The BEST Retro Gaming Setup in 2024 For Just $100

[@kevins8071]

Oh my goodness, I can’t thank you enough for your step by step instructions on this. I am an older gamer who is not very savvy with PC’s. After watching your video, I actually believe I can pull this off. Thank you.

[@j.demmery61]

Do it man, you wont regret it. I have an old optiplex that my work was throwing out that I installed Batocera on. My boys and I have a blast playing the games I grew up on.

[@robertwolfgan]

​@@j.demmery61this is awesome

[@bobbyblanco5351]

12tb hyperspin plug n play !!! An your done

[@robertwolfgan]

@@kevins8071 I dunno why I got reminded of this jewel but I'm glad haha.

[@pawelk.8325]

Alternative for (HP G2/G3) is Dell 3040/7040/9040 or 3050/7050/9050 micro, Lenovo M700q/M710q/M720q Tiny. They are all on 6-7 generation Intel processors. And they are 1 liter business class computers. Even better are the same computers but based on AMD APU Ryzen 2200G/2400G, i.e. HP 705 G4 DM or Lenovo M715q Tiny (here look only for those with Ryzen).

[@gloe9362]

I just set up RetroPie on a M715Q, came with the AMD A12-9800e. Got it for $30 but had no storage just 8 gigs of ram. I added two 256 GB NVME, one directly on the M.2 port and the other I connected it to a SATA adapter. Installed Linux Mint. So far I've only tried mame roms and N64 roms and so far the games play fine.

[@neotronicmind8337]

I have an old Lenovo Yoga 500 with a i5 CPU, 8GB RAM and 1TB SSD. When I tried to flash batocera img to the SSD I got a warning "selecting your system drive is dangerous and will erase your drive!". Obviously I don't want it happen as I still use the laptop for browsing the web. What shall I do to install batocera on my Yoga? Should I get an external SSD, plug it in and flash on it?

[@gloe9362]

@@neotronicmind8337 You can flash it, install it on any external drive. I actually did it onto a 256 GB SanDisk thumb drive and booted off of it.

[@samserif5967]

I have 7050 with an HHD drive do you if the process is the same? Can I flash the drive? I havent tried yet because I am waiting for replacement power cord

[@gloe9362]

@@samserif5967 I would install Linux Mint and then RetroPie. Pretty easy

[@arcaderacer586]

Those g2’s are on ebay often for $59-69 500gb 8gb ram free shipping but you have to look everyday for them. They sale quick

[@PistolPeteYT]

The timing of this video couldn’t have been more perfect. Going to Microcenter to buy one today. It’s $30 more. But I’ll pay that to get it today and not wait a week for shipping.

[@NexusFantismo]

Nice

[@Lolwhy334]

I use a Dell Optiplex 9020 Tower with a 1050 Ti, I have been able to play the oldest retro games to current Pc games on Steam such as The Last of Us Part 1, RDRD2, Hell Divers 2 and GTAV.

[@FlavorIsHappiness]

Same here. It's an excellent inexpensive system. Cloned the SSD just in case of drive failure.

[@RetroGameFacts]

Perfect timing! I’ve been trying to figure out what mini PC would work best for emulating old school GameCube games, and this really helped narrow it down. Thanks man

[@frazzelbut]

Got one with Batacera on a 2TB Works great

[@fullyf0cused]

This was great. This is the first video that has actually made me want to attempt a small retrogame project. Thank you!

[@only1wiz]

This was much needed lol thank you about to get my ultimate game console setup going

[@carll9615]

if your getting something like this consider the HP EliteDesk 705 G4: Emulates up to PS2 /gamecube and a good bit of switch. Plus you can upgrade and add a GPU!

[@Trackmaster]

I bought this one as well and had the intention to use it for retro gaming but both the units I bought (from different sources) give me non-stop screen flickering and I searched the web for a solution and couldn't find anything. I'm about to give up and throw them out at this point. Any advice?

