Advice on PC rig for pedestal

[tonythewrench]

I need some advice on buying the right PC rig for my pedestal cabinet
I’m sure this has been asked a hundred times over, but I wanted to just cut to the chase and ask for what I require personally.

I will be running the following emulators...

MAME (of course)
Daphne
Model 2
Model 3
Naomi

I wish to run the following games at full speed smoothly...

Killer Instinct 1/2
NFL Blitz
Mortal Kombat 3 and possibly 4
Wayne Gretsky’s 3D Hockey

I don’t want to go overboard on price I want to stay under $650

Minimum requirements...
What Processor would I need?
What clock speed?
How many cores?
And how much memory?

Any input that can help me with this purchase would be greatly appreciated

[tonythewrench]

Well after 100 views and no replies, I decided to just comb the Internet for videos of people showing 100% smooth gameplay of the higher end games I’m interested in, and taking note of their computer specs. Comparing the specs I found with the more affordable deals I can find I think I found a decent PC for what I’m looking for in my cabinet

https://m.staples.ca/Acer-Aspire-AXC-780-ES11-Desktop-Computer-39-GHz-Intel-Core-i3-7100-1-TB-HDD-8-GB-RAM-Windows-10/product_2705599?sk_test=a

I was interested to see the perspective of the community, but unfortunately no one was as interested in offering their input

[keilmillerjr]

I have no idea because all I use is mame. Supermodel emulator is in alpha state from 2013 and lists no hardware requirements other than Mac OS X or windows.

For what it’s worth, I’m running an i3 2100. It’s an older processor, and still runs every mame game I’ve tried at over 100% - including nfl blitz and gauntlet ledgends.

[paigeoliver]

Well after 100 views and no replies, I decided to just comb the Internet for videos of people showing 100% smooth gameplay of the higher end games I’m interested in, and taking note of their computer specs. Comparing the specs I found with the more affordable deals I can find I think I found a decent PC for what I’m looking for in my cabinet

https://m.staples.ca/Acer-Aspire-AXC-780-ES11-Desktop-Computer-39-GHz-Intel-Core-i3-7100-1-TB-HDD-8-GB-RAM-Windows-10/product_2705599?sk_test=a

I was interested to see the perspective of the community, but unfortunately no one was as interested in offering their input

No 30 frame per second you tube video is going to show you if a game is running 60 frames per second unless they have the emulators frame counter visible.

I only run mame, the computer in my cabinet is now 16 years old. Mortal Kombat 3 runs full speed.



The computer is the last place to spend money on your rig, it is the only part that you are absolutely going to have to replace in the future, and anything you pull out of a dumpster can run 99 percent of what can actually be controlled by an arcade control panel.

[Fonkybeachbum]

I have an AMD phenom, 16 gb ram, and a decent graphics card from 8 years ago and everything runs smoothly for me.  What I have cost ~$650 back then so you could get what I have for a lot cheaper now.  I personally think if you're going to put together a control pedestal, you might as well build the computer.  On a side note, I hate acer, they're crap.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6286583&sku=40884416&cm_re=Homepage-_-Zone2_1-_-CatId__40884416

I'd get this sucker and throw a graphics card in it if you're going to buy a computer just for emulation

[tonythewrench]

Thank you for the input and opinions, that’s all I was looking for...there are so many differing opinions on different forums that I didn’t know what direction I should go in....example many people state they are using AMD processors, yet others swear that you should go with Intel

Fonky thank you for your suggestion of PC purchase, it looks like a good deal...is tigerdirect decent to do business with? I don’t know anyone personally who has an experience that I can go by...I just wonder, cause if I’m going to buy a refurb PC online I want the seller to be trusted for quality

[JDFan]

Thank you for the input and opinions, that’s all I was looking for...there are so many differing opinions on different forums that I didn’t know what direction I should go in....example many people state they are using AMD processors, yet others swear that you should go with Intel

Fonky thank you for your suggestion of PC purchase, it looks like a good deal...is tigerdirect decent to do business with? I don’t know anyone personally who has an experience that I can go by...I just wonder, cause if I’m going to buy a refurb PC online I want the seller to be trusted for quality

TigerDirect used to be a good reliable company to buy from but in recent years they have gone the route of many other online retailers and have opened up their website to ordering from third party companies under their web presence - So the experience varies widely as the third parties are responsible for the fulfillment and support of the product they sell and Tigerdirect merely takes a fee for letting them use the Tigerdirect name and webtools. ( Just like Amazon,Walmart,BestBuy,etc.) SO you have to watch what you are buying and who it is actually being ordered from.

For Example the system he linked under support it says :

Manufacturer Warranty
Support URL: http://www.joysystems.com
Support Phone Number: 732-907-1593
Support Email Address: service@joysystems.com

SO you are actually buying from a vendor named joysystems and they will handle any support issues not TigerDirect ( and TigerDirect will just tell you to contact them if any problems arise !! )

IF you want to buy a refurbished system I'd recommend arrowdirect.com - ( be sure to look around and find any special codes before buying as they normally have at least a 10% - 20% code available (currently the code "arrow" gives you 15% off and free shipping) ) and be sure to check all of the system specs as they sometimes have the same price on a system with slightly different components - ie. one with 4GB RAM and a 500GB HDD for the same price as the same base system with 8GB Ram and a 250GB HDD - so look at the options before buying to get the one you want. Most of their systems are off lease systems returned and refurbished by them after the 2-4 year lease so their cost is very low and the resell at significantly lower prices - and most were in office use so not much stress on them and a few small upgrades gets much more than if building completely from scratch (since they include the windows license which adds quite a bit to building a system from scratch)

For example here is a similar system Dell Optiplex 7010 3.2GHz i5 4GB 500GB DRW Win 10 Pro 64 Mini Tower ( https://www.arrowdirect.com/dell-optiplex-7010-3-2ghz-i5-4gb-500gb-drw-win-10-pro-64-mini-tower-computer-b/ )

SO only 4GB ram instead of 8GB. for $192 +tax (depending on where you live) shipped - ( $163.20 after "arrow" discount code ! )

SO a bit better price for similar system and it comes directly from the refurbisher ( arrowdirect is one of the largest refurbishers) so they will deal directly with any problems that arise and IIRC offer a 1 year warranty on the system.
WHich would make a good base then just add a video card and possibly a new Powersupply ( depending on what video card you add)

[Fonkybeachbum]

I completely second that tigerdirect are not what they used to be.  When putting a computer together, I will usuually go to tigerdirect or newegg for reviews and then find what I want on ebay or amazon.  The last couple of experiences I had with tiger were not good.  I just wanted you to know that there are definitely better deals than that acer at staples.

[JDFan]

I completely second that tigerdirect are not what they used to be.  When putting a computer together, I will usuually go to tigerdirect or newegg for reviews and then find what I want on ebay or amazon.  The last couple of experiences I had with tiger were not good.  I just wanted you to know that there are definitely better deals than that acer at staples.

Yeah - I used to use Newegg and Tigerdirect when building systems ( since Tigerdirect actually had a retail store nearby before they closed them all and went to strictly online sales) but now they are merely clearing houses for third party vendors and expect those vendors to handle CS - so the experience is always hit and miss ( some of the third parties are great but others really not ! and you can't get Tigerdirect or Newegg to do anything about it so now I pretty much avoid both and mainly use AMAZON or Ebay ( at least they offer some buyer protection on purchases )