavelli]

Thanks for the reply mate, looks like you're enjoying the emulator stuff too. If I understand what you are saying I'd be better off getting a chip like the AMD Ryzen 5 1600X and match it with a GTX-960?

Ohh I am not bothered about 4k my eyes barely see in 2d nowadays, 1060 would be nice though.

A switch emulator already :)

If you’re not bothered about scaling up the graphics to 4K I’d check your current set up against the emulators (you are going to use) “system requirements” information on their own websites. It’s likely you are already good to go as barring the PS3 emulator, dolphin etc don’t need an overly powerful system to run the majority of games.

Are you also checking online for the best per-game configuration settings?
On Dolphin there are a few slight changes you have to do make to get certain games running smooth. Most games will run on the stock settings Dolphin comes installed with but there are a few which definitely need “per-game configurations” You only have to configure the game settings once then the emulator will check any per-game saved settings and load them when you select a game to play.

I’d also download and install “MSI Afterburner” which you can use to monitor your CPU and GPU temperature and load (performance) as well as FPS (frames per second). When it’s installed open it and then open an emulator and play a game. You should see a load of letters and numbers in the top right of your screen telling you information regarding performance etc. You can customise the information it displays in MSI’s settings under the “monitoring” tab - I only have GPU Usage, GPU Temp, CPU Usage CPU Temp and FPS showing because that’s enough to see how your system is handling running the emulators.

I’d also recommend “Launchbox” as a neat and tidy “front end” to organising all of the various emulators you are using and have a user friendly display which shows your games collection all in one place rather that going in and out of several different emulators with basic user interfaces. You can add boxes game videos and descriptions to all of your games which is nice to look through when deciding what to play. ;-)

If you need anything else I’d be happy to help.