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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
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 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 (Full Speed) | 3x (Full Speed) | 4x Full-speed | 3x (Full Speed) | 2x (Full Speed) | 4x (Mostly Full Speed) | Full Speed | Varies 15-50 FPS (Relatively payable) | Full Speed | 20-30 FPS |
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 1) | RDNA 2 | Max | 2x | 2x | 10x | 8x | Max | 8x | 5x | 4x | 2x | 2x | Full-speed | Full-speed | N/A 2) | 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/A3) | 1x | N/A4) |
Intel Core i5-4570 | Nvidia GTX 750Ti | Max | 6x | 6x | N/A5) | 5x | ? | ? | 5x | 2x | 3x | 90% (54 FPS)6) |
Intel Core i3-4350 | AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT | Max | 8x | 8x | N/A7) | Max | ? | ? | 6x | 85% (51 FPS) | 1x | 70% (42 FPS)8) |
AMD Athlon Silver 3050e9) | AMD Radeon RX Vega 3 | Max | 3x | 3x | N/A10) | 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/A11) | 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 | 4x12) | 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) 13) | 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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
1)
The Steam Deck, comparable to a Ryzen 3750H.
2)
Issue prevents the first mission from loading, runs at 8x in town
3)
Screen output cuts off due to bug. Unable to test.
4) , 8)
Any menu with an FMV playing does not render.
5) , 7) , 10) , 11)
A bug in Batocera causes framerate to only reach 30 FPS.
6)
Severe frame-drops in menus, fine once in-game.
9)
Anbernic Win600 running with no overclock, stock RAM speed and stock TDP.
12)
This may actually be lower in practice, testing level was different to other benchmarks.
13)
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.