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Nintendo DS · Load: light · active

DeSmuME: what PC you need to emulate Nintendo DS

DeSmuME is a Nintendo DS emulator (2007); FPSHQ load rating: light (30/100). 1,913 of 1,965 catalogue GPUs (97%) pass the GPU minimum (score 600), and 434 of 456 CPUs pass the CPU minimum (score 1,600). The most affordable suitable GPU is Zotac Trinity GeForce GTX 950.

Key figures

Unique FPSHQ metrics from this page's data

600
min GPU score
RTX 3060 = 2,900
1,600
min CPU score
97%
of catalogue GPUs pass the minimum
1,913 / 1,965
95%
of CPUs pass the minimum
434 / 456
1 / 2GB
RAM: minimum / recommended
2007
first release year

Can my PC run this emulator?

Which GPUs run DeSmuME: headroom over the minimum

GPU score ÷ the emulator's minimum score. ×1 — minimum, ×1.4 — comfortable at native resolution, ×2.2 — you can render at 2–3× resolution. Popular catalogue GPUs.

GeForce RTX 5070GeForce RTX 5070×10.3 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 5060 TiGeForce RTX 5060 Ti×8.2 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 3070GeForce RTX 3070×7.2 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 5060GeForce RTX 5060×7.0 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 3060 TiGeForce RTX 3060 Ti×6.3 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 4060GeForce RTX 4060×6.2 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 3060GeForce RTX 3060×4.8 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 3050GeForce RTX 3050×4.0 · 2×–3×GeForce GTX 1660 SuperGeForce GTX 1660 Super×3.1 · 2×–3×GeForce GTX 1060 6GBGeForce GTX 1060 6GB×2.5 · 2×–3×Radeon RX 580Radeon RX 580×2.2 · 1×–2×GeForce GTX 1650GeForce GTX 1650×1.8 · 1×–2×GeForce GTX 1050 TiGeForce GTX 1050 Ti×1.3 · 1×GeForce GTX 1050GeForce GTX 1050×1.2 · 1××1 minimum×2.2GeForce RTX 5070GeForce RTX 5070×10.3 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 5060 TiGeForce RTX 5060 Ti×8.2 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 3070GeForce RTX 3070×7.2 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 5060GeForce RTX 5060×7.0 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 3060 TiGeForce RTX 3060 Ti×6.3 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 4060GeForce RTX 4060×6.2 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 3060GeForce RTX 3060×4.8 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 3050GeForce RTX 3050×4.0 · 2×–3×GeForce GTX 1660 SuperGeForce GTX 1660 Super×3.1 · 2×–3×GeForce GTX 1060 6GBGeForce GTX 1060 6GB×2.5 · 2×–3×Radeon RX 580Radeon RX 580×2.2 · 1×–2×GeForce GTX 1650GeForce GTX 1650×1.8 · 1×–2×GeForce GTX 1050 TiGeForce GTX 1050 Ti×1.3 · 1×GeForce GTX 1050GeForce GTX 1050×1.2 · 1×

Official DeSmuME requirements

CPUx86 / x86-64 · 1+ cores / 2 recommended
GPUOpenGL 2.0
RAMminimum 1 GB, recommended 2 GB
Graphics APIOpenGL
OSWindows, Linux, macOS
LicenseGPL-2.0
PlatformNintendo DS (2004)
Statusactive
Official sitedesmume.org

Requirements come from the project's official documentation (check date below). FPSHQ scores are our synthetic performance scale used to match against the catalogue.

Suitable GPUs by tier

At the minimum (×1–1.4)

Comfortable (×1.4–2.2)

Headroom for 4K rendering (×2.2+)

  • Palit GameRock GeForce GTX 980
  • Inno3D iChill GeForce GTX 980
  • Zotac AMP Extreme GeForce GTX 980
  • Zotac Trinity GeForce GTX 1650 Super
  • Radeon RX 590
  • GeForce GTX 1650 Super
  • PNY XLR8 GeForce GTX 1650 Super
  • Palit GamingPro GeForce GTX 1650 Super
  • KFA2 EX GeForce GTX 1650 Super
  • ASUS ProArt GeForce GTX 1650 Super

