Pi hardware questions for new project

[cdesangles]

Hello!

I have some questions regarding the hardware you need for this, I’ll post up some links about the stuff I want to buy to make this possible, with questions about each piece.

2x 9.99 controllers: I have my old SNES controllers too, can I use these with an adaptor of some sorts? Is it better just to buy USB and cut the hassle of adapting old ones?

38.95 raspberry pi: not much to talk about here
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Raspberry-Pi-2-0-Model-B-512MB-Version-Element-14-Linux-System-Board-/291194623837

4.95 charger: how do you turn this thing off? can I add some on/off/reset capabilities, without doing much research, just plugging off something mid game would damage my equipment. any suggestions?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Power-Supply-Cable-Charging-Cable-for-Raspberry-Pi-A-B-B-with-ON-OFF-Switch-/251392821622

12.59 sd card: since the pi is going to be reading constantly, i preferred the extreme version, now, is 8gb enough for the image and roms (5gb)?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-SanDisk-8GB-ExtremePRO-8-GB-SDHC-UHS-I-Card-SDSDXP1-008G-Extreme-PRO-SD-8G-G-/191012154836

5.37 case + heatsink: do you really need heatsinks? I live in the Caribbean, might not a bad idea, but just wondering if it’s overkill
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Transparent-Clear-Acrylic-Case-Box-Enclosure-With-Heatsink-For-Raspberry-Pi-B-/131291924162

Sub-Total: 61.68
Controllers: 19.98
Total: 81.84

Thanks for the input!!

[proxycell]

Pi + SD Card:
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you may want to consider getting a larger SD card. are you getting the B+ model? everyone would recommend that you get the B+ model over the B these days for this project. the B+ model uses microSD by the way

i think after i installed and updated everything to the way I like it, things were over 5GB already. after adding in the No-Intro romsets (not including N64 and PSX). I’m now sitting pretty at around 31GB. That will likely increase as I add in more and more games from systems like TurboCD, SegaCD, N64 and PSX, images for the gamelist and even the atari 2600 lol…

This system can certainly play more systems and the base install will likely only increase over time too.

You are right on the money with the faster read speeds though. Do not even worry about write speeds all that much.
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“charger”:
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oh gosh, you NEED to buy a power adapter for your pi. it will consume too much power for your computer’s USB port to handle. get one that says it is 2A.

As for that “charger”. I would ignore it for now… I have contacted the seller to ask if they offer one with the power adapter combined and even then I want to make sure it MATCHES the specs of other commonly used B+ power adapters. Electrical components are not something you want to cheap out on, they can burn your house down while you sleep or cause serious electrical injuries to you or even the Pi.

FYI – the B+ pi has a more reliable power supply with a lower current draw, thats why its often recommended, especially for such demanding projects like this one
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controllers:
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I have no experience with these but I hear nothing but great things about their quality. I personally use a PS3-style USB wireless controller from Logitech (the F710 model). I prefer using the analogue sticks for fighting games.

Setting up your controllers may be more challenging than mine but I do know from reading other people’s posts here that they do work.
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heatsinks:
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Yes! Due to the nature of emulating, you will basically NEED to overclock your Pi. Do not worry, its easy. As a result, you will NEED heatsinks. I have two, a copper one for the CPU and a smaller aluminum one for the RAM.
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[karloss]

Don’t bother with a B+ get a Pi2…

everything else looks ok.

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