If you had a single core then the emulator would have to share processing with the OS and anything else that was running and so would suffer.
You can find the minimum specs here: (emulator). Either way, check them out! PCSX2 is a free and open-source PlayStation 2 emulator for Windows, Linux, and macOS that supports a wide range of PlayStation 2 video games with a high level of compatibility and functionality. EmuTos is a GEMDOS compatible operating system for Atari ST series computers. Recently, the emulation scene got a tad more exciting with releases and news being published more frequently.
Emulator für die PlayStation 2, der das Booten von PS2-CDs/DVDs und Ausführen von PS2-Code auf dem PC ermöglicht Lizenz: Open Source PCSX2 is an open source PlayStation 2 (PS2) emulator for the Microsoft Windows and Linux operating systems.