choose_a_desktop_computer [Batocera.linux - Wiki] (2024)

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A note about minimum PC requirements

Making a list of minimum requirements is really difficult for something like Batocera as it ultimately depends on how high a system you want to emulate. In a way, the minimum requirements are the minimum requires of the emulator you want to run. With that said, here are the bare minimum requirements needed to enjoy a smoothly scrolling menu and basic gameplay on desktop computers (in order of importance):

Minimum Recommended
1GB of RAM 2GB of RAM, higher depending on desired system
Graphics supported by nouveau/mesa A supported GTX/RX/HD series graphics card
A 640×480 screen At least the resolution of the desired system
A 32-bit x86 processor A 64-bit x86_64 processor

Note that for desktop PCs with genuinely close to 2GB of RAM, it's probably old enough that motherboard/CPU will likely only be capable of running older versions of Batocera. Benchmarks are available below.

x86 desktop computers

64-bit PC

Pretty much every “computer” after 2010. These may also be referred to as x86_64.

There are a small group of 2-in-1 Intel computer tablets manufactured around 2012-2015 that use a 64-bit CPU on a locked-down 32-bit UEFI bootloader, only allowing 32-bit operating systems to boot (yeah). There is no (yet) known way to check for this, aside from reading the support documents. This doesn't apply to the massive majority of computers anyway. Read more here.

There are also a few handheld PCs on the market. Notable ones include the Aya Neo, the OneNetbook OneXPlayer and the Valve SteamDeck. Some of these devices might need specific setups to run Batocera. You'll find more information on this page.

The component that will usually make or break these systems is its graphics card. In case your graphics card is not supported, the system will be very slow and unplayable. Most GPUs are supported - even integrated GPUs on modern Intel CPUs give decent results. Older integrated Intel and AMD graphics processors are more compatible, and don't need these specific drivers to function correctly (they'll usually not have a lot of performance compared to discrete GPUs though, but for retro-gaming this is a non-issue).

If you have to choose a new GPU, recent Nvidia GTX and AMD Radeon RX cards are supported well in the main Batocera image, and usually give very good results. A combination of an Intel i5 4xxx CPU + Nvidia GT1030 GPU will support all emulators up to the PS2 for a reasonable cost.

Required Accessories

  • A storage medium (hard-drive, SSD, USB, anything that the motherboard can boot from)

  • Keyboard and mouse (for standalone emulator configuration/light gun games, most emulators can be configured with just a controller though)

  • Display and speakers

Performance

The sky's the limit! Virtually no limitation choose_a_desktop_computer [Batocera.linux - Wiki] (2)

However, depending on your hardware (mostly CPU and GPU), the performance of the emulators can vary significantly. For some of them, if your hardware is powerful enough, you can even use upscaling to improve the rendering beyond what the original consoles were capable of. Having a powerful CPU/GPU helps for the more intensive emulators (PS2, PS3, Wii, WiiU, 3DS, etc.). Some comparative data can be found below.

32-bit PC

Pretty old (pre-2010) computers, Batocera is all about giving new life to old technology! May also include some more recent “ultra thin/portable” netbooks (not likely, though). You can typically discover if your machine is 32 or 64-bit by researching the name of the CPU it uses. May also be referred to as x86 (without a 64 at the end). Being 32-bit, some of the newer 64-bit emulators will not work. If you have the option, try and get a 64-bit PC instead.

There are a small group of 2-in-1 Intel computer tablets manufactured around 2012-2015 that use a 64-bit CPU on a locked-down 32-bit UEFI bootloader, only allowing 32-bit operating systems to boot (yeah). There is no (yet) known way to check for this, aside from reading the support documents. This doesn't apply to the massive majority of computers anyway. Read more here.

The component that will usually make or break these systems is its graphics card. In case your graphics card is not supported, the system will be very slow and unplayable. Most GPUs are supported - even integrated GPUs on modern Intel CPUs give decent results.

