[Recommended specs] Dedicated Retroarch PC for TV

RetroArch General
#1

Using my Nexus 5 and RetroArch on my TV isn’t cutting it for me anymore, so I’m thinking about a new, dedicated PC (preferably Mini PC or small form factor) just for RetroArch hooked up via HDMI to my large screen TV…

I’d like to do this as inexpensive as possible, under $400 ideally. I’m not looking to go crazy with shader performance; as long as scanlines work I’d be happy (though some shaders would be nice). My main concern would be pre-2000 games run hiccup free (Neo-Geo, Street Fighter 3rd Strike, SNES etc…)

I’m not very knowledgeable on this subject, and any insight or suggestions about what I can reasonably expect performance-wise would be appreciated.

Thanks!

#2

I highly recommend this CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6819116774

Just add motherboard, RAM, PSU and case of your choice. You can run any core, including mednafen-psx and bsnes-accuracy (except for MMX2/3), as well as Dolphin (not a libretro, obviously). It also has excellent open source driver support in Linux with KMS mode, which makes everything else seem like a sack of crap in comparison.

Shader performance is good and the integrated HD4000 can handle almost anything at 1080p except for CRT+halation and maybe some of the heavy-duty xBR variants (it can even do those at 720p, IIRC).

I have a dedicated HTPC built around this CPU and can’t recommend it enough.

#3

if your going dedicated living room pc definitely go for intel graphics and arch linux and use retroarch in KMS. Very simple to set up and update using an aur wrapper for pacman you can update retroarch with one command any time there is a signinficant commit. Same for cores. An apu with the open source radeon r600 driver might be acceptable as well but intel is probably better performance plus supports AVX instructions which the r600 chips do not. Basically go with what hunter said but above all else USE LINUX AND KMS DRIVER for console like performance :smiley:

#4

Thanks for the replies, guys. I really appreciate it!

I’m gonna have to read up on installing Linux; I have no idea as I’m really only familiar with Windows installations. I won’t have to install Windows if I use Linux? I’ll need help with this one I think…

What about a dedicated sound card? I’ll be using HDMI audio into my A/V receiver, so is it really needed?

This should all fit in a micro ATX case right? I’d like to NOT have a computer tower in my living room…

What are you guys using for controllers?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBund … bo.1271106

This is the combo that newegg.com spits out… I’d like to use a smaller case and a 1tb hard drive since it’s only $5 more…

Any other suggestions or comments? Can you tell me more about your systems? This will be my very first PC build…

#5

You shouldn’t need a dedicated sound card. HDMI audio is sometimes weird/flakey, but you’ll have the motherboard’s built-in analog outputs, as well, if you need a fall-back.

If you want something more living-room-friendly, you could go for one of these ‘htpc’ cases: http://www.newegg.com/HTPC-Media-Center … tpc%20case

If you install linux, you won’t need Windows, but I recommend you start with an easy distro like Ubuntu rather than a more advanced one like Arch. The packages in my PPA (ubuntu-compatible) aren’t super-bleeding-edge, but I keep them pretty well up to date, so installation of RetroArch is nice and easy. Also, as awesome as KMS mode is, you may end up going back to Windows just because it’s comfortable for you, and that’s okay, too.

For controllers, you can use pretty much anything. I have some generic HID USB pads that I use most of the time, but sometimes I’ll use wiimote+classic controller, or a wired 360 pad, or my 360 arcade sticks… I know people frequently use PS3 pads, you’ll just need to add on a $3 USB Bluetooth dongle.

#6

Well the only reason I reccomend arch linux is because the kernel video drivers are more up to date and he won’t really need a DE if he is going to use it soley for RA so its much less bloated distro than ubuntu. It may take a bit more setup but there is plently of documentation out there to make it fairly simple and once its setup he could have it launch directly into retroarch with a simple startup script. With the right auto detection for controllers it would be just like a console experience at that point.

That’s just what I would do. If you really wanna go for windows its not like its terrible. I used the Windows version for a good while without any major complaints. But you’ll probably need a mouse and keyboard in your living room or you could use a program like xpadder to use your controller as a mouse. If you need help I could give you some basic direction over PM or IRC or something.

Anyway whatever you decide to do, good luck!

#7

This would be awesome. I have no experience with building a pc or using Linux. Would this be too complicated to get set up for a total noob?

