PC built for Emulation

Hey everyone this is my first post so hopefully i'm in the right Forum never done this before help would be greatly appreciated.

Im overseas right now and will be for a few months staying with family and found an old PC from 5-6years ago and i'm unsure about its specs.I dont know whats wrong with it an error comes up after the windows logo but its alright to do a fresh OS install on it. It's Windows XP and i cannot find the install disc but its still got it's Product key.

Was wondering is its worth heading into this project i have average emulator experience enough to get them working so i can play roms. Also unsure if its suitable for this as i do not know the specs but better than it just sitting on the floor.I would like to emulate everything up to the fifth generation consoles.

My main problem is the error that appears after the windows logo and because i am in another country i cannot borrow a friends CD i have tried to install ubuntu via usb but the PC couldnt even do that.

suggestions and help would be appreciated.

I can only tell you that you never choose to install any linux OS.Because there aren't many emus for it!When you have the chance to re install the OS install windows XP (I'm not kidding,it's the best Emulation OS),Windows 7 is a drag to all emulation fans because the new aero features slow emus down even if you have a monster machine it will slow them down anyway.If the computer is 5-6 years old it is possible that it could be a Amd Sempron 2600+ or a Amd Athlon (older type),it is also possible that it could be a Pentium IV or even a Pentium D(ual core).If it is then you will be able to emulate a lot of consoles up to 5th generation.With those processors you will be able to run perfectly the following consoles:Nes,Snes,Atari (all types),Nintendo 64,Nintendo Virtual boy,Gameboy,color,advance,Sega saturn,Master system,Genesis,Mame (multiple arcade machine emulator),playstation (psx) and other 5th gen consoles.

OK thanks

yea my auntie says its a dual core so thats nice.

I downloaded an iso of XP since its still got the product key and made a disc of it but the pc just went black after the loading screen with the disc in the cd drive. I think i might have to make a bootdisk (but not to sure how to make one) try and run chkdsk or reformat and start from the beginning.I could also plug the hdd into another PC and format it that way might be easyer. Also even if i can hopefully the cd will work my laptop was able to read it not to fond of having to buy another copy of XP just for the disc.

You might want to get XP Professional, its what I use. :)I don't know if you know, but you have to install an Operating System when the BIOS is on. It'll tell you to press F8 or F12, or something to that extent, and then you will have the option to install an OS.

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Originally Posted by Mupen64 Man

You might want to get XP Professional, its what I use. :)I don't know if you know, but you have to install an Operating System when the BIOS is on. It'll tell you to press F8 or F12, or something to that extent, and then you will have the option to install an OS.

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Me too.Just that i have a Dual-Boot (Win Xp Pro sp3 and Win 7 Ultimate SP1)
The xp os has always been faithful to me and i will use it to 2016th year! XD

yes im still using xp.(dual boot ubuntu), and the emulators r working like a console.

So i am revisiting the idea/plan of a "PC built for Emulation". As ill be home within a week and phase one of this project will be born and start coming together soon with some leftover parts from friends and family and will be connected to my TV. First it'll be a AMD Quad core processor unsure of spec or the model at this time but itll work with the motherboard given also unsure of model or specs, hopefully running with a Nvidia 9600GT with sufficient power supply etc.

Once it's together will be running windows 7 to start with as XP was recommended ill make that change, thanks everyone from the posts. Although open to the idea of dual booting but i have no experience with it. It will also serve as an HTPC for watching films and series, Storage/Backups and a spare PC capable of running select games like Supreme Commander and Age of Empires 2 for the odd lan match with a friend. On top of that Emulators.

I have MAME plus which im using without a problem and my brother was able to get two 8 button arcade sticks. I've been playing around with Dolphin over the last week just getting a hang of it running on my i7 laptop ready to be transferred over and then edited again. I had a go with PCSX2 on my laptop but didnt go so well with Lag and compatibility so that went on hold until the desktop. Not to forget ps1 and hopefully psp.

Thats a rough overveiw of the plan in my head and hope to build something along the lines. Ideas, Tips and suggestions would be great thanks.

Couple things to nitpick at here, let me try:

Your plans for every console up to Sega Dreamcast will work perfectly fine. So that's be NES, SNEA, PS1, NDS, GBA, VB, N64, MAME, Game Gear, Saturn, Genesis... You get the gyst. Basically, anything that is not Dolphin, PCSX2 or JPCSP.

Dolphin, PCSX2 & JPCSP strive with updated SSE instructions, good GPUs, and high throughput per core CPUs.

Keep in mind, getting anything above a triple core is USELESS (yes, useless.) for emulation. No emulator besides PCSX2 use more than a dual core for emulation. PCSX2 sometimes uses a third core for low-level LLE emulation.

So first and foremost, if you're going to be building for emulation, theres a few things to keep in mind:

- Go with a modern Intel architectured CPU. This is not out of a fanboyism or opinion; Intel uses modern SSE instructions for all their CPUs while AMD does not. Also, Intel focuses more on more throughput per core than more cores to suffice for the lost individual throughput. In other words: Go with an Intel processor.

- Go with a modern NVidia GPU. Some emulators use the features that the GPU's have, and work well with the architectures. Now, a BIG reason to stay with a modern GPU is DirectX support. Older cards only have support of DirectX up to 8,9 or 10-- sometimes even earlier. This is bad. It is a MUCH better idea to go with a slow but modern GPU than a fast yet old GPU.

- I reccomend staying with Windows 7 abd simply turning Aero off. The updates and compatibility support id HUGE.

Would you like some build help? What is your budget?

Would you like some help? What is your budget?

Do note the age of posts before replying to them.

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Do note the age of posts before replying to them

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started on September 13th, 2012, 15:31
biggest increment was 2 months apart?

Oh wow I have seen pigs fly, I have seen it rain frogs, but never did I imagine I'd see this...

"Windows 8 is the best OS! "

There is something deeply wrong there...

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@elemein

First dolphin now has LLE on the thread. IT will make good use of a 3rd core. The marker is now > 4 useless.
"Go with a modern Intel architectured CPU. " well more specific make sure is a sandy/ivy bridge. And make sure you MB will OC even if you dont intend to, just get one that can.