I just got an i7 8500 I was hoping to use to run my network and server (which I haven't built yet) and I was wondering if it could also be used to run some retro game on and if that would be advisable?
Is it advisable to use dedicated machines for both activities?
If I can use the one machine for both, what distros would you advise?
Definitely not a good way to start this up and somewhat unrelated to your post, but it does worth it a lot in the end -- get yourself a single board computer called Orange pi zero 3, Install dietpi on it and then whatever emulators you want. The little thing is comically cheap and can run PS1 and under flawlessly plus any XCloud gaming you want. And its selling point -- its power draw does not go beyond the 3W mark. The downside is that its tricky to enable hardware acceleration on it, but theres guides on the internet about it. I could even spoonfeed you the whole process if you want.
t. Got an Orange pi zero 3 right on my left, replacing my previous rpi 4. With the exact same setup, but better performance.