Computer specs advice for my new MAME cab

[SmokinGun]

Hi all,

I've been reading this site for a while and finally decided to make my own cab.  I took the east road by ordering a SlikStik controller, SlikStik cab, Arcade VGA, and a WG 9200 monitor.

I have everything except the cab which should be here in ~ 1 month.  I'm posting to get some sort of idea as to how fast the computer needs to be to run these games.

I currently have a server and client at home.  My server is a Pentium 733 with a G force 2 GTS, and the client is a Athlon 1800 XP with a G Force 4 4400.  I am running the newest version of Mame32 on both machines.  On the 733, most of the newer games are very slow and the older ones will freeze during play.  On my 1800, everything seems to run ok but I haven't tested everything.

I was planning on just using the client for my cab and then building a newer machine for myself in the near future.  My question is, are these games 100 percent processor dependant?  By that I mean if I replaced my video card on my client with a really cheap video card, would I see any performance decrease at all?  If this is the case, I assume a mame cab would need a fast processor and everything else can be old/slow.  If this is true, I can save some money on a few parts.

Basically, I'm looking for some general specs on what kind of computer I should build for a Mame cab.  I searched but couldn't find anything on this.  Thank you all for your time.

[Nailz]

Hey there,

If you have ordered a SlikStik controller and cab, you aren't really making your own cab are ya?  

But to try and answer your questions, I am running a P3 700 and it's running just about everything very nicely except for the newer games like you say.  I think part of your issue there is with Mame32, I'd suggest looking at a different version along with a nice front end like MameWah.

You've stated you ordered an ArcadeVGA card, so why would you want to go with a cheap one?  I'm using a Diamond Stealth card with 2 MB of DRAM and it works fine, so yes, you could get away with a cheap card but the ArcadeVGA will take advantage of that nice WG9200 you've ordered so I can't imagine downgrading to something lesser.  Mame is very CPU dependant, but certainly not 100% and if you like the newer stuff you will definitely want a decent vid card.

Considering the $$$ you are putting out buying the Slikstik setup, not sure why an extra $100 would be a big deal for an ArcadeVGA when it will absolutely be worth it.

As for a CPU, you'll certainly want to go as fast as you can afford to play the new stuff, but unfortunately at this time they aren't making them fast enough to handle the new games to 100%.  

[SmokinGun]

I think I need to explain this better.

I could go and build a top of the line PC, with an Athlon 64, 2 GB of RAM, 2 200 GB HDD configured with RAID using SATA, ASUS motherboard and a lan li case; but would that benefet me any more than building a Athlon 1800 XP with 512 MB of RAM, 1 80 GB HDD, etc?

Basically, I'm trying to find a good balance between price and performance.  I don't want to spend too much for only a small gain in performance, and I don't want to spend too little when for a little more money I could have a large performance gain.

Most of you have built a mame machine so you must have experience with this.  What is the norm for a system build to run a MAME cab?

(Forget what I said about the video cards in the first post.  I will be using an Arcade VGA no matter what I build.)

[Nailz]

Me again  

You could definitely go faster than 1800, maybe a bit more RAM, and 80 GB is plenty big for MAME.  It basically comes down to what you like playing, if you like the old school stuff, and a bit of the newer things, Metal Slug, etc., an 1800 is fine, but if you want Mortal Combat and some of those you will want a faster machine.  Typically with CPU prices you will find a definite line where the prices will be pretty close, then a big jump to next speed chip.  It's going to be up to you to decide what you want to pay.

There is no norm system for MAME, you'll see people out there running everything from a Pentium 233 up to a 3 GHz machine and everything in between.

I know these are wishy-washy answers, but most will agree it depends on what games you like and what you want to play, if you want people to tell you exactly what to buy, we could all start a dream list.  

[JustMichael]

For Mame, the more processor the better.  Just about any video card is ok.  Also make sure to have enough ram.  I would say about 256MB minimum these days with those huge NeoGeo roms.

[Tiger-Heli]

I could go and build a top of the line PC, with an Athlon 64, 2 GB of RAM, 2 200 GB HDD configured with RAID using SATA, ASUS motherboard and a lan li case; but would that benefet me any more than building a Athlon 1800 XP with 512 MB of RAM, 1 80 GB HDD, etc?

http://www.fraggersxtreme.com/arcadepanels/faq.htm#How fast of a computer do I need for MAME?

This is fairly good information, although slightly dated as MAME has added some more complex games and also generally runs slower than it used to.

Also see this thread:
http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=11663;start=msg90618#msg90618

The XP 1800 should handle most everything.  It's a $45 dollar chip, so I probably would spend a little more if I were going for a new machine.  But I probably wouldn't go more than $100 for an XP 2600.

Here are some thing to consider in response to your initial question :

A lian Li case is a total waste of money for MAME.  In an arcade cab, you really don't need (maybe don't want) a case at all.

A single 80 G HD will also perform just as well as 2 200 Gb drives once the games are loaded into RAM anyways:

Out of 2500 or so unique games, there are approximately 10 that will give you problems -

WarGods
MK II Killer Instinct
Area 51
Hard Drivin'
Cruisin USA
Cruisin World

The last two the MAME devs estimate require a P4 at 4 Ghz for full speed emulation, so your Athlon 64 wouldn't get the job done (although maybe with Cryo cooling and a radical overclock - j/k.)

My final advice:

Step 1 - See if the games above are ones you want to play.  If not, the XP1800 is probably fine.  If so, chances are the Athlon64 won't get you there, but consider whether being able to play the game at 75% of full speed instead or 50-60% is worth it to you or not.

Step 2 - Try those games on the XP 1800 and see where you are now.  Take Lilwolf's advice and try the game with CPU 0 underclocked.  To do this, you might need a cheat file, see www.mameworld.net for links to one.  Then start mame with "-cheat" after the game name.  Then use the Tilde ~ menu and look for CPU 0 oveclock and reduce it down until the game plays better (you also might want to use F11 to track the frame rate).

Keep in mind that I don't think you can start a game underclocked from the command line, so you have to set this every time you play the game.  (Someone correct me if I'm wrong).  Now if the game just needs a little more speed, consider upgrading.  If it needs tons more speed, than upgrading won't make a difference, so save your money.

Hope this helped.

[Lilwolf]

btw, the arcadevga video card to the WG monitor looks MUCH better then a standard video card to it.  Why?  You run it in CGA mode.

Look at the Oscars site www.oscarcontrols.com (I think)..  He has a great monitor review.  Look ath the WG monitor (true arcade monitor) with the VGA connection... Then look at the arcade monitor throught a trident hack... the arcadeVGA is like the trident hack in looks... NOT the WG with a vga card.

Last... get the fastest processor you can.  It will be the cheapest part of your setup....

[Tiger-Heli]

Hey Lilwolf, do you know if you can launch games underclocked from the command line?