Killer deal on MAME PC or good desktop!

[M3talhead]

Frys/Outpost.com has an awesome deal for a desktop that would be perfest for any MAME cab or workstation.

$299

http://shop3.outpost.com/product/4199463?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

[Hoagie_one]

only has a 250 watt PS.  weak

[M3talhead]

Good PSs are inexpensive. Besides, Celeron based machines are not going to be powerhouse gaming rigs. For a dedicated MAME cab, this would be ideal.

[SirPeale]

I'm betting this has the motherboard detailed in this thread.

Comes with XP Home, but I'd rather get a system with *no* OS.  Maybe later I'll play the 'how cheap can I make a decent Mame PC" game.

[M3talhead]

I played that "game" when I built my first cab. The problem I kept running into was whether or not I wanted to play any CHD or newer PC games, like NFL Blitz or Nebula based roms. If you're wanting to just play 8 and 16 bit games, then that setup is fine. Anything else and you start getting into arguements in your head about "Price vs Performance".

Just decide what you're going to be playing. Strictly MAME? Pre-1998? Then you're fine.

[SirPeale]

Just decide what you're going to be playing. Strictly MAME? Pre-1998? Then you're fine.

LOL...I've done this before.  Thanks for the advice, though!

[lokki]

Local Fry's frequently has these for $199.00 (it was last week).

[SirPeale]

Which is great if you have a Fry's near you.  East Coast here, so NO FRYS!  *Cries*

[IG-88]

$199.98 and free shipping to a store of your choice.

Wal-Mart.Com Link

[Tritoch84]

only has a 250 watt PS.  weak

Uhhhh, right....

I run an 1.8 P4 Gateway as my mame machine, and it has a 160W PS. THAT, is weak, but it still works, 250 is fine.

[M3talhead]

$199.98 and free shipping to a store of your choice.

Wal-Mart.Com Link

The problem with that one is:

1. It doesnt have a DVD/CD-R (incase you have mame roms on DVD-R)
2. 20GB HDD space (To small for all MAME roms + jukebox)
3. Less ram

The benefit though is that its from Walmart, so if it doesnt work out, you can always take it back, reciept or not. I think no matter what people get, the specs are going to be about the same. Perhaps a sticky should be created for "Minimum" specs, "Recommended" specs, and "Ultimate" specs for MAME cabs.

[SirPeale]

The problem with that one is:

1. It doesnt have a DVD/CD-R (incase you have mame roms on DVD-R)

Easily upgradable, OR you can pull the drive to install the ROMs on another computer.

2. 20GB HDD space (To [sic] small for all MAME roms + jukebox)

First, you shouldn't have *all* the Mame ROMs in your system, esp. since you're almost certainly not going to play them all anyway, especially the slow-as-death CHDs.  Second, if you're looking for an all-in-one solution, this system is not for you.

3. Less ram

Upgradable, but again not the end of the world.  Unless you're running XP on that, then you're going to need a ton more RAM.

The benefit though is that its from Walmart, so if it doesnt work out, you can always take it back, reciept or not. I think no matter what people get, the specs are going to be about the same. Perhaps a sticky should be created for "Minimum" specs, "Recommended" specs, and "Ultimate" specs for MAME cabs.

There already is a sticky for that.

[IG-88]

$199.98 and free shipping to a store of your choice.

Wal-Mart.Com Link

The problem with that one is:

1. It doesnt have a DVD/CD-R (incase you have mame roms on DVD-R)
2. 20GB HDD space (To small for all MAME roms + jukebox)
3. Less ram

The benefit though is that its from Walmart, so if it doesnt work out, you can always take it back, reciept or not. I think no matter what people get, the specs are going to be about the same. Perhaps a sticky should be created for "Minimum" specs, "Recommended" specs, and "Ultimate" specs for MAME cabs.

I could make it work.

Sorry about the long web address Peale, how'd you change that?

[SirPeale]

Sorry about the long web address Peale, how'd you change that?

