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Processor upgrade worth it?
cbmeeks:
Hey, what about hacking an Xbox? You can get those for like $150 now and it is a pretty decent machine.
I saw on The Screen Savers where Kevin got an XBox to run MAME.
Has anyone tried that?
pointdablame:
MAME on the xbox is not updated anywhere near as much as the PC version is. It plays decently for the most part, but isn't quite the same IMHO. And in my experiences, games that would play on a 750mhz PC (ballpark of the xbox CPU speed) play quicker than on the xbox. It would probably do, but I wouldn't use it in a dedicated MAME machine... not for MAME anyway.
For your upgrade... I don't know that you'd "have" to upgrade to run what you want to run, but it won't hurt of course. I wouldn't spend too much more than that $75 on the system though. Going beyond that and you're better off getting a AMD board with built in video and an Athlon XP IMHO. That would at least give you a more current system. So.... you're probably fine with what you have. If you do upgrade, don't spend more than that $75 on the Dell, any more, and you're probably better off selling the Dell for a few bucks and building a newer system.
Knoxximus:
--- Quote from: cbmeeks on August 13, 2004, 09:07:44 am ---Hey, what about hacking an Xbox? You can get those for like $150 now and it is a pretty decent machine.
I saw on The Screen Savers where Kevin got an XBox to run MAME.
Has anyone tried that?
--- End quote ---
I got a MAME'd out Xbox, and lemme tell you, for the most part, it's tight. Of course, the Box is limited by 64MB, so don't expect to run King Of Fighters or anything that is HUGE, but if you wanna play some arcade Gaunlet or TMNT on the couch (XBox built in 4-Player capability really shines right here 8) ) with the homers you can't beat it. Mine also got all the Emus (SNES, NES, Genesis, etc.), and those run flawlessly. Plus, the Box, as with any console, is made for TV, so output is a non-issue.
Conclusion: Great for get togethers being able sit comfortably for hours.....it has it's time and place. Besides, having an Xbox on 'roids will make you the envy of ALL your consloe owning buddies (as if your arcade cab wasn't doing enough ;D )!
Laurent:
We are very much alike; I also am a Mac user but planning on building a custom cabinet using a PC. I will go for an AMD Athlon 3200+ since it's cheaper than the usual high end Pentium. I am hoping to run games that aren't available on Mac (different emulators, like KIAME, Zinc and Nebula Sega Model 2).
sharpfork:
Hello All-
I'm leaning toward selling the Dell and the G4 I have in the cabinet now and building a PC.
Anyone know of a good source for bare bones systems that can use my PC 133 Memory and IDE drives? Or does it make sense to just pitch in for a system that takes DDR and but some RAM?
Laurent- Why such a powerful box? a 3200+ is heavy duty.
Thanks again everyone.
You guys Rock!
Kevin