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[Bankai]

I'm somewhat of an enthusiast of all things emulation-related and have a "Maximus Arcade" multi-system setup on my Windows 10 PC; fully customized and I really like it. I also have my genesis-mini and SNES-mini modded and I like tinkering around with it. I also have many original systems, but I didn't go the Framemeister-route.

Though, this is all in my office-room. I would love a more capable emulation-box to be able to play as many systems as possible, on the bigscreen TV (livingroom). I currently use my modded PS3 (phat) for emulation on the bigscreen TV.. but it's kinda limited, though it works fine with Retroarch and the available cores.

It would be great if it could handle the harder to run emulators, like Retroarch Saturn Mednafen and maybe even CEMU.

The following options I know are available:
- Nvidia Shield: still a very viable option (Android based)
- A mini PC, AMD APU based (Windows based)
- maybe a small PC tower (Windows based)

I already watched lots of YT vids on the subject, for example through ETA Prime. There's just so much to choose from though and I wonder what you guys think.

What do you guys use and what can you recommend? Any specific builds in mind?

edit: low latency is important to me. I use Retroarch's "Hard GPU sync" to get low latency on my windows PC and I definitely notice the lag when playing games through Retroarch without it.

 

[M1chl]

How about this box?

 

[Bankai]

How about this box?

Yeah I actually considered it! Though I don't know how well development is for this particular retroarch build and the available cores. I read about lots of glitches and stuff. Would be awesome if there's an active community, to support the latest updates and such.

 

[M1chl]

Yeah I actually considered it! Though I don't know how well development is for this particular retroarch build and the available cores. I read about lots of glitches and stuff. Would be awesome if there's an active community, to support the latest updates and such.

Well retro arch for UWP is now available in latest version, since UWP is repackaged windows code, it should work quite well, let say that before this video, there was very little interest to mantain this version too. I mean, I am just saying that, you probably is going to get better and better version over time with added bonus of Xbox, X360 games on top if you choosed to go for a Series S. Which has pretty good price in my eyes.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Get a Mister and load cores. A cheapish PC with Retroarch is a great idea. Alternatively you could use the latest Pi (which emulates up to late90s/early00s) or one of the beefier android boards, or a jailbroken 360/PS3/Wii U. Lots of options out there, but since you're looking for something MORE powerful than your modded PS3, you'll probably wanna go the PC route.

 

[*Nightwing]

I recently ran into a similar issue. My nonnegotiable points were I wanted to output in hd to tv with the lag being playable in street fighter while still being true to original hardware function in general and I had to have sera Saturn, Dreamcast, ps1 & ps2 in hd.
Once factoring in the cost and how Framemeister-route is the only acceptable way to get there with original hardware, I ended up getting a sub $1000 gaming laptop to dedicate to it and boxed up all my old consoles to try and keep in prime condition to save space

 

[Cockles & Whelks]

I got a Raspberry Pi filled to wazzo with ROMs last year from eBay. Worked great.

 

[kikonawa]

A nice small pc or a nuc with the latest ryzen setup.
Forget about mini boxes or rpi. While great , they have also a limit in power

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

I recently ran into a similar issue. My nonnegotiable points were I wanted to output in hd to tv with the lag being playable in street fighter while still being true to original hardware function in general and I had to have sera Saturn, Dreamcast, ps1 & ps2 in hd.
Once factoring in the cost and how Framemeister-route is the only acceptable way to get there with original hardware, I ended up getting a sub $1000 gaming laptop to dedicate to it and boxed up all my old consoles to try and keep in prime condition to save space

I prefer plugging low-lag/lag-free hardware into a CRT, for the sake of responsiveness. Even so, I think once you start getting into emulation and HD panels, you might as well get a decent PC and take advantage of Retroarch run-ahead to get the best equivalent performance.

