How much would it cost for a system these days to get those newer games, 3d fighters, etc up and running? I enjoy those, but if it's not within my budget then I will pass for now.
My $250 budget builds (not including OS) that were put together a couple years ago do pretty good for the price.
They use 2.9-3.4Ghz Athlon X3 processors and old Nvidia 8600GT video cards with S-vid out.
You could probably do better if building today.
Current MAME builds are optimized for Intel processors, but I usually end up with AMD because of the price.
They run the 3D fighters including Tekken3 & Tekken Tag.
Blitz runs, but with occasional sound skips. Gauntlet Legends is a no-go.
Using Demul, they run Atomiswave and Naomi games.
Dead or Alive Milleneum and Marvel Vs Capcom 2 run on Makaron 12.5, but that might be hard to find.
They work in Demul, but not as well. Maybe because it's on the 2.9ghz computer.
The Taito Type X games that have been cracked run great on them.
If you plan to run the newest version of Demul (Metal Slug 6!
), you'll need a video card and OS capable of directx11. (xp is not)
The last 3 or 4 computers I built consisted of a $40 budget mobo, $20 for 2GB memory, a decent power supply found on sale,
(
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026 )
a $20 case (if any), whatever video card there is a deal on, and then the fastest processor I can find for around $60-80.
Sign up for Newegg emails and wait for a good deal with free shipping for each piece.
Before long you'll have all the parts to build a computer.
I despise the Pentium 4 as I was tied to a super slow work computer with one in.
It's ok for pacman I guess.