CPUs: headroom over the DeSmuME minimum

CPUs that pass the DeSmuME minimum

Core i3-3220Core i3-3220×1.0 · 2CCore i3-3240Core i3-3240×1.0 · 2CFX-6300FX-6300×1.1 · 6CCore i5-10210UCore i5-10210U×1.1 · 4CFX-8320FX-8320×1.1 · 8CCore i7-7700HQCore i7-7700HQ×1.1 · 4CFX-8300FX-8300×1.1 · 8CCore i5-1035G1Core i5-1035G1×1.1 · 4CCore i3-7100TECore i3-7100TE×1.1 · 2CRyzen 7 3750HRyzen 7 3750H×1.1 · 4CAthlon 200GEAthlon 200GE×1.1 · 2CCore i5-8300HCore i5-8300H×1.2 · 4C×1 minimumCore i3-3220Core i3-3220×1.0 · 2CCore i3-3240Core i3-3240×1.0 · 2CFX-6300FX-6300×1.1 · 6CCore i5-10210UCore i5-10210U×1.1 · 4CFX-8320FX-8320×1.1 · 8CCore i7-7700HQCore i7-7700HQ×1.1 · 4CFX-8300FX-8300×1.1 · 8CCore i5-1035G1Core i5-1035G1×1.1 · 4CCore i3-7100TECore i3-7100TE×1.1 · 2CRyzen 7 3750HRyzen 7 3750H×1.1 · 4CAthlon 200GEAthlon 200GE×1.1 · 2CCore i5-8300HCore i5-8300H×1.2 · 4C
In short

Which GPU do I need for DeSmuME?

The minimum GPU score for DeSmuME is 600 (FPSHQ scale). The most affordable suitable card is Zotac Trinity GeForce GTX 950; rendering at 2–3× resolution needs ×2.2 headroom — the Palit GameRock GeForce GTX 980 level and up. The project officially requires: OpenGL 2.0.

min GPU score
600
min CPU score
1,600
of catalogue GPUs pass the minimum
97%
RAM
1–2 GB
updated · source: official DeSmuME documentation, FPSHQ model estimate

Frequently asked questions

Which GPU do I need for DeSmuME?
The minimum GPU score for DeSmuME is 600 (FPSHQ scale). The most affordable suitable card is Zotac Trinity GeForce GTX 950; rendering at 2–3× resolution needs ×2.2 headroom — the Palit GameRock GeForce GTX 980 level and up. The project officially requires: OpenGL 2.0.
Which CPU do I need for DeSmuME?
The minimum CPU score is 1,600: 434 of 456 catalogue CPUs pass it. Official requirements: x86 / x86-64 · 1+ cores / 2 recommended. Emulation depends on per-core performance rather than the core count.
How much RAM does DeSmuME need?
Per the DeSmuME documentation: minimum 1 GB, recommended 2 GB. The emulator keeps the game image and shader cache in memory, so a RAM shortage causes stutter during shader compilation.
Which operating systems does DeSmuME support?
DeSmuME runs on: Windows, Linux, macOS. Graphics APIs: OpenGL. On Windows, Vulkan is usually faster (if your GPU supports it); on Linux it is Vulkan/OpenGL only.
Can my PC run DeSmuME?
Pick your GPU and CPU in the "Can my PC run it" block above: the page compares their scores with the DeSmuME minimum (GPU 600, CPU 1,600) and shows the headroom. ×1.4 or more means comfortable play at the console's native resolution.
Is DeSmuME still updated?
Yes, DeSmuME is an active project; status last checked Oct 4, 2026. Official site: https://desmume.org/.

Methodology and sources

This page uses the FPSHQ database: the GPU and CPU catalogue with synthetic benchmark scores, official game system requirements, FPS measurements from users of the FPSHQ app and the FPSHQ performance model. Calculated values are estimates, not a measurement of your exact configuration: the real result depends on drivers, settings and the rest of the hardware. More about the methodology →

Sources:
FPSHQ Team · Data updated

All pages with DeSmuME

All graphics cards for this emulator (11)
RTX 3090 TiRX 9070RX 9070 GRERTX 3080RX 6900 XTRTX 5060 TiRX 6800 XTNVIDIA RTX A5000RX 7700 XTNVIDIA RTX 4000 AdaRTX 4060 Ti 16GB