[@MrAntonNYC]

Your hdmi port is bad ​@Trackmaster

[@gasiacaligasiacali7384]

Cant you just make me one!! Plug and play!!! All OCD like RGG likes(that's what's it's all about) RGG much love! And I just pay you!!!!?

[@Trackmaster]

@@MrAntonNYCi got the same issue on 2 different units and I've used the HDMI port and Display port with HDMI converter and same flickering.

[@Binkbarny]

This does exactly that😂

[@LupinosLionheart]

Man, this is probably the best video I've seen about retro emulation devices! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge! ❤️

[@OfficialChaseBrogan]

Any time

[@LordNuttington]

Great video, exactly what I needed with a birthday coming up!

[@rossvegas7]

Happy birthday 🎂

[@valentine12]

Bought this and came to youtube to see the process. Thanks man.

[@BURRITO44]

Great video !!

[@spakey1983]

If you convert the bin and cue files to CHD's that's plenty of space

[@joehood732]

@@spakey1983 no way people want 28,964 gamea that they will never play.

[@droopyguy]

@@joehood732 Finally! Someone who gets it 🤭

[@jonathangauthier1005]

Thanks!

[@kevinmahoney9205]

I picked up a HP EliteDesk 800 G3 on ebay yesterday for $38 +shipping. I see they come with a wide range of CPUs also.

[@GilbertoPaulo1970]

Great video. This is the real noob tutorial 🤣 you didn't worried only with the Batocera installation, you went over ALL the steps, including windows commands. Nice, I believe that anybody can do this. I have an old laptop with 2Gb RAM that I believe will do just fine for retro games. Kudos...

[@spyswatter]

Thank you for this video! I’m an absolute noob and starting from square one. A couple of things you didn’t mention that I’d love to get more info on: 1. Where do you get the ROM files for other games? I understand there’s a lot of potential junk out there and would appreciate some good sources. Most interested in classic arcade, PS/PS2, Sega, and N64 games. 2. How do you connect game controllers for single and multiplayer setups? And would I need to purchase a bunch of different controllers? Thanks again!

[@davidwestra8181]

I have several mini pcs that were being thrown out at work, all with i5-8500t. Still struggles with Xbox. Playable, but barely enjoyable. If I were to invest money into it, there are certain models of Lenovo mini pcs that have a half height x8 pcie slot in it. If you can get it with the i7-8700t and a decent used single slot half height gpu, it would be a beast on Xbox and possibly Xbox 360. Though you’re likely looking $200 if you are getting a good deal. But given the turnover process of corporate computers, they should be flooding the market sometime in 2025 and driving the price down.

[@titaniumshell]

I've had mine for a year, its pretty amazing, I used to use my nvidia shield tv but this blows it out for the water.

[@2kewl4skewlz]

Thank you kindly! This is so accessible and well spoken. When my console dies, this is the route which I will take. Thanks for the content and I hope your wrestling channel dominates as well!

[@Curlyman172000]

I was trying to look for a pc console to hook up to a tv. Thank you am not computer savvy tho. Am going to look into this

[@martinhuband4773]

I scored an elitedesk 15 6500 for 80 bucks, putt in a 15 dollar radeon 8490 and it kills, still on batocera 33, if it ain't broke don't mess with it, good up to wii, xbox

[@TeamRiosart]

You mean an i5 6500 right? I have one of those minis too. Never installed new hardware for pc before I think I will try this.

[@ssellc215]

Just saw the Toasty Bros add a RX560 4GB & 150W Power Adapter to this build, will take you over $100 but it may be worth it for emulation capability.

[@carlosquiroz8805]

I just can say: THANK YOU!!! 🤟🏼🤟🏼🤟🏼🤟🏼👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽

[@OfficialChaseBrogan]

Your welcome!

[@jeffweber6048]

Nice clear instructional video! Can both pc's upscale GameCube games and ps2 from original graphics?

[@iamme1593a]

I hope this does not sound dumb but you lost me when it came to adding the games. Where do you find the games you want to add? Also, how do you use a control with this? Such as a PlayStation Control or X box control?

