Hardware Topic - Oh No, Not This again!

[d00dness]

Yup you guessed it!  Another one of those 'what type of hardware' topics 

So cutting to the chase, I'm in the process of reviving my MAME build again, but this time using some "OLD" PC parts to see if they hold up.  I have 2 projects - a bar top cab (thanks to bfauska for building the cab!) and a full-size cab.  For the bar top cab, I'm really looking at just using the i-PAC with 2 joysticks (no console game, just MAME) and for the full-size cab I'm going to have that multi - MAME, Console games, etc...

Software - For both projects I'll be using GameEx for the front end and various emulators for the console.  The bar-top will only be running MAME v0.158 + any CHDs. 

Development Hardware - I'm developing my baseline off of a old MSI MB with a Athlon Duel-Core processor (3800+ I believe http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/K8/AMD-Athlon%2064%20X2%203800%2B%20-%20ADA3800DAA5BV%20%28ADA3800BVBOX%29.html w/4GBs of RAM, which so far seems to run everything just fine (except an occasional CHD required game that runs choppy).  The only down side is that I cant use my Ultramarc ArcadeVGA 5000 I bought (won't post when the card is inserted, yet my other Radeon card which is a 5000 series works fine 

The second 'PC" that I have laying around is a 3.0Ghz single-core (32-bit) 2GBs of RAM and an AGP 1GB card.  This one I was thinking might be good enough for the bar-top cab.

So, the question is this - are these systems good enough for what I want to use, or would it be better to get one of those NewEgg combo deals where most of those combos are quad-core, 8GB ram deals?  I don't mind spending the money as long as it's not a waste and I'm not tapping into the full potential of MAME and even emulations. 

Hopefully I didn't confuse anyone.  Thanks in advance ....

 

[Generic Eric]

Before I get to far, you need to reach out to whoever you purchased that AVGA card from and resolve that issue.

Otherwise:

I say use what you have and then determine if it is good enough. 

For example, your PC with 2gig of ram may only be suitable for MsPac and Donkey Kong.  That is great news.  You can use it in a "smaller" profile cabaret. 

Again, with your MSI pc, run what you can on it.  Maybe that can be your Street fighter or Mortal Kombat Kabinet.

On your third machine you can play a different set of games.

Don't cut any wood or plan anything unless the emulators are already running on the PC you intend to use.

What games are your favorite?  What kind of games are your favorite? Maze games?  Vertical SHUMP? Horizontal Shump?  Brawlers? Fighting? Shooting? Driving?

Name 100 games, Pick your favorites.  If all you are going to play is Ms. Pacman or Tetris, you don't need a trackball!

Play vertical games on a vertical monitor!  I did and it changed my life!

Be open to having more than one arcade machine.

Do you like brussel sprouts in your ice cream?  Ultimately, I am going to attempt to discourage you from playing every game on one machine.  Also, don't try to play console games on arcade controls, unless they were arcade games.  Here is a list of PS1 games that some argue could be played on an arcade machine.  Of any, I'd try Intelligent Qube, Wipeout and Rival Schools, maybe Battle Arena Toshinden.

I'm not sure any N64 games, with possibly the exception of Killer Instinct Gold or Tetrisphere are really worth playing again anyway, let alone trying to force the experience on an arcade machine.

Good luck, Have all the fun you possibly can, just don't expect too much from one project.

[Yenome]

I agree with Eric, A vert machine for vert games is a whole new world. that first one you listed should be fine im running an amd athlon x2 4600+ with 4gb and it runs everything up to playstation and nfl blitz. skip Killer instinct gold for n64. its nothing but a crappier KI2 at least IMO anyway.  also if you want to really squeeze every drop of performance out of the system. **WARNING BLASPHEMY INCOMING** Unzip the roms to folders. bigger games load faster. I did this and it helped make the loading time on an older system more tolerable. you could use teh dual core for the newerish games and use the other for a VERT machine.

[d00dness]

Thanks everyone for the replies.  Really opens up the thinking cap a bit more on the project(s).  But does MAME use all cores of a CPU or just 1 core.  I've seen several discussions on this and no one really as a def answer.  Tks..

[Yenome]

last time i checked it will use two cores. it dumps off some things to the second core. best way to check is just run mame with windows performace monitor going and see what the cores do. nice thing about quad core if mame only uses two. then you have Hyperspin and windows sharing two cores and mame using the other two. this can all be set by CPU affinity.

from mame wiki
Recent versions of MAME include a -mt switch which allows some tasks to be threaded off for use by SMP or multicore systems. Thus far the benefits from this are relatively small, because accurate emulation such as MAME strives for cannot easily be broken up into parallel subtasks (it would be like trying to have a baby in one month by impregnating nine women). There are exceptions of course, and MAME will support them via this mechanism in the future.