 

[Bankai]

I prefer plugging low-lag/lag-free hardware into a CRT, for the sake of responsiveness. Even so, I think once you start getting into emulation and HD panels, you might as well get a decent PC and take advantage of Retroarch run-ahead to get the best equivalent performance.

Yeah Retroarch's "Hard GPU sync" really is a must IMO. I will add that to the first post, low latency is a must.

 

[Bankai]

Get a Mister and load cores. A cheapish PC with Retroarch is a great idea. Alternatively you could use the latest Pi (which emulates up to late90s/early00s) or one of the beefier android boards, or a jailbroken 360/PS3/Wii U. Lots of options out there, but since you're looking for something MORE powerful than your modded PS3, you'll probably wanna go the PC route.

Do you have any experience with the Mister? I watched some YT vids on it and it looks great, but limited support for the "newer" systems: link

 

[Thanati]

I recently ran into a similar issue. My nonnegotiable points were I wanted to output in hd to tv with the lag being playable in street fighter while still being true to original hardware function in general and I had to have sera Saturn, Dreamcast, ps1 & ps2 in hd.
Once factoring in the cost and how Framemeister-route is the only acceptable way to get there with original hardware, I ended up getting a sub $1000 gaming laptop to dedicate to it and boxed up all my old consoles to try and keep in prime condition to save space

A “sub $1,000” laptop for emulation!?

 

[DGrayson]

this is a subject which I really enjoy to discuss. I am not emulation expert by any means but if you want soemthing that can play up to PS3 I think your best options are to build a mini PC with :

AMD Zen 3 stand alone or with dedicated GPU
Some sort of modern Intel CPU with dedicated GPU

Again I am no expert but I wouldnt rely on a raspberry PI or even a Xbox S if you want to play PS3. Plus a PC has upgrade options for the future.

I am personally also building a PC strictly for emulation but it will be a super small form factor in a very special case. I dont want to give away more details but I will def post on GAF when it is done.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Do you have any experience with the Mister? I watched some YT vids on it and it looks great, but limited support for the "newer" systems: link

Nope but I have a buddy who does. It doesn't have as much support as emulation (like you said, especially for newer systems), but the tradeoff is that you're eliminating 90% of the tweaking and adjusting inherent in emulation boxes for a system that mostly just boots then plays the game from a list of roms.

 

[VGEsoterica]

Get a Mister and load cores. A cheapish PC with Retroarch is a great idea. Alternatively you could use the latest Pi (which emulates up to late90s/early00s) or one of the beefier android boards, or a jailbroken 360/PS3/Wii U. Lots of options out there, but since you're looking for something MORE powerful than your modded PS3, you'll probably wanna go the PC route.

This. It covers so many consoles with much higher levels of accuracy than software emulation. The HDL language for the FPGA is way closer to 100% accurate as it runs chip emulation in parallel vs stepping like software does

 

[*Nightwing]

A “sub $1,000” laptop for emulation!?

Yup cheapest option I found for hd Saturn emulation if your looking for accurate emulation and are ocd about it like me... can get all the rest of the systems working perfectly but still need a decent rig to emulate Saturn properly plus hd. I liked the idea of polymega but with all attachments it gets close to $1k, and Framemeister is the only other option to give the exact functionality I am seeking but is way more expensive when factoring in flash drive replacements for optical drives in units as well to get the same result as a single decent gaming laptop for emulation

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

This. It covers so many consoles with much higher levels of accuracy than software emulation. The HDL language for the FPGA is way closer to 100% accurate as it runs chip emulation in parallel vs stepping like software does

I wanna point out that in some cases the software emulation is so good that it surpasses the original version. That might be a reason to go that route instead of a mister, depending on the games you wanna run on it and the usage you expect.

When run-ahead first started making rounds, there were several discussions and several people who tested the lag input. Most shmups have built-in lag for one reason or another, and in some cases a genuine arcade setup might have 4 or 5 frames of lag, while a Retroarch emulated version pumped through a CRT with run-ahead could reduce it by a few frames, making it more responsive than the original. This has implications for competitions and records/hiscores, obviously.

