Anyone build a HTPC for oldschool game emmulators, TV/streaming?

[jeshelton]

Post your builds?

Have a GTX1070, PSU, BluRay player laying around, considering a build for movies/retro games.

[blissful88]

Sorta, I slammed together a 10900k/2080ti combo for 4k tv gaming and miscing @ home lol. In my old age I become more accustomed to recliners instead of office chairs¯\_(ツ)_/¯


A 1070 is pretty much ideal, piece it together with Ryzen 3100 or something for a cheap bulletproof retro/modern 1440p slayer.

[jeshelton]

Sorta, I slammed together a 10900k/2080ti combo for 4k tv gaming and miscing @ home lol. In my old age I become more accustomed to recliners instead of office chairs¯\_(ツ)_/¯


A 1070 is pretty much ideal, piece it together with Ryzen 3100 or something for a cheap bulletproof retro/modern 1440p slayer.

How do things look on huge screens, is there an option to upscale? We plugged in a N64 from the neighbor to the 55" A/V input and it looks like absolute dogchit.

[KingSWRV]

I don’t understand why you would need a separate “build” for this.

Your main machine or even laptop can do this why introduce complications or additional clutter

[mgftp]

I had a HTPC used pretty often, ran Windows Media Center for cable TV and other media access. But it has pretty much sat there for the most part in recent years besides watching hockey games I can't get elsewhere. I haven't had cable for many years now and a good smart TV can do pretty much anything I need and want now.

[freeburn]

I have a htpc. I love(d) it.

Then my buddy gave me a cracked fire stick and there's no need for anything else so I set that pc up for vr instead.

Seriously a cracked firestick is basically God tier for media. Every movie or show is just there to watch on the cinema app.

[AltarOfPlagues]

i wanted to do this forever but i never have time

[JayJ350]

I got some old basic Shuttle PC I got many years back that I run Windows 7 on and still use for some emulators, seems to be perfect for MAME and classic consoles.

[rectifryer]

If build a dedicated PC or raspberry pi for emulators then you can give it a front end so it just boots up to the emulators like a console and can be controlled by controllers. That's the main advantage to a dedicated emulator build.

I just do htpc with a rpi on the side.

[shmobin]

Built it so long ago I don't even remember what is in it. I haven't had cable in over a decade.

[FAPhaggot]

$100 will get you a 4GB Raspberry Pi 4 kit that will do all the emulating and streaming you need for under half of what of what finishing that HTPC build would cost, and fit in a wayyy smaller package too. The Pis these days are getting pretty joocy.

For something that would take advantage of that 1070, let's see.

I think this would be a great case, cuz it's Micro ATX sized and small enough to fit in an entertainment center, but big enough to fit a full size GPU and PSU in, PLUS a Blu Ray drive.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...6PQG6QJKDQOSUE

Cable management pry won't be fun, but that's a lot of horsepower for an 18 liter case.

But anyway, if you had

Ryzen 5 3600
Some AM4 micro ATX mobo
16GB RAM (maybe one stick to save on space)
1 TB NVMe

you'd have a really solid gaming build.

[KathleenRyan]

I have a 1660 Super which I think is pretty close to a 1070 in benchmarks. 16GB of DDR3 RAM.

Cemu and Yuzu emulation work great. I have it plugged into my TCL 4K TV. I have a network share on my laptop which has my 4TB media drive connected, and I just network share to my HTPC and pull the files up there when I want to play them on the TV.

[blissful88]

How do things look on huge screens, is there an option to upscale? We plugged in a N64 from the neighbor to the 55" A/V input and it looks like absolute dogchit.

N64 outputs 240p so it's going to look rough on huge screens today, furthermore it doesn't mesh well with today's LCD tech, srs.

If you're going to use the console then get an HDMI upscaler box(the cheap ones can have lag) so you can convert the RCA to full digital signal for better picture and color.


Playing old stuff on fullscreen generally doesn't look too great but let's be honest; games were way fuking better in the 90's/2000's. Worth it.

I have a 1660 Super which I think is pretty close to a 1070 in benchmarks. 16GB of DDR3 RAM.

Cemu and Yuzu emulation work great. I have it plugged into my TCL 4K TV. I have a network share on my laptop which has my 4TB media drive connected, and I just network share to my HTPC and pull the files up there when I want to play them on the TV.

Can confirm. Emulation is mostly CPU intensive, a modern 4c/8t will bode well.

