Links are provided in the text to every ePSXe emulator reference used in this article
While there are many PSX emulators available today, ePSXe is one of the best emulators to date. ePSXe comes in both windows, and Linux flavors. The emulator ePSXe allows you to play your PSX games on your computer or laptop. There are some things that you need to configure before you can begin playing your PSX games, and that's where this guide comes in.First thing you need to do if you haven't done so yet is to download the ePSXe emulator and some plugins. The best plugins available for ePSXe are Pete's plugins, so go download Pete's complete ePSXe plugin set.
ePSXe windows / ePSXe Linux
Now that you have the plugins it's time to get down to business, the next thing you are going to need is the PSX bios. The Bios comes in many flavors each version of the Bios is another ripped Bios from the oldest Bios 1.x.x.x.x to the newest ones 9.x.x.x.x.x and which Bios you use doesn't really make much of a difference.
Now that you have the required files extract ePSXe into an empty folder somewhere, and extract the plugins you have downloaded into the "plugin" folder inside the ePSXe folder. Now extract your bios file into the "ePSXe/bios" folder the Bios folder is inside the folder you extracted the ePSXe emulator to.
Now run the binary, if your not familiar with the term binary it's the .EXE file ePSXe. If on your first run you get a Zlib.dll error then you will need to download the Zlib library
Now extract the Zlib library into the same folder as your ePSXe. Once you have done this you may run ePSXe again. Since this is your first time running ePSXe it will bring up a configuration screen. Don't skip this initial configuration follow the on screen wizard to setup ePSXe. Click on the "Config" button.
If you have your bios in the proper directory then the ePSXe bios selection screen will open. Select your ePSXe bios then select "Next". This next window that pops up will ask you to pick which graphics plugin you want to use. If you are using a Nvidia video card select Pete's OGL, if you are using an ATI video card select Pete's D3D, and if you are using an on board chipset like Intel, use Pete's DX6 D3D plugin. Select your plugin and click on "Next".
The next window that pops up is the audio plugin selection, I suggest using the built in plugin or Pete's audio plugin. Select your audio plugin and click "next". Now you need to setup your CD-ROM plugin if you are going to be ripping or "storing" your PSX images on your hard drive, you may want to download a CD-ROM emulator program like Alchahol 52% or Magic ISO virtual CD. Once you have selected your CD-ROM plugin you will need to configure it, so click on configure and set it to read the drive letter of your CD-ROM drive.
Now you need to configure your controller keys to do this click on "Configure" then scroll to gamepad > port 1 > pad 1 and click on it. This will bring up an image of a PSX controller, click on each keys text to change the controls to fit your liking. If you have a properly configured gamepad you may push buttons on the gamepad to assign the PSX controller functions to your game pad.
Now your all set all you have to do is click on "File" and then "Run CD-ROM" or "Run ISO". Once you have played for a bit, you may want to change your configuration for better video quality. To Change the ePSXe emulator video options, click on "Config" "Video" then click "Config" a window will pop up displaying all the possible options for your video. You can play around with the settings here to find a blend between performance and quality.
Congratulations you have completed the ePSXe setup guide and you can now play your PSX games on your PC. Depending on how fast your computer is you can even up sample the image quality, add shaders, and make your games look much better then they ever did on your old TV.
If you like this guide support it by visiting it on Associated Content.
ePSXe windows / ePSXe Linux
Now that you have the plugins it's time to get down to business, the next thing you are going to need is the PSX bios. The Bios comes in many flavors each version of the Bios is another ripped Bios from the oldest Bios 1.x.x.x.x to the newest ones 9.x.x.x.x.x and which Bios you use doesn't really make much of a difference.
Now that you have the required files extract ePSXe into an empty folder somewhere, and extract the plugins you have downloaded into the "plugin" folder inside the ePSXe folder. Now extract your bios file into the "ePSXe/bios" folder the Bios folder is inside the folder you extracted the ePSXe emulator to.
Now run the binary, if your not familiar with the term binary it's the .EXE file ePSXe. If on your first run you get a Zlib.dll error then you will need to download the Zlib library
Now extract the Zlib library into the same folder as your ePSXe. Once you have done this you may run ePSXe again. Since this is your first time running ePSXe it will bring up a configuration screen. Don't skip this initial configuration follow the on screen wizard to setup ePSXe. Click on the "Config" button.
If you have your bios in the proper directory then the ePSXe bios selection screen will open. Select your ePSXe bios then select "Next". This next window that pops up will ask you to pick which graphics plugin you want to use. If you are using a Nvidia video card select Pete's OGL, if you are using an ATI video card select Pete's D3D, and if you are using an on board chipset like Intel, use Pete's DX6 D3D plugin. Select your plugin and click on "Next".
The next window that pops up is the audio plugin selection, I suggest using the built in plugin or Pete's audio plugin. Select your audio plugin and click "next". Now you need to setup your CD-ROM plugin if you are going to be ripping or "storing" your PSX images on your hard drive, you may want to download a CD-ROM emulator program like Alchahol 52% or Magic ISO virtual CD. Once you have selected your CD-ROM plugin you will need to configure it, so click on configure and set it to read the drive letter of your CD-ROM drive.
Now you need to configure your controller keys to do this click on "Configure" then scroll to gamepad > port 1 > pad 1 and click on it. This will bring up an image of a PSX controller, click on each keys text to change the controls to fit your liking. If you have a properly configured gamepad you may push buttons on the gamepad to assign the PSX controller functions to your game pad.
Now your all set all you have to do is click on "File" and then "Run CD-ROM" or "Run ISO". Once you have played for a bit, you may want to change your configuration for better video quality. To Change the ePSXe emulator video options, click on "Config" "Video" then click "Config" a window will pop up displaying all the possible options for your video. You can play around with the settings here to find a blend between performance and quality.
Congratulations you have completed the ePSXe setup guide and you can now play your PSX games on your PC. Depending on how fast your computer is you can even up sample the image quality, add shaders, and make your games look much better then they ever did on your old TV.
If you like this guide support it by visiting it on Associated Content.