 

[RJMacready73]

I stuck an "AMD Ryzen 5 3400G Processor (4C/8T, 6 MB cache, 4.2 GHz Max Boost) with Radeon RX Vega 11 Graphics" inside my arcade cabinet and it runs all sorts of stuff i've thrown at it perfectly, granted with the whole lot came to around £3-400 with MB, NVME etc etc but it makes for a helluva retro games unit

 

[sainraja]

I'm somewhat of an enthusiast of all things emulation-related and have a "Maximus Arcade" multi-system setup on my Windows 10 PC; fully customized and I really like it. I also have my genesis-mini and SNES-mini modded and I like tinkering around with it. I also have many original systems, but I didn't go the Framemeister-route.

Though, this is all in my office-room. I would love a more capable emulation-box to be able to play as many systems as possible, on the bigscreen TV (livingroom). I currently use my modded PS3 (phat) for emulation on the bigscreen TV.. but it's kinda limited, though it works fine with Retroarch and the available cores.

It would be great if it could handle the harder to run emulators, like Retroarch Saturn Mednafen and maybe even CEMU.

The following options I know are available:
- Nvidia Shield: still a very viable option (Android based)
- A mini PC, AMD APU based (Windows based)
- maybe a small PC tower (Windows based)

I already watched lots of YT vids on the subject, for example through ETA Prime. There's just so much to choose from though and I wonder what you guys think.

What do you guys use and what can you recommend? Any specific builds in mind?

edit: low latency is important to me. I use Retroarch's "Hard GPU sync" to get low latency on my windows PC and I definitely notice the lag when playing games through Retroarch without it.

Look up Polymega. That is what they promise. I have pre-ordered one but it's been through many delays as of right now so I am not sure if you'd be okay with waiting. I've been waiting a while. But the product itself looks good and you can purchase different modules for it (they are even setting up an online digital store for it.)

Link:

Legacy Gaming Lives on Polymega®

Play legacy video games on Polymega® including PS1, Saturn, Sega CD, Mega, CD, 32XCD, Neo Geo, TurboGrafx, PC-Engine, Supergrafx, NES, FC, SNES, SFC, MD, 32X.

polymega.com

 

[01011001]

Yeah I actually considered it! Though I don't know how well development is for this particular retroarch build and the available cores. I read about lots of glitches and stuff. Would be awesome if there's an active community, to support the latest updates and such.

the latest update really fixed a lot of stuff and sped up the whole thing really nice.

it's still missing some stuff but it works really well now.

I'm using the retail version, so no idea how well the dev mode version works, but it should be very similar if not better in some ways.

 

[D.Final]

How about this box?

Wow

Coool series S

 

[nkarafo]

If you want low input lag and decent emulation, avoid any Raspberry or similarly cheap device.

Get something with a good CPU. Use RetroArch, GPU sync-ON and use the best/most accurate cores. Avoid using shitty cores like "mame_2003". Use only up to date stuff.

 

[Thanati]

Yup cheapest option I found for hd Saturn emulation if your looking for accurate emulation and are ocd about it like me... can get all the rest of the systems working perfectly but still need a decent rig to emulate Saturn properly plus hd. I liked the idea of polymega but with all attachments it gets close to $1k, and Framemeister is the only other option to give the exact functionality I am seeking but is way more expensive when factoring in flash drive replacements for optical drives in units as well to get the same result as a single decent gaming laptop for emulation

Not sure why you’d need such an expensive machine for Saturn emulation. I run it on my nvidia shield tv, along with every other emulator I need. Well, no PS2 or PS3 though.

 

[sunnysideup]

Mister

 

[AsfaeksBR]

Kinda late, but have you looked at ASRock DeskMini X300? Basically a really tiny emulation power house, the size of a regular Power Supply



I recently got one, and you can easily emulate GC/PS2 and everything older with a locked 60fps easily. Even some PS3/WiiU games run really really well on it!