Exceptionally old Nvidia GPUs (such as ones you might find paired with a 32-bit CPU) may need to use an older version of Batocera. Batocera 5.26 (direct image link) was the last 32-bit version to feature the legacy Nvidia drivers, the more recent legacy build is 64-bit only. It's worth testing if your 32-bit computer can work with the latest 32-bit build of Batocera first, performance with the default open-source drivers may be perfectly acceptable. Support cannot be provided for older versions of Batocera, as it may have major bugs.

Older Intel and AMD integrated graphics cards are more compatible, and don't need these specific drivers to function correctly (they'll usually not have a lot of performance compared to discrete GPUs though, but for retro-gaming this is a non-issue).

If you have to choose a new GPU, recent Nvidia GTX and AMD Radeon RX cards are supported well in the main Batocera image, and usually give very good results. Just make sure your chosen GPU is compatible with your given motherboard (old ones may have a limited PCI slot length or require a “micro” form-factor GPU to fit in the case).

Required Accessories

  • A storage medium (hard-drive, SSD, USB, anything that the motherboard can boot from)

  • Keyboard and mouse (for standalone emulator configuration/light gun games, most emulators can be configured with just a controller though)

  • Display and speakers

Performance

Pretty variable, but by virtue of being 32-bit the hardware used will be a bit older and you will be locked out of the few 64-bit emulators (mainly 6th gen and above). Benchmarks below.

Benchmarks

These tables give you an idea of the performance you can expect with several PC configurations, with the Batocera release they've been tested with.

In order to give more meaning to the table (as most x86 PCs can run most systems beyond full speed), we've appended additional information about the emulator's upscaling capabilities if it ran at full-speed. Here is the list of possible results:

  • 0 = did not run full-speed

  • #% = The average speed of emulation, where # is a number

  • Full-speed = Full-speed for emulators that don't support upscaling

  • x1 = Full-speed at native resolution

  • x2 = Full-speed at x2 upscaled resolution

  • x3 = Full-speed at x3 upscaled resolution and so on until…

  • Max = The highest upscaling setting available to the emulator at the time

  • N/A = Not applicable, the benchmark could not be completed for one reason or another (usually explained in a footnote)

  • ? = The title was not tested

All systems that did not run at full speed will either have a 0 or the average FPS (if that data was available at the time).

If you'd like more information about the comparative performance of X CPU versus Y CPU, you can look up their benchmarking scores on websites such as Passmark, Geekbench and the CPU section on the community-driven comparison site Userbenchmark. You may need to switch between single CPU and multi CPU to find the model you're after! For GPUs, you can instead look up the 3DMark results, as that puts both the CPU and the GPU to the test, or the GPU section on the community-driven comparison site Userbenchmark for direct graphics cards comparisons. For really old cards, like back in the wild-west of graphics cards before everything got standardized, you can check out VGA Legacy MKIII, just note that Batocera does not support the majority of these cards.

If a particular CPU or graphics card is performing out of the ordinary for that card it will be noted with a footnote. This will pretty much only apply to laptops, which tend to have underclocked cycles or less execution units (both resulting in lower performance).

By default Batocera will use the open-source Nouvaeu drivers for Nvidia GPUs. While these are compatible with more Nvidia cards (especially older ones), they perform quite poorly compared to the official Nvidia drivers. To activate the official Nvidia drivers, enable them in the boot config.

If you'd like to create your own benchmark for Batocera to put here, check out the benchmarking for Batocera guide page!

Batocera v39

CPU GPU Low-end PSP (Hatsune Miku - Project DIVA) High-end PSP (Midnight Club: L.A. Remix) Low-end Dreamcast (MvC2) High-end Dreamcast (Sega Rally 2) High-end GameCube/Wii (Auto Modellista) High-end Saturn (Sega Rally Championship) Low-end PS2 (Sonic Riders) High-end PS2 (God of War) Low-end Xbox (Jet Set Radio Future) High-end Xbox (Burnout 3: Takedown) Low-end PS3 (Hard Corps: Uprising) High-end PS3 (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven)
Intel N97 (performance-tuned BIOS) Intel UHD Graphics 24EUs (Alder Lake-N) Max 50% (30 FPS) 5x 1.25x 3x Full-speed 4x 2.5x 2x N/A1) Full-speed N/A2)
Intel N97 (power saving BIOS) Intel UHD Graphics 24EUs (Alder Lake-N) Max 50% (30 FPS) 4x 4x 3x Full-speed 3.5x 92% (55 FPS) 2x N/A3) Full-speed N/A4)

