Thought I would share the expenses I got through when building a full size cabinet. Keep in mind this is the bare minimum for a cabinet.
Most of the time the costs are even lower seeing how I buy certain parts in bulk and have things on hand from time to time. By the way, this is not a pissing contest to show how I spend less than others but a way to answer question I get asked frequently and hopefully will help someone in the future.
I will try to provide links to products I use but sometimes is difficult as I get some things locally from Craigslist & Thrift stores, in this case I will try to find it online and provide that link (price may differ). Some links my be just for reference and prices will differ in store.
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Wood - $70 ■ (Set of two) 4' x 8', 3\4" MDF Board from
Home Depot - $30 each ■ Random length
plywood or similar to make furring strips from with a circular saw - $10 (cheaper if you find some in the scrap pile at Home Depot)
Screws - $3 ■ You can get them in a box in Home Depot but I always go to
ACE Hardware and buy them by the pound
Computer - $25 ■ I purchase the computers for my build from craigslist usually, sometimes the thrift store if I am feeling lucky or eBay. Either way it rarely costs me more than $20 for a cheap Pentium 4 computer like the very common office computer
"Dell Optiplex XXX"Audio - $5 ■ Once again I go to the Thrift Store for these. They are always stocked with audio amplifiers that were donated. I test them before buying by plugging my phone into them. They are never more than $5 at any one of the 4 stores in my area.
Here is an eBay link with similar pricing. I always make sure to get speakers with a potentiometer (knob) that controls the volume instead of buttons so I can extend it to the outside of the cabinet (usually with Cat5 cable)
LCD Screen - $100 ■ Sometimes Craigslist but almost always
eBay has the best deals. I use 24" LCD (most of the time LED ones) screens. I never pay more than $110 for one.
Paint - $7 ■ This varies depending on where you get your paint, but I think it costs me about $7 for the amount of paint I use from a gallon bucket per cabinet. I use a black semi-gloss by the way.
You can also buy it in less quantities of course.Joystick\Buttons - $45 ■ I order from my favorite seller
"dirtcheaptrading" as he hooks me up with extremely good prices and usually only pay around $27 or so bucks per cabinet in buttons. Here is his
listing for 14 buttons and two joysticks. This is considering you are using a 15 buttons setup, 6 gaming buttons per player, a single Start\Coin button per and only one admin button
Message him to add on an extra button for this layout, low cost.
Gamepad Encoder - $25 ■ I started out using gamepad hacks but it takes way too long nowadays considering the amount of cabinets I have made and make at one time.
This is much faster to install, comes with all that is needed and probably much more reliable and less prone to damage.
Art - $10 ■ After sizing up the art in photoshop and popping it on a USB stick I head over to my local
Office Depot. This is the cheapest route I found while still maintaining quality. I get the control panel printed on their regular stock color paper and the marquee printed on fancy gloss paper so it doesn't wash out when there is light behind it. Sometimes they have issues with getting the size perfect (old printer at the nearby one) and have since let me handle the printer settings in photoshop when I come in.
Marquee Light - $10 ■ I started out using white LED strips but have moved onto something easier, this
cold cathode PC kit. It is super easy to setup, does require extending the power wires to your computer if your marquee is separated from the PC by more than a foot or two (which most likely it is).
Acrylic - $20 ■ Pure and simple,
Home Depot has the best deals, Tap Plastics is a good alternative too. Two of their $12 sheets at my local Home Depot does the job beautifully (CP, Marquee and Bezel) and leaves enough left over for the next machine's Control panel.
Marquee Retainer - $6 ■ Easiest and cheapest is using
these "L" brackets\channels (not sure what they are called). One can be cut into 4 retainers, enough for two cabinets of an internal width of 24 inches.
T-Molding - $20 ■
eBay of course. I usually don't need more than 15 feet per machine so I always buy in bulk, sometimes around 60-80 feet.
Power Strip - $5 + TIPS ■ I usually just buy them in bulk at any local store or if there is a sale or something but
here is a pretty cheap one from eBay that would work well if you only need 3 plugs. I haven't used store bought smart strips, I have however built my own per this
thread. Lately I have been trying to get TVs that run on DC voltage and wiring them to the PC power supply. As well as wiring up the Marquee light and the PC speakers allow for a no smart strip, smart power on.....
Rough Total - $351-------------------
This list is for me as much as it is for anyone else as it gives me a reference in the future and lets me know how much I am really making from these cabinets.
If the list is incomplete or you have a better source please don't hesitate to help me improve it.
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Topic: Building a Full-Size machine for $350 or less (Read 6003 times)