 

[TLZ]

the latest update really fixed a lot of stuff and sped up the whole thing really nice.

it's still missing some stuff but it works really well now.

I'm using the retail version, so no idea how well the dev mode version works, but it should be very similar if not better in some ways.

Does RA update automatically or do I have to redownload cores etc within RA to update?

 

[Spukc]

Kinda late, but have you looked at ASRock DeskMini X300? Basically a really tiny emulation power house, the size of a regular Power Supply



I recently got one, and you can easily emulate GC/PS2 and everything older with a locked 60fps easily. Even some PS3/WiiU games run really really well on it!

The CPU ETA PRIME uses in this box is an absolute nightmare to get.. don’t waste your time trying to build this.. (OEM LOCKED) ebay rocketed pricing it’s a shitshow.

if you want something like a small box..
Look into the latest intel NUC 11 pro’s i5 with the newest intel IGPU’s XE’s

dual channel ram (no need for stupid fast)
And you have a best emubox. The size of an orange..

If you just want best bang for bucks.. just build a budget pc.. but the formfactor makes this not an option for me.

GL hunting OP!

 

[AsfaeksBR]

The CPU ETA PRIME uses in this box is an absolute nightmare to get.. don’t waste your time trying to build this.. (OEM LOCKED) ebay rocketed pricing it’s a shitshow.

if you want something like a small box..
Look into the latest intel NUC 11 pro’s i5 with the newest intel IGPU’s XE’s

dual channel ram (no need for stupid fast)
And you have a best emubox. The size of an orange..

If you just want best bang for bucks.. just build a budget pc.. but the formfactor makes this not an option for me.

GL hunting OP!

Didn't know the CPU was hard to obtain, though I built mine with a 3400G (YD3400C5FHBOX) and it's working flawlessly. Not as great for PS3 emulation, but anything below WiiU runs fine.

 

[AJUMP23]

I used a steam link for emulation for a long time.

 

[Rikkori]

The CPU ETA PRIME uses in this box is an absolute nightmare to get.. don’t waste your time trying to build this.. (OEM LOCKED) ebay rocketed pricing it’s a shitshow.

if you want something like a small box..
Look into the latest intel NUC 11 pro’s i5 with the newest intel IGPU’s XE’s

dual channel ram (no need for stupid fast)
And you have a best emubox. The size of an orange..

If you just want best bang for bucks.. just build a budget pc.. but the formfactor makes this not an option for me.

GL hunting OP!

Yup. Imo boxes like these are really just for people with money to burn that just like collecting devices. A dedicated itx GPU will be many times faster and likely not much more expensive considering you can scale down the CPU, and while the form factor won't be THAT small it will still be super small and irrelevant to 99.9% of anyone, unless they're ants or just again have money to burn and want to say 'my case is x L small' for arbitrary reasons.

ex. of alternatives:

 

[OnionSnake]

Does RA update automatically or do I have to redownload cores etc within RA to update?

Manually update by clicking the update cores button, might be able to script it if you want but I wouldn’t

 

[01011001]

Does RA update automatically or do I have to redownload cores etc within RA to update?

in retail the updates are automatic. same for PPSSPP.
you might need to click on the update core list button inside RA once in a while, but that's about it.

the issue is now it's not as easy anymore to get the retail version as the guy now stopped whitelisting people.

I think he's now selling retail Access or something on his discord?

 

[Bankai]

The CPU ETA PRIME uses in this box is an absolute nightmare to get.. don’t waste your time trying to build this.. (OEM LOCKED) ebay rocketed pricing it’s a shitshow.

if you want something like a small box..
Look into the latest intel NUC 11 pro’s i5 with the newest intel IGPU’s XE’s

dual channel ram (no need for stupid fast)
And you have a best emubox. The size of an orange..

