Dreamcast?

[RiderLeangle]

http://www.maj.com/gallery/manaleader/Avatar2/pcstats.jpg

Is there a Dreamcast emulator I can use?

[azoreseuropa]

Search this pages. There are several pages mentioned about dreamcast emulator already.

[RiderLeangle]

But the ones I found don't tell me if I can run it or not.

[Jale]

1.5 GHz is kinda slow for Dreamcast emulation. You may be able to run it, but don't expect good frame rates.

[RiderLeangle]

So I can run it only it won't work perfectly? Is there anything I can do software wise to increase the speed?

EDIT: Oh, thats my processor, either way, I'm fine with that. As long as I can run it. Any recomendations?

[Jale]

I'm seeing you're running integrated graphics. That's a bad sign too.

And to make things worse, you're running Windows 98 (well, that depends on the emulator).

[azoreseuropa]

Your computer is bad for dreamcast emulator.

Buy a brand new and powerful computer then.

[FatTrucker]

Highly unlikely anything will run at a playable frame rate. Less than 512Mb of ram and that is shared with your graphics chip, a relatively old slow processor and windows 98.

You can download NullDC and Chankast and give them a try (won't damage anything to try them out) but its unlikely you'll achieve a playable framerate with those specs.

[Jale]

Your computer is bad for dreamcast emulator.

Buy a brand new and powerful computer then.
Easier said than done -_-u

[RiderLeangle]

Buy a brand new and powerful computer then.

They started selling PCs for $0.00!?

Plus I don't want to lose all my files. I got too much stuf I need.

[Jale]

You don't lose your files when buying a new computer. In fact, you could use your current hard disk with the new computer as a backup media.

[seether9111]

Nero also has a nice little option that lets you back up ALL of your files!

[azoreseuropa]

So is ImgBurn. It is very lightly and smallest file. :)

[pballer12345]

hey i cannot find any dc bios files to work for my nulldc emulator to save my life could some one please help me my posting a link or something

[FatTrucker]

No mate. Bios files are subject to copyright and the rules here prohibit posting links to sites hosting roms, bios, or anything else that might infringe copyright.

Have a read of the forum rules before posting.

Sorry.

[kollegiassessori]

What exaclty are bios?

[retroguiden]

What exaclty are bios?

Bios is an acronym that stands either for the Basic Input/Output System or for Built In Operating System

It's basically a program inside a chip in your computer or console that is being used to communicate with the various hardware inside. It is the Bios that then runs your game in much the same way as Windows or Linux does.

[Raph95]

When I try to play the game and click Play it tells me that disc isn't inserted... -.- Any solution?

[the_EMU_kid]

with no sound and no dead or alive 2 u can get full speed on 1.5ghz

[Khmer]

Amazing how this topic got 18 replies and I made two topics which barely got one reply.

[RiderLeangle]

OK, So hows this computer for it?
http://www.majhost.com/gallery/manaleader/Avatar4/awesomestats.png

That actually looks like it has more than recomended for Crysis actually.

[FatTrucker]

Should be OK for running Dreamcast stuff. Won't get anywhere close to full settings for Crysis.

The problem is that its not a particularly good processor and has a rather ropey onboard graphics chip. Looks like its probably a pre-built low range system so its likely its also packing a cheap motherboard and Ram combo.

Should be perfectly ok for most stuff and applications but its nowhere near a decent gaming PC for current stuff.

[doctorx]

I'm seeing you're running integrated graphics. That's a bad sign too.

And to make things worse, you're running Windows 98 (well, that depends on the emulator).:confused:

[retroguiden]

When I try to play the game and click Play it tells me that disc isn't inserted... -.- Any solution?

You need to configure your CD plugin so that it points to where the disc or the image is.


Amazing how this topic got 18 replies and I made two topics which barely got one reply.

Amazing that you thought that had anything to do with the topic in this thread.

[RiderLeangle]

Should be OK for running Dreamcast stuff. Won't get anywhere close to full settings for Crysis.

The problem is that its not a particularly good processor and has a rather ropey onboard graphics chip. Looks like its probably a pre-built low range system so its likely its also packing a cheap motherboard and Ram combo.

Should be perfectly ok for most stuff and applications but its nowhere near a decent gaming PC for current stuff.
I ran the Crysis Demo full settings just fine. And if there is a problem any overclocking that can help?


I'm seeing you're running integrated graphics. That's a bad sign too.

And to make things worse, you're running Windows 98 (well, that depends on the emulator).:confused:
Not anymore actually

http://www.majhost.com/gallery/manaleader/Avatar4/awesomestats.png

[FatTrucker]

I ran the Crysis Demo full settings just fine. And if there is a problem any overclocking that can help?


Not anymore actually

If the demo ran with everything enabled and a playable framerate then I can only presume the demo was a heavily optimised piece of code that didn't reflect the final game.