[@Go4Broke247]

Just google reddit roms or bios

[@MrFaceonline]

Best buy are the models with amd ryzen 2400ge 3400ge and similar models like the lenovo 715q mini. Much more powerful integrated gpu. Maybe you have some links for amd based mini pcs like that? Cheers

[@alpmaster0076]

This is an awesome video I love your channel thanks 😍

[@LOREandEXPLORE]

Great video. Just a quick question. Can you save your progress on the games you install.? Thanks.

[@TheNerdyGuy84]

I also recommend to get 1tb patriot p200 or p210 sdd for 50.99 if your doing this also go to ur local goodwill store get a keyboard for 7 bucks max for it

[@jamesmartin6840]

So this setup can run and handle og xbox? If not what would be ideal specifically for xbox? I still have all my old games, the consoles eventually quit reading discs 😢. I quit trying after my 3rd.

[@MinusTacosTheOriginalBroTaco]

i was wondering if you know weather the elitedesk 705 g4 with a ryzen 5 2400ge would be better for emulation than the elitedesk 800 g3 with a core i5-6500t

[@AmpliFreQuency]

Amazing video! I use a Steam Deck and Switch for retro gaming on TV, but for some reason, I still want one of these machines at that price to tinker around with and repurpose, BUT don't know what to repurpose it into. I already have a homelab setup with a NAS 😓

[@josephatnip2398]

Xbox series x with dev mod set up correctly is hard to beat I mean if you already got the console you might as well

[@taeavughn]

Can you tell us the game resolution and framerate when you do your video. It would help out alot to know what the device can manage.

[@professorpenne9962]

love my mister but this certainly seems way cheaper and easier.

[@Rpgamer50]

Love your Chanel

[@johnhanes3450]

I just got the 800 G4 pumped to see what it can do!!

[@johnhanes3450]

I got it up and running! Loads of stuff is running beyond perfect. When I am playing PS2 games, though I noticed that often times there appears to be almost line going through the center of the image. I tried the V sync feature on Batocera but it slows the PC way down. Is there any other way to not have that happen?

[@lexlopez15]

I think it would have been worth mentioning that you could also transfer ROMs using a USB flash drive instead of a network connection. I think that way is a lot more user friendly... and eliminates the need to buy and use a wifi connection... especially if you don't plan to play online with it.

[@vudusid8717]

He did, when he was talking about the usb ports.

[@lexlopez15]

​@@vudusid8717he did not. He just mentioned all the various things you can connect to it. He did not mention it for transferring ROMs INSTEAD of using a network connection through wifi.

[@mjust7119]

If my intent is to run ps2 and gc, is there any real reason to get a more powerful/ expensive option like a beelink ser5?

[@FortbloxNET]

LOL so i ordered everything, even the SSD USB adapter.....now i opened the elitedesk G2 and there is no SSD inside but a NVME at the bottom....so what now?

[@FortbloxNET]

omg so i flashed a USB drive, booted batocera from that, connected the elitedesk via LAN to internet and then in SYSTEM SETTING you can install batocera again on the internal hard drive. that did it :D

[@FatherlessChild.Since1997]

Return that shit

[@FatherlessChild.Since1997]

Oh nevermind that’s good bro hope your enjoying your new mini retro 😂

[@ebayseller6040]

nvme usb adapter

[@cw5289]

Would these work to use with the recently reviewed Retro Game Console SSD 1TB? Thanks!!

[@AdhamOhm]

I have Batocera running on an old 2011 Mac Mini. Since Apple no longer supports it I figure this is the next best use for it. It looks good under my TV too. The onboard graphics kind of struggle with N64 and PSX games, but since I mainly emulate 16 bit and older consoles it wasn't much of a deal breaker.