If you just want best bang for bucks.. just build a budget pc.. but the formfactor makes this not an option for me.

GL hunting OP!

yeah I noticed that as well; practically impossible to find unfortunately.

I’ll look into the intel NUC 11 pro i5, I am not familiar with it.
A small form factor PC is still an option as well, with a dedicated (maybe passively cooled) GPU. I’m pretty good at configuring retroarch and really like it, so I’m kinda drawn to it - although an emulation box like the Mister definately has its charm..!

 

[Valonquar]

I'm contemplating getting a TerraOnion MODE and just using that. I messed around a bit with Saturn emulation, but couldn't get it running well enough. Overall though I guess you can only do so much with 20+ year old 640x480 games

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

How about this box?

This

 

[TLZ]

Manually update by clicking the update cores button, might be able to script it if you want but I wouldn’t

in retail the updates are automatic. same for PPSSPP.
you might need to click on the update core list button inside RA once in a while, but that's about it.

the issue is now it's not as easy anymore to get the retail version as the guy now stopped whitelisting people.

I think he's now selling retail Access or something on his discord?

Thanks fellas. I'll manually do it just in case.

I do have the retail version from months ago

 

[01011001]

Thanks fellas. I'll manually do it just in case.

I do have the retail version from months ago

yeah always update the core list and stuff after the app gets a patch.

 

[deriks]

The Wii U is probably the best box for emulation -native Nintendo exclusives, bitch, second place is Series S because is a combination of price and power, third place is a not that expensive PC

 

[Psykotik]

Does RA update automatically or do I have to redownload cores etc within RA to update?

you can use this to update the cores

Stellar ~ RetroArch Nightly Updater

Stellar ~ RetroArch Nightly Updater

stellarupdater.github.io

Stellar/docs/Guide.md at master · StellarUpdater/Stellar

RetroArch Nightly Updater. Contribute to StellarUpdater/Stellar development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

Menu Options​

• New Install - Installs RetroArch, Redistributables, & Cores. Replaces Configs with default.
• Upgrade - Upgrades RetroArch to the latest version, including Redistributables and Configs.
• RetroArch - Updates RetroArch to the latest version, excluding Redistributables and Configs.
• RA + Cores - Updates RetroArch and currently installed Cores.
• Cores - Updates currently installed Cores.
• New Cores - Installs Cores that are newly released or missing from your current install.
• Redist - Installs Redistributables. Helpful if RetroArch won't start after update.
• Stellar - Updates Stellar

 

[TLZ]

yeah always update the core list and stuff after the app gets a patch.

you can use this to update the cores

Stellar ~ RetroArch Nightly Updater

Stellar ~ RetroArch Nightly Updater

stellarupdater.github.io

Stellar/docs/Guide.md at master · StellarUpdater/Stellar

RetroArch Nightly Updater. Contribute to StellarUpdater/Stellar development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

Do you know if the PS2 emulator is any better now?

 

[D.Final]

The Wii U is probably the best box for emulation -native Nintendo exclusives, bitch, second place is Series S because is a combination of price and power, third place is a not that expensive PC

A good list I guess

 

[01011001]

Do you know if the PS2 emulator is any better now?

nope but Libretro are working on the PS2 issues on UWP.

I hope USB iso support and the weird menu glitches are high priority, because loading from USB is basically an essential feature imo

 

[D.Final]

nope but Libretro are working on the PS2 issues on UWP.

I hope USB iso support and the weird menu glitches are high priority, because loading from USB is basically an essential feature imo

I think so

 

[kurisu_1974]

Don't forget the Pi4! Get the one that's built in with the keyboard, as the kb + mouse works great for Amiga and ST games too

 

[GenericUser]

I use an old office pc that I equipped with a 1030TI, emulates everything up to the PS2 era. I also use the DS4 as the gamepad. Works perfect.

 

[cheststrongwell]

You could be a fool like me and order a Polymega. You might get it by 2026.