Computer Selection/Monitor Help

[Josh]

I want to thank everyone for their help in my last few posts

I posted over in the monitor section, but not getting many replies,  So, here is that link

http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=4;action=display;threadid=19825

I still need some advice about that thread if anyone wants to take a look at it

I want to get everyone's opinion on a computer I plan on building for my cabinet

Shuttle AN35N-ultra motherboard
AMD Athlon XP 2000+
512MB Kingston DDR PC-3200 RAM
40GB Maxtor HD
Soundblaster model SB0162
350W silent PS
Asus 16x DVD-ROM
ATI Radeon 9200 video card (not totally happy with the video card choice)

What are your opinions?

Thanks for any help you can provide

Josh

[the3eyedblindman]

I am also using and amd xp 2000, and I have a radeon 7000 video card and was told it would be fine, so dont worry about the video card, If i were you Id up my hard drive, incase you want to put other pc games on it and or play music on it, basically if you wanna use your cab for more than just mame, hope i could help.

[ani]

Agree, down the video card, up the hdd.

[Spaced Invader]

Specs are just fine...more memory than you need, but if you have it use it. HD is plenty big for cab type games (can fit MAME + all roms, Zsnes + all roms, Gens + all roms, ePSXe + 20 to 30 playstation CD's, and 100+ arcade friendly PC games...you're not going to Play HALO on your cab afterall!).

Your specs are more than enough...

Hope this helps!  

[Spaced Invader]

Sorry...just reread your original question...monitors. Basically it's VGA (PC monitor), TV, Arcade. I've used each of these. An arcade monitor is the most authentic but hardest to set up. VGA is the least authentic (too sharp) but the easiest to setup. And a television is a good compromise between the two.

I would recommend a television for your first cab. Unless you have all three side by side you probably won't notice a huge difference. In my mind a TV wins out in the screen real estate bang for the buck wars while scoring high in authenticity and ease of setup. Just be sure to use s-video!

[Pasqualz]

Unless you're fabulously rich, stick with the computer setup you originally specified, except for the HD, I'd bet that an 80GB drive only costs about $15 more than a 40GB drive. I'm currently building my first cabinet and I'm using a 27" TV with S-Video for it!