Looking for some advise on a project

[MightyLukasus]

Hey everyone, newcomer to the forums and was wondering is some of you could give me some advice on a project I'm planning to start on.

I'm looking to build a PC and stylise it like a console. I'm thinking of using either Windows with Hyperspin or Linux with Attract Mode (with the Hyperspin media copied over). At the moment I'm thinking of getting a 500GB SSD for all the software and media (OS, front-end, emulators, snaps, artwork, etc.) and a 4TB HDD to store the roms. I'm hoping to have the system be able to use anything that's available up to now but the focus will be anything PS1 or older. I'll have it set up for newer systems too but I don't think I'll use those often. I definitely won't be getting every rom for PS2 or even PS1.

I've been trying out some different things and so far I'm leaning towards the Linux setup but there's a few things I wanted to figure out before continuing.

1. How much space would I need for the media, including snaps and artwork, for every game covered on the Hyperspin and Emumovies FTP? Would the 500GB SSD cover that or should I look into getting a HDD dedicated to just media as well?

2. What does the Hyperspin FTP have compared to the free sections? I'm mainly after the console and game themes (those animations that play over the default theme if they're available), are they all available on the Hyperspin FTP?

3. I'm leaning towards using Ubuntu with Attract Mode, but I'm curious about compatibility for the emulators. Would there be anything I couldn't get access to if I were to use Linux instead of Windows, or visa versa? Any major negatives with using one OS over the other?

Mostly I'm just trying to scope out what the Hyperspin and Emumovies FTP's have available so I can figure out what I need hardware-wise and if I need subscriptions to one, the other or both.

[dark13]

Uhm... the fact is for emulation windows is better than linux. Some emulators does not exists and other ones have worst performance on linux and osx.

If it is a console-pc probably you should take a look at universal themes, they fit an htpc-oriented project better

 

[thatman84]

Also check out this similar project

FTP wise its hard to say. Iirc uploads have been closed a long while but there is some random stuff there. Everytging is fairly messy these days. Its all just grown into a beast over the years!