Did you figure out your 30hz issue the other day? IIRC

[KingSWRV]

I actually did some old SNES Rom emulation but after some research it turns out the best emulator is actually on Mac and its called OpenEMU and its way cleaner and more polished than any other Win Emulator and has every console from SNES and N64 to Game boy advance Game Gear and Sega Saturn and even all the obscure ones like Atari all in one clean program that works well and I just plug in my xbox one controller and play them on my projector off my Mac and it works smooth.

So I just plain used my laptop with TV output to play such things since its such a clean and casual program to use. its compatible with all roms from all systems.

Theres also some VR app that is a simulation of a 90s room with actual systems and you load the cartridges and everything and play them on a small TV in the room in your headset lol.



Also:

Anyone remember this? Soul Blazer. Before Zelda, before FF3, before Chrono Trigger.... Made by the Enix half before it became SquareEnix

[jeshelton]

I don’t understand why you would need a separate “build” for this.

Your main machine or even laptop can do this why introduce complications or additional clutter

Because unlike you -bodybuilding GOD- I have more than one person living in my home.

I had a HTPC used pretty often, ran Windows Media Center for cable TV and other media access. But it has pretty much sat there for the most part in recent years besides watching hockey games I can't get elsewhere. I haven't had cable for many years now and a good smart TV can do pretty much anything I need and want now.

Mine sits in the living room as a boosted streaming/DVD machine, has an old Athlon setup that works but won't do what I'm asking ITT. Works great for streaming tho.

I have a htpc. I love(d) it.

Then my buddy gave me a cracked fire stick and there's no need for anything else so I set that pc up for vr instead.

Seriously a cracked firestick is basically God tier for media. Every movie or show is just there to watch on the cinema app.

Had this X4 and with some work buddies, but many of the builds died off and links were junk. LMK if something new is out?

i wanted to do this forever but i never have time

Absolute confirmed *******.

I got some old basic Shuttle PC I got many years back that I run Windows 7 on and still use for some emulators, seems to be perfect for MAME and classic consoles.

Which ones, what is a shuttle spec?

If build a dedicated PC or raspberry pi for emulators then you can give it a front end so it just boots up to the emulators like a console and can be controlled by controllers. That's the main advantage to a dedicated emulator build.

I just do htpc with a rpi on the side.

Explain pls, you have HTPC and RPI4 on the side for gaming only? What remotes?

Built it so long ago I don't even remember what is in it. I haven't had cable in over a decade.

Awesome contribution shmobin.

wouldn't something like raspberry pi be better suited for stuff like old emu games (nes, snes, genesis, mame, etc.)?

You tell me man, reason for this threedd.

$100 will get you a 4GB Raspberry Pi 4 kit that will do all the emulating and streaming you need for under half of what of what finishing that HTPC build would cost, and fit in a wayyy smaller package too. The Pis these days are getting pretty joocy.

For something that would take advantage of that 1070, let's see.

I think this would be a great case, cuz it's Micro ATX sized and small enough to fit in an entertainment center, but big enough to fit a full size GPU and PSU in, PLUS a Blu Ray drive.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...6PQG6QJKDQOSUE

Cable management pry won't be fun, but that's a lot of horsepower for an 18 liter case.

But anyway, if you had

Ryzen 5 3600
Some AM4 micro ATX mobo
16GB RAM (maybe one stick to save on space)
1 TB NVMe

you'd have a really solid gaming build.

With the parts I have it seems like $300 is the upper limit to finish, so you're right, but it will have much less overall power for more recent emus, right? I was also looking at that R5 3600 today.

I have a 1660 Super which I think is pretty close to a 1070 in benchmarks. 16GB of DDR3 RAM.

Cemu and Yuzu emulation work great. I have it plugged into my TCL 4K TV. I have a network share on my laptop which has my 4TB media drive connected, and I just network share to my HTPC and pull the files up there when I want to play them on the TV.

Which games have you come across for CEMU and YUZU? I've got some switch games for the kids, but don't know beyond.

N64 outputs 240p so it's going to look rough on huge screens today, furthermore it doesn't mesh well with today's LCD tech, srs.

If you're going to use the console then get an HDMI upscaler box(the cheap ones can have lag) so you can convert the RCA to full digital signal for better picture and color.


Playing old stuff on fullscreen generally doesn't look too great but let's be honest; games were way fuking better in the 90's/2000's. Worth it.






Can confirm. Emulation is mostly CPU intensive, a modern 4c/8t will bode well.

Did you figure out your 30hz issue the other day? IIRC

Already repped thanks.

I actually did some old SNES Rom emulation but after some research it turns out the best emulator is actually on Mac and its called OpenEMU and its way cleaner and more polished than any other Win Emulator and has every console from SNES and N64 to Game boy advance Game Gear and Sega Saturn and even all the obscure ones like Atari all in one clean program that works well and I just plug in my xbox one controller and play them on my projector off my Mac and it works smooth.

