5 things you need to know before buying an SBC for emulation

Retro-gaming rigs are some of the most popular projects for Single-Board Computers, and for good reason. Despite their pint-sized form-factor and (fairly) affordable prices, modern SBCs hide a lot of firepower under the hood. On the software side, you’ve got highly-optimized emulators and emulation distros, most of which are simple to set up even for beginners.

But with a huge number of SBCs flooding the market, you could end up picking the wrong device for your emulation-centric project. As an SBC fanatic, here are my tips for folks planning to build an emulation war machine with their tiny tinkering companions.

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Pi Zero boards are great at emulating retro consoles

No need to drain your wallet for emulating ancient systems

Similar to most games and apps, not all emulators require obscenely high specifications. If you’re a connoisseur of NES, GameBoy, and other old-school consoles, you don’t need a battlestation of an SBC just to enjoy retro classics. A Raspberry Pi Zero 2W, for instance, pairs well with most of the ancient consoles released by Sega, Atari, and Nintendo. For a device that costs $15, it’s a beast that can even handle light PlayStation 1 emulation.

Heck, the “Zero” boards from Orange Pi, Banana Pi, and Radxa are just as capable of running emulated titles. Thanks to their tiny form-factor and low power consumption, SBCs with the Pi Zero moniker can serve as portable gaming systems once you outfit them with a battery, some buttons, and a 3D-printed chassis.

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Each emulation distro has its pros and cons

Trial-and-error is the name of the game

The SBC landscape has plenty of emulation-centric operating systems, each rocking its own UI, emulation cores, and other unique features. Want something with a PlayStation-like interface that’s compatible with a handful of old and (relatively) modern consoles? Lakka’s got your back. Need to host a LAN/media streaming party for retro game lovers? You’ll have a blast with Recalbox.

Then there’s RetroPie, which packs more features than any other emulation distribution, though you’ll have to set aside a couple of hours to configure all its settings. Or, you could ditch every option on this list and install RetroArch on top of a pre-existing desktop OS if you don’t want to relegate a microSD card to an emulation distro. Speaking of…

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SSDs are better than microSD cards for storing ROMs

Especially when you’re emulating newer consoles

While microSD cards offer a neat way to switch between different projects, they can’t hold a candle to the blazing-fast transfer speeds of SSDs. Provided your SBC has enough specs to keep up with Wii, PS2, PS3, and other hardcore emulation workloads, a microSD card can easily bottleck your gaming setup.

As such, ditching the microSD card for an SSD can make your emulation distro more responsive and speed up the boot times of your ROMs. Many mid-range and high-end SBCs also feature dedicated PCIe slots, so you can even interface NVMe drives to your retro gaming companion.

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Powerful consoles demand higher memory for emulation

Those PS2 titles will benefit from 16GB RAM

Budget-friendly SBCs may be great for older systems, but the situation takes a drastic turn once you start climbing up the console ladder, where your 1-2GB RAM will end up holding the system back. For instance, SBCs with higher memory can deliver smooth frame rates on GameCube, Wii and PSP games.

Likewise, emulators for demanding consoles (at least, by SBC standards) like the PlayStation 2 can end up choking your memory like crazy, making 4-8GB RAM almost essential when you’re planning to build a hardcore gaming machine.

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x86 SBCs will almost always outperform Arm systems

On the performance and compatibility fronts, that is

Raspberry Pi and its rival Arm SBC families are known for their energy-efficient nature, and some of their high-end models are powerful enough to double as full-fledged PCs. However, x86 boards leave them in the dust when it comes to sheer performance. Sure, the power consumption is a tad higher on boards powered by the x86 architecture, but the smoother FPS is well worth the extra wattage.

In a similar fashion, software compatibility is another aspect where x86 boards excel, as you can access everything from emulation-centric Linux distros to retro-gaming apps on Windows 11. Having recently dealt with performance hiccups when emulating PS2 titles on the Raspberry Pi 5, I’d always choose x86 systems when emulating modern consoles.

Still, there’s only so many consoles you can emulate with SBCs

As an emulation lover, I couldn’t call this article complete if I didn’t mention the drawbacks of SBCs. Unless you’re willing to go for something as powerful as the LattePanda Sigma, you’re bound to encounter performance issues once you move to Wii and PS3 (or god forbid, PS4) emulation. Plus, mini-PCs are a lot cheaper than their SBC counterparts and possess more I/O and upgradability options, making them the better choice for power users.

Nevertheless, you’ll still find great mileage on modern SBCs, especially if you plan your emulation projects with your board’s specifications in mind. And in case all else fails, you can always go back to emulating classical gems on an inexpensive Raspberry Pi Zero 2W.

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