Decent PC for MAME?

[Hoopz]

I didnt ask your advice of how to say my opinion,ok?

That's the beautiful thing about being a part of a community.  We're not afraid to share.   

[oyama82]

share but not personal insult

[Ginsu Victim]

share but not personal insult

Yeah, calling anyone Ummon is an insult for sure!

Other than that, I see no insult.

[oyama82]

what is Ummon,I dont get it

[Hoopz]

share but not personal insult

Yeah, calling anyone Ummon is an insult for sure!

Other than that, I see no insult.

Hey, I could have meant that as an insult to Ummon!  

To the OP:  Sorry about the thread hijack.

[oyama82]

I still dont understand but ok,whatever

[Rick]

share but not personal insult

Pot, meet Kettle.  (You should take your own advice on this one.)

[Haze]

onboard videocard is enough for mame
if you need for other emulators,then buy an extra pci-express card,but a cheap one

onboard video is NOT enough for MAME if you're running Windows 7, a cheap gfx card is.

Intel's Win7 drivers are awful, they frameskip even when you have frameskipping turned off.

This does not happen on Vista.

[Hoopz]

And just so you know Ummon Oy, Haze is/was a Mamedev so I guarantee he knows more about it than you do.

Of course, feel free to tell him why he's wrong too.   

[oyama82]

yes I have heard for Haze before,if he is the same
I used intel onboard on windows 7 on 2 machines before,mame worked perfect

[Ginsu Victim]

yes I have heard for Haze before,if he is the same

I used intel onboard on windows 7 on 2 machines before,mame worked perfect

Again, you're not the only person doing this and most PC setups are not the same.

[oyama82]

ok

[runninblue]

Woah there guys!

Can somebody give me a recommendation then of what video card to buy please. A card that isn't expensive but will do the job nicely.

And does anyone else agree with one poster who says that I should go with Windows 7 over Windows XP 64 bit. First time I've heard that stated.

[oyama82]

at least say a thanks,we were fighting for your sake...

[runninblue]

at least say a thanks,we were fighting for your sake...

No really, thankyou everyone. I appreciate all the help immensly, I just don't want people becoming enemies over little ol' me!

[JODY]

Mame likes a fast CPU but also fast RAM.  A better video card with onboard RAM usually means faster video RAM accesses than going through the system RAM.  In that regard a video card is usually better.  Also, I liked the features of separate video cards from Nvidia and ATI in the past over onboard graphics but with the PC I built recently the onboard graphics is built by ATI and while not as good as their high end cards it is as good as the separate cards I used a few years ago.  The very fast system RAM helps compensate for its use as video RAM.

I haven't had any issues with using AMD chips with MAME.

[Ginsu Victim]

at least say a thanks,we were fighting for your sake...

No really, thankyou everyone. I appreciate all the help immensly, I just don't want people becoming enemies over little ol' me!

You really shouldn't have given in to his demands.

[CheffoJeffo]

Ginsu doesn't negotiate with terrorists! 

[deepblue]

I'm not sure how there is even an argument here. Onboard video (REGARDLESS OF THE CHIPSET MANUFACTURER) consumes some of your computer's RAM to operate (i.e. if you have a 64MB onboard graphics controller and 512MB of RAM, you in effect only have 448MB of RAM).

In a low-end machine (in particular) where memory might be at a premium, there is a sacrifice being made there, in addition to the fact that an onboard card will steal some additional CPU cycles as well.

If you're running a game that is taxing from a memory/CPU perspective, you're better off with a dedicated video card vs. onboard.

I don' think anyone has said that onboard is bad here - but if you have the choice/budget, dedicated (even if it is just a cheapie) is going to serve you better performance-wise, for MAME or other applications.

[runninblue]

If you're running a game that is taxing from a memory/CPU perspective, you're better off with a dedicated video card vs.

So can anyone give me some examples of a not too expensive video card that'll do the job?

[oyama82]

intel hd 4500,nvidia 7000,8200,ati hd 4200

[deepblue]

Hit up newegg.com and grab an nvidia chipset board for 25 bucks or less and you'll be fine. Make sure you get a card with the right interface for your pc, i.e. Agp, pci, pci express

Also ignore the rocky start here in this thread, 99.9% of the members on here are awesome and helpful, just mind the occasional troll

[XNIF]

Why you wanna only use MAME, there are tons of other great emu's (like NULLDC and Project64) that do a lot more than mame. Even in a cabinet some pc games can be great so a fast gpu is really nice.

[Ginsu Victim]

Why you wanna only use MAME, there are tons of other great emu's (like NULLDC and Project64) that do a lot more than mame. Even in a cabinet some pc games can be great so a fast gpu is really nice.

MAME does more than ANY emulator. It's many emulators in one. Every driver is a different emulator, basically.