So I just plain used my laptop with TV output to play such things since its such a clean and casual program to use. its compatible with all roms from all systems.

Theres also some VR app that is a simulation of a 90s room with actual systems and you load the cartridges and everything and play them on a small TV in the room in your headset lol.

[YouTube]NnvnH9ITnF4[/ YouTube]

Also:

Anyone remember this? Soul Blazer. Before Zelda, before FF3, before Chrono Trigger.... Made by the Enix half before it became SquareEnix

[YouTube]4bnmcYJHNCo[/Y ouTube]

But I'm not gonna mac it because I've already got half the hardware for PC and a WIN10 license. But good to know.

[elterrible987]

I have an alienware r2 with 6400t i5 and the 960 gtx. It was only 300 something refurbed, you could get good deals on these used/refurbed if you were patient. Very dissapointed that dell discontinued these because the prices were great for what you were getting. Now days if you went with a competitor for the custom small boxes, that chit is like $1000. It has the 960 desktop chip not mobile but its soldered on the board and the T series CPU which are a step above mobile but lower powered. Much smaller than an ITX system with its custom board so perfect for the living room. 960 is getting long in the tooth for the newest games though. Who cares if its not upgradeable they were so cheap, I just sell it used on ebay and use that towards the next model, its small enough to ship easy.




The size/cost/performance combination really hit a lot of sweet spots.

[elterrible987]

My "old" Xeon 3rd gen HTPC with a 980ti is still going strong. Streaming/Couch Gaming/Miscing/Occasional Work has made me spoiled. Have removed all case fans inside too (not CPU fan) so is silent AF usually and doesn't crash.

Still using an old Logitech K400 (have 3 of them now) for miscing, browsing and work and Xbox One/PS4 controllers for gaming.

I'll say the K400 is legit indestructible, if a bit small. I've abused the chit out of them and they all still work.

yeah I have one of those and theyre great. also nice it doesnt use rechargable batteries, just regular AA ones which last forever anyways on it and I dont have to wory about some customized lithium ion dying out and trying to replace it. so many things are made to become obsolete these days, that keyboard will last a really long time.

[elterrible987]

$100 will get you a 4GB Raspberry Pi 4 kit that will do all the emulating and streaming you need for under half of what of what finishing that HTPC build would cost, and fit in a wayyy smaller package too. The Pis these days are getting pretty joocy.

For something that would take advantage of that 1070, let's see.

I think this would be a great case, cuz it's Micro ATX sized and small enough to fit in an entertainment center, but big enough to fit a full size GPU and PSU in, PLUS a Blu Ray drive.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...6PQG6QJKDQOSUE

Cable management pry won't be fun, but that's a lot of horsepower for an 18 liter case.

But anyway, if you had

Ryzen 5 3600
Some AM4 micro ATX mobo
16GB RAM (maybe one stick to save on space)
1 TB NVMe

you'd have a really solid gaming build.

The good thing about pi's or the hacked ps mini, is that you can download entire images with everything already set up on it. Ive always had terrible luck trying to get MAME setup and running manually so its nice when someone else did all the leg work and you just burn an image with everything on it. I have a ps one mini with all kinds of arcade games on it, only downside is its just a notch too slow to run some of the more advanced filters with MAME, I bet the ri 4 can probably handle it being its slightly faster

[KathleenRyan]

Which games have you come across for CEMU and YUZU? I've got some switch games for the kids, but don't know beyond.

CEMU:


Yuzu:

Can confirm. Emulation is mostly CPU intensive, a modern 4c/8t will bode well.

Did you figure out your 30hz issue the other day? IIRC

For OP/other's reference I have an i7 4790K.

And yes, thank you for helping me out with that issue - turns out it was a setting on the TV itself, even though the TCL supports HDMI 2.0, for some reason the input source by default was set to operate at HDMI 1.4, I had to explicitly tell it in the settings to use HDMI 2 - Then 60hz worked.

[NitrogenWidget]

depends on what you want to do.

an old Steam link can play up to PSx games after you install retroarch.
RPI4 is still iffy with N64.
you need an octacore odroid to pull Goldeneye off.

I have a core2quad that will handle everything up to a wii but it's a dual video card full tower monstrosity from a long time ago so it mostly only comes out of the basement when the kids have friends over and need another steam box.

I have a soft-modded wii and use that for gamecube.

I use my firestick + kodi to stream everything i could want.

[TenEngineer]

Personal interest of mine... haven't had the chance to play with it for a couple of years however