Hardware advice for Bartop Internals Mainly NES Themed

[ctozzi]

I'm about to finally finish my Custom Haruman Bartop we designed a few years back.....Yes I know it's been too long but life got in the way. I'm looking for advice on if there is a simple Windows 7 based desktop you guys and gals can recommend that I can take out the internals and add to my Bartop. Not needing a ton of space as this will mostly be NES Nintendo based and themed, however I might want to add a few Gamecube or MAME games like Dolphin based Gauntlet Dark Legacy, Mortal Kombats, Killer Instincts, and Street Fighters. This originally was going to be a Mini MK cab but I lost interest in the theme as I have too many MK things in my collection. Thanks in advance for any help

Chris

[Jamesbeat]

Have you considered a raspberry pi?

There isn't much love for them on these forums, but I'm using one right now, and it should do everything you listed above just fine.

It's not an ideal all- round Mame solution, and I intend to go with a conventional PC at some point, but as I said, it will run those games fine, and has the advantage of being cheap and tiny (ideal for a bartop) and requires no cooling fan.

[vwalbridge]

Perhaps the Kangaroo will work for you.

[ctozzi]

I'm confused on what the Pi actually does and how to integrate it.


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[Jamesbeat]

I'm confused on what the Pi actually does and how to integrate it.


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It's a tiny little computer.
It uses an SD card instead of a hard drive, and you can download ready made images that you write to the SD card.

Have a look on YouTube for examples.

[ctozzi]

I just did it looks fairly easy I might try that 1st thanks for the jnfo


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[monkeybomb]

I didn't know you could run gamecube games on the Rasberry Pi.  If anyone has a link showing that it can or stating that they can run games at full speed, I'd love to see it.  I'd actually use my Pi for that.

I have a small form factor Dell Optiplex in one of Haruman's golden age vertical bartops.  I think the cabinet has less floor space than yours.  A regular decased computer might be an option that you should explore.

[dmckean]

You need a pretty beefy machine to run Gamecube games.

[Jamesbeat]

Yes, actually I didn't see that the first time around..
Forget my suggestion of the pi if you want to play GameCube, sorry

[dmckean]

Considering you need both a lot of CPU and Decent graphics to run Dolphin, there probably isn't much that would run it and fit well in the mini cab.

Maybe something like the Alienware Alpha?

[P.H.U.]

Don't know what GC games you want to run, but the specific games you named can be run on older lower end hardware. Core 2 Duo based PC would work nicely in that small space. I say a Dell Optiplex 380 which can be had for less than $40 shipped should do you well.

[paigeoliver]

I'm confused on what the Pi actually does and how to integrate it.


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The pi allows you to run 1999 era emulator versions on hardware that benchmarks about the same as a 1997 era computer.

[dmckean]

I'm confused on what the Pi actually does and how to integrate it.


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The pi allows you to run 1999 era emulator versions on hardware that benchmarks about the same as a 1997 era computer.

The Pi 3 might actually take you up to 1999 level hardware too. 

[thomas_surles]

I promise the no games on dolphin will be laggy as hell. consider if you REALLY need gamecube games. jumping from Nes to gamecube games will also be a big jump in price. I would say lose the dolphin. you will not regret it. even if you had it you would eventually not use it anymore.

[vwalbridge]

I would say lose the dolphin. you will not regret it. even if you had it you would eventually not use it anymore.

Agree.

[ctozzi]

OK thanks guys, I'm just gonna stick to NES and SNES on this cab and keep the bigger ROMS for my full size mame or just play them on my PC. I think the Raspberry Pi2 will work perfect for this mini build and will save me $. This will be something I play here and there so it doesn't need to be a showstopper with it's gameplay. I'm going to look into a fast well built PC desktop to upgrade my MAME PC after this is completed.
I'd rather the mini look great and play well on the mostly NES & SNES stuff. Thanks for all the info !
Chris

[monkeybomb]

OK thanks guys, I'm just gonna stick to NES and SNES on this cab and keep the bigger ROMS for my full size mame or just play them on my PC. I think the Raspberry Pi2 will work perfect for this mini build and will save me $. This will be something I play here and there so it doesn't need to be a showstopper with it's gameplay. I'm going to look into a fast well built PC desktop to upgrade my MAME PC after this is completed.
I'd rather the mini look great and play well on the mostly NES & SNES stuff. Thanks for all the info !
Chris

NES runs great, but I can't get most snes games to really run smoothly on my Pi2.  Kirby's Avalanche is one I like to play 2 player, but it has slow downs fairly regularly.  To me that makes it unplayable.  I bought a recommended SD card just for it and loaded the retropi image like everyone says to.  I tried all the snes emulators with various video settings.  No dice.  Wasted a lot of time and about $65.

If you are dead set on the Pi, I would highly recommend trying your luck with the improved Pi3.  It's $35.  Plus, if you go that way, maybe you'd let me know if Kirby's avalanche runs at full speed without hick-ups.   

[ctozzi]

Hmmm ok that's not the best news.


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[ctozzi]

Does the Pi run games like Mame mk 1-3, sf2ce, tmnt, and those types at regular speeds without bogging down ? I really like the Pi idea for this build for ease and space


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[GSXRMovistar]

If going the NES/SNES (and 80-90s MAME) route i'd opted for the Pi due to it's simplicity, the new Pi 3 should run everything with ease.

Also the Pi 3 now has WiFi and Bluetooth on board so saves further space in the cabinet. BT can be handy if you want to include 3/4 player controls using something like these:- http://8bitdo.com

Some info on the difference between Pi 2 and 3:- http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/raspberry-pi-3-vs-pi-2

If you want Gamecube/Wii then a PC is needed with more focus on GPU than CPU. My cab has a cheap ass CPU and a fairly cheap graphics card and it seems to run anything I throw at it with no problem at all.

[ctozzi]

Great info I just ordered a pi3


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[Jamesbeat]

OK thanks guys, I'm just gonna stick to NES and SNES on this cab and keep the bigger ROMS for my full size mame or just play them on my PC. I think the Raspberry Pi2 will work perfect for this mini build and will save me $. This will be something I play here and there so it doesn't need to be a showstopper with it's gameplay. I'm going to look into a fast well built PC desktop to upgrade my MAME PC after this is completed.
I'd rather the mini look great and play well on the mostly NES & SNES stuff. Thanks for all the info !
Chris

NES runs great, but I can't get most snes games to really run smoothly on my Pi2.  Kirby's Avalanche is one I like to play 2 player, but it has slow downs fairly regularly.  To me that makes it unplayable.  I bought a recommended SD card just for it and loaded the retropi image like everyone says to.  I tried all the snes emulators with various video settings.  No dice.  Wasted a lot of time and about $65.

If you are dead set on the Pi, I would highly recommend trying your luck with the improved Pi3.  It's $35.  Plus, if you go that way, maybe you'd let me know if Kirby's avalanche runs at full speed without hick-ups.   

That's weird, I admit it's been a long time since I tried to play snes on my pi, but I remember that it worked great, and my pi is the original model B, ie slowest and with the least memory. I didn't even overclock it.

Have you tried a different emulator?