Replacing my mame pc

[Truz]

Well i have been thinking lately that i want to replace my pc in my mame cabinet. Right now it is running a p4 1.3ghz, 512mb rdram, WD 80 gig hard drive, and a geforce 3. It is an old HP computer that has a bunch of upgraded parts i placed in it, basically the processor/ motherboard are the only original parts. It has also been decased and is placed quite haphazardly within my cocktail mame cabinet.

Now i have been thinking about upgrading for a while now as the pc does have some trouble running some of the newer games like Mortal Kombat 2/3 as well as some other more recent games.

Now i would just keep the Western Digital 80gig hd as it is not even a year old, as well as the geforce 3 as it seems to be sufficent for mame. Also i could keep the SoundBlaster Live sound card and the that is in there as well.

So basically i am just lookig for a motherboard/cpu/ram combo that is the fastest i can get for an affordable price. I want a system that will be able to run most of the games and basically something to just out perform my old machine. Also i would need a case for it as well as i dont feel like having the parts exposed like i do now, i would like to be able to easily take it out if i would need to work on it. Yet the case has to be small enough to fit in a cocktail cab (thats why i decased the original).

So what do you guys think? Are there any good deals right now. I have been browsing NewEgg for the time being but wanted to come here for opinions as well.

[quarterback]

Read Fatwallet and/or XPbargains and/or Anandtech and buy a Dell.   You'll end up spending ~$300 for a new fast computer without having to worry about building your own. 

I used to build all my/my families PCs from the ground up because back in 486 time, it was a lot cheaper to do it that way.  I'd say that, for the most part, that is no longer the case.

[Nocturnaloner]

I don't know if I'd agree with that.  In terms of bang for the buck, that 300 dollar Dell is still not going to run the more demanding games as well as a mobo/cpu/ram combo that he could drop into his existing case.  I would go to www.pricewatch.com look at the combos in your price range.

[GGKoul]

You must have some configuration problems with you current system.  Because i have a AMD 1gig Duron with 512ram and a Geforce 2 MX card and the system runs MK2/3 with no issues.

[caffinefiend]

go on ebay and buy a "barebones" pc

case/mobo/power supply/ processor

already together and eady to go

you could get a 3 ghz for around 275

[paigeoliver]

Downgrade your Mame version to .55 and it will run the mortal kombats at full speed with horsepower to spare.

[quarterback]

I don't know if I'd agree with that.