Retropie on the Pi 3

[j.smith694]

Not sure if this is the correct forum for this post, sorry if it is not.

I am planning on making a couple of retropie stations to take to social gatherings and meet ups and was wondering what solutions others have gone with.  I'm not handy and on a tight budget, so while I'd love to eventually have a bartop arcade with full joysticks and buttons for now the casing will have to be cheap / portable and with usb controllers. 

I'm debating between the n64  or snes shells, depending upon which gives better airflow. Once I have a bit more cash I'm looking to assemble a make shift arcade using the $60 Ikea Micke desk. 

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/551831760572507960/

I was also concerned about the power draw, assuming 2 usb controllers, a fan, speakers if not through HDMI and the OC I didn't know if it would be necessary to get a separate power source for the fan.

Thanks for any input / advice!

 

[Sir_Fragalot]

Here is my thoughts.

First of all, the shell you pick wont matter. I mean the only reason you need a shell is to protect against dust. The plastic cases have enough airflow in them, so your fine. Just pick the one you like best. You don't need any cooling, or fans either. Just the pi and a case will suffice.

Make sure your power supply can power 5V. If your running just 2 USB controllers, you should be fine. If not you may need to get a powered USB hub, but I am almost certain you should be fine (so just test to be sure). Sound is through HDMI so unless you really absolutely need speakers, don't bother with speakers.

So really you just need a PI, SD card, a good 5V power adapter and the controllers. Make sure it's the latest pi as well, don't buy an earlier version, just for performance.

 

[luan87us]

^ what he said. The power supply is very important. It must be able to constantly supply 5v 2.5a to the pi. I'm using a 5v 2.4a and two snes usb controllers and havent got much issue with power/voltage so far with games up to snes/sega genesis.

As for the case, I was using the official pi plastic case for awhile without any issue. Just switched to the flirc metal case recently because it was on sale and it looks nicer.