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Mame Pc build advice: Included pcpartpicker list
aldub516:
Hey, thanks as always for help. Ive included a picture of my cp that is now done with your help, to show that all this advice is going to good use. Im at the point where its time to purchase the pc. I would like to make the purchase within the next day or two, as theres no real reason to stall on it. I didnt want to be lazy, so i picked out as much as i can, to my knowledge. Ive built two pcs recently, but they are for video editing and such, so i only know how to shop for over the top 1300 dollar rigs. I did a lot of research and learned a lot about what mame itself requires, what it utilizes pc wise, and what i need to run gameex/hyperspin type front ends, and all the mame games that will properly run on a system at this time. Money isn't particularly an issue, but theres no need for overkill. But i also dont mind spending the extra money to make sure this baby is going to run smooth for a long time. I was originally thinking 700 dollars, but have seen that most builds in that price range are super overkill?
I put together everything so far, minus the big 3: Motherboard, PSU, And GPU. Those are things that i get lost on, as it comes down to hardware details i dont know much about, especially when relating to mame play. Again, id like this machine to be able to handle anything i want to throw at it. I rarely see the ultimarc arcadevga come up in pc threads, is that recomended? Im spending good money on this custom build, and dont want a sub par pc running in it. If theres room for performance improvement, let me know. Thanks for any advice! Ideally i will be ordering/going to microcenter very soon. PC will be running on a 60 inch lcd tv (not my choice nor decision) if that matters in the process of gpu or motherboard.
heres the build
http://pcpartpicker.com/user/aldub516/saved/7kzXsY
crtrrss:
That might be a bit overkill. Remember that you will be running games that are mostly 20+ years old. You can at least half the RAM and the SSD is overkill. A higher capacity HDD or maybe even a SSHD if you care a lot about boot time is adequate. As for the GPU, I would probably stick to a middle-line NVIDIA or AMD GPU, There's no need for too much power here If you want to run more modern things too, I would go with a nicer AMD card like the 7870. I've had one for years and I have had no trouble running games on maximum with 50-60FPS or better. For the CPU+Mobo, I would probably go with a cheaper FX series CPU and a 970 board or maybe a little better. They're cheap and can handle just about anything. If it can't handle what you want, just overclock the daylights out of it :).
paigeoliver:
A computer from 2002 that you pull out of the garbage is going to handle 98 percent of what you throw at it, that last 2 percent doesn't actually include a whole lot of games that don't have specialty analog controls that you won't have installed in the first place.
Generic Eric:
If you are going to use this only for MAME and not some high toned frontend:
Option 1: Set aside $50 and find the best boat anchor of a PC you can, either from the curb, goodwill or craigslist. Set an margin of acceptable loss/risk if the computer isn't for you. Make a game out of finding the best PC for that $50. $50 is about what we pay for a dinner out, or a night out at the movies.
Option 2: Treat yourself to a new gaming PC, use what you are computing on now for MAME.
At the very least you should stop everything right now and figure if what you want to run, will run on what you are using now, to type this post from. This will give you a loose benchmark to start from.
Option 3: Read my soapboxing about budgeting and building a MAME PC in my signature link.
JDFan:
AS far as the TV goes -- what is the resolution as that is what determines the GPU power needed figure whether it is a 22" 1920x1080 monitor or a 60" 1920x1080 monitor the amount of GPU usage is the same since it is the same number of pixels being processed they are just being displayed on smaller or larger pixels - so just check the TV resolution and then select a GPU that plays well at that resolution.
For the PC - another place to look would be off lease systems that are refurbished -- you can save quite a bit of $ and figure an older system that comes from a corporation that has upgraded to new systems will have plenty of power for a MAME setup.