Whats the best small form factor emulation computer for 5th gen consoles?

whats the best small form factor emulation computer for 5th gen consoles?

*not a handheld but for playing on a TV

Pi is run by anti GG virtue signallers
Pass

Funny you should make this thread. I have an Intel NUC box sitting around collecting dust, and I was thinking about turning it into a little retro emulation console by installing Linux and RetroArch. Someone on RetroArch forum did that two years ago on a more powerful model (his has an i5 in it, mine has an i3 in it) but I figure if it worked for him it should work for me too. He mentions running PS1 games fine, so presumably N64 and Sega Saturn games would work too.

The only thing that stands in my way is that I'm a faggot that knows nothing about Linux, and I'd like to be able to get it as minimalist and simplistic as possible, meaning I'd ideally have to figure out how to set it up to boot Arch Linux and then immediately load RetroArch, with nothing in between, not even a desktop environment.

There are lots of Raspberry Pi alternatives out there too, but I don't know if they are fast enough for 5th gen emulation. Probably are, with the right specs.

Both N64 and Saturn emulation is dogshit so you'll only be playing PS1 games.
Nowadays even 300$ android phones can at least run epsxe but if you want proper accuracy or extra enhancements you'll need to buy a proper PC.

ODROID-C2 or ODROID-XU4 with Lakka installed could be good alternatives.

Then get one of the other micro computers like Arduino, Banana Pi, or CuBox

A big problem is that many Emulator overlays like RetroPie are built for Rasberry Pi. Sure, anyone with a basic understanding of Linux could get RetroPie working on another platform. Still, could get compatibility issues.

The current version of Demul is good, they even finally fixed the AMD texture glitching. Now if only they could also release it as a Libretro core.

Reicast is going quite nicely as well.
I remember testing the 0.1 version of the libretro core in my toaster, and I could run Marvel VS Capcom 2 without issue. It was originally made for ARM Architecture, so it must be working well for SBCs like ODROID and derivatives

N64 emulation has never once worked for me on Linux. Not on my desktop, not on my pi3.
I have enough problems getting N64 working on my Windows Desktop.