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Do emulators work best on PPC Macs?

faroZ06

faroZ06

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Apr 3, 2009
3,387
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I know that many gaming systems use PPC processors, but a lot of them are IBM PPC, not Motorola. Are PPC Macs good with emulating the GameCube and N64? Even on a fast Intel processor, emulators sometimes lag.

The GameCube and Wii both have slow processors, under 1GHz. It's annoying that my 2.8GHz Mac Pro can't play Super Smash Bros Melee at full framerate all the time.
 
Intell

Intell

macrumors P6
Jan 24, 2010
18,955
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Inside
The N64 is not a PowerPC processor. The GameCube and Wii are closely related to the G3 series. If your Mac Pro cannot play a Melee at the full framerate, you should switch to a different emulator or get a better GPU. All that's really needed is a Core2Duo at about 2Ghz with a good GPU.

In theory a very good GameCube, Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 emulator could be built and run on G4 and G5 systems with a CoreImage/DirectX 9 capable GPU. Nothing that runs well enough to be more than a proof of concept has ever been made or is likely to ever be made.
 
faroZ06

faroZ06

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Apr 3, 2009
3,387
1
Intell said:
The N64 is not a PowerPC processor. The GameCube and Wii are closely related to the G3 series. If your Mac Pro cannot play a Melee at the full framerate, you should switch to a different emulator or get a better GPU. All that's really needed is a Core2Duo at about 2Ghz with a good GPU.

In theory a very good GameCube, Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 emulator could be built and run on G4 and G5 systems with a CoreImage/DirectX 9 capable GPU. Nothing that runs well enough to be more than a proof of concept has ever been made or is likely to ever be made.
Click to expand...

Oops, my mistake about the N64. I also found out that the GC/Wii emulators are Intel only, so it's pretty useless to consider this :(
 
O

orestes1984

macrumors 65816
Jun 10, 2005
1,000
4
Australia
Intell said:
The N64 is
Click to expand...

Basically an SGI Indy it's MIPS based not PPC, if you wanted to put an OS that worked on the N64DD, it would be Irix, if you could get yourself a programmable disk cartridge... Some Japanese N64 with the Disk Drive came with a specialised OS that could connect to Nintendo's network in Japan and the broader internet although this is a curiosity that was Japan specific. At the time SGI offered the best 3D hardware money could buy. The Gamecube is closely related to the G3, and the Xbox360/PS3 are one generation ahead of the G5.
 
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