Computer choice help for Supermodel and Vector project

[Le Chuck]

Looking for a computer that can handle supermodel (SW Trilogy) and some vector rendering (aae, mamevec) but doesn't need to handle Blitz or Gauntlet Legends or anything like that.  

I'm thinking this one from newegg should do the trick.  It's been probably 8 years since I gave any thought to buying a CP that actually had to run something more intensive than photoshop so I'm out of the loop a bit.  Don't mind spending money but don't want to overspend on a limited dedicated system, would it matter if I bumped it up to 8gb on the ram?  Any recommendation would be appreciated.    

Basic stats from the linked computer:
Processor:
    AMD Athlon II X2 255 3.1GHz

Processor Main Features:
    64 bit Dual Core Processor

Memory:
    2GB

Hard Drive:
    750GB  (would replace with one of those zippy 40gb ssd's and shelf the 750 for later use)

[kahlid74]

From a general PC perspective I wouldn't go with anything under 8 Gb of ram in today's world.  8gb is cheap and you'll be happy long term.  They only thing I would question is the graphics card for that machine.  Are you using onboard or would you be acquiring an additional graphics card?

[kahlid74]

This is my computer build right now for machines.  Seems to run most CHD's just fine as well as all games on MAME .80.  I plan to try the latest MAME in the next few weeks so we'll see then.  Haven't run NFL Blitz or Gauntlet yet so I'm hoping to do that soon.



Memory - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145322
Video - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121473
CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116399
Case - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147091
Mobo - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138332

Also I always use a case because I just prefer the modulation it provides.  I also like the capability to take the most fragile part of the cab out when moving it.  Working in Datacenters for 10 years has left me with a warped sense of what to protect.

[Le Chuck]

Thanks for the breakdown of your system.  I need to do some more research into intel vice athalon vice other processors for what I'm wanting.  I know there is a ton of discussion in the anals of BYOAC, just need to dig it up. 

I didn't think that RAM mattered that much for emulation but it's not that much of an investment either so going with 8 is probably better safe than sorry. 

Definetly good advice to get an additional video card especially for supermodel to help power through all that shading. 

[BadMouth]

Don't underestimate how much power Supermodel needs.

I'm running supermodel on a 3.4Ghz Athlon X3(XP64) and it's all good except for a couple spots on the 2nd track in Daytona USA.
(and it is capable of playing nfl blitz full speed)

Wait until you hear from more people running Star Wars before buying.
(also if you plan to run XP, 8GB of ram is pointless IMO)

[Le Chuck]

Yeah, planning on XP, may look into XP64 but heard it's not all the way there yet.

[404]

Never played or tested the games you mentioned above. I can however give you a few tips from my experiences running mame from quite a few different rigs. While this may not answer your specific question, this is something that may come in handy as a rule of thumb for testing other games you may want to add to future rigs you might prepare or for someone that just so happens to stumble across this topic.

(un)Luckily? I have access to tons of second hand PC parts and accessories. I have a closet full of junk and about three or four different bins worth of things to test with. When i first got into Mame i became insanely curious about what works at 100% with what little cpu and gpu power i can feed into it. At first i did tests with Mame 1.06, the last official build using the old rendering engine. I later moved to running the latest mame.

After some testing with quite a few PC's that are both in and out of the current era, The latest Mame builds (1.4x) can run just about every 2D game with zero frameskip using approximately a 1.2ghz to 1.4ghz processor and 256mb of ram running xp 32bit. Probably the only notable exception to this would be games that unzip to larger sizes like Garou: Mark of the wolves simply because the rom is very big. Either adding more ram and/or disabling services in your OS could possibly help.

3D games really take a turn for the worse in terms of mame emulation. A number of dual core PC's i found were unable to get some of the more basic 3D games such as tekken to work at full speed. This is where a stronger AMD x2 or core2 duo really comes into play. I don't remember exactly what rig i used in order to achieve 100% on the tekken games but i believe it was an AMD x2 44000+, 2gb ram, geforce 6600 on xp 64bit.

