Building a PC For Emulation...

[shwisha]

Are there any good guides for building a PC just for emulation? What's the best solution? Are you just better off getting an xbox?

I want to build a system to hook up to my tv and be able to play roms ranging from Atari to PS2....

Any suggests?

[Lord_Santa]

tip 1:
aim lower

if you want a PC, merely for emulation, I'd suggest that you aim for PSX/DreamCast as newest hardware to emulate

not only because PS2 emulation isn't *that far* yet, but also because anything beyond PSX emulation *will* require a rather hefty computer

if going for anything up to PSX, you can "settle" with a P3, but (of course) preferably a P4

they're low-cost and will work with what you want to do with it

go for a DirectX9 card (Nividia GeForce 7950 comes to mind), also rather cheap (AGP will do fine)

about 2gb RAM (preferably DDRII)

and of course

http://www.zophar.net/'

:edit

add to that about 1TB space and you'll have room for every MAME rom out there, as well as PSX ISO's, etc.

:edit 2

there are plenty of front-ends out there, but this is the one I prefer:

http://www.maximusarcade.com/

:edit 3

you *do not* need Dual/Quad-core for this
in fact, it's better if you *do not* get one of those, as they will do *nothing* in emulation up to PSX/DreamCast

hence even *more* cost-effective(?)

=)

:edit 4

Windows XP 32-bit will be the OS of choice, due to most compatible (and once again), only "new" emulators can take advantage of 64bit

:edit 5

the Xbox1 is *extraordinary* good for emulation, *but* keep in mind that it's "only" a P3-700 mhz, with 64MB of RAM

it *will* emulate a lot of things, but many emulators are simply not available for the xbox1, hence the "console" of choice, would be a PC

add to that, the more ease of finding/customizing controllers for PC, and it's a given

[Anayo]

I just wanted to add I think it's awesome how such outdated computer hardware can play retro games so awesomely.

[Breetai]

there are plenty of front-ends out there, but this is the one I prefer:

http://www.maximusarcade.com/

Can anyone recommend any really nice free front-ends?

[Hatta]

Mamewah is the usual recommended free front end. Wahcade is a linux clone if you're so inclined. Personally, I just launch everything from the CLI.

[darthbluntedone]

Gameex is what I have on my mame cab. I has a free version and a pay version but I think it is better than what has been suggested and the community is always there to help out when something is not working right. Maximus is ok


heres the link for gameex http://www.gameex.net/


Look at the list of features and you will see why gameex is better.

[jeffro11]

http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/ free, awesome, cant beat it.

[Gnashvar]

For most emulators I get better results on my P4 laptop than my Dual Core PC. It's way too much for Atari though. But just in case you had something similar laying around.

[fastbilly1]

For PS2/Gamecube/Wii level of emulation - watch Slickdeals until a quadcore box goes on sell (I got mine for $400) Pop in a $150 GPU and you are set.

Now if you want to do something smaller, go for a Atom/Ion powered box, like an EEEbox. HDMI out, will run up to PSX/N64 and will be about the size of an old cablebox.