VIA EPIA + C3 good for running MAME?

[Pieter Hulshoff]

I've been thinking about using a VIA EPIA board with a C3 800MHz processor for a MAME cabinet. Does anyone have any experience with either? I'm trying to figure out if the speed of the C3 is enough to run most games, and if the TV-OUT of the EPIA is any good (or should I consider using a VGA (arcade) monitor instead? It would make a cheap and quiet duo, perfect for a MAME cabinet, if only the speed and usability are right...

[Lilwolf]

I don't have one... but the reviews I've seen show that they run slower then a pentium or amd of the same clock speed.  not by much.

but the main drop in speed is in the floating point math... but that doesn't effect emulation hardly at all.

So expect the speed of a 700 or 750 pentium (or 800mhz celeron maybe).

Their great because of the lack of a fan... but If you close in your cabinet to much, you might need a single fan for the whole unit.   At least put some vents on the top and bottom to let the hot air out.

As for the VGA or TV-out... if it isn't SVid out, don't do it.  I haven't heard any good solutions (other then multi thousand dollar scan converters) that have acceptable results without svid (or you can go scart in the uk).  I personally don't like vga's as much myself, but there was someone selling 21" SVGA monitors on ebay for 25 bucks without a case.  I don't know what the shipping would be though...

I would LOVE to hear how it runs.  Would be great for my cocktail table (since it will be only classic games anyway)

[Pieter Hulshoff]

> As for the VGA or TV-out... if it isn't SVid out, don't do it.

The epia has SVIDEO out, so that should be no problem. Maybe I'll just buy myself one of these babies anyway. If it's not usable for MAME I can always use it to beef up my daughter's computer.

> I would LOVE to hear how it runs.  Would be great for my cocktail table (since it will be only classic games anyway)

I'll keep you informed, but at the pace I'm running you might have to wait a while. I'm just starting to get the ideas and drawings flowing at this time.

[Lilwolf]

If you havent' started your system yet... wait on the computer.

why?

1) prices WILL drop... price of lumber doesn't.

2) c3's will get faster...  You might find by the time you get everything together, they have a 1.5ghz processor

[starbug1234]

Peter,

Did you ever complete this project??  I have recentky bought the epai 800, and am haveing HUGE problems geting Mame to run.

Cheers for any help

Stuart

[Lilwolf]

what problems?  just speed?

you should probably look at running other emulators whenever possible.  Most smaller emulators run much faster then mame.

Also look at running older versions of mame.

the 800 is probably the same as a 500mhz intel.  So I would look around .36 and see how it does.

[aumameman]

What Ive found boosts the power of an AMD K6-2 500, 256mb ram is running it in pure DOS (win 98/95 dos) with arcadeos and mame 0.65 The only trouble is you cannot use a act labs light gun on this setup but it doesnt run area51 very well anyhow.

[starbug1234]

The problem Im having is that when selecting the ROM, the screen blacks out as if about to go into game, then just comes back to the GUI again :S

I prefureably would like to run under dos, but have never managed to get anything working using a standard PC monitor, and non-soundblaster/ati cards.

Any idea's appreciated.

S.

[AlanS17]

Sounds like a video card issue (even though it's onboard video). Try forcing a resolution. Hmmm... What version of MAME and Windows are you running? EPIA's were designed with WinXP in mind. They were never meant to run Win98 so I hope that's not what you're using.

Pretty soon this may turn into a Monitor/Video thread.

Though I've never used them, I'm confident they will work as I've heard of other people using them before. I'm confident of the processing power to run games full-speed. If video is your only problem I'm sure that can be resolved.

Are you using video through TV or monitor?

[Jakobud]

I think you guys are overestimating the speed of that thing.  I have read numerous times that the 933MHz EPIA is comparable in speed to about a P3-450..  

[AlanS17]

I think you guys are overestimating the speed of that thing.  I have read numerous times that the 933MHz EPIA is comparable in speed to about a P3-450..  

Well that's about what I expect from the thing. Still, that's enough to power just about any game before 1990.

[starbug1234]

AlanS,

Thats what I thought, but I have tried an external pci graphics card and get the same.

OS is win 2k
Mame is 0.69 (i think) but its something like that.
Output is through monitor

[Smittydc]

I've used mame regularly with my EPIA m9000.  Works fine for most "classic" games.  Has trouble (slow) with Mortal Kombat and newer stuff like that.  

I run it VGA out to a projector and play on the big screen -- no problems.

[starbug1234]

All,

Sorted this problem by dropping down to Mame32 ver 0.61

Cheers

Stuart

[AlanS17]

The problem Im having is that when selecting the ROM, the screen blacks out as if about to go into game, then just comes back to the GUI again :S

I prefureably would like to run under dos, but have never managed to get anything working using a standard PC monitor, and non-soundblaster/ati cards.

Any idea's appreciated.

S.

This could also indicate a good old fashioned command line error. If you use a faulty switch or mistype your command line somehow you would have those same results. If there aren't any games after .61 that you like then I see keep that one. Otherwise, double check your command line.