minimum pc hardware requirements??

[mushmouth]

Just a quick question. Found a friend willing to donate whatever pc parts I need, so I wanted to find out what hardware I need to ask for. Minimum required, and I'll go up from there... Try to include everything, like the cables and stuff in the list.

I'm a mac guy, so I'm clueless about how PCs are put together and I don't want to forget something obvious.

[knuttz]

You may want to try searching the forum.  This question comes up a lot.  But with that said you should try for something around 200Mhz or more.  This is because some great games (TMNT, Simpsons) play well on a system of that speed.  If he can swing a 2Ghz box then go for it.  You could then play Area 51, MK3, etc.  Try to get a good amount of ram 256+ Megs.  Mame is a memory hog.  If you are going to convert an old cab then get the ArcadeVGA card.  Otherwise any cheap card will do.  Try to specify what monitor you will be using.  Also you need a keyboard interface such as the ipac, jpac, or keywiz.  Any sound card will do.  Speakers are also up to you. Thats about all i can think of.  If you need to know anything else just ask a more specific question or search the board.

Also why don't you stick with what you know.  The Mac is a pretty good, albeit expensive, emulation platform.

[mushmouth]

I did search the forum. This forum is now so huge that answering a question like mine is almost impossible to find. Part of one component of the question might be answered across 10 threads. I've been at it for a while now. Just want someone to say:

Power supply XXXwatts minimum
Motherboard: ? minimum
CPU: minumum
Ram: ???minimum
These Cables: x, and x, and x...
Hard Drive: minimum size/speed
Video card spec minimum for video monitor
and recommended card if running an arcade monitor.

Also, fans, heatsinks... whatever I'll need.

And also, usb is a must.

Does that make it any easier to answer? I'm making a list, and checking it twice.

[SirPoonga]

The mame faq has a good starting point.

ArcadeVGA video card for arcade monitors.

[Homebrew]

First thing you need to do is decide what games you want to be able to play.  If you want to play everything, than for games like killer instinct and mk3, you're gonna need a good bit of power(1ghz + cpu).  If you're just sticking to classics like donkey kong, pacman, tron, etc... you can get away with alot less.  If you want to be able to play everything currently available at decent speeds, then you need a decently powerfull system.  If you don't care about being able to play everything, then you need to decide on what you do want to be able to play.  

-Kevin

[mushmouth]

Sir, what mame faq? Where?

As for what I'm playing, pre-90s classics...

[mushmouth]

Never mind. Mame.net mame faq. I'm an idiot.

Thanks Poonga.

[paigeoliver]

Sir, what mame faq? Where?

As for what I'm playing, pre-90s classics...

If all you are playing is pre-90s classics, then just pick yourself a nice used computer on ebay, anything 400 mhz or better with 64 ram or better will be fine.

Also, use an older Mame version, somewhere around .55, there haven't really been any real "classics" added to mame since long before then, and .55 is about twice the speed of the current Mame version.

[mushmouth]

followup question? How are people playing Golden Tee on their mame machines? That's also something I'd like to do but have no idea what people use to do it...

[SirPoonga]

Golden Tee Golf for PC with expansion courses.

Where to find it, good luck.