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Author Topic: Is this HW ok for GroovyArcade (x64)?  (Read 4302 times)

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emuola

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Is this HW ok for GroovyArcade (x64)?
« on: July 29, 2012, 04:34:30 pm »
Starting to update my old MAME-cab... This is the HW I have at my disposal/planning to get provided that you guys/gals approve it:

Athlon64 X3800+ (single core)
1 GB ram
Ati 9250 128MB
32GB SSD
MAkvision Tri-Mode 25"
Ultimarc controls

I'm not planning to run any games later than ~1995. My own understanding is that this HW should be just fine. However
my current MAME (based on Lincade) is something like .108, so the current version of MAME is significantly more "cpu hungry"?

Feedback appreciated :)
 

krick

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Re: Is this HW ok for GroovyArcade (x64)?
« Reply #1 on: July 29, 2012, 07:40:50 pm »
It will work, but I don't know if you'll be happy with the performance.

Some things I see as negatives with that hardware.

1) MAME favors Intel CPUs.  A lot.  Intel Core2Duo CPUs are as much as 30% faster than equivalent AMD chips when running MAME.
2) I think GroovyMAME works best with a dual core CPU because of multi-threading performance.
3) 1GB is kind of low for a 64-bit version of windows.
4) For a current version of MAME, you'll need about 250GB for the ROM/CHD set.   I have a 40GB SSD as my boot drive / app drive, and I have a separate 500GB "normal" hard drive for my ROMs.
Hantarex Polo 15KHz
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mamenewb100

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Re: Is this HW ok for GroovyArcade (x64)?
« Reply #2 on: July 30, 2012, 01:05:13 am »
This is the HW I have at my disposal/planning to get provided that you guys/gals approve it:

Athlon64 X3800+ (single core)
1 GB ram
Ati 9250 128MB
32GB SSD
MAkvision Tri-Mode 25"
Ultimarc controls

I'm not planning to run any games later than ~1995.
I'm not sure how much ram Linux uses. 1 gig would not be enough in windows without programs eating any remaining ram and cause major performance problems. Ram is fairly cheap and will give you the biggest performance boost. Upgrade to 4 gig to be safe.

A single core AMD is iffy. Definately no 3D arcade games like MK4. You might get by with classics like NBA JAM and Street Fighter but I'm not sure if it would perform at full speed with the latest versions of MAME. Never hurts to try.
« Last Edit: July 30, 2012, 01:09:59 am by mamenewb100 »
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krick

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Re: Is this HW ok for GroovyArcade (x64)?
« Reply #3 on: July 30, 2012, 01:21:04 am »
Well you didn't mention what OS your using but I'm assuming WindowsXP? That would work well with Groovymame but 1 gig is really only enough to run windows. Programs will eat any remaining ram and cause major performance problems. Ram is fairly cheap and will give you the biggest performance boost. Upgrade to 4 gig to be safe.

If that's a socket 939 or 754, memory will probably be expensive unless you can pick it up used for a good price.
Before I dropped a penny on upgrading any of that hardware, I'd start fresh with something more modern.

For example, you could also pick up a cheap Core i5 motherboard, cpu, and memory for around $400.
Here's my current "want" list from New Egg if you're curious...

ASUS P8Z77-M LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
$129.99 -- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131832

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623I52500K
$219.99 -- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL
$45.99 -- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314
Hantarex Polo 15KHz
Sapphire Radeon HD 7750 2GB (GCN)
GroovyMAME 0.197.017h_d3d9ex
CRT Emudriver & CRT Tools 2.0 beta 13 (Crimson 16.2.1 for GCN cards)
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Intel Core i7-4790K @ 4.8GHz
ASUS Z87M-PLUS Motherboard

emuola

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Re: Is this HW ok for GroovyArcade (x64)?
« Reply #4 on: July 30, 2012, 01:34:07 am »
Ok, thanks guys for your input. Sorry about forgettign to mention the OS. I'm using Linux. The Processor is a S939 3800+. Like I said I only wanna run the so called classics (games until ~1995). The reason I'd be wanting to use that processor is that I have a suitable (at least that's what I understood) Ati 9250 for the GroovyMAME. It's and AGP card -> agp-mobo and so on. I actually have a E8600 3.33Ghz laying around, but I'd need a suitable mobo and specifically a suitable display card (x300 or something like that?). The rather small SSD is due to the fact that my current games collection on the current cab only require something like 2 GB :)

I might be going for the CoreDuo route provided that I'd find a suitable ATI card easily (seems to be pretty hard to get...)

Thanks for your advice guys :notworthy:

*edit*
It seems that the pci-e versions of that Ati are indeed easily available and also pretty cheap :)
« Last Edit: July 30, 2012, 01:46:58 am by emuola »

krick

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Re: Is this HW ok for GroovyArcade (x64)?
« Reply #5 on: July 30, 2012, 02:09:17 am »

I might be going for the CoreDuo route provided that I'd find a suitable ATI card easily (seems to be pretty hard to get...)