While your processor isn't brilliant the major problem is your onboard graphics chip, it will struggle to run any true DX10 games with anything close to full settings enabled, especially system hogs like Crysis.

[RiderLeangle]

So basicly you're saying a Pre-Release demo isn't good enough to base it on? >_<

Is there any way to improve my Graphics Card without having to open up my PC and replace it?

[FatTrucker]

No mate.

If you bear in mind that at any point Vista could be using up to 1Gb of your Ram and that your graphics chip will also be taking its own chunk of the system memory, in real terms your PC will be running with less than 2Gb of Ram most of the time, in real terms you've probably got about 1.5Gb of Ram freely available for the system to use for other things.

Its well worth disabling that graphics chip and getting a dedicated PCI-E graphics card (if you have a spare PCI-E slot and your PC's PSU is up to it).

[RiderLeangle]

Well is there any way to optimise proformance so my stats actually are what they say?

[FatTrucker]

Not really, your graphics card isn't actually a card its a chip on the motherboard that will use the system ram rather than having any dedicated graphics memory of its own. Vista is a top heavy OS and uses a lot of Ram which is why most Vista machines come with a minimum of 2Gb nowadays.

I would be very wary about overclocking anything as your PC likely has a bog standard PSU and cooling and any overclock that would make a difference to performance would probably kill one or more components.

Your only real option is a proper upgrade or sell it and build one from quality parts yourself (far easier to do than most people think).

You could try googling for Vista performance optimisations to see what functions and processes you can turn off to at least minimise the amount of resources it grabs.

Sorry.

[RiderLeangle]

Well it said 1 GB on the PC box but a 2GB upgrade was bought seperatly giving it 3.
But I just got this PC, don't want to have to get more stuff done already.

[FatTrucker]

It depends what you intend to use it for. As a general use PC it should be ok. For general emulation it should be OK (PS2 and Gamecube are pretty much out though), most modern PC games should run ok with low to medium settings.

However its not anywhere close to a decent gaming PC. Its a relatively old, not particularly fast processor, and an onboard graphics chip, throwing Ram at it won't make an enormous difference. Its just not a rig designed with gaming or high end applications in mind.
Considering the processor and graphics options, and the fact it only came with 1Gb of Ram to begin with (which is pretty much a minimum for a machine running Vista), its likely the motherboard, power supply, and other components are also relatively low performance generic ones.

If the shop/person you bought it from told you it was a decent spec gaming rig then its been mis-sold and you should take it back or demand a refund.

[Zach]

I hope you didn't pay a shitload of money for this shitload of.....shit

And yeah Crysis in particular is gonna be a pipe dream on that rig. Even top of the line gaming rigs are brought to their knees by a lot of the new games coming out.

I ran Crysis Warhead in 1024x768, 2x FSAA and probably on medium settings with a little tweaking up and down on certain options and it definitely taxed my system.

My computer is what is considered a mainstream, general gaming PC.

Intel Core 2 Duo 6420 @ 2.13ghz
4GB DDR-2 (I run XP so it only sees 3.5gb)
MSI model NX8800GTS (Geforce 8800GTS 512, G92 core SLI capable)
Gigabyte P35-DS3R Motherboard w/ Realtek 889A High Definition 7.1 Audio

Just that right there when I bought it cost I think close to $500. A lot of it is cheaper now and its still one hell of a decent gaming rig. I play most stuff at either 1024x768, 1152x864, and 1280x1024 on my 19" Samsung SyncMaster 931B.

The monitor was around $250 when I bought it new a couple years ago.

If you seriously want a gaming rig, save your money for a year or so and set a goal of around $1500. It doesn't matter what you think you want NOW, because even if the products change every 6 months or so, the prices stay about even.

Save your money, build a totally new PC. get a minimum 650W BRAND NAME power supply, a good case with 120mm fan spots on the bottom front and rear top, just below the where PSU sits.

Get a good brand motherboard like Gigabyte, Epox, or Asus (make sure you buy the right board for the right CPU brand). Make sure your motherboard is SLI capable (two PCI-E slots)

Get an Intel CPU unless a good AMD in the same price range that performs better is available

Buy a minimum of 4GB DDR-2 or DDR-3 (make sure your mobo supports the RAM you buy). I reccomend 8GB if this is gonna be a gaming rig.

If you are lucky your motherboard will have an onboard Realtek chipset. ALC889A or better. My onboard sound is just as good, if not better than my Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer card, I took it out months ago and no longer use it because I am boycotting creative and their products. They systematically fuck over buyers by rendering options their cards came with NOT work in Vista by disabling them in the drivers, and then claim you need to upgrade your model to get those features back.

I don't like ATI.. But if you can find a good Cross-Fire (ATI's SLI solution) model that performs great and is cheap enough that you can buy two. Get them. Same deal with Nvidia, buy a good high end model that is SLI capable. Geforce 9 series or better. Whichever brand you choose, make sure you buy an SLI capable model. You can even buy a single high end card, and then save your money again to purchase another of the same model in a couple months, hopefully when the price has dropped.

