Pre-loaded hard drives?

[guitarmas]

Hey everyone, 

 

I've got a i5-6500 based PC. I'd like to make it a dedicated emulation machine. It would be great to turn it on and boot directly into a front end where I can select the system then the games. 

 

I keep seeing a lot of external USB hard drives preloaded with 100k + games online. What do you all think about these? 

 

Are they worth it?

 

Ideas? Thoughts? Suggestions?

 

Thanks!

[TampaBay]

1 hour ago, guitarmas said:

It would be great to turn it on and boot directly into a front end where I can select the system then the games. 

Those hard drives won't do exactly what you're describing.  What you want to do is something like this (see link at the bottom of this post).  It works incredibly well.

 

The only thing is I don't know is how your existing PC is set up.  You'd need to be able to install the new blank hard drive internally in your PC, like he does in the video.

 

Once the front-end software Batocera (which is free) is set up, it does exactly what you describe.  The PC sits permanently next to your TV, connected via HDMI, and when you press the power button it instantly displays the gaming front end where you can choose your retro console and select a game. 

 

If you go this route, it does not come with any games.  You would source your own.

 

Check out the video to get an idea of how it all works.

 

 

 

 

[mr_me]

If you're paying more than the cost of the drive, you're paying too much. While your computer should be abe to boot from an external drive, an internal drive might be preferable.