Raspberry Pi vs PC

[jce3000gt]

I'm in this boat of needing to setup an emulation machine since I've traded away all my carts (after ripping them to ROMs) and I'm intrigued about this Pi thing. I already have the PC components to build a monster of an emulation machine (details below) but it'll be in a regular PC mid-tower case and take up some space that I'd like to try and save if possible. The Pi thing could solve the space problem but I have a few lingering questions I need help with.

 

A couple of notes here. I'll be putting this machine either upstairs in our movie theatre or in my PS4 kiosk in the office/game room once I get the TV mount fabricated. Space is at a premium if in the office but not in the movie theatre. Cost is only a minor issue since I already have all of the components for the PC minus PSU here since these came out of my former gaming PC. I'd have to piece together the Pi over a medium time period and I also would want to use a broken retro console to mount it in as well (possibly a 3DO FZ-1 or Super Famicom)--all of which cost money. I already have two original XBOXes, one of which I already soft-modded in to an emulation machine but I believe I have a leaky clock capacitor which has caused some issues so I believe this system is dead. The other I'm keeping as-is unmodified.

 

My PC components:

• AMD Phenom II X4 Black Edition 3.6Ghz
• G.Skill Ripjaws X 1600 8GB RAM
• nVidia GTX 560 video card or GTX 960 S-SC, not sure which to use yet and will be based on my PSU power output
• 128GB Crucial SSD

 

My Raspberry Pi questions:

• Is there a Pi beefy enough to run Higan?
• If not yes to the first point above is there one beefy enough to run the best emulators for each system @ 100%?
• If not yes to the above what systems are capable of running 100% speed and audio?
• Other than my Higan question are there any other cycle-accurate emulators for other systems and can they run full speed and audio?
• I heard that blue tooth has input lag, is that true?
• If I don't really have much interest in MAME is setting one up pretty easy for everything else 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit?

 

So, that's what's on my mind and this brings me to the last question. Assuming no input lag and full speed/audio on most/all of the systems I'd play is it worth having a Pi over a built PC taking space out of the equation? I like the idea of an emulation PC that can also double as my media server but I also like the idea of saving some space.

 

Thoughts?

[Keatah]

Emulators are changing and improving all the time. I don't think a Pi will run Higan at good speed.

 

I would prefer a small set-top box PC. You can get them not much bigger than the size of a frozen dinner. You can always mount a Pi inside the PC case, too, if you wanna swing both ways.

 

A Pi with all its paraphernalia is going to take as much space as a NUC or set-top-box.

 

There may be no one single best emulator for many platforms. For some it's a no-brainer. Or even a no-choice.

 

Stella for the VCS

Altirra for the Atari 8-bit line

MAME for the arcade

Higan for the SNES

MAME for the Astrocade

Vice for the C64

WinUAE for the Amiga

AppleWin for the Apple II

JZintv for Intellivision

Epsxe for Playstation 1

Mame for the 7800

Mame for Vectrex

Mame or CoolCV for Colecovision

..and the list rolls on..

[jce3000gt]

Emulators are changing and improving all the time. I don't think a Pi will run Higan at good speed.

 

I would prefer a small set-top box PC. You can get them not much bigger than the size of a frozen dinner. You can always mount a Pi inside the PC case, too, if you wanna swing both ways.

 

A Pi with all its paraphernalia is going to take as much space as a NUC or set-top-box.

 

There may be no one single best emulator for many platforms. For some it's a no-brainer. Or even a no-choice.

 

Stella for the VCS

Altirra for the Atari 8-bit line

MAME for the arcade

Higan for the SNES

MAME for the Astrocade

Vice for the C64

WinUAE for the Amiga

AppleWin for the Apple II

JZintv for Intellivision

Epsxe for Playstation 1

Mame for the 7800

Mame for Vectrex

Mame or CoolCV for Colecovision

..and the list rolls on..

 

Thanks for the post mate.

 

Good to know about the Pi not being able to run Higan well enough. I could get away with SNES9x but only if it ran 100% full speed and audio with audio sync. Most the systems I use aren't on your list above but I get the gist of what you're saying. And definitely good to know about the Pi can take up more space than I had anticipated. The Main attraction to the Pi is stuffing in into a 3DO or Super Famicom case and have it not take up any more room.

 

The two things that are most important are space and cost. Right now I already have a brand new computer case sitting in its original box unopened so I have 95% of the components I need so the cost is very low if I build the PC. I just need a power supply unit (PSU). The space issue can be solved by putting the PC in the movie room. I was just curious if a Pi would be a better solution for space but it sounds like maybe not..?

 

I'm a little behind on emulators so I might need some advice on what is the best for compatibility and video/audio/framerate for the below systems if I may go semi-offtopic. The internet is so full of biased opinions and old information that it is hard to differentiate what is bias /old and what is actual real data.

• 3DO
• Dreamcast (is it emulated yet?)
• GameBoy/GameBoy Color/GameBoy Advance
• GameCube (is it emulated yet?)
• Game Gear
• MSX 1&2
• NES
• Original XBOX (is it emulated yet?)
• Genesis/CD/32X
• Saturn
• TG-16/TG-16 CD
• Wii (is it emulated yet?)

Edited August 4, 2017 by jce3000gt

[mr_me]

I was thinking the Raspberry Pi might be a better media server than a game machine, depending on how you use it. Having it run silent, fanless and energy efficient is a big plus.

 

Altirra is Windows only and is my preferred emulator for Atari 800/5200 but the Pi has good options too. BlueMSX is good for msx1/2 and runs on the Pi. I just check the Retropie list to see what emulators they have. Once you get into the mid 1990s, it might be pushing the Pi too much. Could just be me but figuring out Mame command scripts to launch console cartridges can be tricky, but you only have to figure it out once.

