Monitor help - ArcadeVGA vs Powerstrip

[dave_in_vb]

I'm having monitor problems. I have a WG K7400 standard res monitor. I'm using a J-Pac to hook it up to my Windows 7 x64 computer. My video card is an Nvidia 8800gtx. I've been trying and trying to use powerstrip (soft15k doesn't install) to display the correct resolution. It worked for a moment, kind of. I set it to 640x240 resolution and the screen was split. It would display the right half of the screen on the left side and the left half on the right with a black bar down the center. If I made any changes to powerstrip, the horizontal and vertical holds would go crazy and they also don't seem to "stick". Now, after trying to change it to 640x288, I've f'ed up Windows and it doesn't boot but I can fix that. So, do these (the split screen, temperamental v/h holds) seem like monitor issues or video card issues? I'm trying to figure out if spending the money on an ArcadeVGA will solve my problems or if it will just be money down the drain if powerstrip will do everything I need. Anyone have any suggestions?

[rCadeGaming]

You are forgetting the third option, which is the best by far:

http://mame.3feetunder.com/windows-ati-crt-emudriver/

You can read about it and ask questions in the GroovyMAME forum.

[dave_in_vb]

Except I'm using an Nvidia card

[rCadeGaming]

If you're saying buying an ArcadeVGA is a possibility, there's no reason you can't spend a lot less on a CRT_Emudriver card.  This is what I use:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/231071198960?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

That's $30, but if you watch eBay for a bit, one for $20 often pops up as well.  If you don't have a PCI-E slot, there are PCI and AGP options available.  Just don't get an MSI HD4350, as some people have had problems.

Soft15kHz is really not the best option anymore. 

First of all, it's silly to use a real CRT and not use GroovyMAME, and that works hand in hand with CRT_Emudriver.  GM can generate resolutions on the fly to keep everything native res (and native refresh, very important), saving you a lot of work; and it has a lot of other important features for native res even if you don't use the auto-generation. 

Even if not using GM, tweaking your resolutions in Soft15kHz requires editing the text modelines by hand (super tedious), or using Powerstrip.  Powerstrip was not really designed for this application, it's very cumbersome, and does not even fit on the screen in lower resolutions.  CRT_Emudriver includes ArcadeOSD, which was purposely designed for this, is just as powerful if not more so, more flexible, and much easier to use.

Making the change only takes a couple of minutes once you have the right graphics card (which can be dirt cheap).  I started with Soft15kHz too, and resisted make the change because I had some GeForce cards on hand (only compatible with Soft15kHz).  When I finally switched over to CRT_Emudriver, I was really kicking myself for not doing it sooner.

[dave_in_vb]

Card purchased.... wish me luck.

[rCadeGaming]

Nice.  There's a lot to learn to get start.  There's some info in the link in my signature.  You should head over to the GroovyMAME section too.