Batocera v38

CPU GPU High-end PSP
(God of War Chains of Olympus)
High-end GameCube/Wii
(FZero GX)
High-end Saturn
(Panzer Dragoon)
High-end PS2
(God of War)
High-end XBox
(Burnout 3 Takedown)
High-end 3DS
(Pokemon Sun)
Low/Mid-end PS3
(Ducktales Remaster)
(Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate)
High-end PS3
(God of War 3)
Low/Mid-end WiiU
(New Super Mario Bros U)
(Zelda Wind Waker/Twilight Princess)
High-end WiiU
(Zelda Breath of the Wild)
Beelink SER5 MAX
Ryzen 7 5800H
Integrated Radeon
(3GB VRAM)
4x 3x 4x 3x 2x 3x Full-speed 25%-83% (15-50 FPS)5) Full Speed 33%-50% (20-30 FPS)
CPU GPU High-end PSP
(God of War Chains of Olympus PSP)
High-end NDS
Solatorobo: Red the Hunter NDS
High-end N64
Perfect Dark
High-end 3DS
(Kid Icarus: Uprising)
High-end Gamecube
(F-Zero GX)
High-end Xbox
(Burnout 3: Takedown)
Intel i7 6700 Nvidia 1030 5x6) Full-speed 6x 1x 2x 2x

Batocera v37

CPU GPU Low-end PSP (Hatsune Miku - Project DIVA) High-end PSP (Midnight Club: L.A. Remix) Low-end Dreamcast (MvC2) High-end Dreamcast (Sega Rally 2) High-end GameCube/Wii (Auto Modellista) High-end Saturn (Sega Rally Championship) Low-end PS2 (Sonic Riders) High-end PS2 (God of War) Low-end Xbox (Jet Set Radio Future)
Intel N100 Intel UHD Graphics Xe 24EUs 750MHz Max 5x 4x 4x 2x Full-speed 2.25x 1.75x 2x
Intel Core i5-12500T Intel UHD Graphics 770 Max 7x 4x 6x 4x Full-speed 4x 2x 3x
Intel Core i3-8109U Intel Iris Plus 655 ? ? ? ? 4x ? ? 2x ?
CPU GPU High-end N64 (Goldeneye 007) Low-end NDS (Tetris DS) High-end NDS (Pokemon Diamond) Low-end PSP (Hatsune Miki - Project DIVA) High-end PSP (God of War: Chains of Olympus) Low-end Dreamcast/Naomi (Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes) High-end Dreamcast/Naomi (Sega Rally 2) Low-end GameCube (Mario Kart Double Dash) High-end GameCube (Super Smash Bros. Melee) Low-end 3DS (Super Mario 3D Land) High-end 3DS (Pokémon Moon) High-end Saturn (Panzer Dragoon) High-end Wii U (Breath of the Wild) Low-end PS2 (Monster Hunter) High-end PS2 (Shadow of the Colossus) Low-end PS3 (Demon's Souls/Hatsune Miku Project DIVA F) High-end PS3 (Red Dead Redemption)
Custom AMD Aerith APU Zen 2 7) RDNA 2 Max 2x 2x 10x 8x Max 8x 5x 4x 2x 2x Full-speed Full-speed N/A 8) 2x Max 12% (5/60FPS)

Batocera v35

CPU GPU Low-end PSP (Hatsune Miku - Project DIVA) High-end PSP (Midnight Club: L.A. Remix) Low-end Dreamcast (MvC2) High-end Dreamcast (Sega Rally 2) High-end GameCube/Wii (Auto Modellista) Low-end Saturn (Saturn Bomberman) High-end Saturn (Sega Rally Championship) Low-end PS2 (Sonic Riders) High-end PS2 (God of War) Low-end Xbox (Jet Set Radio Future) High-end Xbox (Burnout 3: Takedown)
Intel Core i5-4570 Intel® HD Graphics 4600 8x 2x 3x 2.6x 2x ? ? 2x N/A9) 1x N/A10)
Intel Core i5-4570 Nvidia GTX 750Ti Max 6x 6x N/A11) 5x ? ? 5x 2x 3x 90% (54 FPS)12)
Intel Core i3-4350 AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT Max 8x 8x N/A13) Max ? ? 6x 85% (51 FPS) 1x 70% (42 FPS)14)
AMD Athlon Silver 3050e15) AMD Radeon RX Vega 3 Max 3x 3x N/A16) 2x Full-speed 78% (47 FPS) 2x 58% (35 FPS) 1x 50% (30 FPS)
Intel Core i5-4670 AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT Max 8x 10x N/A17) Max Full-speed Full-speed 6x 2x 1x 75% (45 FPS)

