carPC, MAME and console emulation -HELP

[Wizrd23]

Okay, so I posted this over at mp3car.com and I'm looking for opinions from the other experts... I'm installing a Kenwood DNX8120 car stereo unit.  It has a 7in touchscreen display and composite AV inputs in the back.  I got to thinking, wouldn't it be cool to build a small computer and install a linux distro with a front end just for playing games!?!

So I started researching and I'm getting caught up.  Need everyones suggestions.  Has anyone worked with mini-ITX, micro-ITX or pico-ITX motherboards?

My goal is to get some kind of mini-ITX board with a fanless processor, minimal memory, flash mem storage or a small quiet harddrive, and embedded video.  Then setup the system in a small box and hide it in the glove box.  using a usb controller or a wireless to play games.

Ideas?  I don't have a budget yet, but I suspect I should be able to do this for $300.
Thanks in advance.

[ablizno]

I dont know much about mame on linux. However you may be able to instal an nlite build of xp on a flash drive. Im not sure. However for controls i suggest picking up a wireless 360 controller and the wireless pc adapter. That way you can play your games with a nice wireless pad. I prefer using Mamewah as a frontend. It can be used to run multiple emulators and even pc games, plus it looks nice. Information on using mamewah can be found in the wiki: http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/Mamewah hope that helps, and welcome to the board.

[NickG]

I have worked with a lot of mini-itx boards and at one time I owned a Cappuccino GX1 which is a bit smaller - it was really easy to toss it in a glove box, but it did have a CPU fan.  I've never owned a fanless, but i have owned some of the EPIA's with similar processor architecture and can infer that their oler 600mHz fanless boards capabilities are a bit limited. They may be able to do "16-bit" games, at least.  The latest mini-itx I built for someone was an Intel D201GLY.  It boots a bit faster than the others I have tried, which is great for car media centers, but it only has one IDE controller, which means less optimal HDD throughput if using an IDE hard drive plus a second IDE device.

[Malenko]

I made a carpc  (Im regged on that site, but it went down hill about 16 months ago and I stopped visiting there) EPIA mobo 1GHz processor and a gig fo ram, laptop HD and laptop CDRW/DVD drive  runs SNES well enough, and older builds of MAME run fine on it. it was primarily my MP3/movie player but when I got a kenwood indash DVD the carputer got pulled and sits in my closet.

[gonzo90017]

Are there any heat issues when installing carPC's. It get's pretty hot here in California so I was wondering.