#8

Yeah, there would definitely be a lot of unnecessary bloat, but beginner distros are designed to not require interaction with the command line, which is a big stumbling block for many n00bs. But yeah, it’s not terribly hard to setup, and there have been several rumblings about making a generic Arch image that could be dd’ed/clonezilla’ed/whatevered over to a blank drive with the startup script already setup to jump into RGUI and default paths pre-set. Linux is great in this regard insofar as it does most of its hardware checks at each boot and has all/most of the necessary drivers built-in. There would, of course, be edge-cases that could cause problems with any default image, though.

Hardware-wise, this guy seems like it would be very nice (BYO RAM and SSD): http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F3F381A

#9

Yup hunterk pretty much summed it up!

For total noobs, I would also consider Manjaro Linux (Arch Linux based, but very easy to setup). It is always a few weeks behind on the updates but they are tested for stability.

As for controllers, a Dual Shock 3 with QtSixA will sync automatically once paired (bluetooth) as soon as you push the PS button on the pad. Another option is the Nintendo Wii U Controller Pro with Xwiimote (bluetooth too) though RetroArch does not yet recognize its analog sticks. (there is an open issue in github regarding this IIRC)

An Xbox360 controller (wired, dunno about wireless) will do the trick too.

As for the Haswell-based NUC, Phoronix pointed out some regressions in the latest Intel HD driver for the HD4400 and HD4600 (http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=a … x313&num=1) making Ivy Bridge a safer bet for now. Will probably get fixed soon though!

#10

Shoot…I was just getting ready to pull the trigger on this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6819116944

Since I can get it for $10 less than what HunterK recommended http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6819116774

I guess I’ll wait now…

#11

Don’t let that put you off though. As I said, Intel will probably fix it very soon. They are very active on the Linux front.

Plus, the new Haswell NUC has some cool features you don’t find on the older NUCs such as USB 3.0 and an infrared port for remote controls. I’m personally waiting on the “H” variant of these kits (http://www.legitreviews.com/intel-nuc-k … iew_133823) to be available. They are a bit bulkier but can fit a 2.5HDD or SSD on top of the mSATA SSD.

Gigabyte also makes some NUCs called BRIX. http://www.gigabyte.us/products/list.aspx?s=47&ck=104 with their top of the line model, Brix Pro, integrating Intel most powerful graphics chip to date: Iris 5200. It will come at a price though!

#12

FYI, I went ahead and bought a Shuttle DSV61 V1.1 with an i3-3225 today. Coupled with a SSD and 4Gb of RAM, I am quite pleased with the result. Very sturdy and silent machine and the 4 front USB ports are great for multiplayer.

http://us.shuttle.com/barebone/Models/DS61V1.1.html

Nice and cheaper alternative to NUCs especially if you have a few spare parts lying around already.

#13

Looks good…tell me more about the performance…

I’ve just picked up this case…

http://hecgroupusa.com/products/pc-case … a/ITX200B/

and I’m getting an i3-4340 later today.

Can’t wait… hopefully I’ll have time to put everything together this week

#14

It runs everything I throw at it flawlessly with CRT Halation it but I only have a 720p TV (well 1360x768 to be precise) so no surprises here.

The i3-4340 has an HD 4400 which is said to have ~10% increase in performance in real world applications. No idea how the four extra EUs and higher clock speed will influence shader performance though. Maybe some more technical people can chime in? For a quick write up: http://www.anandtech.com/show/7072/inte … vs-hd-4400

#15

Actually, I believe the i-34340 has the HD4600 integrated GPU…

#16

Indeed! Even better! I just tried bSNES Accuracy on my 1080p PC monitor and, as hunterk said, just a few hiccups with Mega Man X2. The rest is flawless.The 4340 should have no problem then.

#17

Hey for those of you running retroarch in linux - what frontend are you using? Please tell me you arent launching each game with a mouse pointer - or worse yet, via command line. What a painful experience that sounds like!

#18

I launch straight from a menu shortcut into RGUI and then choose games from there. It’s gamepad-controlled, so it works quite well even without a frontend.

#19

Use RGUI with controller. Organizing your roms per game system or core helps simplify things.

#20

:frowning: I wish as much attention was given to a universal frontend as there is to this whole effort. One day there will be a complete emulator “experience”…