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PlayStation 1 · Load: light · legacy

ePSXe: what PC you need to emulate PlayStation 1

ePSXe is a PlayStation 1 emulator (2000); FPSHQ load rating: light (28/100). 1,916 of 1,965 catalogue GPUs (98%) pass the GPU minimum (score 500), and 448 of 456 CPUs pass the CPU minimum (score 1,300). The most affordable suitable GPU is Radeon RX 460.

Key figures

Unique FPSHQ metrics from this page's data

500
min GPU score
RTX 3060 = 2,900
1,300
min CPU score
98%
of catalogue GPUs pass the minimum
1,916 / 1,965
98%
of CPUs pass the minimum
448 / 456
1 / 2GB
RAM: minimum / recommended
2000
first release year

Can my PC run this emulator?

Which GPUs run ePSXe: 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 5070×12.4 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 5060 TiGeForce RTX 5060 Ti×9.8 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 3070GeForce RTX 3070×8.6 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 5060GeForce RTX 5060×8.4 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 3060 TiGeForce RTX 3060 Ti×7.6 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 4060GeForce RTX 4060×7.4 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 3060GeForce RTX 3060×5.8 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 3050GeForce RTX 3050×4.8 · 2×–3×GeForce GTX 1660 SuperGeForce GTX 1660 Super×3.7 · 2×–3×GeForce GTX 1060 6GBGeForce GTX 1060 6GB×3.0 · 2×–3×Radeon RX 580Radeon RX 580×2.6 · 2×–3×GeForce GTX 1650GeForce GTX 1650×2.2 · 2×–3×GeForce GTX 1050 TiGeForce GTX 1050 Ti×1.6 · 1×–2×GeForce GTX 1050GeForce GTX 1050×1.4 · 1×–2××1 minimum×2.2GeForce RTX 5070GeForce RTX 5070×12.4 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 5060 TiGeForce RTX 5060 Ti×9.8 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 3070GeForce RTX 3070×8.6 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 5060GeForce RTX 5060×8.4 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 3060 TiGeForce RTX 3060 Ti×7.6 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 4060GeForce RTX 4060×7.4 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 3060GeForce RTX 3060×5.8 · 2×–3×GeForce RTX 3050GeForce RTX 3050×4.8 · 2×–3×GeForce GTX 1660 SuperGeForce GTX 1660 Super×3.7 · 2×–3×GeForce GTX 1060 6GBGeForce GTX 1060 6GB×3.0 · 2×–3×Radeon RX 580Radeon RX 580×2.6 · 2×–3×GeForce GTX 1650GeForce GTX 1650×2.2 · 2×–3×GeForce GTX 1050 TiGeForce GTX 1050 Ti×1.6 · 1×–2×GeForce GTX 1050GeForce GTX 1050×1.4 · 1×–2×

Official ePSXe requirements

CPUx86 / x86-64 · 1+ cores / 2 recommended
GPUOpenGL 2.0
RAMminimum 1 GB, recommended 2 GB
Graphics APIOpenGL, Direct3D (plugins)
OSWindows, Linux, Android
LicenseFreeware (closed)
PlatformPlayStation 1 (1994)
Statuslegacy
Official siteepsxe.com

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+)

CPUs: headroom over the ePSXe minimum

CPUs that pass the ePSXe minimum

Xeon E5-2650Xeon E5-2650×1.0 · 8CCore i5-7300HQCore i5-7300HQ×1.0 · 4CXeon E5-2620 v2Xeon E5-2620 v2×1.1 · 6CCore i7-4720HQCore i7-4720HQ×1.1 · 4CRyzen 5 3500URyzen 5 3500U×1.1 · 4CCore i7-6700HQCore i7-6700HQ×1.1 · 4CCore i5-8250UCore i5-8250U×1.1 · 4CXeon E5-2640 v2Xeon E5-2640 v2×1.1 · 8CXeon E5-2640Xeon E5-2640×1.1 · 6CCore i3-2100Core i3-2100×1.1 · 2CRyzen 5 3550HRyzen 5 3550H×1.2 · 4CPentium G4400Pentium G4400×1.2 · 2C×1 minimumXeon E5-2650Xeon E5-2650×1.0 · 8CCore i5-7300HQCore i5-7300HQ×1.0 · 4CXeon E5-2620 v2Xeon E5-2620 v2×1.1 · 6CCore i7-4720HQCore i7-4720HQ×1.1 · 4CRyzen 5 3500URyzen 5 3500U×1.1 · 4CCore i7-6700HQCore i7-6700HQ×1.1 · 4CCore i5-8250UCore i5-8250U×1.1 · 4CXeon E5-2640 v2Xeon E5-2640 v2×1.1 · 8CXeon E5-2640Xeon E5-2640×1.1 · 6CCore i3-2100Core i3-2100×1.1 · 2CRyzen 5 3550HRyzen 5 3550H×1.2 · 4CPentium G4400Pentium G4400×1.2 · 2C
In short

Which GPU do I need for ePSXe?

The minimum GPU score for ePSXe is 500 (FPSHQ scale). The most affordable suitable card is Radeon RX 460; rendering at 2–3× resolution needs ×2.2 headroom — the Zotac Trinity GeForce GTX 970 level and up. The project officially requires: OpenGL 2.0.

min GPU score
500
min CPU score
1,300
of catalogue GPUs pass the minimum
98%
RAM
1–2 GB
updated · source: official ePSXe documentation, FPSHQ model estimate

Frequently asked questions

Which GPU do I need for ePSXe?
The minimum GPU score for ePSXe is 500 (FPSHQ scale). The most affordable suitable card is Radeon RX 460; rendering at 2–3× resolution needs ×2.2 headroom — the Zotac Trinity GeForce GTX 970 level and up. The project officially requires: OpenGL 2.0.
Which CPU do I need for ePSXe?
The minimum CPU score is 1,300: 448 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 ePSXe need?
Per the ePSXe 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 ePSXe support?
ePSXe runs on: Windows, Linux, Android. Graphics APIs: OpenGL, Direct3D (plugins). On Windows, Vulkan is usually faster (if your GPU supports it); on Linux it is Vulkan/OpenGL only.
Can my PC run ePSXe?
Pick your GPU and CPU in the "Can my PC run it" block above: the page compares their scores with the ePSXe minimum (GPU 500, CPU 1,300) and shows the headroom. ×1.4 or more means comfortable play at the console's native resolution.
Is ePSXe still updated?
No, ePSXe has "legacy" status: no new versions are released. Consider the active alternatives for PlayStation 1 in the "Other PlayStation 1 emulators" list above.

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 ePSXe

All graphics cards for this emulator (11)
RX 9070 XTRTX 3090 TiRX 9070RTX 5070RX 9070 GRERTX 3080RX 6900 XTRTX 5060 TiRX 6800 XTNVIDIA RTX A5000RX 7700 XT