Single board / small form factor for game emulation

[Nutty_Death]

I'm interested in making a small computer to run.

Snes
N64
GameCube

Games through emulation. From what I've read raspberry pi might not cut it. So I started looking into Intel nucs and got lost in different models and not knowing what would work.
Retropi sounds user friendly, is an equivalent to this for a nuc?

As you can tell I have no idea what I'm on about and some guidance would be appreciated.

Don't want to spend more than £200

 

[Emlyn_Dewar]

Look in to Lakka as the OS. It's very similar to the PS3, can be navigated with a controller and super easy to use once you've got the games imported.
A used NUC could fit the bill for you. I did see a video on that Nvidia Jetson board the other day though, looked like it could be a cheap mini powerhouse.

Edit: I've used an i5 2540m and i5 5250u for emulation and both seemed up to the task, although never actually tried Gamecube!

 

[davida76]

Last time I used dolphin emu for gc it was very single threaded and needed a cpu with decent single core ipc. (I used a pentium g3240, not the greatest but fine for 1:1 fps) Also it's going to need a decent'ish gpu, for 1080p think around gtx 750. Might be worth looking at an itx build with a ryzen apu if you want small form factor, not sure what nuc alternatives there are with decent onboard that don't cost a packet.

Software have a google of retroarch and hyperspin.

Edit:
Just found this emulation based on the Athlon 200GE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZgONj_XLAw

 

[InfiniteNoise]

ASRock DeskMini A300 with something like Athlon 200GE, but it's gonna be over £200 if you need to get SO-DIMM RAM + storage, but if you already have these covered, then it could be a decent option.

 

[davida76]

ASRock DeskMini A300 with something like Athlon 200GE, but it's gonna be over £200 if you need to get SO-DIMM RAM + storage, but if you already these covered, then it could be a decent option.

I'd say a very decent option and a good shout. Plus the op can go for a better apu whilst maintaining the form factor if they want to go further than gamecube emulation.

 

[Nikumba]

nVidia Shield makes a great emu box