Hardware suggestion x86/x64

Libretro Lakka
#1

Hello.

I’m looking forward to buy of of these new NUC-like PCs to use with Lakka. As for now I’m considering a Shuttle DX30. Looks like a nice fanless system.

Now the question …

Does the rule the more single core speed the better still apply? This thing uses a 2-core processor with a speed of 2 GHz per core. There are also similar processors with 4-cores and a speed of 1,5 GHz per core out there.

Which would be the better choice for Lakka?

Does anyone use the DX30 already? Would be nice to know this thing works with Lakka!

#2

In general, the most important thing for emulation is single thread performance and this rule still applies. It is simply too difficult to keep timings and everything accurate when trying to emulate let’s say a system’s CPU using different threads.

Assuming that the dual-core 2GHz and the quad-core 1,5GHz CPU are from the same generation, the dual-core should perform slightly better when it comes to emulation. It might also depend on which systems do you want to emulate.

As comparison, my current laptop features a Intel Core i5 7200U with Intel HD Graphics 620 and no other dedicated graphics solution has 2 physical cores running at up to 2.5 GHz. This laptop is able to emulate everything I tried so far (basically the systems up to Nintendo 64, haven’t tried newer ones) at full speed.

Please note that I haven’t dealt with Lakka itself, I’m running RetroArch on Windows 10, therefore I cannot comment if your chosen hardware would be a good choice when it comes to Lakka compatibility.

1 Like
#3

have tried 3 different low-end x64 systems with 4 “high-end” cores (Lakka 2.0).

all 3 systems use the integrated Graphics and i had “Video Threaded” disabled in Lakka-Settings

Intel NUC NUC5PPYH Pentium N3700 Braswell 4x1.60GHz (Turbo 2.4Ghz max)

DC-Core (Reicast) no change playing without heavy stuttering in most Games Saturn-Core (Mednafen) no change playing without stuttering and frameskipping in many Games N64-Cores (Mupen, ParaLLEI) no change playing without heavy stuttering in many Games PS1-Core (Mednafen HW/SW) plays with little stuttering in many Games (especially noticeable on audio)

SHUTTLE Barebone XPC nano NC01U Celeron 3205u Broadwell 2x1.50 GHz (no Turbo)

DC-Core (Reicast) plays with little stuttering in many Games Saturn-Core (Mednafen) plays allmost fine but with little stuttering or frameskipping in many Games N64-Cores (Mupen, ParaLLEI) plays with little stuttering in few Games (especially noticeable on audio) PS1-Core (Mednafen HW/SW) nearly no stuttering on most games

ASROCK DeskMini 110 Pentium G4500 Skylake 2x3.5 Ghz (no Turbo)

DC-Core (Reicast) runs great but with very little stuttering or slowdowns in few Games Saturn-Core (Mednafen) no stuttering on most games N64-Cores (Mupen, ParaLLEI) runs great but with very little stuttering or slowdowns in very few Games PS1-Core (Mednafen HW/SW) no stuttering on most games

sorry for my worse english, but maybe it can help a bit.

#4

hello, i tested on 2 pc one laptop with Intel Pentium T4300 @2.1ghz dc-core stutter on some games saturn stutter a little on some games n64 some stutter on some games ps1 core stutter on some games psp core stutter on lot games

under windows: ps1 epsxe emulation is really good, some little stutter on some games psp ppsspp emulation stutter on some games ps2 pcsx2 emulation stutter in pratically all games

on desktop machine Intel I7 870 @3.1ghz dc-core no stutter in all games i tested saturn no stutter in all games i tested n64 no stutter in all games i tested ps1 no stutter in all games i tested psp stutter on very little games

under windows: ps1 epsxe emulation is really good, no noticeable stutter psp ppsspp emulation no noticeable stutter on WORKING games ps2 pcsx2 emulation stutter only a little on very few games (stutter can be eliminated or attenuated on some games changing settings)

i’m building another machine for a friend i will make some testings on it when it’s ready: i7 7700k @5ghz 16gb ddr4 4ghz gtx 1070oc

#5

Thanks for all your suggestions.

Normally I’m not interested in emulating systems above the PS1. Some N64 games maybe, but only a few. Now I’m on a RPi3 and it works really great so far. But that little bit of a boost can’t be too bad.

What about the PS1? For the PRi3 there is this PSX ReARMed core with dynamic recompiling enabled. Therefor all of my PS1 games just run fine. I think Mednafen does not have this feature. Will the power of a Celeron J3355 run PS1 games without problems?

#6

Have you tried overclocking the pi3? If the pi3 runs PlayStation games fine, then why do you want another computer to play PlayStation games?