First Cabinet - Need Opinions

[andr3wrulz]

I am working on building my first cabinet to play some of the classics with my friends and house guests and I would like to see what you guys think about my plans.

Here are a few images of what I would like to do (I also attached the sketchup file).




I am not really sure what to go with as far as parts...

I was thinking about these:
-pack of 18 blk and 1 & 2 player wht buttons - $30
-2x mag stick plus - $35 ea.

But then I came across this:
-2x X-arcade joys + 18 blk and 1 & 2 player wht buttons - $40

And then comes control boards, I was thinking about:
-i-pac² - $43

But then I was looking at this:
-mini-pac + ground daisy chain harness + switch harness - $47

As far as computers go, I have a full wall of computer parts in my room so I was going to build a 2005 esq computer and throw win xp on it.

I was thinking about going with 200mm fans, these caught my eye at $17 ea and they fit my red and black theme.

I am looking for a cabinet to play things like galaga, pacman, dig dug, maybe some mortal combat, street fighter and pretty much whatever games catch my eye later on. I would like to add a track ball in the future but that is rather out of my budget at the moment. Any advice and/or criticism would be appreciated as this is my first build ever.

[paigeoliver]

No comments on the design other than the fact that the screen seems way too small for what you drew.

x-arcade components are not known for quality, people commonly describe them as garbage and cheap knock offs of real parts. Buy your joysticks and buttons from whoever you buy your encoder from, at least then you can be sure they won't be junk.

You could afford a trackball with the money you are spending on fans that you don't need.

[Locke141]

No comments on the design other than the fact that the screen seems way too small for what you drew.

x-arcade components are not known for quality, people commonly describe them as garbage and cheap knock offs of real parts. Buy your joysticks and buttons from whoever you buy your encoder from, at least then you can be sure they won't be junk.

You could afford a trackball with the money you are spending on fans that you don't need.

+1

Also, if you use all those large fans it will get very dusty inside.

It looks like a pedestal with an old LCD monitor placed on top. I'm doing a pedestal as my first build. The plan is to role it in front of the TV in the living room. Take a look at the two pedestal projects I know of currently under way on BYOAC.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,134038.msg1381490.html#msg1381490

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,134515.0.html

Note: Mine is not the best example. It's a first timers attempt and its a lot less intimidating then some of the high end builds here.

Good luck.
   

 

[jimmer]

That's horrible.

If you already have the cupboard going spare and have no woodworking skills then it might just be acceptable as a project, otherwise have a look at other peoples projects and copy one that looks nice.

also, outside the realm of extreme gaming PCs, fans are not an attractive feature.

[andr3wrulz]

No comments on the design other than the fact that the screen seems way too small for what you drew.

x-arcade components are not known for quality, people commonly describe them as garbage and cheap knock offs of real parts. Buy your joysticks and buttons from whoever you buy your encoder from, at least then you can be sure they won't be junk.

You could afford a trackball with the money you are spending on fans that you don't need.

Thanks for the tip, I will probably do something different with the fans and just buy the mag sticks.

No comments on the design other than the fact that the screen seems way too small for what you drew.

x-arcade components are not known for quality, people commonly describe them as garbage and cheap knock offs of real parts. Buy your joysticks and buttons from whoever you buy your encoder from, at least then you can be sure they won't be junk.

You could afford a trackball with the money you are spending on fans that you don't need.

+1

Also, if you use all those large fans it will get very dusty inside.

It looks like a pedestal with an old LCD monitor placed on top. I'm doing a pedestal as my first build. The plan is to role it in front of the TV in the living room. Take a look at the two pedestal projects I know of currently under way on BYOAC.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,134038.msg1381490.html#msg1381490

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,134515.0.html

Note: Mine is not the best example. It's a first timers attempt and its a lot less intimidating then some of the high end builds here.

Good luck.
 

Honestly, that is what it is lol. I am a poor college student so I wanted to make it accessible to upgrades (ie if I get some money down the road, I will buy and mount a tv on the back) so I am just going with mainly what I have on hand or can get cheaply.

That's horrible.

If you already have the cupboard going spare and have no woodworking skills then it might just be acceptable as a project, otherwise have a look at other peoples projects and copy one that looks nice.

also, outside the realm of extreme gaming PCs, fans are not an attractive feature.

I have no woodworking skills at all lol. I wanted it as a pedestal design so that way it could look somewhat attractive in the middle of the room. I actually hail from the land of gaming pcs so that would be the reason for my folly into thinking fans were a good visual.

[Locke141]

Honestly, that is what it is lol. I am a poor college student so I wanted to make it accessible to upgrades (ie if I get some money down the road, I will buy and mount a tv on the back) so I am just going with mainly what I have on hand or can get cheaply.

Do you live at home, in a dorm, off camps apartment, or a frat house?

