[CLARIFICATION: Guys... I'm just talking about peripherals. There are a hundred threads talking about which PC parts to use in an emulation machine.]
I am building a HTPC codenamed "Couch Potato". This PC will be used to play media files from my NAS as well as play console games through emulation. I want to have every platform available to be on this one machine so that I don't have to have multiple set top boxes. There are tons of threads regarding which emulators to use, but I'm not 100% on recommended hardware for them [specifically in regards to controllers]. I would like to connect each platform's emulator with a native controller [i.e. Project 64 with a N64 controller] but I'm not sure which controller hardware might work the best. If there are wireless alternatives for older consoles that run well, that might be better, but wired controllers are not at all a deal breaker. Here is a list of emulators I plan to use:
NES - JNES SNES - ZSNES Nintendo 64 - Project 64 Sega Saturn - Satourne or SSf Nintendo DS - DeSmuMe GBA - No$GBA PlayStation - ePSXe PlayStation 2 - PCSX2 All Sega Systems pre-Saturn - Fusion GameCube and Wii - Dolphin
Game systems I have not decided on an emulator for yet include: PSP PS Vita [If one exists]
Recommendations for getting this hooked up are greatly appreciated. Thanks for the help!
What's your budget? You're probably going to want an overclocked G3258, not the best for some PC games though being a dual core, but fine for emulation
I'm going to be using some higher end equipment inside the PC, such as an i5 or i7 and maybe a GTX 660 or so, but I'm trying to figure out how to get the controllers hooked up at the moment. I edited the post to try to convey that more accurately. Thanks for the recommend though!
I don't have a 660 at the moment, but I figured it could get the job done for cheap. I am considering bumping that up to the GTX 750 range. I am still in the planning stages of this build, so I'm working on cost-to-performance analysis just about every time I click a link.
Budget isn't really the issue at hand. I'm going to be going around $700-1000 just on the computer's hardware. But I still need to figure out peripherals. Your suggestion of a USB hub was kind of what I figured I would be doing, but again, I'm still looking to see if there are other options. For example, I'm considering a Bluetooth adapter for the PlayStation controller.
Wireless would suck, plus wireless isn't really an option for the older stuff anyways
You could also buy like a Retron 5 for the really old stuff if you collect the actual games
There'd be my hardware suggestion anyways, might be worth getting a Z170 board with a 6600K
includes a 380, as that's about the best performance per dollar GPU out there, aside from 380Xs that are on sale, unless you're using linux I guess, but that's going to end up slower than windows from what I read due to the sole use of OpenGL on linux
Are you serious? ppsspp works just fine... Even on my 760K it runs smooth as baby skin. At least so far... It runs everything i throw at it. ISO... CSO don't really like the program, but ISO... Get yourself both 360 and PS3/4 controllers and you are set for everything...
Is the distance an issue? What is wrong with a simple USB extension cable? Get yourself a cable dude. No battery will ever die, no connection issues will ever happen...
A good Skylake i3 hyperthreaded is fine (the most basic i5 would be the best option really), 8GB of Kingston value RAM is more than enough and a 960. This would be enough for PCSX2 and overkill for any other emulator. Since PCSX2 is pretty heavy you have to tailor the machine around it, in my opinion. But if you're not using that you can get away with a lot less money. Regarding peripherals I think that an XBOX 360 controller and a Logitech K400 Plus will do the trick no problem. PS controllers are difficult to set up in Windows, require drivers that may break the USB drivers and they're not recognized out of the box in most situations. Or if you want a good controller that resambles the PS ones there's the Logitech F710.
depending on the game/emulator and settings the more powerful pc the better. for example if you want to play wii games at 4k a r9 280, nvidia gtx 670 or gtx 960 would be needed. for some pcsx2 some games like armored core 3+ you need software mode which works best if you have a quadcore intel at 4ghz or AMD cpu at 5ghz.
also to fully play games like pokemon snap on project64 you need HatCat's Pixel-Accurate N64 plugin which needs a beast of a dual core cpu.
I would say stick with wired if you can because most of the wireless options out there are pretty terrible(random disconnections with multiple of the same controller cough Logitech F710 cough and really short radio frequency). I'd recommend usb adapters like ones from Mayflash.
I actually built a HTPC about 2 years ago. I used an I5 with a 660 gpu, and I have not had any issues running any of the emulators. I decided to drop the idea of trying to make a PS3 controller work with all of the games, and instead just bought the wireless Xbox controller kit for PC's. It plugs into USB 2 or 3 and lets you pair up to 4 controllers with the thing. It works fine for all of the emulators.
I will suggest, if your wanting to play more demanding games then just install two 660's and you will have enough power to play everything at 30fps at 4k. Some of the settings will have to be turned off, but it will play it. However, if your going to play at 1440 or 1080 then you can start cranking the setting up and your fps will jump closer to 120 fps or better.
Oh and if your going to use Linux on this system and you want to run two GPU's. You have to get the system running on one card first, then after all your drivers have been installed and everything is up and running, then you can install the second GPU. If you don't wait the thing will crash or give you some kind of weird screen.