MiSTer vs Original XBOX emulation

[Captain FPGA]

Figured since the OG XBOX was the first emulation device I used for my television I would like to compare and contrast strengths and weaknesses of both machines.

I feel as though the Mister outclasses XBOX in accuracy, especially on key cores like the NES and PC Engine. While the OG XBOX runs this stuff decent in general, I noticed the load times between Final Burn Legends/Alpha vs the load times for the Mister arcade cores are way faster on the latter system. I remember trying SVC Chaos & RB2 on my XBOX FBL and remember it took a few minutes to load whereas the Mister it was literal seconds! That's huge for me that means I can look forward to playing Garou and KOF 2003 without significant wait times on the Mister, unlike the XBOX.

Although the power level of the DE10 Nano feels like it's at a disadvantage when it comes to just plain running high-end games and making sure they they work. For instance while the Mister kicks major ass on running games like Doom. It struggles with Duke Nukem and MK Trilogy (the latter game won't work) whereas the XBOX runs these games without issue. Now there's probably other variables such as input lag and certain emulation errors but it does the basic job of playing the damn thing.

That said I'll prefer my Mister overall. But if you don't own a Pi-4 or any jailbroken consoles from the last 2 gens. The OG XBOX is the a great alternative!

[rcade]

I still use my XBOX on occasion as well. Being able to sit on the couch with one compatible controller and play all those emulators has never been surpassed by RetroPie, etc.

I will say I have recently tried EMUELEC on a Amlogic-based TV box and they are really, really close. This works well and has the advantage of HD resolutions and filters you don't have on XBOX. Plus it's a lot quieter and takes less power!

But... for accuracy and just plain fooling you into thinking you have original console hooked to a Trinitron, the MiSTer wins no problem.

[WILL1384]

I have both the MiSTer FPGA and the first Xbox, I like the Xbox a lot and have most if not all the emulators installed on it, but I only use the Xbox for Xbox games, I also have a Nintendo Wii just for Wii games and have most of the emulators available installed on the Wii, but I don't use the emulators on the Wii, for emulation I only use the MiSTer FPGA and one of my desktop computers, I also have the ao486 core installed on my MiSTer FPGA but I use a real and very old computer for the DOS games, sadly so far DOS is still better on real hardware, but I have not tried the computer emulator PCEM yet, so maybe that's an option.

For me it seems like a desktop computer just has more horse power, options and possibilities when it comes to emulation, and the MiSTer FPGA has perfect emulation for most things that it can run except stuff like the ao486 core, so I don't use anything else.

BTW if you have one of the first Xboxes you might want to make sure it's capacitor is not leaking and eating up the Xboxes motherboard, the "Clock Capacitor" leaks on all of them except last Xboxes made, I from what I remember only the v1.6 Xboxes are safe.

[Captain FPGA]

I have both the MiSTer FPGA and the first Xbox, I like the Xbox a lot and have most if not all the emulators installed on it, but I only use the Xbox for Xbox games, I also have a Nintendo Wii just for Wii games and have most of the emulators available installed on the Wii, but I don't use the emulators on the Wii, for emulation I only use the MiSTer FPGA and one of my desktop computers, I also have the ao486 core installed on my MiSTer FPGA but I use a real and very old computer for the DOS games, sadly so far DOS is still better on real hardware, but I have not tried the computer emulator PCEM yet, so maybe that's an option.

For me it seems like a desktop computer just has more horse power, options and possibilities when it comes to emulation, and the MiSTer FPGA has perfect emulation for most things that it can run except stuff like the ao486 core, so I don't use anything else.

BTW if you have one of the first Xboxes you might want to make sure it's capacitor is not leaking and eating up the Xboxes motherboard, the "Clock Capacitor" leaks on all of them except last Xboxes made, I from what I remember only the v1.6 Xboxes are safe.

Does it require soldering and/or desoldering? A skill I don't have.

If it simply involves opening the system and ripping something out, that I CAN do.

[akeley]

OG Xbox was good for its time, but I'm pretty sure latest RPi/Retropie is faster and more up to date (and obviously, MiSTer). It can play original Xbox games though, so there's that.

For CRT users, Wii is also a very strong contender as an emulation box, since it connects via RGB without any add-ons. It's only let down by poor MAME (but it's still worth having for native Wii, and 1:1 Gamecube).

[WILL1384]

Does it require soldering and/or desoldering? A skill I don't have.

If it simply involves opening the system and ripping something out, that I CAN do.

Yea, you can rock the bad capacitor back and forth until it falls off, but you will also need to clean around it with something like alcohol, and let it dry for some time, when that capacitor leaks it can affect a pretty large area and sometimes even the underside of the Xbox motherboard, that capacitor is what helps the Xbox keep time and with it removed I seem to remember that you need to have your Xbox modded in some way, ether soft or hard mod.

The V1.6 Xbox "should" be safe, it uses a different type of capacitor for the clock capacitor.

This is one of the kinds of things that internet tutorials are good for, have a look over here:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_ ... or+removal

[Captain FPGA]

Does it require soldering and/or desoldering? A skill I don't have.

If it simply involves opening the system and ripping something out, that I CAN do.

Yea, you can rock the bad capacitor back and forth until it falls off, but you will also need to clean around it with something like alcohol, and let it dry for some time, when that capacitor leaks it can affect a pretty large area and sometimes even the underside of the Xbox motherboard, that capacitor is what helps the Xbox keep time and with it removed I seem to remember that you need to have your Xbox modded in some way, ether soft or hard mod.

The V1.6 Xbox "should" be safe, it uses a different type of capacitor for the clock capacitor.

This is one of the kinds of things that internet tutorials are good for, have a look over here:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_ ... or+removal

This is helpful, I'll deal with this issue before I boot up the XBOX.