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Best Retro Gaming OS?

MrSupport
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Hello all!
I am looking to turn some old PC parts into a retro gaming station. It will be basically a normal PC with graphics card, ssd, all that jazz however I'm trying to find what the best operating system to run on it would be in order to not only make it user friendly but also keep adding games easy. Any and all advice is MUCH appreciated

 

EDIT: Retro console games, more of an emulation station. Sorry for the confusion!!!

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2 minutes ago, MrSupport said:

Hello all!
I am looking to turn some old PC parts into a retro gaming station. It will be basically a normal PC with graphics card, ssd, all that jazz however I'm trying to find what the best operating system to run on it would be in order to not only make it user friendly but also keep adding games easy. Any and all advice is MUCH appreciated

windows XP all the way

QUOTE ME  FOR ANSWER.

 

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Tier lists for building a PC.

 

Motherboard tier list. Tier A for overclocking 5950x. Tier B for overclocking 5900x, Tier C for overclocking 5800X. Tier D for overclocking 5600X. Tier F for 4/6 core Cpus at stock. Tier E avoid.

(Also case airflow matter or if you are using Downcraft air cooler)

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OS kinda depends on your HW. IIRC, Ivy Bridge is the earliest CPU architecture that is officially supported by W10 along with W7, W8.1. Depending on how retro you are, I would suggest something like Windows98.

mY sYsTeM iS Not pErfoRmInG aS gOOd As I sAW oN yOuTuBe. WhA t IS a GoOd FaN CuRVe??!!? wHat aRe tEh GoOd OvERclok SeTTinGS FoR My CaRd??  HoW CaN I foRcE my GpU to uSe 1o0%? BuT WiLL i HaVE Bo0tllEnEcKs? RyZEN dOeS NoT peRfORm BetTer wItH HiGhER sPEED RaM!!! dId i WiN teH SiLiCON LotTerrY? yOu ShoUlD dEsHrOuD uR GPU. my SYstEm iS UNDerPerforMiNg iN WarzONE. can mY Pc Run WiNdOwS 11 ?? woUld BaKInG MY GRaPHics card fIX it? MultimETeR TeSTiNG!! aMd'S GpU DrIvErS aRe as goOD aS NviDia's YOU SHoUlD oVERCloCk yOUR ramS To 5000C18

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What kind of games?
Because depending on what you want to do, an old Windows, a current Windows with DOSBox or something with MAME might all be options.

"We're all in this together, might as well be friends" Tom, Toonami.

 

mini eLiXiVy: my open source 65% mechanical PCB, a build log, PCB anatomy and discussing open source licenses: https://linustechtips.com/topic/1366493-elixivy-a-65-mechanical-keyboard-build-log-pcb-anatomy-and-how-i-open-sourced-this-project/

 

mini_cardboard: a 4% keyboard build log and how keyboards work: https://linustechtips.com/topic/1328547-mini_cardboard-a-4-keyboard-build-log-and-how-keyboards-work/

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I plan to run retro console games, so more of an emulation station, I realize now i should have specified that more:p

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2 minutes ago, MrSupport said:

I plan to run retro console games, so more of an emulation station, I realize now i should have specified that more:p

I never had issues with Windows 10 emulating PlayStation 1... I suppose you could just go this route personally speaking, installing and testing is free so why not give it a try?

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6 minutes ago, Princess Luna said:

I never had issues with Windows 10 emulating PlayStation 1... I suppose you could just go this route personally speaking, installing and testing is free so why not give it a try?

I've just been looking into the AIO solutions like LAKKA, recalbox, retropie, and the likes. I know i could set up some emulators on the system but I would like to keep it super simple so I can bring it to friend and family gatherings to get everyone smiling. I know that kinda is being picky but this is the only place I feel like will have the answers because of the level of dedication you all have!

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7 minutes ago, MrSupport said:

I've just been looking into the AIO solutions like LAKKA, recalbox, retropie, and the likes. I know i could set up some emulators on the system but I would like to keep it super simple so I can bring it to friend and family gatherings to get everyone smiling. I know that kinda is being picky but this is the only place I feel like will have the answers because of the level of dedication you all have!