Some people aren't interested in having consoles in their setup, either.

[deepblue]

I've got a 360 and Wii hooked up to my home theater if i want to play modern console games, and a desktop grade laptop for pc games.

My arcade machine is for classic gaming.

[shfifty]

MSY are selling 512MB nvidia 8400GS for $33 and ati 4350 for $35. These are the two cheapest cards they are selling. If i wanted an upgrade from onboard graphics without breaking the bank (or needing power for current PC games) then one of these cards would be my choice. And you wont have to pay for postage if you live near an MSY.

BUT...

you might as well TRY running whatever you want to run using just onboard graphics. Then if the performance isnt up to scratch go drop your lunch money on a card. Cause maybe you wont need one so theres no loss trying first.

As many people have said, every setup is different so trial and error is your friend.

Another thought i had is to test performance using just the onboard graphics, on your most demanding mame game. Then borrow a graphics card from another computer in your house (your main rig), or from a friend or whatever, and see how much of a performance boost you get. This might help you decide whether its worth buying one or not 

[mmb]

A mid priced ATI or Nvidia card that fits the bus you have is really all you need.  Anywhere from $40 - $80 is a good range.  Really don't need the wiz-bang latest if you're not doing heavy 3D games, but it should be fine if you want some PC games on your cab.

[trevski]

Re what shfifty said.

I'm not sure what the pricing is like in the US but here in the UK if you're looking for a motherboard based around a recent CPU then the price difference between with or without onboard video is either tiny or non existant for the bottom end of the market.

For example:

Asus M4A78LT-M LE : DDR3/AM3 Motherboard with ATI HD3000 built in = £48
Gigabyte GA-MA78LMT-US2H 760G : DDR3/AM3 Motherboard with no VGA = £50

The feature set does differ between these boards but the point still remains - I say go for it, and let us know the results!

Have no fear about building one - Its alot easier than it used to be. Just get the mboard and add CPU, Memory, HDD, PSU.
If your test doesn't pan out, when you add the video card it should disable the onboard video by default - cake.

[jimmy2x2x]

Totally agree with that, one thing you might want to look closely at is the PSU, make sure its suitable, check the amps on the rails and make sure it can power a current graphics card if required.

[Ginsu Victim]

one thing you might want to look closely at is the PSU, make sure its suitable, check the amps on the rails and make sure it can power a current graphics card if required.

+1

Definitely make sure you have a decent PSU. I spent quite a bit of money last year trying to figure out my computer problem I was having before finally realizing it was a shoddy PSU. Didn't help matters that one of the fans in it had died, as well.

[mark shaker]

Over the past few days, I bought a couple new Video Cards from New Egg. Assuming I actually receive my rebates, I got a:

GIGABYTE GV-N240D5-512I GeForce GT 240 512MB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card for $30.

ASUS EN9500GT/DI/1GD2/V2/A GeForce 9500 GT 1GB 128-bit DDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card for $35

How will they perform with MAME?

Which is the better card?

   - Mark

[newmanfamilyvlogs]

I can't imagine you'd see any difference at all between the those two in mame.

[mark shaker]

I can't imagine you'd see any difference at all between the those two in mame.

Their specs (clock speeds and such) are *real* close.

I know they are cheap cards, are they better than the onboard video of a modern motherboard?

   - Mark

[Rick]

GIGABYTE GV-N240D5-512I GeForce GT 240 512MB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card for $30.
ASUS EN9500GT/DI/1GD2/V2/A GeForce 9500 GT 1GB 128-bit DDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card for $35

I would go with the ASUS, if only because it has more onboard RAM.  I cannot be certain if this will make a noticeable difference, but every little bit helps.

I know they are cheap cards, are they better than the onboard video of a modern motherboard?

Yes, simply because (as previously stated, I believe) onboard cards will steal some CPU cycles and onboard RAM to run, and that MAME (as most programs do) relies on mainly on the CPU speed and RAM available.

[mmb]

I know they are cheap cards, are they better than the onboard video of a modern motherboard?

   - Mark

Anything included on-board is a much cheaper chip. 

[mark shaker]

I would go with the ASUS, if only because it has more onboard RAM.  I cannot be certain if this will make a noticeable difference, but every little bit helps.

Thank you. I'll stick the 240 in a HTPC.

I guess I won't feel too bad about purchasing the 240. Tom's Hardware had nice things to say. (It was the August 2010  Best PCI Express (PCIe) Card For ~$75.)

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-460-radeon-hd-5570-gaming,2697-2.html

   - Mark

[Rick]

Thank you. I'll stick the 240 in a HTPC.

No worries!  We could always invite oyama82 back, if you want a second opinion.

 

^{(Oh, come on now.  That's funny right thar.)}

[mark shaker]

^{(Oh, come on now.  That's funny right thar.)}

Get 'er done!