[jce3000gt]

Thanks for the tip mr_me!

[Keatah]

A good indicator is checking the development history of a specific emulator. It should have a long change log, AND also be rather current. You don't want something that's stopped 4 years ago with no updates. UNLESS it is the only game in town.

[Tanooki]

Dreamcast has Reicast under Android, it's functional, but you wouldn't be proud of the level of total functionality of it -- and don't even think a Pi box could handle it properly. Even the Pi3 I think you're maxing out basically at the level of the N64 running smoothly.

 

Dolphin (GC/Wii) has an Android release too, but you'll need for full frame rate an Nvidia Shield Tablet or Console version of their box to have the guts to pull it off.

Edited August 5, 2017 by Tanooki

[OldsXCool]

 

 

Thanks for the post mate.

 

Good to know about the Pi not being able to run Higan well enough. I could get away with SNES9x but only if it ran 100% full speed and audio with audio sync. Most the systems I use aren't on your list above but I get the gist of what you're saying. And definitely good to know about the Pi can take up more space than I had anticipated. The Main attraction to the Pi is stuffing in into a 3DO or Super Famicom case and have it not take up any more room.

 

The two things that are most important are space and cost. Right now I already have a brand new computer case sitting in its original box unopened so I have 95% of the components I need so the cost is very low if I build the PC. I just need a power supply unit (PSU). The space issue can be solved by putting the PC in the movie room. I was just curious if a Pi would be a better solution for space but it sounds like maybe not..?

 

I'm a little behind on emulators so I might need some advice on what is the best for compatibility and video/audio/framerate for the below systems if I may go semi-offtopic. The internet is so full of biased opinions and old information that it is hard to differentiate what is bias /old and what is actual real data.

• 3DO
• Dreamcast (is it emulated yet?)
• GameBoy/GameBoy Color/GameBoy Advance
• GameCube (is it emulated yet?)
• Game Gear
• MSX 1&2
• NES
• Original XBOX (is it emulated yet?)
• Genesis/CD/32X
• Saturn
• TG-16/TG-16 CD
• Wii (is it emulated yet?)

 

3DO- 4DO

GB/GBC/GBA- Visual Boy Advance

Game Gear/Genesis/CD/32X/Master System- Fusion

TG-16/CD- Ootake

NES- RetroArch (Nestopia core)

 

For some reason running Nestopia straight and in full screen causes very noticeable input lag whereas using Nestopia inside of RetroArch still has a tiny amount of input lag but it's hardly noticeable.

[Lordmonkus]

I would recommend using Retroarch where possible because it has great audio sync and you can tweak settings based on your hardware to reduce input lag.

 

• 3DO
• Dreamcast (is it emulated yet?)
• GameBoy/GameBoy Color/GameBoy Advance
• GameCube (is it emulated yet?)
• Game Gear
• MSX 1&2
• NES
• Original XBOX (is it emulated yet?)
• Genesis/CD/32X
• Saturn
• TG-16/TG-16 CD
• Wii (is it emulated yet?)

 

3DO is emulated somewhat decently but there are some issues here and there, it's not bad but also not great.

Dreamcast - Demul is the best followed by NullDC. Everything else is very hit and miss.

Gameboy Advance - mGBA is great, pretty close to perfect. I believe it also does Gameboy but I don't know that for sure since I don't do Gameboy emulation but Gambatte is very good.

Gamecube and Wii are both done with the Dolphin emulator and is very good. There is a Retroarch core which you can try out but for now I would stick to the stand alone version.

Game Gear, Genesis and Sega CD - Retroarch using the Genesis GX core is the best out there. 32X you will either use the Pico core in RA or Fusion.

MSX 1&2 - I use the Retroarch core BlueMSX core and it works very well from what I can tell.

NES - Retroarch Nestopia and Fceumm cores are pretty good overall but if you want more accuracy either Mesen or puNES are better choices. I like puNES personally.

Saturn - SSF is decent and runs better on lower end hardware but you will have to deal with mounting disk images or using real CDs. I use Mednafen or the Retroarch core but it does require a fairly beefy CPU.

TG-16/CD - Retroarch Mednafen SuperGrafx core or the stand alone are really top notch.

 

All of this is my opinion based on using a decent PC but if you are going to use a Pi you will be confined to the same libretro cores that Retroarch uses and certain CPU intensive cores may be out of reach for the Pi.

Edited August 5, 2017 by Lordmonkus

[jce3000gt]

Thanks guys. This also help tremendously.

[Lordmonkus]

2 small things I would like to add to my previous post. The Genesis GX Retroarch core also does Master System and in regards to Xbox emulation, there are emulators in the works but nothing worth talking about at the moment. Progress has been made on the Xbox emulator front in recent days but still a ways to go yet before we have a good working and playable emulator.

 

I would also like to add some extra thoughts on the Pi vs PC for emulation.

While the Pi is small and convenient a PC with a good CPU will open up more choices in emulators and allow you to use settings such as frame delay in Retroarch to reduce input lag.

Edited August 5, 2017 by Lordmonkus

[jce3000gt]

I would also like to add some extra thoughts on the Pi vs PC for emulation.

While the Pi is small and convenient a PC with a good CPU will open up more choices in emulators and allow you to use settings such as frame delay in Retroarch to reduce input lag.

 

I think I'm leaning this way. I may do a Pi at some point because it still intrigues me but I think the cost savings of the PC route is a good direction to go for this application.