**********MY FIRST POST********
ANSWERS TO WHAT I AM LOOKING FOR
AND
QUESTIONS ABOUT WHAT CPU/Processor to begin with?
So there are a lot of posts in this thread....
1. I am a guy who has played the MAME emulator on my pc for years and now am going to take the plunge and build out a MAME cabinet
2. I simply want the best possible setup, that is futureproofed so i can reasonably expect it to run the new stuff while realizing the reason that I have MAME is because of the 80s classics like galaga, centipede, defender, guantlet, and dragons lalr. If it can also run MK great. if not, MK is not why i am building theis system, it is Pac-Man, etc and the fact that whether on a computer, or iPad ---- nothing feels as good as jetking the stick and mashing buttons on a full-size arcade cabinet.
3. I want it to play all MAMEs, and preferably my ATARI 2600 and Nintendo (mainly for Super Mario), because it is all about the classics games and i want to get the flicker and the CRT resolution lines in my finished product.
4. I am not going to use this computer for anything other than MAMEs.
5. Cost isnt a hindrance to me - this is a fun project to build and i will do it as slow as needed. BUT at the same time, if a $50 athlon processor will do, i'll gladly put that extra money i save into my Pinball machine project.
6. ONE difference though is that i am building a 2 screen Cabinet (imagine two cabinets turned 45 degrees away from each other but connected in the same (albeit bigger it actually wont look bad sitting up against a wall. oh yeah and so the LEFT SCREEN will have a VERTICAL CRT (Pac-Man, Qbert, Sinistar, etc) etc while the RIGHT SCREEN will be HORIZONTAL (Defender, Street Fighter, etc). SO knowing this....
7. Can this be done with one CPU, and then two partitions (one dedicated to each side so i don't have to even see the HORIZONTAL MAMEs from the VERTICAL MAMEs side and vice versa. I'm hoping there is a way that I can have two sound and two video cards and pump the pertinent audio/video to that side. Plus then I want to have my X-Controls controllers available on each side so essentially Pac-Man and Defender could be played simultaneously and you would see, nor hear, nor experience any blips, drips or glitches in game play. IF THIS IS NOT possible, i will just build a separate setup for each side.
8. Is there a preferred CPU speed that they were intended to be viewed (in other words, is there a CPU that would be TOO FAST to use? Or what is the best CPU featurewise? AND, if speed needs to be within a certain range to achieve a perfect replication of the arcade experience, then are there any ways to turn down the clock speed of the computer? I seem to recall a computer i once had years ago having a "turbo button" on the front of the case which turned it from 10mhz to 15. Any of you have that???
ONCE I GET THIS ANSWERED, WE'LL MOVE ON TO Mobo and Memory