Gaming PC or Steam Machine — Emulation

[Machiavellian]

Zippy6 said:

Pemalite said:

Build a PC. Don't skimp on the CPU and motherboard.

The Ryzen 9800X3D is probably the best bang for buck at the moment for a good all-round Emulation beast that should last the mile.

"My main purpose in purchasing is to emulate games from retro systems at the highest settings reasonable."

You always seem to recommend everyone gets way overkill for what they need. xD.

The vast majority aren't looking to spend almost $500 on just the CPU.

You actually do not know if its overkill until the person gives you a fuller detail on their budget and how long they expect to use this system for and also for the other thing outside of emulation that it also could be used for. Why skimp if you have the funds to future proof for a much longer time now than getting something that barely does the job only to be disappointed later when something comes out and it runs subpar on your system.  You are either in a budget mindset or you are in a future proof mindset so its best to know all options not just the option that is ok for today.