You can find PCIe ATI Radeon cards pretty cheaply and easily on Ebay. Just type the following into the search box on Ebay...

radeon (x300,x550,x600)

...that return a list of auctions with the word "radeon" in the title and one of the three strings in parenthesis separated by commas.

The X300, X550, and X600 were all PCIe cards and they do not have issues with dot clocks like some later cards.  I like the "X600 XT" myself.

If you want a card with more power for running more modern PC games, you should look at something in the Radeon HD 4xxx family, but you're going to pay a bit more.

Something you need to be careful with when buying X300-X600 cards off ebay is that some come with a weird connector called DMS-59...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DMS-59

To use one of those cards, you'd need a DMS-59 to VGA adapter cable with if not included with the card, will cost you around $6 off ebay.  Personally, I'd look for a card with a normal VGA port.

Another thing to watch out for is cards that only have a low-profile bracket.  Assuming you're using a normal PC case, you probably don't want a low-profile bracket.

Here's an X600 XT full height, with a vga port for $16, free shipping...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/?ViewItem&item=251117003349

Here's an X600 XT that's supposedly brand new for $22, free shipping...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/?ViewItem&item=380453694988

Here's a guy selling a lot of THREE of them for $35, free shipping...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/?ViewItem&item=300744904216
« Last Edit: July 30, 2012, 02:19:58 am by krick »
Hantarex Polo 15KHz
Sapphire Radeon HD 7750 2GB (GCN)
GroovyMAME 0.197.017h_d3d9ex
CRT Emudriver & CRT Tools 2.0 beta 13 (Crimson 16.2.1 for GCN cards)
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Intel Core i7-4790K @ 4.8GHz
ASUS Z87M-PLUS Motherboard

emuola

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Re: Is this HW ok for GroovyArcade (x64)?
« Reply #6 on: July 30, 2012, 04:23:22 am »
Thank krick for your help :) I also noticed that jose cards are indeed easily avalable, I was remembering the difficulty of finding an agp-one :)

emuola

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Re: Is this HW ok for GroovyArcade (x64)?
« Reply #7 on: July 30, 2012, 04:57:39 am »
One more thing: Is a X300SE also suitable? Those seem to be available in Ebay.co.uk (cheaper shipping etc compared to US) :)

krick

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Re: Is this HW ok for GroovyArcade (x64)?
« Reply #8 on: July 30, 2012, 08:25:05 am »
If you check out this page and scroll down to the section titled "PCI-E (X3xx, X5xx, X6xx, X1xxx series)"...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_AMD_graphics_processing_units

...you'll see that the X300 SE is basically the least powerful card in that group, though it would work for GroovyMAME.

However also notice that there's also a model called "Radeon X300 SE HyperMemory".  These were typically super-budget cards that shipped with very little on-board memory and used system memory instead.  They're basically one step above on-board motherboard video.  I'm also not sure that the hypermemory feature is supported under linux, which would make the performance even worse.   Also, don't forget to look out for that DMS-59 port thing.

This appears to be a standard X300 with a VGA port in the UK...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/?ViewItem&item=251116277255

Here's a X600 XT in the UK...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/?ViewItem&item=110923114001

I searched for...     radeon (x600xt,"x600 xt")

Here's what is supposedly a X600 PRO, but I think the claim of DDR3 is bogus.  Most likely normal DDR memory...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/?ViewItem&item=300745263237

Basically, I searched for...   radeon x600
then sorted by "lowest price + postage" and then scanned the pictures looking for cards with a blue VGA port.

If you don't mind using one of those adapter cable/dongle things, there's also a lot of cheap cards with a DMS-59 port.

One thing to be aware of however is that some sellers don't really know what card they have, so they might list it as something it's not.  So you'll have to grab model numbers from their listing and google a little to be confident that you know what you're buying.
« Last Edit: July 30, 2012, 08:43:29 am by krick »
Hantarex Polo 15KHz
Sapphire Radeon HD 7750 2GB (GCN)
GroovyMAME 0.197.017h_d3d9ex
CRT Emudriver & CRT Tools 2.0 beta 13 (Crimson 16.2.1 for GCN cards)
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Intel Core i7-4790K @ 4.8GHz
ASUS Z87M-PLUS Motherboard

emuola

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Re: Is this HW ok for GroovyArcade (x64)?
« Reply #9 on: July 30, 2012, 02:53:40 pm »
Thank you sooo much krick  :notworthy: You really are a friendly guy towards a newbie like me :) I'll go the Intel route then. I'll be getting the monitor in a few weeks and after that the installation mayhem shall begin :)

kourampies

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Re: Is this HW ok for GroovyArcade (x64)?
« Reply #10 on: August 14, 2012, 06:17:31 pm »
I think the hardware you are suggesting Is a bit of an overkill, at least for the things OP wants to emulate.

Im running an Athlon XP 3000+ with 1GB ram (with 32bit Windows XP) and never had any problems on anything I wanted to emulate, on my CRT screen setup with UMSA.

I might in the future get a better CPU, in order to emulate Sega Saturn and Dreamcast, Playstation 1 runs fine, with software rendering, on the current hardware.