arcadevga card dimensions / size?

[Jimbo]

I'm thinking about getting one of these shuttle XPC machines and putting an ArcadeVGA card inside it: -
http://eu.shuttle.com/en/desktopdefault.aspx/searchcall-12/searchcategory-369/noblendout-1/tabid-72/170_read-11848/

Anyone tried this?

If someone could post the exact dimensions of the ArcadeVGA card that would be great.  Couldn't see this on the Ultimarc site.

Many thanks,

Jimbo

[divemaster127]

hello, I sell these in the buy/sell thread, when i get home tonight, I can get you the measurements...
thanks
dm

[Mr Ironpants]

We have a Shuttle here at the office.  If you want me to rip it open and measure it once divemaster posts the dimensions let me know.  The only think you could run into is that the disk controller is placed at the end of the AGP and PCI slots so you may have to push the disk cables around a bit.  Other than that there is nothing on that side of the box that would give you any issues.

[pointdablame]

As someone who has owned 4 shuttles, and is posting this very message from one right now, I can promise you that the ArcadeVGA card will fit in your shuttle just fine.  The AVGA card is actually a low profile video card compared to many on the market.  It will fit with space to spare.

The only cards that will not fit in a shuttle properly are newer video cards that take up two slots, usually with one being for a fan.  Any standard single slot AGP card will fit in a Shuttle SFF case, assuming its not using some third party cooling device/heatpipe/etc etc.  The AGP slot is on the outer edge of the case.  Cables should not be a problem either as there is plenty of room to route them out of the way.

BTW, the shuttle you are looking at buying is the exact one I am using right now, so if you have any questions about it, let me know.

[Jimbo]

Hi,

Thanks for your replies.  My only question about the shuttle really is - is it a good choice for a cab, considering its small size (I'd like to have a subwoofer also in the cab and probably a game console or two) , and I'm a little concerned about keeping it cool in there. I'll be going for an AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Socket 939 512KB with 1gb of ram.  Hopefully this is enough to play most of the MAME games and other emulators (c64/amiga/st/snes etc).

Thanks again,

Jimbo

[pointdablame]

It's a fine choice for a cab, but really... unless you're building some type of smaller cab (cabaret, cocktail, mini), you won't have any problems fitting a normal ATX case in a cab.  You could also just decase a full PC to save some space.

As for the shuttle, it gets a little warm.  I keep SmartFan on to keep the noise levels down, but I'd be concerned about throwing it in a cab with SmartFan on.  You probably want to have the fan on high in a cab, and the fan on high is not exactly silent.  You definitely wouldn't damage anything, but for a cab I'd put the fan on high and make sure you have good ventilation in the cab in general.

[Mr Ironpants]

I agree with point on everything .  In fact the Shuttle here at the office may grow legs and follow me home one night to live in a bartop. 

The one thing I would add is if I were building a cab, I would make sure the design doesn't limit you to a specific case in the future.  My buddy built a cocktail using a low profile Compaq.  He made the mistake of building around the computer and when it died we ended up with a choice of a decased motherboard or looking for one of those Compaqs.

As to the 1 GB of memory, all of the emulators listed will be fine with that memory.  If this is a dedicated emulation machine, I would suggest a direct mount of the mother board if you need to save space.  It has the added benefit of saving you money.  Something to think about.

[Jimbo]

Cheers for your help everyone. Got a reply from Ultimarc on the ArcadeVGA card size... Andy reckons the card will fit no probs too (didn't give exact dimensions tho), so I'm gonna go ahead and order that shuttle tomorrow   Cheers for the advice on the cab too, I'll make sure I keep it well ventilated.

Jimbo