Benchmarks have shown that Intel processors out-score AMD processors by a sizable margin. 64Bit emulation gives you a significant boost over 32bit. I don't remember the exact bench numbers but it was quite a significant boost when running 64 bit even when the 64bit processor was a simple, single core cpu.

When i get home later today, ill be more than happy to test those games in one of the rigs i have, depending on which one is set up the most. 

[Le Chuck]

Awesome, looks like I need to find a good XP64 built to start experimenting with so I can get the most out of it.  I was really only wanting to build one powerhouse rig to run the CHD games later on but looks like my SW setup will need a beefy rig as well.  If I can get it rolling in the right direction for under 300 I'll be pleased tho. 

I'm running an Intel duo at 2.4 ghz and 2gb ram on a W7-64 with onboard graphics and the Trilogy runs well, not great, but well through supermodel.  What really gets me is how much some of those mame vector builds can eat up the speed.  I started messing with the gamma and beam on .143 and got a pretty good image compared with mamevec but it can't touch the image I'm getting with AAE.  Shame that is a dead (or long slumbering) project tho.   

I think a similar build with a good g-card would help things out, am very curious about the bump I get with intel vice AMD as the faster chips I've been looking at were all AMDs (because of price I'm guessing, I had filters on in newegg). 

[kahlid74]

I love AMD for server virtualization but for my gaming comps I always go Intel just because their architectures seem more streamlined.

I'd be happy to test out the build I provided above but I'm not familiar with Supermodel.  Got any links I can get more info from?  I can run some tests for you if you'd like.

[Le Chuck]

I love AMD for server virtualization but for my gaming comps I always go Intel just because their architectures seem more streamlined.

I'd be happy to test out the build I provided above but I'm not familiar with Supermodel.  Got any links I can get more info from?  I can run some tests for you if you'd like.

Thanks, that'd be awesome.  Emu DL is here and the cmd line doesn't look in a rom folder so just drop the roms in the same folder you stick the emu.  I'm running fullscreen but no other options right now so the command would be:

Code: [Select]

c:\supermodel\supermodel swtrilgy.zip -fullscreen

Providing you have swtrilgy of course to test.  I can't remember the hotkey for framerate but it's in the readme.  Thanks again. 

[404]

FYI, Supermodel uses OpenGL for rendering. Completely different methodology than what Mame uses. Supermodel is more dependent on a graphics card than mame. There is a recommended system specs thread over on the supermodel forums.

http://www.supermodel3.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=296&p=1921

Also, there is a thread somewhere on the supermodel forums where many people have had issues with supermodel on ati cards.

[BobA]

I have about the same model (Not debranded) from HP and it's main problem is you cannot easily add a descrete video card.   It is a small form factor so most cards do not fit even though a separate video card gives better performance.  Som of the older small for factor units only have a PCI slot so getting a video card for them is almost impossible.

[Le Chuck]

I have about the same model (Not debranded) from HP and it's main problem is you cannot easily add a descrete video card.   It is a small form factor so most cards do not fit even though a separate video card gives better performance.  Som of the older small for factor units only have a PCI slot so getting a video card for them is almost impossible.

Ah, good advice BobA.  I would be decasing but if the slot isn't there I'm SOL from the start.  I think that I can probably just order the components and put it all together myself and save a bit of dough.  Just need to make sure that the mobo is rated for the CPU and V-card I end up with.  <Edit:  BobA, forgot to ask, are you running any CHD games and if so where does that system tend to tap out?>

404 - totally tracking the openGL, that's why I was curious about onboard ram being an issue if I need a video card to do all the processing anyway.  MAME igonores everything just about except raw processor so as long as I'm running what I have on my bench at least I'll be solid for vec and aae.  Thanks for the link.  

[BobA]

I run very few CHD games as I prefer the classics but my unit seems to top out at Carnevil and Gauntlet Legends.

[Le Chuck]

I run very few CHD games as I prefer the classics but my unit seems to top out at Carnevil and Gauntlet Legends.

Which is nothing to slouch at for a sub $200 system.  Thanks for the info