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Question regarding hardware
Cyber:
Hi folks :)
New here, and this forum looks preatty neat, since it is all related to what im intrested into :) Very good!
Hope i can be at help when i can as well :)
But this time i need some help and i hope some of you can help me answer.
I would like to build a game, years since i last touched a game, so unfortanly things you should remember goes away.
So, i would like to build a game that has POWER!
Large HDD of course.
Here`s an idea:
Mainboard: ABIT AN-M2HD, GF7050PV, Socket-AM2, DDR2 , HDMI, SATAII, GbLAN, m-ATX, PCI-Ex16
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ 2.8GHz Socket AM2 2MB, BOXED
RAM: Crucial DDR2 BallistiX PC6400 2048MB CL4 ,Kit w/two BallistiX 1024MB's, E.P.P
VGA: ArcadeVGA PCI-E
HDD: 2 x Seagate Barracuda ES 500GB SATA2 16MB 7200RPM in RAID (MIRROR)
DVD: NEC DVD-burner AD-5170 IDE Black OEM DVD+R/+RW/DVD-R/-RW (Dual layer)
Cabinet: Apevia X-Qpack II Blue, mATX, Aluminium, 3 windows, ATX
Would this be enought to build a computer related to only used with MAME ???
Also, i would ask, since it is an game that i am building, then i would ask for some help on these questions:
What MAME should i use?
What FRONTEND should i use?
It would be best that, when i turn on the power of the game, the MAME starts directly after Windows XP has been started up, how and what should i use to get this done ??
Thank you all for all the answers!!
Take care, and best regards, Cyber :D
Green Giant:
Welcome to the board.
-About your computer, that is way overkill. Currently MAME doesn't take advantage of dual core processors. There is work on the future of using dual core, but it should only enable a handful of games currently unplayable, maybe 10. An AMD 64 3500 can pretty much handle every mame game playable to date.
-The vga card is only necessary if you plan on using an arcade monitor. Many people use tv's with a good graphics card cause they are cheaper.
-1TB of space is enormous. You could easily fit every mame, nintendo, snes, genesis, playstation, dreamcast, a huge song collection, and whatever else you might want. Maybe if you plan on using this as a media center with thousands of videos it would work. This is all possible with different frontends. Mine has a 250GB and there is plenty of space for mame, nes, snes, gen, old school games, n64, and a few others. Originally it had lots of japanese and european versions of all those games, but after narrowing it down, I have an extra 100gigs of space. Gonna add juke features eventually.
-Why would you need a dvd burner. Chances are this is going in a cab and you will hardly ever open the drive to use it. I have an old dvdburner that was already partially broken in mine. It can read dvd's but can't write. However, I have hardly used it.
-Don't spend alot on a case too, the cheaper the better since you won't be seeing it ever.
As for mame, there is only one thing to use, the original command line version. Don't worry about command line, several frontends handle all the mame commands automatically using a nice gui.
For frontends, I use MALA. It is extremely easy to setup, looks great, and the plugins enable all kinds of extra features. I have all my buttons hooked up to GGG electric ice buttons, and when I choose a game, the plugin for MALA lights up the original controls for the game in the original colors. Looks very cool.
I know AtomicFE has many cool features including special graphical designs. It is under constant development which makes it pretty useful too, although I have never tried it.
Read the wiki for more info. http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/Main_Page
Look at these three sites as well, http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/ http://www.ultimarc.com/ http://happcontrols.com/
Probably the best three places for parts on arcade controllers. However, happs is pricey and can be bought all over the internet for less.
Disturbed013:
Welcome. Giant's advice to you is very accurate. Just wanted to add that the case may not be necessary either, depending on your cab build plans. Many people mount the pc caseless inside the cab.
Green Giant:
I usually pick up my cases from geeks.com. That way I get a case and power supply for maybe 20, sometimes less than that. Mounting the board straight helps in cooling and you can get a power supply from geeks for $12. Either way, you should waste your money on controls and aesthetics instead of a nice computer. When people play it, they won't care about the insides as long as it plays the games like an original.
Cyber:
--- Quote from: Green Giant on July 29, 2007, 11:04:57 pm ---Welcome to the board.
-About your computer, that is way overkill. Currently MAME doesn't take advantage of dual core processors. There is work on the future of using dual core, but it should only enable a handful of games currently unplayable, maybe 10. An AMD 64 3500 can pretty much handle every mame game playable to date.
-The vga card is only necessary if you plan on using an arcade monitor. Many people use tv's with a good graphics card cause they are cheaper.
-1TB of space is enormous. You could easily fit every mame, nintendo, snes, genesis, playstation, dreamcast, a huge song collection, and whatever else you might want. Maybe if you plan on using this as a media center with thousands of videos it would work. This is all possible with different frontends. Mine has a 250GB and there is plenty of space for mame, nes, snes, gen, old school games, n64, and a few others. Originally it had lots of japanese and european versions of all those games, but after narrowing it down, I have an extra 100gigs of space. Gonna add juke features eventually.
-Why would you need a dvd burner. Chances are this is going in a cab and you will hardly ever open the drive to use it. I have an old dvdburner that was already partially broken in mine. It can read dvd's but can't write. However, I have hardly used it.
-Don't spend alot on a case too, the cheaper the better since you won't be seeing it ever.
As for mame, there is only one thing to use, the original command line version. Don't worry about command line, several frontends handle all the mame commands automatically using a nice gui.
For frontends, I use MALA. It is extremely easy to setup, looks great, and the plugins enable all kinds of extra features. I have all my buttons hooked up to GGG electric ice buttons, and when I choose a game, the plugin for MALA lights up the original controls for the game in the original colors. Looks very cool.
I know AtomicFE has many cool features including special graphical designs. It is under constant development which makes it pretty useful too, although I have never tried it.
Read the wiki for more info. http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/Main_Page
Look at these three sites as well, http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/ http://www.ultimarc.com/ http://happcontrols.com/
Probably the best three places for parts on arcade controllers. However, happs is pricey and can be bought all over the internet for less.
--- End quote ---
Thank you Green Giant =)
- This must be the most perfect reply i have ever got at any forum i have been a member of, so thank you so much for you huge explain, help and links you have gave me here.
Now i understand the hole mame alot more than i did before!
I used to sell them (arcade games) and work on service with them, but never build my own. Did not have the time. So i miss the "good old onces" :)
Computer idea is gone, did not order this one.
When mame do not support dual core yet, i have to find something older to build on, and that i have.
About the software bit, i will look into it more later this week!
Thank you again for your very helpful reply!