[@jondoyon]

Excellent video A++

[@Thewesrobertson]

Great video. I am definitely going to do this. I'm in the ATL area as well so GO BRAVES! [unless you just like the hat]

[@CloneC-bw3pj]

Whats a good place for ROMs? Thanks for a great video

[@renerodriguez9055]

I know it's not the same like cartridges and disc but I'm so glad that I have 6 modded consoles like 1. Nintendo Wii that has retros like Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Sega Genesis, MAME ARCADE that has Over 10,000 Games, 2. Xbox 360 RGH that has 1,027 original Xbox & Xbox 360 Games that I'm trying to sell 3. PlayStation 4 w/ firmware 9.0FW has 60 Games 4. PlayStation 4 that's not modded so I could buy games at the PlayStation Store that has 127 Games 5. Nintendo switch that also has retros as well that has 223 switch games 6. My all-time favorite console that I own is the PlayStation 3 slim that has 300 exclusive best games that's on the ps3, and not only it also you can play PlayStation 1 and Playstation 2 games and the PlayStation 3 console has a game shop that you could download more games so I'm really glad that I have this set of consoles and I ain't played in on an 75in LG with LG sound system

[@DonaldLambert-l2d]

Can you show a video on how to install launchbox on a mini PC? I would really appreciate it

[@josephsosa776]

Thank you for this good sir.

[@KungFuChess]

You can also build a bar top cab from an old laptop with same specs.for.about same price and it comes with an lcd

[@HieuVu-wq3ub]

Great advice and I did everything however I am getting sound through the internal speaker of the elite desk. How do I go about switching this so that way I can get sound through the TV outputs ?

[@johnboy4809]

anyone know how these cope with using reflection shaders whilst running MAME games and how they cope with something like sega rally 2

[@charlesatwood8340]

I just got a Retro Gaming stick (4k Ultra HD Game Stick Pro) I was wondering if I can install Batocera a the Micro SD card and then run it on the game stick?

[@kevinwanner78]

So the HP Elite Desk that I received did not have the 2.5” removable SSD. Can this be done with the one that has a 256GB stick?

[@Not31337]

Yes.

[@YoshiIsCool1]

Awesome Bro

[@livemetaltv1042]

@retrogaminguy, what can you do to fix it if suddenly no games launch anymore? The menus and system itself work fine. But no console or games will load all of a sudden. I'm using Botocera. I tried reinstalling the bios and a game too but it still not working.

[@stephenfarkas4922]

Just wondering if the G1 is still a viable option or no ahead and pay the extra $20 - $30 to move up to a G2 or G3. What does everyone think

[@jordanwolfe739]

Seems like when trying to copy the bios files it keeps getting stuck on one folder. Trying to copy that folder on its own first

[@itchylampost]

how does this compare to the firebat T8 , Intel N100 for the same money ?

[@willsmith6290]

Thank you so much for the video. This looks great and I've already added one to my Amazon basket. I just have a couple of questions before I buy it and start getting set up. My laptop, which isn't a gaming laptop, but is a relatively decent, standard laptop, can run everything fine up to Xbox 360, PS3 and Switch emulation. Does this device definitrly run those emulators along with a fair amount of games, decent performance etc.?

[@donschlock1638]

Thanks for the great video. I bought the device without an SSD because I still have one. Unfortunately, there are no screws included. Do you know where to by such caddy screws and whats the exact item description?

[@israelosuna465]

Nice video.. thanks.. question can you play fighting games online on this arcade pc?

[@TheFrejusmea]

How to set up the controllers?

[@Jfuzzy85]

I spent about $300 on a MINISFORUM Mini PC UM480 XT AMD Ryzen 7 4800H 8 cores/16 Threads Mini Desktop Computer, 16 GB RAM 512 GB. How does that stack up against the windows above? I still have glitches on my 12TB Kinhank Hyperspin.

[@tmanchurek]

Could I do this with an extra laptop I have? I am just worried, if I flash it, I will lose the ability to use the Function key, to display out to my T.V. Via HDMI? Thanks in advance.

[@shaolinprince777]

How do you go about hooking the Wii sensor bar up to it? Does it have any problem working with the Wii motion controls?

