Mini-ITX for emulation + HTPC

Mockingbird · 28 Jun 2011 at 10:15

Hello folks,

I'm looking for an ITX solution for doing the following:

- Serve up to 1080p files over a wired network via HDMI out.
- No blu-Ray (have a PS3 for that if needed, it's just a bit too power-hungry and loud to run 24/7)
- No TV card (not planning to have a large storage drive in this system, so scheduling/recording of TV wouldn't be a goer)
- Run a front end for the movie/game selection
- Run emulators for the following systems as well as possible:
NES
SNES
Megadrive
MAME
N64/Dreamcast (might be getting ambitious)
I also want to wire up a SNES-pad-to-USB converter inside, and possibly a bluetooth dongle, so a couple of free USB headers on the board wouldn't hurt (can work around this though).

Now, I don't know if I can do all that with on-board graphics, but I'd love to, as ideally I want to fit it all (external power brick aside) into a UK SNES with the innards ripped out.

I've seen a few SNES PC builds on the net to know that mini-ITX (17x17) will fit in the case acceptably, with room in the front/top for a small OS drive (and in one case, a slimline DVD inside a hollowed-out game cartridge, though I won't bother with that).

The basic problem I have is that I have NO idea about relative power at this scale in the modern era. All the build logs I've seen are 1-2 years out of date, hardware-wise.

So, the recommendations I need are:
Motherboard (+ CPU and cooler if separate) - powerful enough to run stuff, not hot or power hungry.
add-in GPU if strictly necessary (cost/space/power suggest IGP would be better if at all feasible for this workload)
Small SSD (or SD card + SATA converter?) for minimal OS, front end and ROM storage (SNES ROMS are only a few MB each, so large storage not really an issue)
OS/Front-end software (free is better than paid, happy to donate to donation-funded projects if they are good)
PSU with external brick.

Please let me know what you think would be best. I promise a build log with pics if this gets off the ground!

paradigm · 28 Jun 2011 at 10:19

Pretty sure that a Fusion board will have the graphical "oomph" to run everything you have listed.

Mockingbird · 28 Jun 2011 at 10:22

And for those of us who are thinking-imparied - Fusion = effectively look for e350?

paradigm · 28 Jun 2011 at 10:31

Yeah, on OcUK it's any of the boards that come under Components > Motherboards - AMD > AMD Hudson M1.

Ben Cole · 28 Jun 2011 at 10:52

I think an Atom 330 dual core plus ION chipset would also do you.

Mockingbird · 28 Jun 2011 at 11:04

OK, that takes care of the main hardware, thanks.

How about storage?
Small hard drive vs SSD vs SD+SATA?
I assume SSD would be fastest, silent, and most expensive.
HDD would be cheapest, and loudest.
Is an SD card with SATA converter actually worth considering?

And OS - does a lightweight OS really make a big difference on this kind of system? (I'd ideally like to have a quick boot to a controller-navigable interface, with little or no actual time in the OS (I can go to HTPC/Emulator forums for this if I'm getting a bit too specific for the SFF general crowd).

Ben Cole · 28 Jun 2011 at 11:15

I haven't done exactly what you're after but have built a few different ITX builds in the past couple of months. I did find on my atom dual core/ion system that vista was bit slow (no shock there) but Win 7 and Ubuntu both feel like proper computers.

Regarding drives, I bought a 30gb OCZ agility on offer from ocuk for £35. this works really well in my media ITX system in my lounge. Low power, noise and quick read times make it ideal. I think the normal price was 45-50. Still a decent buy IMHO.

Mockingbird · 28 Jun 2011 at 11:23

Right, that's drive sorted then.

What did people do before forums and online reviews? I honestly find it hard to believe I used to wait for actual paper magazines to arrive, and hope they reviewed the type of hardware I was after... Madness.

Cycrow · 28 Jun 2011 at 12:50

For the os you can look at something like mythbuntu. Lightweight and boots quickly. Has media library functions to view and play your media and has a plugin for games to allow you to use emulators in the same menu

Althou takes abit to properly set it up

I have snes games running on mine using a wireless xbox pad to play on

Its running on a ion system with ssd

Mockingbird · 28 Jun 2011 at 13:44

Interesting!

So the wireless xbox pads play nice with Linux then? Looks like I might have to try my first serious foray into a non-MS operating system on a PC.

Excellent. Well thanks again for all your help, folks.

Cycrow · 29 Jun 2011 at 15:12

yeah it was pretty easy to get working, using the latest ubuntu core, xpader was already runing, so it worked pretty much straight away

ZXSpectrum · 29 Jun 2011 at 16:47

I have a system that i have built upp for almost the same reason.. here are the specs:

Hyper Media Chassis
Intel E8600
Zotac M-Itx Motherboard with integrated 9300 Graphics
4gb DDR2
40Gb Intel SSD
400Gb 7200Rpm Storage drive.

I got the SSD in there cos it was cheap and it sorts out the jerkyness with Media Browser. I only download 720p tho as i either use my projector and thats only 720p or my 46" screen at far enough for it not to matter if its 720p or 1080p..

Hope that helps..