Intel Celeron 3.46 ghz

[Hawk Daddy]

Would that run MAME good, like Mortal Kombat II?  Tiger has a barebone kit really cheap, and includes everything but the HHD. For about $170, case, 512 memory, 450 power supply. and 3.46 ghz processor.  Would that run what I need it too?

Hawk

[MaximRecoil]

You can run Mortal Kombat II fine on an old PIII-based 733 MHz Celeron, at least you can with MAME in the v.55 to v.60 range anyway.

A 3.46 GHz Celeron should be fine for most anything in MAME that is playable by today's hardware standards (as opposed to the stuff that no one will be able to play at full speed for another 10 years or whatever).

[Tahnok]

Just don't expect to get your money if it requires a rebate. Tiger Direct is notorious for not sending out rebates.

[HaRuMaN]

Just don't expect to get your money if it requires a rebate. Tiger Direct is notorious for not sending out rebates.

Yeah... you're much better off buying from Newegg.

[Tiger-Heli]

Just don't expect to get your money if it requires a rebate. Tiger Direct is notorious for not sending out rebates.

Actually, Tiger Direct is now going through OnRebate and has a guarantee policy on the rebate process.

I got my rebate from them in 3-4 weeks (which is sooner than most rebates I submit).

I think they finally "got the message", YMMV, though.

[Hawk Daddy]

It's only a $20 rebate, so I'm not that worried about it.  I was just wanting to make sure that the celeron would be a good processor for this. Thanks.

Hawk

[leapinlew]

Just don't expect to get your money if it requires a rebate. Tiger Direct is notorious for not sending out rebates.

Actually, Tiger Direct is now going through OnRebate and has a guarantee policy on the rebate process.

I got my rebate from them in 3-4 weeks (which is sooner than most rebates I submit).

I think they finally "got the message", YMMV, though.

Yeah, Tiger still has a bad reputation from their previous rebates. Seems it'll follow them around for a while.

[Kaytrim]

Would that run MAME good, like Mortal Kombat II?  Tiger has a barebone kit really cheap, and includes everything but the HHD. For about $170, case, 512 memory, 450 power supply. and 3.46 ghz processor.  Would that run what I need it too?

Hawk

Do you have a link?

[Tiger-Heli]

Do you have a link?

TIP:  To get the best Tiger Direct Prices, subscribe to their E-mail updates and then follow the links to their site with the codes provided.  You get much better deals that way than going to the site directly.

[Hawk Daddy]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2967775&Sku=P459-1224%20F

Thats a link to it.

Hawk

[Tahnok]

I'm glad to hear it. Maybe now I'll actually pay attention to their deals.

[Kaytrim]

Thanks for the link Hawk.  Looking at the add that is a nice solid system starter.  For ~$190 more, CPU fan, 320 SATA Drive and additional 512mb of RAM you have a real nice system for about anything you want to throw at it.  Add shipping and your computer will be under $400 after rebate. 

Kaytrim

[Lakersfan]

TIP:  To get the best Tiger Direct Prices, subscribe to their E-mail updates and then follow the links to their site with the codes provided.  You get much better deals that way than going to the site directly.

Thanks! Just starting to look for a PC so that advice will come in handy. I'll give them my freebie email account set up just for stuff like this!

[Haze]

well just keep in mind that sell-her-ons aren't actually that good, and the c2duos are likely to kick it's ass in all the benchmarkls at a much lower clock speeds.  (the 3ghz core 2 duo is currently the best chip for MAME by miles, Mhz isn't everything.)

[Lakersfan]

The 3ghz core 2, huh? Well I want something that'll be solid. But then again I don't want to over do it... There's so much information on this site regarding the subject; it's just a matter of "weeding" through the outdated posts as well as trying to find something that'll fit my needs of mame and maybe as NES/SNES and Daphne emulators.

Thanks for the advise. I'll see if I can come across a decent deal...

[superart]

You know why celeron processors are so cheap? Because they are the worst processors in the intel line.

[HaRuMaN]

You know why celeron processors are so cheap? Because they are the worst processors in the intel line.

Yeah no kidding... I stay away from Celerons like they have the plague

[DaOld Man]

I ordered from Tiger Direct around 5 years ago. I dont think I ever got the promised rebate, plus they sent the wrong part, I was out postage to send it back to them.
I wrote them off my list of suppliers after that.

[Lakersfan]

I've read alot of posts saying the same thing about TigerDirect ... makes me sketchy. I've recently found mwave and they seem to be pretty reasonable with their prices.