[@maximumjugs935]

I think there are usb sensors bar I’m not 100% sure

[@putawaywet1]

Where could I get golden tee? For jamma or retropi

[@djliquidsmoke]

note the 2nd offering on amazon has HDMI on it or so it said in the description.

[@lurkerrekrul]

I always find it funny when people stress that a system will be able to play NES, Genesis, Gameboy, etc games. Unless you're specifically looking for an original Pentium, anything you find listed on eBay or other such sites is going to play all those older games with absolutely no problems. You can probably go to your local dump and find a discarded system for free that will play everything up to and including the PS1. It's all the later systems, such as the PS2, Xbox, Nintendo DS, Gamecube, Wii, etc, that need a beefy system to run properly.

[@WizardOfWor]

There's something like the ASUS Rog Ally X that can run emulations of all older platforms easily.

[@MattMoulder-l7k]

I did this EXACT set up and my ps2 roms will not run at 60 fps. Sometimes up to 40, but usually slower. Any advice?

[@chrisodom5210]

Can you do a video on how to dowload and add game's?

[@Adam_22-k3e]

Really great.

[@nbehring09]

I can get the controllers to work on everything except for PSP and PS2. It will run the games but I can't do anything with them but watch them. How do I get controller support?

[@K1ll3r84]

Right now I'm using a stock HP Elitedesk 800 G1, trying to get more out of it.

[@nayttdogg1979]

So can I use this with the 12tb hard drive from another video, then connect to my tv?

[@dman8871]

Anyrning recommended as a great plug and play ? Would like to find something compatible with my Nvidia shield pro

[@jeffconner3412]

Which controller do you recommend to play N64 games on this system?

[@X91X-km7hp]

xbox360

[@ben-tendo]

I tried this about 18 months ago and sadly these devices can be temperamental about what screens they like to connect to and also provide sound at the same time. In the end I went for a SER5 MAX and haven't looked back...

[@josemadrazo3131]

Can you plug it to a tv or monitor and play or do you need a pc?

[@funstar5225]

I have a hp prodesk 600 g3 will that do the same as the hp elitedesk 800 g3.Thanks

[@shortstack1757]

can it be upgraded? what would be the latest platform I could get?

[@deathsnitemaresinfullust2269]

Can anyone recommend the most cost-effective way to run everything on one of those 12TB game drives? I don't need 4k and all that, I'm still not sure I've seen the difference in 60fps and 30fps either. I just want the stuff to run without freezing or lagging.

[@Jfuzzy85]

@@deathsnitemaresinfullust2269 SAME. Why can no one answer this 😂

[@xdsmastermia]

Step 1, don't buy this cheap crap, get a real gaming pc build. Step 2, buy a hard drive from someone other than a chinese company. Hard to find. Most of those drives have broken/bad roms, multi region/ duplicate roms (like 5+per game) it will be a difficult thing to find a legit rom build and if you do, it won't be cheap. Good luck.

[@deathsnitemaresinfullust2269]

@@xdsmastermia I'd rather "go cheap" because that's the kind of money I have, and then use the thing to learn hands on how to do it myself for free. Why would I over pay some entitled jerk that's just trying to get rich off of every customer when I could easily delete what I don't want from a collection that would take months for me to put together? I'm all for buying American made, just not when I feel like I'm getting ripped off. Why are they so expensive when they only had to put the collection together one time? It's not like they're custom downloading each individual title for each game on each drive, it's literally copy paste and they want hundreds of dollars more? It's 5 clicks of a mouse to make another drive, they've already made thousands of dollars for work they did One Time. You go have fun with that. Considering I have time to play games maybe a couple hours a month I'm not breaking my bank account to make it happen.

