Portable Emulation Machine

[nerdyotter]

I'm planning on building a portable emulation machine for older game consoles (GameCube, 16 / 8-bit consoles, possibly PS2) to bring around to LAN parties. It would only ever be running one monitor (a projector) at a time.

I'd primarily be running Dolphin Emulator. However, I'm not sure what components would optimize the system for applications like Dolphin.

 

Through looking for deals online I'm looking to bring the cost down to about $300 USD - ish.

 

Cost doesn't really matter. I'm mostly looking for a middle-of-the-road spec for an emulation machine. The case would not necessarily factor into the price.

[tlink]

for that usecase i would use a single board computer like the odroid xu4, but i really am not sure how that would handle ps2 emulation. the bennefit of single board computer is that its extremely cheap and extremely portable. its a tinkerers thing though so if you prefer easy to set up stuff in a known enviroment like windows i would advice against this.

http://www.hardkernel.com/main/products/prdt_info.php?g_code=G143452239825

[tlink]

maybe read this and see if you like it
http://forum.odroid.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=2673

[fjdhdhcyfhf]

i think you want a raspberry pi https://retropie.org.uk/

[nerdyotter]

6 minutes ago, tlink said:

maybe read this and see if you like it
http://forum.odroid.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=2673

Would this be able to run GameCube games reliably? Things like Dolphin emulator are reportedly a bit of a resource hog. I don't know if that issue extends to all GameCube emulation.

[tlink]

 

6 minutes ago, nerdyotter said:

Would this be able to run GameCube games reliably? Things like Dolphin emulator are reportedly a bit of a resource hog.

no i don't think it would be able to run gamecube games sadly, not that i know off atleast. tried to build something in pcpartpicker for your needs, wasn't quite sure what kind of storage you would need, opted for a laptop drive since those tend to be more shock absorband etc. 4gb ddr3 ram and no gpu since i really don't know what kind of gpu emulation would need, i assume integrated graphics would work fine but i really don't know.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($108.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
CPU Cooler: Rosewill RCX-Z775-LP 33.5 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($11.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: MSI H81I Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($60.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: Crucial 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($20.25 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Seagate Momentus Thin 250GB 2.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($30.45 @ Amazon) 
Case: Silverstone ML05B HTPC Case  ($40.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic 300W 80+ Certified SFX Power Supply  ($38.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Total: $312.65
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-20 21:27 EST-0500