That's all you need for a good core gaming rig.. You can do what you want with your monitor and hard drives, cd/dvd burners, etc.. Personally I don't like widescreen monitors and they force you into weird resolutions that can make it harder to render some games decently as a result. Plus you don't get to use the whole screen when using older games that are not made for widescreen ratios. You can also do that with newer games but whats the point of buying a widescreen then, unless you watch lots of DVD's or plan to play games made to look good in widescreen.

As far as your hard drives. Get Serial ATA, IDE is practically dead and performs a little worse. Lots of cheap SATA drives out there now.. 1 TB drives (1,024 GB) for a little over $200 are becoming more common, especially when on sale. That's all you'll need unless you are addict to porn, hentai, and downloading movies, anime, etc.. As for speakers, I am a loyal Logitech Customer. They make great speakers although I am less happy with the bass output of my newest set. (X-540's) They have more punch than low boom. My first set of 4.1 speakers could shake the windows in my bedroom from the bass, and that wasn't even a 100W system. Logitech is still a great speaker company though and make affordable surround sound solutions for PC's. I even have an older model 5.1 system hooked up to my TV for surround TV, movies, and PS2, etc.

Take my advice or don't take it.. But if you ever want to run emulators for systems like the PS2, Dreamcast and newer. Play kick ass PC games, and overall have a nice fast computer that can handle itself and do lots of stuff. You'll at least take what I have said, and make your own plan based on it.

Educate yourself, read articles about computers, how to build your own and take care of it. Learn about Internet Explorer's security problems, learn about free spyware and anti-virus programs. Learn about torrents and how to use them, and use them safely so you don't blindly download crap laced with trojan and other viruses or junk.

Your PC won't be worth shit if you let sites install spyware and crap on it after all.

[RiderLeangle]

Well I asked around about the stats and people were telling me its good enough for gaming, I guess I won't trust those people for advice, but this is alot better compared to my old PC, and its new consoles I want to emulate though, I guess I got the ISO's of God of War and Ikaruga for nothing.


That's all you'll need unless you are addict to hentai, and downloading movies, anime, etc
Well if games go in ect and that stuff is true (I don't really download movies too often unless they're from Anime or Toku or something). But anyways, well what do you mean unless? What then?


And I guess this PC is fine for now, its light years better than my old one.
And I don't have a widescreen monitor, this is the size my monitor is
http://www.majhost.com/gallery/manaleader/Avatar4/newpcdesktop.png

Although it is a fairly old monitor, it still has all that stuff in the back of it.

[FatTrucker]

Well I asked around about the stats and people were telling me its good enough for gaming, I guess I won't trust those people for advice, but this is alot better compared to my old PC, and its new consoles I want to emulate though, I guess I got the ISO's of God of War and Ikaruga for nothing.

Its perfectly ok for PC Gaming, no-one is saying its not, just that its a lower end PC so will struggle with modern games with all the settings turned up. So its not a good gaming PC, doesn't mean its obsolete. There is a destinction.

In terms of emulation it will be ok for everything other than PS2 and GC which both require fast dual cores with decent dedicated graphics cards to get a playable framerate. There is no optimisation you can do to change this without swapping the hardware for what's required to run those emulators.

[RiderLeangle]

Well PS2 and Gamecube were the emulators I wanted.
How much would it cost to get the hardware I need?

[FatTrucker]

In all honesty you're looking at most of a new PC. You would need a new reasonably fast Dual Core Processor, a motherboard to go with it, compatible Ram (what you have might or might not be ok you didn't say what type of Ram it is), a reasonable mid to high range GPU and more than likely a better uprated PSU to power it all.

To do it on a budget you would be looking at around £300...ish, to do it with really decent kit you could probably stick another £200 - £300 on top.

[RiderLeangle]

Any way I can just upgrade this instead of getting anothre new one?

And whats that in US dollars?

[FatTrucker]

That would be upgrading the one you've already got.

The problem is you would need to replace the processor and the graphics card.

If you change the processor, you're going to need a new motherboard that's compatible with it. If you change the graphics card you're going to need a new Power Supply to power it and if the Ram you've got in your current system isn't compatible with your new kit you will need new Ram as well.

Don't know what costs would be in USD as apart from the fluctuating exchange rate your prices and taxes are likely to be different over there too.

In all honesty though, make sure you're doing it for the right reasons, seems a lot to outlay just to use 2 emulators that have variable compatibility at the moment anyway. Would probably work out cheaper to buy a PS2 and GC with loads of games from ebay.

[RiderLeangle]

I have a PS2 and Gamecube, hell, my dad has a PS2 of his own and I have a Wii so thats another option for both, that still doesn't mean I can get the games I want.

[RiderLeangle]

The Dreamcast Emulator worked fine, the lag and lack of sound is from a sucky recorder
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5OjqN0QF8M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5sVEOv5fXs