Mini PC For Emulation And PC Shmups?

[Jorel81]

Hello,

Quick and weird question. About to pick up a Beelink Mini PC cause the one I use for work has been great as it only handles very low powered tasks.

Thinking of getting one with some more power because I'd like to do some game recording for my youtube channel, but also I'd love to get one that can run some PC shmups like Super XyX and Crisis Wing as this will be hooked up to my TV.

Was wondering if anyone out there can recommend a Beelink Mini PC that can handle that stuff comfortably without inducing the dreaded input latency?

Figured I'd give it a shot.

Thank you!

[jandrogo]

I opened almost same topic months ago:

https://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic. ... k#p1539158

I have to admit I yet have to buy a mini pc and I keep playing in a i3 3rd gen with 4gb ram.

[ldeveraux]

I have a bunch of Beelinks, very competent for emulation. Even good with Windows 11, which can honestly be a large task!

[orange808]

Just be aware that a powerful desktop and more elaborate setup will outperform your mini PC in significant ways. You will miss out on frame delay and you'll be trapped by OS driver limitations. It depends on your expectations. If you're truly concerned about latency, you need more power than a cheap rig can deliver.

IMHO, this is the new standard for emulation video output: https://github.com/psakhis/Groovy_MiSTer

You need gigabit ethernet. I feed input directly to the PC--despite the option to use MiSTer. As always, never use anything wireless for your display output when gaming. I feed a RT4K after the MiSTer.

A mini "x86/64" PC is a pleasant alternative to an ARM based emulation box. While sometimes more capable, it remains firmly in the same category as a Pi box.

I see reddit advises people that a cheap mini PC delivers a high quality experience. I disagree. I'm sure those people would argue, but that's why I don't bother with reddit or neogaf. Cheap emu boxes deliver a merely "playable" low end experience.

Is it "good enough"? That depends on your expectations. It could be. Given the option, I would rarely choose a mini PC over my desktop, Groovy MiSTer, and Tink4K chain. YMMV.

[ldeveraux]

Don't get a Mister, that won't do what you want. You want to play PC games and record video, the Beelink is perfect for that. Here are the recommended specs for Crisis Wing:
OS: Windows 10
Processor: Intel Core i5 or AMD equivalent
Memory: 4 GB RAM
DirectX: Version 11
Storage: 117 MB available space
You'll be fine with a mini Windows PC instead of a single board computer, which won't play the games you want to play.

[Bassa-Bassa]

He isn't telling him to get a Mister, though, he's saying that a Mister and a more powerful PC are the optimal gear if he's really concerned about emulation and latency. Both should be used in combination as the former acts like the graphics card for the latter - that's what Groovymister is, though it's principally aimed at CRT users. And you still can use whichever graphics card with the PC at the same time for ordinary PC gaming.

[ldeveraux]

He isn't telling him to get a Mister, though, he's saying that a Mister and a more powerful PC are the optimal gear if he's really concerned about emulation and latency. Both should be used in combination as the former acts like the graphics card for the latter - that's what Groovymister is, though it's principally aimed at CRT users. And you still can use whichever graphics card with the PC at the same time for ordinary PC gaming.

Oh I completely misunderstood. I've looked up Groovy Mister before and never understood what it was or how it was useful. So it's using the Mister as an intermediary between the PC? I guess I just don't understand why you'd bother.

[Bassa-Bassa]

He also provided a link.

https://github.com/psakhis/Groovy_MiSTe ... /Readme.md

[ldeveraux]

He also provided a link.

https://github.com/psakhis/Groovy_MiSTe ... /Readme.md

Yeah, and that still doesn't make sense to me

[Bassa-Bassa]

There's not actually a lot to it beyond this:

the former acts like the graphics card for the latter

But if you mean why the Mister being used as the GPU instead of an old ATI card serves to get the latency even lower, that's because Windows and the drivers are not a layer for the video generation anymore. Despite Calamity's unique approach to v-sync which basically got next-frame response in the old Groovymame, it was still a hack which had to deal with ATI's cards' impositions. Benefits are better seen elsewhere, I think, like truly seamless progressive-interlaced switching or automatic frame delay setting, not to mention saving you from installing a legacy graphics card. And if your question was if it's worth right now adding a Mister to your CRT-based setup just for Groovymame, the answer is hardly. Traditional Groovymame was indeed already a miracle even for the lag thing, but you do need a powerful CPU.

[Jorel81]

First of all, thank you so much for all the responses dudes.

The thing is, is I just wanted a solution to play some Steam shmups on my modern TV set up. My gaming rig and my CRT is in another room.
Ever since the Tink 4K arrived I've been using this modern set up more and more. I do have a Mister so...maybe that whole thing is the solution. In the meantime I think I am going to get a Beelink mini PC cause I wanna start recording gameplay from the TInk 4K so the world can see how awful I am at video games.

Again, thank you so much everyone who chimed in. If I have latency issues I'll try the mister pass through solution. I'll report back and let yall know how it goes.

Thank you!