Batocera v33

CPU GPU High-end N64 (Goldeneye 007) High-end PSP (Midnight Club: L.A. Remix) Low-end Dreamcast (MvC2) High-end Dreamcast (Sega Rally 2) High-end GameCube/Wii (Auto Modellista) Low-end PS2 (Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity) High-end PS2 (God of War) Low-end Xbox (Jet Set Radio Future) High-end Xbox (Burnout 3: Takedown)
Intel Core i3-4350 Nvidia GTX 750 Ti Full-speed Max Full-speed 66.7% (40FPS) 5x 2x 1x 4x18) 66.7% (40FPS)
CPU GPU N64 Low-end GameCube/Wii (Mario Kart: Double Dash) High-end GameCube/Wii (Auto Modellista) High-end GameCube/Wii (Super Smash Bros. Melee) Low-end PS2 (Kingdom Hearts) High-end PS2 (God of War)
Intel Core i7-4790K Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti Full-speed 8x 7x 5x 8x 3x

Batocera v32

CPU GPU Low-end GameCube (Mario Kart Double Dash) High-end PSP (God of War: Ghost of Sparta) PS2 (God of War)
Intel i5-2415M (Mac Mini 2011) Intel HD 3000 1x 0 0

Batocera v31

CPU GPU Low-end Dreamcast (Soul Caliber) High-end Dreamcast (MK Gold) PSX Low-end N64 (Banjo-Kazooie) High-end N64 (Goldeneye 007) High-end PSP (God of War: Chains of Olympus)
Intel Celeron N2830 Intel HD Graphics (Bay Trail) 19) 1x 0 Full-speed 1x 0 0

Batocera 5.25

CPU GPU DOS (PCPlayer Benchmark) Low-end GameCube (Mario Kart Double Dash) 3DS (Super Mario 3D Land), Libretro/Citra High-end PSP (God of War: Chains of Olympus) PS2 (God of War)
Intel Celeron N3450 Intel HD Graphics 500 20.5 0 0 1x 0
Intel Pentium 4405U Intel HD Graphics 510 30.9 2x 2x 2x 0
Intel Core i5-4250U Intel HD Graphics 5000 32.9 2x 2x 2x 0
Intel Core i3-4130T Intel HD Graphics 4400 39.9 1x 2x 2x 0
AMD Athlon 3000G AMD Radeon Vega 3 44.4 3x 1x 3x 0
Intel Core i3-8109U Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655 49 4x 4x 4x 0

Source: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vSdHiY7S_vsfAnxYBpzxYXy3Civ_eT19xXLsGAXC5r2nGIopE4imbYDPFCHyGStuW12Ktaxu5za4mii/pub

Batocera 5.24

CPU GPU DOS (PCPlayer Benchmark) Low-end GameCube (Mario Kart Double Dash) 3DS (Super Mario 3D Land), Libretro/Citra High-end PSP (God of War: Chains of Olympus) PS2 (God of War)
Intel Core i5-4440 Intel HD Graphics 4600 44.9 1x 2x 2x 0
Intel Core i5-4440 NVIDIA GTX 1050 44.2 7x 0 8x 2x
Intel Pentium G4500 Intel HD Graphics 530 52.8 2x 3x 4x 0
Intel Core i3-8109U Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655 49 3x 4x 4x 0
Intel Core i3-4360 Intel HD Graphics 4600 48.6 1x 2x 2x 0
Intel Core i3-4360 NVIDIA GTX 1050 48.9 6x 0 8x 2x
Intel Pentium G3220 AMD Radeon RX 550 40.7 6x 5x 9x 2x

