Hello,

Am trying to find out the cheapest/best deal on hardware to run a classic gaming console for which I'd like to boot off of a memory card or flash drive and have 2 USB ports (to run Mess and other emulators) in Linux.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

You mean MAME or any emulator? They don't take full advantage of 3d cards yet. You can build a gaming pc for $500. Google it. With an emphasis on a very fast CPU + an ok GPU like 8600GT.

Note that if it had 3 USB it would be much better (so could have two controllers and the keyboard input which is needed for some functionality in some emulators). Also to answer the question "why use flash memory/memory card instead of hard drive?" - the answer is to hopefully make it more easily upgradeable (as proof of concept).

Not just a gaming PC, I'm looking for a small or micro-form-factor PC without the HD controller, etc. - just a flash drive or runs from memory card (something that could be removed like a card would be better). And using MESS because want to be able to run old computer emulation not just arcade stuff, but yeah would use MAME for that. The goal would be to have a very cheap device that is small that had two ports for game controller and could boot up quickly with little chance of drive failure and drive noise (even though there would still be power supply fan noise I assume), easy to upgrade/add new games (via OS and apps running from memory card), and maybe a port for a keyboard (for the controls for some games).

One more thing, the goal would be to keep the hardware <$150 if possible (very low price, slow processing and limited memory is ok as long as is enough to run some small OS and the emulators mentioned).

I'm guessing this is the wrong forum to post this this topic. Probably should just focus on a motherboard first. Sorry about that.

I did find this:
http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS6372429785.html

I think your best bet is to look at the hardware support lists by MESS & MAME and determine the parts under $150.

Thanks akilles! Will do that!

Also note I started up a topic in the MB forum with more info:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] emory-card

here is the abosolute cheapest build on newegg

cpu: AMD Sempron LE-1150 Sparta 2.0GHz 256KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 45W Single-Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103196
Motherboard: PC CHIPS A15G (V1.0) AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813185113\
Memory: CORSAIR ValueSelect 256MB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 533 (PC2 4200) Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820145528
dvd ASUS Beige 52X CD-ROM E-IDE/ATAPI CD-ROM Drive Model CD-S520B - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827134011
Case: APEX SK337-A Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 350W Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811154048

$112 all told with out dvd it is $100

srry not sure if that case supports micro atx, if not then this one
POWMAX MATX3304-S Silver SGCC Steel MicroATX Desktop Computer Case 230W Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811145004

Sweet! That's even cheaper than this article I found:
Build A 'MAME Brain' For Under $150
http://www.retrothing.com/2008/03/diy-build-a-mam.html

Thanks gators1223!

looks like you'd also need a CF adapter for $25: http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?i [...] B1&cpc=SCH

and a CF card (assuming you wanted to do that vs. CD/DVD

and joysticks/keyboards of course