Why This Matters
MartyPC is a hobbyist-built emulator that achieves rare cycle-accurate emulation of the Intel 8088 CPU used in early IBM PCs, validated against real hardware. This level of fidelity matters for retro developers and preservationists who need exact timing behavior for debugging vintage software, filling a niche that mainstream emulators don't prioritize.
Key Takeaways
- MartyPC emulates early IBM PC/XT systems with cycle-accurate 8088 CPU emulation, validated against real hardware using an Arduino-based testing rig.
- It targets retro PC developers with debugging and logging tools rather than casual users, requiring config file familiarity to set up.
- Built from scratch in Rust as a learning project starting in 2022, it has grown into a serious tool with ongoing accuracy improvements like prefetch queue emulation.
MartyPC is an emulator of early IBM PCs and compatibles. It supports Windows, Linux and macOS.
User Guide
Click here to access the MartyPC User Guide
Downloading MartyPC
Builds are available through periodic releases. Newer, automatic builds are available via the Actions tab under the Artifacts for each workflow run. (You will need to be logged in to GitHub to download Artifacts).
Building MartyPC
If you're not on Windows, or you want the latest bleeding-edge version, you'll need to build MartyPC from source.
Last Released Version: 0.4.1
Current Developement Version: 0.5.0
See the Building MartyPC guide on the MartyPC Wiki for build instructions.
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