If you have the space, you can find cheep old non working arcade cabinets on craigslist or ebay. It wouldn't be tons of work to make a working cab from a gutted shell. I saw a free pre gutted cab by my brothers place last summer on craigslist. You could go crazy later with art and upgrades when you have money.
     

[michelevit]

The play surface looks flat which is uncomfortable for long periods of play. Slope it 10-15 degrees or so would make it better.
You should have a toe kick at the bottom like a kitchen cabinet. Thats a little recess so your feet can fit under it.

[zanna5910]

dont you need a coin button for each player if your going that route?

[Malenko]

I think you are better off making a stand alone controller. sit the controller on the shelf with the TV/Monitor and play. PC can sit on the floor. Eventually you can make a cabinet to mount the control panel to.

[jimmer]

I actually hail from the land of gaming pcs so that would be the reason for my folly into thinking fans were a good visual.

It was an easy guess! 

Don't be put off by our comments, playing the games is the most important thing.

Even professionals get it wrong. Here is a beautiful cabinet, spoiled only by inappropriate fan. And a less beautiful and even more inappropriate fan.

[shponglefan]

I echo Malenko's suggestion about building a stand-alone controller.  Better to get your feet wet with something a bit less complicated.  You can always build a pedestal at a later date to attach it to.

Alternatively, I would look at some existing pedestal designs and copy one of those.

[andr3wrulz]

Do you live at home, in a dorm, off camps apartment, or a frat house?

If you have the space, you can find cheep old non working arcade cabinets on craigslist or ebay. It wouldn't be tons of work to make a working cab from a gutted shell. I saw a free pre gutted cab by my brothers place last summer on craigslist. You could go crazy later with art and upgrades when you have money.
     

I live at home currently but my room is about full to burst and I plan to move out in the near future so I would like the cabinet to be portable . I work at an arcade operator company that does most of the hotels and such around Disney Land so I might be able to get one from them if/when they throw something out (it would probably require a bit of work though).

The play surface looks flat which is uncomfortable for long periods of play. Slope it 10-15 degrees or so would make it better.
You should have a toe kick at the bottom like a kitchen cabinet. Thats a little recess so your feet can fit under it.

Good ideas. I will incorporate both into the design. Does 5" height by 3" depth sound good for the toe kick? And should I tilt the whole top or would angled panels for the buttons and joys do?

I think you are better off making a stand alone controller. sit the controller on the shelf with the TV/Monitor and play. PC can sit on the floor. Eventually you can make a cabinet to mount the control panel to.

One of the main ideas with my design was the ability to swap out displays. I just modeled it with a computer monitor I have sitting on my shelf collecting dust. When I have people over I might take it out to the living room and run an hdmi to the flatscreen.

I actually hail from the land of gaming pcs so that would be the reason for my folly into thinking fans were a good visual.

It was an easy guess! 

Don't be put off by our comments, playing the games is the most important thing.

Even professionals get it wrong. Here is a beautiful cabinet, spoiled only by inappropriate fan. And a less beautiful and even more inappropriate fan.

So I am thinking smaller black fans with no lights and a grate over them to blend into the cabinet? How much of a problem is heat ventilation? Do I really need that big of fans or should I go smaller?

[PL1]

So I am thinking smaller black fans with no lights and a grate over them to blend into the cabinet? How much of a problem is heat ventilation? Do I really need that big of fans or should I go smaller?

You shouldn't need huge fans, just set things up so that you have cool air pulled in low and hot air being pushed out high.

A pair of 120mm fans should do just fine unless you're overclocking like crazy.


Scott

[andr3wrulz]

So I am thinking smaller black fans with no lights and a grate over them to blend into the cabinet? How much of a problem is heat ventilation? Do I really need that big of fans or should I go smaller?

You shouldn't need huge fans, just set things up so that you have cool air pulled in low and hot air being pushed out high.

A pair of 120mm fans should do just fine unless you're overclocking like crazy.


Scott

I found an 80mm fan for sale $9 with an $8 rebate so I bought three. I am thinking two on either side on the bottom and one central one on the back top.

[PL1]

If you're doing an odd number of fans, put two near the top blowing out and one near the bottom blowing in.

It's not as good as a balanced system, but it should work.


Scott

[andr3wrulz]

If you're doing an odd number of fans, put two near the top blowing out and one near the bottom blowing in.

It's not as good as a balanced system, but it should work.


Scott

I have some other cpu fans lying around, I just have to see what I can do to make it work.

[shponglefan]

Before buying/planning fans, do you actually need them?  Given that the cab you are planning to build looks quite large, you might be able to get by with just a passive air cooling.

[andr3wrulz]

Before buying/planning fans, do you actually need them?  Given that the cab you are planning to build looks quite large, you might be able to get by with just a passive air cooling.

Well I am thinking about maybe putting an xbox in there later to make it just a general gaming cabinet and those definitely need the air flow.