Code: [Select]

[url=http://www.walmart.com]Wal-Mart.Com Link[/url]


[kinu64]

I played that "game" when I built my first cab. The problem I kept running into was whether or not I wanted to play any CHD or newer PC games, like NFL Blitz or Nebula based roms. If you're wanting to just play 8 and 16 bit games, then that setup is fine. Anything else and you start getting into arguements in your head about "Price vs Performance".

Just decide what you're going to be playing. Strictly MAME? Pre-1998? Then you're fine.

With this in mind, what type of system would be good for running NFL Blitz?

[SirPeale]

90% of the Mame CHD games run too slow on any system.  You'll have to wait a while for a system fast enough for them.  In the interim, run the PC versions, or get a Dreamcast.

[M3talhead]

The problem with that one is:

1. It doesnt have a DVD/CD-R (incase you have mame roms on DVD-R)

Easily upgradable, OR you can pull the drive to install the ROMs on another computer.

2. 20GB HDD space (To [sic] small for all MAME roms + jukebox)

First, you shouldn't have *all* the Mame ROMs in your system, esp. since you're almost certainly not going to play them all anyway, especially the slow-as-death CHDs.  Second, if you're looking for an all-in-one solution, this system is not for you.

3. Less ram

Upgradable, but again not the end of the world.  Unless you're running XP on that, then you're going to need a ton more RAM.

The benefit though is that its from Walmart, so if it doesnt work out, you can always take it back, reciept or not. I think no matter what people get, the specs are going to be about the same. Perhaps a sticky should be created for "Minimum" specs, "Recommended" specs, and "Ultimate" specs for MAME cabs.

There already is a sticky for that.

Thats my point though. Its going to cost you more to upgrade. I'm not saying its not possible to upgrade, but its nice to have a package all put together.

[lokki]

90% of the Mame CHD games run too slow on any system.

[IG-88]

90% of the Mame CHD games run too slow on any system.

[Sephroth57]

most new games use harddrives, which means yeah they will use CHD format.


and btw, i dont think Killer Instinct 2 runs good enough to play without lag

[SirPeale]

I don't think this is true. By my count there are 65 (including clones) games in mame that use CHD's (source MAWS).
Ouf the 65 I count out of these I count 28 games that are easily playable in a 2.4 Ghz system.  (and I only counted games I was sure off so I may have missed a few) This is far from 90%.

That's the problem...you included clones.  If you don't include them, it's about 90%,

[lokki]

I don't think this is true. By my count there are 65 (including clones) games in mame that use CHD's (source MAWS).
Ouf the 65 I count out of these I count 28 games that are easily playable in a 2.4 Ghz system.

[SirPeale]

*sigh* fine, if you want to get into semantics, then it's about 70% non-playable.  But that's still a very significant number!

[lokki]

*sigh* fine, if you want to get into semantics, then it's about 70% non-playable.

[SirPeale]

I only care about the semantics because the games that are not playable are not slow because they use CHDs. They are slow because they use powerful CPUs and or powerfule graphic  cards that need to be emulated and the fact that they are use CHDs is kind of incidental and has nothing to do with the games being slow.

I never said this was the reason.  What I'm getting at is that most of these games aren't playable, so having them on your drive is a massive waste of space.  VaporTRX, for example, is 1.3G.

There are other games that are unplayable, but having them on your drive doesn't take up nearly as much space.

[elvis]

For the Aussies on the list, here's a cheapy that works well:

http://www.cheapestpc.com.au/  (All prices in Australian Dollars only)

Upgrade the RAM and you've got a pretty good/cheap MAME box.

[Tokey]

So will this thing run all the non-3D games just fine?  I have an xbox integrated into my cab for 3d gaming so that doesn't matter to me...

[LordDamo]

For the Aussies on the list, here's a cheapy that works well:

http://www.cheapestpc.com.au/ (All prices in Australian Dollars only)

Upgrade the RAM and you've got a pretty good/cheap MAME box.

Thats pritty cheap! I might have to look into that, thanks for the link.