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2 Newbie Questions

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sTyLeS:

As far a processing power goes, I've been able to play Area 51 and Maximum Force perfectly fine without any slowdown. And I don't have a top-of-the-line system. I do have an AMD 1700+ with 512MB of RAM, but that's pretty low-end and pretty inexpensive nowadays.

fredster:

The video card is the key.  The more power it has, the better off you are.  You need to have 128mb Ram to run some of them.

I put in a geoforce64 mb card in my computer and it ran MK from 17 fps to 60 + fps with no other upgrade.



Stingray:


--- Quote ---paigeoliver:
There is no AVERAGE cost to a Mame system.
--- End quote ---

This is absolutely true. Some of the guys on this board go totally mad on their cabs spending a fortune -- and they do end up with awesome cabs, don't get me wrong about that!. I on the other hand, went the other direction. I spent $50 on a dead cab, which I repainted with paint left over from an unrelated project. I spent another $50 or so on assorted controls and t-molding. The computer was donated from one source, the monitor from another. The control interface is a hacked keyboard (from my junk box). So far I've got a bit over $100 in mine. By the time it's all said and done I'll have more money invested in the artwork than in the rest of the cab.

Hey, whatever you decide to do, have fun!

-S

archagon:

Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT!! I HATE WINDOWS!! I wrote up this entire post, and then clicked some JPG. WHERE THE HELL DID IMAGE PREVIEW GO?! Noooo...it HAD to open it in THIS window...needless to say, when I went back, my ENTIRE POST WAS DELETED!! ~Sorry, need to let off some steam.

Thanks! This stuff helped me a lot. A few more questions, though.

1) How do arcade monitors compare to TV's? Which is better and why?
2) Are Happ 360 Opticals 8-way or 360 degree? I assume the latter...in that case, they don't click, do they?
3) I plan to make my motherboard visible through a side window, but my PCI/AGP cards would hinder that. Are there any card extention cables out there?
4) What would be a good computer for MAMEing? 1Ghz? 2Ghz? Also, I have a bunch of video cards, but they're all 64MB. Should I "upgrade" to 128? And what about RAM? Will 256MB suffice?
5)

What are the things connected to the monitor in 1), what materials are 2) and 3), and how is the panel in 4) held up? Yes, this is from that new Maximum PC article...very nicely written.

Sorry for the bluntness...this would have been much politer had my computer not decided to get on my nerves.

ashardin:

fredster:

I'm glad to hear that you got that performance bump in but my understanding from reading the MAME DEV team boards is that the video card does not matter.  MAME is not sending 3-D graphics data like other PC games, it is emulating and then sending the graphic info.

Did you replace an onboard, shared RAM video card?  That may explain the difference.

archagon:

From my experience:

1.  Arcade monitor is "truer" and potentially more expensive.  TV can be easier to set up, and you can get TV's dirt cheap.  I run a 21" PC monitor in my cabs so that is just from what I can gather here.

2.  Don't know off the top of my head.  

3.  I've never seen a PCI extension cable, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.  Try ebay or google and see what you come up with.

4.  It really depends on your budget.  You can run >90% of the roms with a 1 ghz setup, 2 will push even more of the "newer" roms.  I would suggest at least 256 meg of ram and a 64 mb video should be more than enough.  

Materials:

1.  The monitor is set up, and then a glass (or plexi) bezel is over the top.  T-molding runs around the cab.

2&3.  Plexi on the control panel, the cab is probably made out of MDF with a painted finish.  

4.  That panel is held on from the back (inside where the marquee is)


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