MAME Build - PC or Raspberry Pi 3


Ian J

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Aug 27, 2010
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Looking to build a MAME / Console emulator for use on our main screen.

Been tempted to use a Raspberry Pi 3 but read that the Pi can struggle with multiple CPU games (Sega, Capcom etc)

For emulation I understand it's all about CPU power but as the Pandora has shown expert programmers will defy the critics and show what can be done with efficient coding.

Other option is an ex government / office PC from eBay, something like a dual core Dell.

Open to any feedback / opinions on what people would recommend.
 
What Capcom boards run with difficult combinations of CPUs? Since 1988 Capcom have been CPS(1,2,3) then Naomi (I don't know what they used after that but it's probably recent enough to not being a good candidate for emulation on anything). I'm not actually aware of any Capcom arcade games that predate the original CPS system, and only really the Mega Man games on NES from before that.

Sega's a bit worse at using individual general purpose CPUs for each and every purpose in their systems, and I haven't seen it running any of Segas Model boards well (3D games like Virtua Figher or Daytona USA). If your PCs can emulate those then it'd run more games than a Pi.

In terms of interfaces, Hyperspin is still probably the king, but retroarch which will run on a Pi has come a long way relatively quickly.

I'd worry about an office PC not really being built for games though, while a Pi is perfectly capable of snazzy graphics. It may be a simple matter of installing a better graphics card, but even a cheap graphics card costs pretty much what a Pi costs. A Pi will probably run quieter too.
 
Depends how far in time you want to reach.
If you want to emulate the early 3D arcades, you'll want a PC. Not sure if the Pi3 is fast enough for CPS3 as well for example.
 
I would hope the Pi 3 can emulate the CPS3 when it presumably can have a stab at emulating the Dreamcast, which uses a similar CPU clocked much faster. Historically the CPS3 was hard to emulate because of the encryption used on the game data and the BIOS, but apparently that was reverse engineered in 2007.
 
Many thanks for everyone's feedback but it looks like my MAME build will have to hold off for a short while.

My main PC is on the blink and I'm struggling to figure out what the issue is, without that running I can't even get to my MAME roms.
 
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