Do you guys mind posting what specs you use for your build? Need help/ideas

[NewToBuilding]

Trying to get ideas on what parts to get.

I first was going to use coinops on an xbox, then I screwed them up with my horrible soldering "skills". Then I was going to get a mini-atx board with a built in E-350D chip. But google is telling me that it will run laggy with a hyperspin frontend.

So now, in my Amazon cart, I have:

Intel Core i3-3220 Dual-Core Processor 3.3 Ghz 3 MB Cache LGA 1155 - BX80637i33220
MSI LGA1155/Intel H61/DDR3/A&GbE/MicroATX Motherboard H61M-P31 (W8)
Corsair Builder Series CX 500 Watt ATX/EPS  80 PLUS (CX500)
Corsair XMS3 8 GB (2 x 4GB) 1333 MHz PC3-10666 240-Pin DDR3 Memory Kit CMX8GX3M2A1333C9 -
Seagate Barracuda 1 TB HDD SATA 6 Gb/s NCQ 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive ST1000DM003

Total cost is $334.80.

Being a poor college student, I'm trying to keep the cost as low as possible.

Can you guys post your specs and the frontend you're using? Maybe the items in my cart are over kill.

I just want to play some good MAME, NES, SNES, Genesis games Some of the mame games will be the most power hungry resources as I want to play some "newer" MAME games

[404]

i actually have a pile of different boards i've tested mame with. Here are a few that i still keep around for S's and grins:

via epia 1ghz c3 itx
512mb ram.
40gb 5200rpm ide drive
mame 0.106


intel shelton 1ghz p-m (pretty rare board)
512mb ram
40gb 5200rpm ide drive
mame 0.106

intel pentium d dual core 2.8ghz
intel d101ggc motherboard
1gb ddr1 ram
160gb 7200rpm sata drive
mame 0.142

My regular, normal use mame rig is
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ 2.9ghz
foxconn motherboard ?
xfx 8600gt
4gb ddr2 5300 ram
250gb sataII drive
mame 0.142

[NewToBuilding]

Dang. The first two run fine? What front end do you use?

[404]

Dang. The first two run fine? What front end do you use?

first two use mamewah with a slimmed down version of XP

the last two rigs run xp64 with hyperspin.

You'd be surprised at how well the itx units run for being a basically 13+ year old tech. I can pretty much play nearly all 2d games that mame 0.106 supports. Not to mention i can play all nes, snes, genesis/megadrive etc.

I can run up to tekken with no frameskip enabled on the old pentium D unit. Same for the athlon X2 model. in addition, i can play Street fighter 4 on that athlon model thanks to the graphics card.


my suggestion is, if you are on a tight budget and cannot afford bleeding edge tech for your mame cab and are not going to be playing bleeding edge emulated games (ps2 for example) consider looking on newegg, amazon, zipzoomfly etc for closeout deals on slightly older tech like core2 quad or athlon/phenom x4 stuff etc.

[wesbrown18]

Total cost is $334.80.

Being a poor college student, I'm trying to keep the cost as low as possible.

Can you guys post your specs and the frontend you're using? Maybe the items in my cart are over kill.

I just want to play some good MAME, NES, SNES, Genesis games Some of the mame games will be the most power hungry resources as I want to play some "newer" MAME games

Don't run Hyperspin, then.

Seriously, I don't understand why people do this to themselves.  Hyperspin is far more intensive than the emulators in question!  If you can't afford a machine that can run Hyperspin, then don't get a machine that can run Hyperspin and use many of the other excellent front ends out there.

[NewToBuilding]

Dang. The first two run fine? What front end do you use?

first two use mamewah with a slimmed down version of XP

the last two rigs run xp64 with hyperspin.

You'd be surprised at how well the itx units run for being a basically 13+ year old tech. I can pretty much play nearly all 2d games that mame 0.106 supports. Not to mention i can play all nes, snes, genesis/megadrive etc.

I can run up to tekken with no frameskip enabled on the old pentium D unit. Same for the athlon X2 model. in addition, i can play Street fighter 4 on that athlon model thanks to the graphics card.


my suggestion is, if you are on a tight budget and cannot afford bleeding edge tech for your mame cab and are not going to be playing bleeding edge emulated games (ps2 for example) consider looking on newegg, amazon, zipzoomfly etc for closeout deals on slightly older tech like core2 quad or athlon/phenom x4 stuff etc.

Awesome. I think I'll stick to my original system configuration then

[NewToBuilding]

Total cost is $334.80.

Being a poor college student, I'm trying to keep the cost as low as possible.

Can you guys post your specs and the frontend you're using? Maybe the items in my cart are over kill.

I just want to play some good MAME, NES, SNES, Genesis games Some of the mame games will be the most power hungry resources as I want to play some "newer" MAME games

Don't run Hyperspin, then.

Seriously, I don't understand why people do this to themselves.  Hyperspin is far more intensive than the emulators in question!  If you can't afford a machine that can run Hyperspin, then don't get a machine that can run Hyperspin and use many of the other excellent front ends out there.

I guess I didn't realize how bad hyperspin is in regards to resources it needs.

I have $600 in amazon gift cards, so I can afford it, it's just that I'd prefer to keep the costs low as possible.

Thanks for the input!

[BadMouth]

You said you wanted to run "newer" MAME games.  What games did you have in mind?  All the replies are about running 2D games on an OLD version of MAME.  Not everyone will be satisfied with that.  A lot of games were added or promoted to working after v106.

Sent using Board Express

[404]

I guess I didn't realize how bad hyperspin is in regards to resources it needs.

