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My Mame Cabinet Project (Cocktail Table Style)

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truepusk:

Third, I got some bad news in the middle of this week....

The AMD 64 3200+ w/ Radeon X800XL (AGP) that I was planning on using as my MAME computer appears to be dying :(.  That computer handled everything I needed except the Tekken series, which it was able to handle at 75% speed.

It looks like I can put together a much higher powered computer for under $200.  Here is my current build:

Prices shown include MIR.
[*]PSU - Corsair Builder 430 $20.  Might have to wait awhile to find that good of a deal - Newegg sells them for that price every couple of months. 
-->PSU Option 2: SeaSonic S12II 520 Bronze 520W $60.  I'd rather pay $20 more for this than pay $40 for the Corsair Builder 430.
-->PSU Option 3: I could reuse the Seasonic Super Tornado 300 W PSU, but I have 3 concerns.  It may not have the right GPU power connectors.  This computer was already damaged and it's possible the PSU was part of the problem.  It may not have enough power for this system.
[*]Motherboard - ASUS M4A87T AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s ATX AMD Motherboard $50 - A NEW, UPDATED great deal that will probably expire before I can grab it, but I'm assuming I can find something comparable.  I'd like gigabit Ethernet.
[*]CPU - AMD Athlon II X2 250 Regor 3.0GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor ADX250OCGMBOX $60 - I'm be looking to hit the $60-$65 price range here.  This is the lowest X2 option and there are several upgrades going up to $70.  Not sure if it's worth it.
[*]Memory - Crucial Ballistix sport 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 Desktop Memory Model BL2KIT25664BA160A $20 - I might jump on this deal right away.  My other option is to get 8GB and swap it with one of my other computers (both have G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ. 
[*]GPU - Right now I'm planning on using an EVGA 9800 GT 512 MB that I just happen to have lying around.
[*]Case - Thermaltake V3 Black Edition VL80001W2Z Black SECC / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case$40 right now, but often comes up on special for $30.  Leaning towards using my old case and then putting it in the cabinet after I get it up and running without a case.[/list]

Total ~$180.

Benefits of this new computer:
1. Getting to 100% speed on this one would be nice!).
2. Hyperspin might be an option.  It wouldn't come close to running on my old system.

Still not sure about XP or Windows7 for the OS.  It looks like XP is heavily recommended on arcade forums, but if this system can handle and Mame Windows7, I would prefer it - 1. full use of the 4MB of RAM 2. full use of the 64 bit processor architecture 3. Windows 7 is nice.  Really it doesn't matter - I'm not likely to be outside of the MAME interface once I get it up and running.  There are 64 bit MAME versions now, though, I believe.

One of my two build threads on this PC can be found here.

truepusk:

Fourth... I got lumber.  6 x 8' 2x4, 1 x 6' 1x8.  I got tools, too.  Monitor is totally taken apart.  Here are pictures:





truepusk:

Pulled the trigger on the computer parts. Prices shown include MIR.
[*]PSU - Corsair Builder 430 $27 after $20MIR. may not have enough power for this system.
[*]Motherboard - ASUS M4A87T AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s ATX AMD Motherboard $50 (after $15 MIR) - This actually looks like a nicer motherboard than I need at a very good price.
[*]CPU - AMD Athlon II X2 265 Regor 3.3GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor ADX265OCGMBOX $66 - I decided on the 3.3GHz.  I suspect the MAME, like most games, will benefit more from the extra clock freq more so than a third core, especially on a MAME.  My price is $3 cheaper because I found the Athlon II X2 265 on Superbiiz
[*]Memory - Crucial Ballistix sport 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 Desktop Memory Model BL2KIT25664BA160A $20 - I might jump on this deal right away.  My other option is to get 8GB and swap it with one of my other computers (both have G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ. 
[*]GPU - Right now I'm planning on using an EVGA 9800 GT 512 MB that I just happen to have lying around.
[*]Case - No case, at least for now (mounting in the cabinet?)  Long term I would consider spending $30 on the good and affordible Thermaltake V3 Black Edition VL80001W2Z Black SECC / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, assuming I can find that frequent deal.
[*]HSF - I'll have the stock as an option, but probably will go with the 120mm Thermalright 120 XP I have left from my Athlon XP 3200+ (socket 939).  I have some quiet 120mm scyths as well.[/list]

Total ~$163 after MIR (no case, reused GPU, reused HDD, after $35 in MIR).

Still not sure about the OS. ;-P  Leaning towards Windows7 so I can use the memory, 64bit power, and cores to their full extent.

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