[Kangum]

not sure if your interested but overstock.com has 3 ghz pentium desktops ready to go for 350. not a bad price for everything.

just need an operating system.

http://www.overstock.com/Electronics/Dell-Optiplex-3.0GHz-Pentium-4-Desktop-Computer/2199685/product.html

best part is its a slimline and a regular p4 not celeron

[Lakersfan]

Thanks Kangum! I'll have a look...

[robot8319]

it seems their is so much misinformation going around these days its just sad..

the new celerons are faster than the old P4 northwoods...and thats saying something for a celeron..

my 3.2ghz celeron finish's Super pi 1m the same exact time as my northwood p4 3.2ghz..

basically the new celerons are just rebadged highend pentium 4's if anything..

also since the p4 are slow by todays standards it isnt saying much..

if it was me i would go with a 4000+ am2 its only $50.and its faster than the fastest pentium 4 at 3.8ghz....

[Lakersfan]

Man, I really didn't think it would be this confusing. I guess in the end, it'll all come down to who you choose to believe and how much money you want to spend.
 

[genesim]

For the same amount of money you can get dual core which I know doesn't do squat for MAME, but it does run the games fine.

For the same price as the Celeron, you get more bang for your buck.

I would at least stick with a Pentium.   Celeron SUCKS!   Believe me, I had a few.

[Tiger-Heli]

Listen to Haze and Robot8319.

Also see http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/07/16/cpu_charts_2007/page17.html (Quake, but gives you an idea), and http://images.tomshardware.com/2007/07/16/cpu_charts_2007/cpu_table_intel_big.png

Core2Duo is the fastest available right now, plus overclocks extremely well.
A64 X2 Dual Core is almost as fast and about $50-$100 cheaper.
Celeron is the same core as Pentium 4 (Prescott) (usually) and should perform about the same, i.e. not very well compared to other offerings by today's standards.

[notaburger]

the new celerons are better than the p4s
that, and they are crazy easy to overclock
you can overclock a 1.8 ghz up to a high 2 ghz without any special cooling (read: stock fans)

as was said before
celerons USED to blow
intel has really made some progress in their last generation of chips

i bought a 1.8 ghz prescott (i think that's what it was) w/ ECS motherboard from fry's for 60 dollars
i added a gig of ram and a decent power supply
i am in the process of loading it up tonight, i'll post how it runs here to let you guys know

from what i've been reading, if i throw a decent video card in there, i should be able to run just about anything that i'd want on my arcade (we'll just see how the processor heavy mame handles it)

the only thing i'm worried about, is getting null dc to run on it

edit:  everything i tossed at it (that mame can run well) ran perfect, mk3 included
it's late, i'll let everyone know more tomorrow if they are interrested

[eccs19]

Just don't expect to get your money if it requires a rebate. Tiger Direct is notorious for not sending out rebates.

Actually, Tiger Direct is now going through OnRebate and has a guarantee policy on the rebate process.

I got my rebate from them in 3-4 weeks (which is sooner than most rebates I submit).

I think they finally "got the message", YMMV, though.

I've used their "OnRebate" before, and also got screwed by them.  I would still buy from them, but don't count on the rebate.  If you get it, then it's sort of a bonus.

[divemaster127]

I will never use a celeron again, for the same money you can go with a  amd dual core which is much faster.  The dual core makes a world of difference in mame, I have a amd 5200 & it runs most of the chds much better than my amd 4000+ ever did
dm

[xmenxmen]

For those with Frys around, I find the following type of combo tough to beat:

ECS motherboard with low-end core2 (typically under 150 bucks, actually see it a few times at 99)

then..

ECS motherboard with mid to high-end dual core (typically under 100 bucks)

and last

ECS motherboard with AMD Athlon 64 3/4xxx+ (typically 50 to 80 bucks)

With these cheap and decently fast combo, all you need now is a stick of ram, hard drive plus power supply.


Otherwise, the OP's combo is not that bad. 

[mcfreak]

Can't go wrong with some of the Geeks.com deals.  Here is a P4 3.0 GHZ with Windows for $209: http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=TCS50-4C&cat=SYS

 Features/Specifications:

    * IBM ThinkCentre S50 Pentium 4 3.0 GHz Desktop
    * Grade C (see below for description)

    * General Features:
    * Microsoft Windows XP Professional pre-installed w/COA
    * Intel Pentium 4 3.0 GHz processor
    * 512 MB RAM
    * 40 GB hard drive
    * DVD-ROM drive
    * Floppy drive
    * Integrated video
    * Integrated audio
    * Integrated Ethernet controller

And here is a HP Debranded Celeron 3.3 for $249 no OS... http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=TS-XN0512RS-R&cat=SYS