Hey. I would like to say im some what in tuned with pc knowledge, but certainly not near you all, its amazing how much you guys know. As for the heaping old computers found on curbs that can play 80% of what i need, Ive been there done that 100 times. I basically started hoarding old pcs and parts for builds, and i just want to avoid that. I agree, i was able to run gameex and mame on most of the curb pcs i found, but would run into issues with games like Ultimate mortal kombat, never mind anything passed that. I am building a brand new cabinet and machine for a friend who basically has no real limit financially.. while sure that doesnt mean blow 1000 bucks for nothing, id much rather certainly rather a nice new pc, new technology, kick ass specs. It will indeed be 99.9999% used for mame, but of course he may want to run a jukebox in it, a nice front it be it hyperspin or gameex, video thumbnails, eventually a light gun.. maybe pinball one day. This pc needs to be able to take on what i throw at it for the next few years. Mame games, snes,nes and sega are the basic things tho. Maybe hell want a full media center built in one day. I spent enough time finding drivers for old pcs, and all kinds of other errands.. basically it fell under the " ya cant shine a turd" type of saying. While i understand all the valid points given, theres no reason in my particular case that i cant build a brand new pc. I would agree on the overkill part, which is why i came here for advice. I certainly agree with the ssd being too big, as i just need it for os and apps, i need the quick boot time. I also agree on halving the ram. Basically the build is there, i just need some help on picking a motherboard and processor. Im just concerned with buying a used or craiglist pc, just to have it burn out in his cabinet after a month, or even a year.As for option 1, id rather pay and avoid the game of building a 50 dollar computer. Option 2, my current pc is a 1500$ editing rig, which isnt going in a mame cabinet. And following your soapboxing thread, basically, im building for my budget. which is zero-600$, for whatever will get me what i need to NEVER have a problem playing arcade games with a nice front end ever again. I actually feel somewhat ignorant as far as used pcs go now, so can anyone help point me towards any particular places or builds that look good? Im putting about 1000+ just into the cabinet, since he want a lot of nice touches and a bunch of baller type upgrades, i dont want to throw a 50 dollar refurb job inside the machine. Again, maybe im being super ignorant and you can show me a 200 fully built pc that will blaze through front ends and mame games. Again, this is why im here. To be more specific about games, he nor I are super anal about the games. I dont see him being pissed he cant play a taito game (as ive read they are hard to run), but again, its going in a nice mancave, with a very expensive cabinet and addons being used, id like this baby to shine in anyway. thanks for the help so far.. i included a picture of the build thus far as well.