looking for a used pc to emulate ps2 and gamecube

[hi4all]

what processor i should look for?

im mostly interested in Silent Hill series on PS2 and Resident Evil series on Gamecube. 720p is enough for me for now.

are intel nucs a good idea? it would be ideal for me

atm i see 2 offers near me under 100$, one with Intel i5-4250u, second one with Intel i3-6100U, both with 8gb ram and ssd's, but i have no idea if its enough and which one would be better.

 

[DanCalibur]

The CPUs are basically the same but the i3-6100u has better integrated graphics. It's still not very powerful though. May not be enough. Do you have a preference for a laptop?

 

[DanCalibur]

You can compare CPUs here
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleCompare.php
For emulation CPUs you should look for the highest single thread performance. For GameCube/PS2 emulation around 1500 points of single thread performance is recommended. You can do with less but the heavier games may need some tweaking.

 

[hi4all]

thank you for the site @DanCalibur

i checked the processor of my chromebook(n4500) and it looks like it has similiar score like the processors i mentioned earlier, i will enable linux container later and try out pcsx2.
i was sure it wont work since its only a low celeron and it struggles even with the dolphin emulator from play store, but maybe it wont be so bad and it will be a good reference point.

now im leaning towards newer chips, after some research on youtube i see that new gmktec nucs with n100 (score of 1900) emulate ps2/gc games quite well and they are not expensive at all for a new devices.

 

[DanCalibur]

thank you for the site @DanCalibur

i checked the processor of my chromebook(n4500) and it looks like it has similiar score like the processors i mentioned earlier, i will enable linux container later and try out pcsx2.
i was sure it wont work since its only a low celeron and it struggles even with the dolphin emulator from play store, but maybe it wont be so bad and it will be a good reference point.

now im leaning towards newer chips, after some research on youtube i see that new gmktec nucs with n100 (score of 1900) emulate ps2/gc games quite well and they are not expensive at all for a new devices.

I'm not familiar with chromeOS but I'm pretty sure the n4500 can run up to PS2, Gamecube, Dreamcast and PSP at 720p at least. In case you have a spare pendrive or external disc you can make a bootable batocera drive to test it, since it will be running on it's own OS it can squeeze every last drop of performance out of it.

 

[Krazy Kat]

check out mini pc lenovo p330 that have specs i7 8th gen, the price is under $200
buy it and install batocera on its internal ssd, it can play almost emulation including nintendo switch and some of pc game

for under $100 you can search dell optiplex 3050 it has core i3 7th gen 8gb of ram and 256 ssd
*) you can't play nintendo switch with this hardware tho

Post automatically merged: Apr 11, 2025

I'm not familiar with chromeOS but I'm pretty sure the n4500 can run up to PS2, Gamecube, Dreamcast and PSP at 720p at least. In case you have a spare pendrive or external disc you can make a bootable batocera drive to test it, since it will be running on it's own OS it can squeeze every last drop of performance out of it.

it can but is non playable a lot of stuttering you need to reduce the graphics to make it playable
i own lenovo d330 flex it convertible netbook it has intel n4020 8gb of ram and 128gb of internal storage
it lag like sh*t when i use it to play ps2 game (valkyrie profile 2 silmeria)

 

[Xeno]

Used Steam Deck?

 

[happymasksalesman happymasksalesman]

Try dolphin emulator for dolphin nd PCSX2 for ps2.

 

[DanCalibur]

check out mini pc lenovo p330 that have specs i7 8th gen, the price is under $200
buy it and install batocera on its internal ssd, it can play almost emulation including nintendo switch and some of pc game

for under $100 you can search dell optiplex 3050 it has core i3 7th gen 8gb of ram and 256 ssd
*) you can't play nintendo switch with this hardware tho

Post automatically merged: Apr 11, 2025

it can but is non playable a lot of stuttering you need to reduce the graphics to make it playable
i own lenovo d330 flex it convertible netbook it has intel n4020 8gb of ram and 128gb of internal storage
it lag like sh*t when i use it to play ps2 game (valkyrie profile 2 silmeria)

The n4020 is a bit weaker than the n4500, and that one is already below the minimum requirements. Have you tried lowering the EE cycle rate? That's sort of a last resort but it helps on weaker CPUs. Test it using Native resolution and Vulkan if you get good FPS that means your CPU is good enough then you can up the resolution to 720p and see if your GPU can handle it.

 

[hi4all]

^
I tested pcsx2 on a chromebook, its working, but as expected its not playable. Dolphin is running better, at least some games are running at full speed at x1 resolution.

Anyway, i bought a laptop from pawn shop. Lenovo Ideapad 3 with i3 1215u.
So far im very happy with it. I paid 175$ and everything is running super smoothly, most of the games i was interested in on 1080p.

Thx for the all responses guys.

 

[DanCalibur]

^
I tested pcsx2 on a chromebook, its working, but as expected its not playable. Dolphin is running better, at least some games are running at full speed at x1 resolution.

Anyway, i bought a laptop from pawn shop. Lenovo Ideapad 3 with i3 1215u.
So far im very happy with it. I paid 175$ and everything is running super smoothly, most of the games i was interested in on 1080p.

Thx for the all responses guys.

Very nice, the I3 1215u is an awesome CPU for emulation, it can run anything, even PS3, your only limitation will be the IGPU. Sega Saturn will run perfectly, the entire library of 3DS is almost certainly also playable, WiiU should be fine too, a big chunk of Switch games will also run fine and you can probably run Demon Souls at full speed on PS3. You can easily test everything on retrobat, it has an auto download emulator function, here is some useful links:
Retrobat Download
Retrobat Full Bios Pack
Have fun