Upgrading PC to run a few systems full speed

[RyuHayabusa78]

Hi all, looking for a bit of advice. I've got Hyperspin set up just the way I want it. However, I'm having a few issues with certain systems not running at full speed, namely Dreamcast, Atomiswave, Gamecube and PS2. Apparently my PC isn't quite fast enough to run them at full speed. They're close but they chug at times, especially Atomiswave. I'm running an i3-6100 with 8gb  and a Radeon HD 6450 with 1gb on board ram. I'm looking to upgrade just enough to play those systems at full speed without spending a ton of cash. Would upgrading the ram make a bit of difference or should I just upgrade the video card? How much of an upgrade would be necessary? Don't want to cause any unforeseen issues with my set up. Thanks for any info.

[Bungles]

I guess it depends on what is bottle-necking for those systems.

Not sure if its possible to check your System Usage during play via task manager to see which is letting you down. With that system I would think they would run fine, however most Emulators use anywhere up to 10x the power of the base systems to run from my understanding.

 

[wesfranks]

Clock speed of 4.2GHz is usually advised for newish emulation (non-ps3/xbox360+). Reports have even the non-K version of your cpu being overclocked with the right motherboard setup. For my setup, I usually shoot for 4.4GHz overclock, then overdo the memory due to cheap cost and buy best Nvidia I can afford since I also PC game. Memory is probably OK, but not sure about the video card. One could assume that there is likely a difference in performance between a $40 dollar card released around 2011 and something more current that will break the bank.

FYI, some games lag no matter what. The 10x number Bungles mentioned for emulation is no joke. 

[RyuHayabusa78]

15 hours ago, wesfranks said:

Clock speed of 4.2GHz is usually advised for newish emulation (non-ps3/xbox360+). Reports have even the non-K version of your cpu being overclocked with the right motherboard setup. For my setup, I usually shoot for 4.4GHz overclock, then overdo the memory due to cheap cost and buy best Nvidia I can afford since I also PC game. Memory is probably OK, but not sure about the video card. One could assume that there is likely a difference in performance between a $40 dollar card released around 2011 and something more current that will break the bank.

FYI, some games lag no matter what. The 10x number Bungles mentioned for emulation is no joke. 

One of the things I was wondering about was whether or not upgrading the video card would help that much. I know MAME performance is based largely on the CPU and not the video card so I was wondering if Demul and Dolphin were like that too.