Wanting to build an emulator box

[HungryGarou]

Hello, I'm new here. long time lurker and just decided to join.

Anyway, I want to build myself a PC to use exclusively for homebrew and emulators to hook up to a CRT TV set through either S-Video or Component.
Here's the case I'm looking at-
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=1210
This was always the kind of case i wanted as it's nice, compact, and "console like" as far as the size goes. it also already has a motherboard, i just need a Intel processor. I'm looking to use Windows XP as the OS and Maximus Arcade as the frontend (never used this program before, but from my understanding it's apparently the best one) For controls i want to use the Logitech dual action and the USB sega saturn controllers. i also want to buy one of those Hori Xbox360 joysticks since their supposedly PC compatible. I'm also looking to supply it with a GB or 2 of RAM and a 500GB HDD. now a couple of questions-

-Which Intel processor can anyone recommend?
-Can anyone recommend me a good low-profile video card? i want to use something above integrated graphics and have all my stuff running as smooth as possible without any screen tearing/invisible lines.
-Can anyone recommend me a good PS2->USB converter? hopefully one that doesn't have any input lag.
-Does any one know if the Fighting Stick EX 2 is any good? this is the kind of USB stick i want, however I've heard the stock stick and buttons have issues over time-is this true?
-I feel getting this thing built can be done for slightly cheaper, I'm just not sure if Ive looked around hard enough, so does anyone know where i can get some good HDDs, RAM, and other essencial parts for good prices?

Oh, I forgot to mention previously these are the emulators that i want to use in Maximus Arcade-
-NES-FCE Ultra, Mednafen
-SNES-BSNES
-PC Engine/Turbografx-Mednafen
-Classic GB/GBA-Mednafen
-GENESIS/MEGADRIVE-Kega Fusion
-MAME & Final Burn Alpha for Arcade games
-MSX-BlueMSX

[BigTinz]

Go the component route or higher.

PC s-video on a Tv looks like ass.

[neilencio]

If you're not planning to emulate a 3d system more complicated than the N64, an nVidia 8400GS would be enough. It usually comes in low profile designs since it was meant for HTPCs, and some even have fanless designs. Cheap, too.

[Niode]

You could emulate all you have said above on an Xbox. Get one for £20 and softmod it.

[arion]

The cheapest ati card you can find now should do the trick.

[t0yrobo]

You could emulate all you have said above on an Xbox. Get one for £20 and softmod it.

This. unless you want to play pc games, or hd video there's no reason not to use a xbox.

[DCsegaDH]

An Xbox would be a good choice and then you could play emulators and Xbox games like House of the Dead 3.

[HungryGarou]

You could emulate all you have said above on an Xbox. Get one for £20 and softmod it.

This. unless you want to play pc games, or hd video there's no reason not to use a xbox.

Oh, i forgot to mention earlier i already have a softmodded Xbox, the thing is, while it's pretty good, I'm just a bit picky about some of the emulators. I want to use my "emulator box" as the homebrew is more up to date. some of the emulators have a few things that bug me, like not being able to save multiple controller profiles in ZsnesBox, putting up with the somewhat off sound emulation in xboyadvance (not to mention ALL GBA games have a nasty lag problem) and last but not least, searching high and low trying to find a site that has compatible roms for CoinOps reignite (based on an old version of Mame). the best i could find were fullsets that i had to download from pain-in-the-ass Rapidshare, or slow torrents, and I'm not a fan of downloading fullsets. Not to mention most of this homebrew hasn't been updated since last year

[gravitone]

Im currently in the process of upgrading my emulation box myself. Going to upgrade to a fast dualcore to be able to play some dreamcast games, sega model 2, gamecube, and some wii and ps2 titles. For the europeans here interested in such a project with a CRT TV, I can strongly recommend using a vga->scart cable in combination with the soft15khz tool. Im running maximus arcade right now, but I'm still not at all happy with how it looks and behaves.