Omv 5 + Desktop Env = Media Server\Retro Gaming Station Suggestion

Hi I'm opening up this thread, to ask some suggestion an experiment with Omv5 as a Media Server that I would like to try.

My intention:

I have a beefy server at home that right now is just sitting in my closet used as a Backup\Nas with Omv5 installed on top of Debian Buster without a DE, what I was looking for is to experiment with it and give it the functionality of a media server\retro gaming station connected to the tv as well.

Scenario:

My server is in a closet of my house connected at a switch.

My Smart tv is in another room of the house connected trough ethernet (I would like this to act as a "monitor" for the server in the closet.

I already installed emby through docker and emby app on my smart tv and that's it for the media server ability.

Now the last piece that I missed is to install on it retropie (as it works with x86 as well) to use the emulators and have the hdmi signal show through my tv to play with games\emulators and so forth.

So my main idea was just to install a lightweight DE like xfce on the server, then install retropie on it as well and use and hdmi to ethernet extender to get the signal onto the Tv and call it the day.

Now it rises the problem:

• I know that have a DE is not the best thing on a server, so I was wondering is it better to run it on a docker?

(in this situation I'm worried about performance, I don't think the docker instance can take full advantage of the graphics card installed in the server, I don't even know if it is possible or how to tell the docker container to make use of the hdmi extender for the Smart tv signal).

• So here my idea to go ahead and install a proper desktop enviroment on the server itself and just proceed from there to have one less layer of abstraction, so to make use of the graphics card and the hdmi extender.

• Any other more elegant solution that I didn't think of to achieve it?

mmmh I was thinking the same at the beginning, but I would like to emulate also the wii with dolphin and raspberry pi 4 with 8 gg are not powerful enough gpu wise to succesfully run most of the fun wii games like mario kart and so on.

Also I was more of the idea to not buy anything new just use what I had around and not to have another node to upgrade\upload and take care in the network especially.

I would love the portability of it though, but gpu wise...they are still bad.

mmmh didn't think about it I will look into it thanks ryecoaaron