I have $600 in amazon gift cards, so I can afford it, it's just that I'd prefer to keep the costs low as possible.

Thanks for the input!

It's really up to you. I will 100% concede with westbrown13 on his assessment of hyperspin though. Sometimes its so resource intensive that it almost defeats the purpose. Worst of all, it has no gpu acceleration support.

You said you wanted to run "newer" MAME games.  What games did you have in mind?  All the replies are about running 2D games on an OLD version of MAME.  Not everyone will be satisfied with that.  A lot of games were added or promoted to working after v106.

Sent using Board Express

My last two configs in my post used mame 0.142

[DLinkOZ]

Also check CL.  I can pick up reasonable C2D machines with a few gigs of ram all day long for $100 or less.

[NewToBuilding]

You said you wanted to run "newer" MAME games.  What games did you have in mind?  All the replies are about running 2D games on an OLD version of MAME.  Not everyone will be satisfied with that.  A lot of games were added or promoted to working after v106.

Sent using Board Express

Yeah, I think I will stick with my original 2d plans. By "newer" I meant games that the AMD E-350 would definitely not be able to play, like NFL Blitz 2000 for example.

[NewToBuilding]

Also check CL.  I can pick up reasonable C2D machines with a few gigs of ram all day long for $100 or less.

Very good idea! Not sure why I didn't think of that.

[DLinkOZ]

I'm actually getting one tomorrow from CL, C2D with 4GB of ram to stuff in an empty Warzaid cab.  So it was on my mind

[NewToBuilding]

I'm actually getting one tomorrow from CL, C2D with 4GB of ram to stuff in an empty Warzaid cab.  So it was on my mind

nice!

I found this for $90 OBO, what do you think?

Intel Pentium D processor @ 3.40ghz (Dual Core)
2gb DDR2 Memory
80gb SATA HDD
DVD R/W Drive (DVD Burner)

[epicfatigue]

Here is Mine

Windows XP 64
Gameex front End

CPU-------------- Intel Xenon E3120
Cooler----------- Corsair H100i
RAM------------- 8GIG HyperX 1066 Kingston DDR2
Mother Board--- Asus Rampage Formula X48
GPU 1----------- Arcade VGA (Native 15Khz)
GPU 2----------- HD4890 (Hacked Drivers)
PSU ------------- CP-850
Case ------------- Custom Wind Tunnel
Speakers--------- Logitech Z-640
 

[DLinkOZ]

nice!

I found this for $90 OBO, what do you think?

Intel Pentium D processor @ 3.40ghz (Dual Core)
2gb DDR2 Memory
80gb SATA HDD
DVD R/W Drive (DVD Burner)

Depends on your market.  I live in a larger area, and the used computer section of CL is absolutely flooded.  That brings the prices down.  When I was looking today, core2duo desktops were $100 and laptops were $150.  When I checked with a seller about this machine @ 100 bucks, he hadn't sold it so I staked my claim and will pick it up tomorrow.  So in this market, I would not pay $90 for a Pentium D.  In a less-flooded market, the prices could be higher and that could be the going rate.

[Slydsho]

in my fix it felix cab im running hyperspin and every 2-button mame game i can find on it with just a "Biostar AMD A780L3C & AMD Athlon II x3 450 Bundle" and 8gb ram, on board graphics, it was a pretty cheap mobo-processor combo at just over $100, heres a link to amazon "Click Here"

the games all run beautifully, i havent experienced a hickup yet, the only downfall i've experienced is that Mame Direct3D Scanline options dont work.

[NewToBuilding]

Thanks for all the replies guys

[mgb]

I've been running console emus (Atari, nes, snes and genesis) and mame from a core 2 duo with 4 gigs of ram and xp (I know some of that ram is waisted) along with hyperspin and its been running pretty well.
But I'm not doing the latest 3d games.

My arcade cabinet has an old Sony vaio with xp and only 512k of ram and it runs fine.
Again, I'm running mostly classics and neo geos. Nothing super new but I do run some mid to later 90s shmups.
On some bullet hells that have a lot going on, I get a little slow down for a short section but not much.

[michelevit]

Your a starving student. Your first mame cabinet should just get an old Pentium 4 from Craigslist or Ebay. 100 bucks max.
Build it. Sell it. Upgrade. Repeat.
Graduate.
Make $.

[ark_ader]

Xbox 1 



Close enough.

[mgb]

nice!

I found this for $90 OBO, what do you think?

Intel Pentium D processor @ 3.40ghz (Dual Core)
2gb DDR2 Memory
80gb SATA HDD
DVD R/W Drive (DVD Burner)

Depends on your market.  I live in a larger area, and the used computer section of CL is absolutely flooded.  That brings the prices down.  When I was looking today, core2duo desktops were $100 and laptops were $150.  When I checked with a seller about this machine @ 100 bucks, he hadn't sold it so I staked my claim and will pick it up tomorrow.  So in this market, I would not pay $90 for a Pentium D.  In a less-flooded market, the prices could be higher and that could be the going rate.

I don't think that's such a bad deal especially because its OBO.

[DLinkOZ]

I was simply stating that based upon what's readily available locally to me, I would pass without taking a chance of seriously irritating the seller with what they may consider a low ball offer.  Pricing varies location to location when dealing with CL, which has only a narrow, regional audience.  What's too high where I am may be perfect pricing elsewhere, so that has to be considered.  Even if the seller accepted a realistic 70 bucks, I can still get into a reasonable C2D for $85 from a local company that sells off-lease machines.  So even an OBO that's not half what was originally asked for loses it's appeal, when for just 10 or 20 more there's a good step-up in power.