Source: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vTQ-_vBM4RwW4x6Ctj4dFZFAX45JoUqPs1AXG1yjiGPqOWm2vTB2BapeBjN5TyH2mMGf6xte0_y4ks2/pub

Batocera 5.23

CPU GPU DOS (PCPlayer Benchmark) Low-end GameCube (Mario Kart Double Dash) 3DS (Super Mario 3D Land), Libretro/Citra High-end PSP (God of War: Chains of Olympus) PS2 (God of War)
Intel Core i5-4440 Intel HD Graphics 4600 47.9 1x Full-speed 2x 0
Intel Core i5-4440 NVIDIA GTX 1050 46.2 7x Full-speed 8x 1x
Intel Pentium G4500 Intel HD Graphics 530 55.8 2x Full-speed 4x 0
Intel Core i3-8109U Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655 51.4 3x Full-speed 5x 0

Source: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQNX3998uWkXajZ-axD6dxhqcNAGu7WSshye04QASkiutt1LXIbwg9acAf7R7XiDItvr8vis7JqjZ1Y/pub

Batocera 5.21

CPU GPU DOS (PCPlayer Benchmark) Low-end GameCube (Mario Kart Double Dash) 3DS (Super Mario 3D Land), Libretro/Citra PSP (Gran Turismo) PS2 (Bloody Roar 4)
Intel Celeron 1037U Intel HD Graphics 2500 23.6 1x 0 2x 0
Intel Pentium B960 Intel HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge) 27.5 1x 0 2x 0
Intel Celeron G1610T Intel HD Graphics 2500 30 1x 1x 2x 0
Intel Core m7-6Y75 Intel HD Graphics 515 34.9 1x 1x 2x 0
Intel Celeron G1610 Intel HD Graphics 2500 33.7 1x 1x 2x 0
Intel Core i5-3427U Intel HD Graphics 4000 34.5 1x 1x 2x 0
Intel Core i5-4250U Intel HD Graphics 5000 32.6 1x 2x 3x 0
Intel Core i5-6200U Intel HD Graphics 520 41 2x 3x 5x 1x
Intel Pentium G3220 Intel HD Graphics (Haswell) 42.3 1x 2x 3x 1x
Intel Pentium G4500 Intel HD Graphics 530 53.9 2x 3x 5x 1x
Intel Core i7-4770T Intel HD Graphics 4600 48.2 2x 3x 4x 1x
Intel Core i3-8109U Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655 49.6 3x 4x 8x 1x
Intel Xeon E3-1246 v3 Intel HD Graphics P4600 54.7 2x 3x 4x 1x
Intel Core i7-4790 Intel HD Graphics 4600 56.6 2x 3x 4x 1x
Intel Core i7-4790 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 51.9 6x 0 10x 5x

Source https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQKnVvgY9qUKveAU8JRQeJkl6NsLuTOT9JiX-MMfKhf1KyFV4GbhzQhteU2cIXy4aaUu3QjAwhKDRBt/pub

1) , 3) , 10) , 14)

Any menu with an FMV playing does not render.

2) , 4)

Crashes

5)

Framerate greatly fluctuates

6)

Occasionally dips to 50 FPS

7)

The Steam Deck, comparable to a Ryzen 3750H.

8)

Issue prevents the first mission from loading, runs at 8x in town

9)

Screen output cuts off due to bug. Unable to test.

11) , 13) , 16) , 17)

A bug in Batocera causes framerate to only reach 30 FPS.

12)

Severe frame-drops in menus, fine once in-game.

15)

Anbernic Win600 running with no overclock, stock RAM speed and stock TDP.

18)

This may actually be lower in practice, testing level was different to other benchmarks.

19)

The Intel HD Graphics for Intel Atom Processor Z3700 Series iGPU in this laptop runs with only four execution units and is underclocked to 750 MHz (compared to 896 MHz), making it perform worse compared to other Intel HD Graphics (Ivy Lake) iGPUs.

choose_a_desktop_computer [Batocera.linux - Wiki] (2024)

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