[@deathsnitemaresinfullust2269]

@@xdsmastermia as for a PC you're a friggin joke if you spend around $800 or more on one, at that price you're just enabling the continued skyrocketing of prices for stuff that would be far cheaper if you weren't living in America. Buy American made only if the company isn't trying to take advantage of saying they're American made by charging more than double in some cases. You do realize that the ROM files all come from the same internet that everyone else uses don't you? And the parts being used weren't manufactured in the US, they're all bought on the internet and then assembled in America, but that's only if you're dealing with an honest company that isn't outsourcing the labor to another country.

[@xdsmastermia]

@@deathsnitemaresinfullust2269 I'm talking about good rom sets. The 12tb that he's referring to as a game drive which are commonly sold on Amazon are full of junk broken roms. As for the pc, you get what you pay for.

[@henslee]

you dont have to click on see more options, in windows 11 there are small copy paste logos at the top of the menus

[@Jesttricks]

This was a great video, could you buy this pc and the kinhank 2 tb portable HD with Batocera then just play all the games?

[@CourtJester7489.]

what can i do as far as controllers for things like the wii and wii u? how does it work for the DS? extremely interested

[@jacobehyre7940]

I'm looking to build an arcade cabinet, is this a good way to go. I don't mind spending a little more or are there any plug and play options. I had built one about 10yrs ago and I found getting the roms was labor intensive and i could always get ones that work, I also could never find a way to play the arcade game dragon's lair. The arcade machine I had built used an old mini pc and tank sticks inside of a gutted out TMNT arcade cabinet. We really had a lot of fun but do to some moving and stuff it had to go.

[@ovniologo321]

When you image the ssd do you lose the windows license key? If so any way to back it up if you want to go back to a Windows pc in the future?

[@Not31337]

Nowadays it will be attached at bios level. Nothing to worry about, but if it makes you feel better you can download ProduKey from NirSoft and run it in Windows. It will show you the Windows key.

[@Tooloud4Public]

WWF N64 Legends Challenge or WWF Saturday Night Live?

[@simspawn]

Why did we not just dump the game files when we flashed botocera from the main PC?

[@Spider7782]

What are you using for a controller and how are you connecting it?

[@ryankoehler2046]

would it be quicker to transfer the rom a bios files by booting up through the sata cable on your pc like you showed in the $70 video instead of the ip through your router?

[@roberttiffany3322]

Great video! If I have a Windows home theater PC that I currently use, could I partition the drive and install Batacera on the other partition and use dual-boot? Will it work like that? Thanks!

[@jondoyon]

Is it worth stepping up to the G4 or G5? the g2 and g3 already went up $20 Does it play switch and wii U at 100%?

[@tzs.b.7253]

I have a pc with two ssd. windows 10 is installed on the first ssd and on the second i want to install batocera. Can you show how to make a dual boot system?

[@farm64]

Hi, was hoping to get info on where to get Roms. I know there was6a cra down several years ago. Any suggestions on getting a safe option?

[@nicolasdenis6233]

You 100% sure you can run Switch ROM . its limit on my Retro PC setup running 32GB of 3600 a Asus 1080 TI and a AMD 5600x its kinda limit with last zelda ?

[@OfficialChaseBrogan]

Yeah I'm sure not all switch games are going to be perfect but I've tested several such as crash team racing and mario kart and they run very well.

[@nicolasdenis6233]

@OfficialChaseBrogan will give it a try since its super cheap 👍 thanks a lot

[@YokoOHHNoo]

If you can afford a few bucks more an Intel N100 system would be equally performant but much more power efficient (10W vs 35W). But on sale and if every Dollar counts an old CPU like the i5-6500T will do.

[@kevinwanner78]

This is awesome!! 🎉 One question I have having not done this before, can I connect game controllers to this? I just ordered one of these, I would like to use it as a family console that we can play together. Considering a game like Mario kart or something like that that allows for multiple players I’d like to be able to connect up to four controllers if possible , do you have information or knowledge if this is supported?

[@britishwordplay4335]

With a USB wire yes

[@BakkerSamuel]

I dont know anything about computers. But can I play the arcade game San Francisco Rush 2049 easily on this computer..?