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Tech riderRev. 3 Oct 2026

gem5

Ch 176.9of 37 Emulator Software
  1. 1Runs onLinux, Mac, self-hosted
  2. 2CostsFree plan
  3. 3Supported targetsAlpha, ARM, MIPS, POWER, RISC-V, SPARC, x86
  4. 4Host operating systemsLinux
  5. 5Hardware accelerationYes
  6. 6Snapshots and restoreYes
  7. 7Debugging toolsYes
  8. 8Network simulationYes
8 lines stated Written from the maker's own pages: gem5.org
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The gem5 homepage

Overview

gem5 is ranked #17 of 37 in emulator software on Specifiction. It runs on Linux, macOS, Self-hosted. There is a free plan.

gem5 plans and pricing

All plans
gem5 Free Open-source computer-system architecture simulator gem5.org · 3 Oct 2026

Compared on emulator software

Free plan
Yesgem5.org
Supported targets
Alpha, ARM, MIPS, POWER, RISC-V, SPARC, x86gem5.org
Host operating systems
Linuxgem5.org
Hardware acceleration
Yesgem5.org
Snapshots and restore
Yesgem5.org
Debugging tools
Yesgem5.org
Network simulation
Yesgem5.org
Automation access
Yesgem5.org

Facts

Purpose
gem5 is a modular platform for computer-system architecture research, covering system-level architecture and processor microarchitecture.gem5.org · 3 Oct 2026
Users
The project says gem5 is used in academia, industry research, and teaching.gem5.org · 3 Oct 2026
CPU models
gem5 provides four interpretation-based CPU models and a KVM-based CPU model for faster simulation.gem5.org · 3 Oct 2026
Memory modeling
Its event-driven memory system includes caches, crossbars, snoop filters, and a DRAM controller model.gem5.org · 3 Oct 2026
Instruction sets
The about page lists Alpha, ARM, SPARC, MIPS, POWER, RISC-V, and x86 ISA support.gem5.org · 3 Oct 2026
Simulation modes
gem5 supports full-system simulation and application-only execution using Linux emulation.gem5.org · 3 Oct 2026
SystemC integration
gem5 can run as a thread inside the SystemC event kernel, and provides a wrapper for SystemC Transaction Level Modelling.gem5.org · 3 Oct 2026
GPU model
gem5 includes a NoMali GPU model compatible with the Linux and Android GPU driver stack; it does not produce visual output.gem5.org · 3 Oct 2026
License
The simulator is released under a Berkeley-style open-source license, with portions derived from other sources subject to their original licenses.gem5.org · 3 Oct 2026
Reproducibility
gem5art provides Python modules for artifacts, reproducibility, and testing, and can store experiment inputs and results in a database.gem5.org · 3 Oct 2026
Build platforms
The project tests builds on Ubuntu 22.04 and 24.04; it says other Linux-based operating systems can work with the required dependencies installed.gem5.org · 3 Oct 2026
Build requirements
The building guide lists GCC version 10 or later, up to version 13, and says Clang is also supported.gem5.org · 3 Oct 2026
Support
Users can ask questions through GitHub Discussions, Slack, or mailing lists; bug reports should be submitted through GitHub issues.gem5.org · 3 Oct 2026
Known support limit
For gem5 v25.0, the documentation says only the listed Ubuntu 22.04/kernel 5.15 and Ubuntu 24.04/kernel 6.8.12 combinations are regularly tested and supported.gem5.org · 3 Oct 2026

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Where it ranks on Specifiction

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