Hardware Right now (2018) which one is the best value Pi alternative for emulators?

[netovsk]

Been thinking on getting one but in a bit of a hang, Asus one seems the best but it's expensive doesn't have built-in storage space and might be overkill.

What do you guys think? Really appreciate the input and your expertise on the matter, might be a reference to me and a lot of people making this decision.

Sorry if this has been asked before, couldn't find a topic regarding the matter.

 

[souler92]

i believe it will still be the raspberry as its community is bigger compared to the others

 

[Deleted User]

If you have an old computer or laptop lying around, it may be better to just use that. My old laptop from about 10 years ago plays everything up to the PSP just fine.

There's also the added bonus of being able to play some of your less-demanding Steam games, if you're into that sort of thing.

 

[Uiaad]

The Raspberry Pi 3B+ is probably your best bet. I managed to win the silicon lottery when it comes to my original Pi 3 as it overclocked nicely to the 1.4Ghz ( the stock speed of the 3B+)

From personal experience the Pine64 is a joke of a SBC.

 

[netovsk]

Thanks for the input guys, just ordered a Raspberry Pi 3B bundle.

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If you have an old computer or laptop lying around, it may be better to just use that. My old laptop from about 10 years ago plays everything up to the PSP just fine.

There's also the added bonus of being able to play some of your less-demanding Steam games, if you're into that sort of thing.

I intend using it on an unattended TV for retropie and kodi. The small-form factor and the very low power consumption are key in choosing a pi over a computer.

 

[ScarletDreamz]

Just for a future reference:

 

[MasterControl90]

The odroid xu4 seems to be a common alternative to raspberry pi, not only because of its horsepower but also because it has decent software support (compared to other alternatives) and it is a way better platform for Nas/server applications (usb3.0 and gigabit LAN)

 

[The Catboy]

Personally I suggest the Raspberry Pi 3B+, but that's mostly because of it's massive community and support. There are several with better horsepower, but nowhere near the level of community support as Raspberry Pi products.

 

[MasterControl90]

Personally I suggest the Raspberry Pi 3B+, but that's mostly because of it's massive community and support. There are several with better horsepower, but nowhere near the level of community support as Raspberry Pi products.

Super true, although odroid and especially friendlyArm/Elec products are excellent and armbian supported. For example I see no reason to buy a pi to build an little home server when friendlyArm has a 20 dollar headless board which is also armbian supported, has proper usb ports and gigabit ethernet and you can also spend a little more for a proper aluminium enclosure with sata and power for an HDD... The same can be said for the odroid xu4 although it is in a different league (and price).

 

[The Catboy]

Super true, although odroid and especially friendlyArm/Elec products are excellent and armbian supported. For example I see no reason to buy a pi to build an little home server when friendlyArm has a 20 dollar headless board which is also armbian supported, has proper usb ports and gigabit ethernet and you can also spend a little more for a proper aluminium enclosure with sata and power for an HDD... The same can be said for the odroid xu4 although it is in a different league (and price).

But what about emulation? There are a lot of boards with more power than the Pi, but do they have at least comparable levels of enthusiasm towards emulation as the Pi. I am actually interested in this myself since I plan on buying more single-board computers

 

[RedBlueGreen]

Depends on your budget probably. The ODROID XU4 looks really promising for $60. I'm sure it'll be a lot better than the Pi, but I doubt it will be as easy to set up.

 

[MasterControl90]

Depends on your budget probably. The ODROID XU4 looks really promising for $60. I'm sure it'll be a lot better than the Pi, but I doubt it will be as easy to set up.

It is as easy as burn an SD card with a dedicated distro like lakka (which is available for many other boards too)
http://www.lakka.tv
Also there are other distro for the xu4, including retropie

Edit: it looks like it has enough horsepower to emulate Dreamcast with very little frame skip

 

[Foxi4]

@Lilith Valentine is exactly right. You have to look at both the spec and the community, so the latest high-end Pi is the most reasonable choice.