In this case, I highly recommend getting a Raspberry Pi 3 and throwing RetroPie on there. You can set it up to literally be plug and play and it works up to the 6th generation consoles.

I have a blog! And a list of guides I've posted

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3 minutes ago, Mira Yurizaki said:

In this case, I highly recommend getting a Raspberry Pi 3 and throwing RetroPie on there. You can set it up to literally be plug and play and it works up to the 6th generation consoles.

I'm going to be using some old spare parts from a previous PC i had with a gtx 780 if possible, would retropie run better than the others with that setup? I've heard great things about RetroPie so it's good to see it confirmed here

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7 minutes ago, MrSupport said:

I'm going to be using some old spare parts from a previous PC i had with a gtx 780 if possible, would retropie run better than the others with that setup? I've heard great things about RetroPie so it's good to see it confirmed here

A GTX 780 is extremely overkill for running retro gaming. This is on top of a PC being way less portable than a Raspberry Pi in a case, which can be as small as a pack of cigarettes or slightly thicker than a deck of cards. Plus Raspberry Pis 3s are cheap at around $40 USD. Even though it doesn't come with storage, you can basically use any SD card you have lying around and if you don't, an 8GB SD card doesn't cost all that much.

 

Plus the setup process of getting the Pi running has been pretty boiled down to literally:

  1. Use Rufus to burn an image onto the SD card
  2. Plug SD card into the Pi
  3. Turn on the Pi
  4. ???
  5. Profit!

Of course, you still have to put the games on there but that's pretty straight forward as well.

I have a blog! And a list of guides I've posted

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1 minute ago, Mira Yurizaki said:

A GTX 780 is extremely overkill for running retro gaming. This is on top of a PC being way less portable than a Raspberry Pi in a case, which can be as small as a pack of cigarettes or slightly thicker than a deck of cards. Plus Raspberry Pis 3s are cheap at around $30 USD. Even though it doesn't come with storage, you can basically use any SD card you have lying around and if you don't, an 8GB SD card isn't all that much.

 

Plus the setup process of getting the Pi running has been pretty boiled down to literally:

  1. Use Rufus to burn an image onto the SD card
  2. Plug SD card into the Pi
  3. Turn on the Pi
  4. ???
  5. Profit!

Of course, you still have to put the games on there but that's pretty straight forward as well.

I like the idea for certain but I'm going to be avoiding spending any money, thankfully I have a small form factor case that i've been able to fit everything into and keep it small. It's been a living room setup for fighting games for me and my friends but recently my family has said they miss playing older games so I was hoping to break out this at Christmas for a surprise. RetroPie will need to run on Linux from my understanding so I'm super happy about that but I defiantly just want that polished front end look. How is controler support on the pie for multiple controllers? Currently have an old Xbox and PS4 controller I've been using to with the system. 

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2 hours ago, MrSupport said:

How is controler support on the pie for multiple controllers? Currently have an old Xbox and PS4 controller I've been using to with the system. 

It supports as many controllers as there are USB ports. While I haven't tested with PS4 controllers, if it works on Windows out of the box, it'll work with RetroPie.

I have a blog! And a list of guides I've posted

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Grab a Linux distro like Ubuntu. Install emulators on it. Citra, pscx, Mesan , you name it. 

https://www.ubuntupit.com/top-30-best-game-emulator-consoles-for-linux/

 

Grab a controller. I suggest the logitech f310 which works out of the box  Do note that controller support is emulator dependent. Some emulators allow a controller and others don't. 

 

Oh play Pokemon. If you are gonna do emulator, you need to play Pokemon!

 

Sudo make me a sandwich 

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On 12/11/2019 at 11:37 AM, Mira Yurizaki said:

In this case, I highly recommend getting a Raspberry Pi 3 and throwing RetroPie on there. You can set it up to literally be plug and play and it works up to the 6th generation consoles.

Pi 3 can't handle emulators like pscx2

Sudo make me a sandwich 

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