NOOB here... Please give me the advice I need!!!

[deadgame]

I have scoured the web, just like everyone else who starts on this quest. I understand the basic concept of creating a mame cab, but need advice on which way to go with my current setup.

I just bought a fully functional Mortal Kombat IV cab. I want to make it a Mame cab. Which is the best way to go?
Most reviews I read are from 2002, so the specs on the PCs used are old. So I'm not sure if I need more or what. Any suggestions on the following will help...

Can I use the existing monitor or should I throw a TV with S video in there?
Which Processor?
How much RAM?
How big of hard drive?
Do I need a floppy if I'll be putting in a CD drive?
Do I have one of these "Jamma" cabs?
Can I keep the button config I have or do I need to set up a new one? (I currently have HP,LP,HK,LK,BLK, and run buttons)
Do I need an I-Pac or a J-Pac?
Is it possible to keep the MK4 running AND add MAME?
Whick OS should I install (XP, 2000, 98)

Just like everyone else I want the easiest and cheapest systems possible without sacrificing quality. I don't want to hack a bunch of things either. Plug and play is more my style.


Thanks for replies in advance.

[diverdown]

Yes - nahh if you are going to change monitors go for a PC one
P3 1000 will do but grab a P42Ghz or above if you have the money
depends on OS and above processor. Above with 512-1G is heaps
mame roms + extras=~80Gb so het a 160+ HDD
Never
Yes
Keep them as you have a 2player 6 button setup - not all buttons used for all games but thats the most u will need for most games
Yes allways to Ipac and Dont need jpac but makes life simpler with a Jpac and arcadeVGA too, if you keep your original monitor and are a newbie
Yes, if u r tricky with your wiring and use molex connectors between buttons and Jamma harness for buttons. U will always have to spend time swapping plugs over. No if u take out monitor for TV or PC
xp


Nont hack anything.
buy ipac
PC
ArcadeVga
Jpac
Pc
that is all and you are good to go


just my 2 cents

oh yeah and try the search function in here. BYOAC is a goldmine

[kelemvor]

The only 3 things you MUSt have in a PC running Mame are a fast CPU (get the fastest, single core CPU you can afford) and the motherboard to support it,  RAM (get 1 gig.  RAM is cheap), and a Hard Drive.

If you are using the arcade monitor you also need the video card to drive it.

Things you don't necessarily need are CD/DVD drive, floppy drive, all kinds of extra ports, etc.  As I said in some other thread, you can build your own PC for dirt cheap these days in the following way:

1) Find the best CPU you can get for the money.  Core Solo maybe but whatever.
2) Find a cheap motherboard that supports it as you don't need the features of more expensive motherboards.
3) FInd the cheapest case you can find that will fit it inside.  No one will see the case so it doesn't matter what it looks like.
4) Buy 1 gig of Ram to go in there.
5) Buy a 200 gig hard drive (just as cheap as smaller ones) since they can hold everything you'd want for Mame.
6) Put it all together and away you go.

There's another thread somewhere called something like "What PC do I need to run Mame".  Read through that as well.

[rooter]

get the fastest, single core CPU you can afford) and the motherboard to support it, 

I've heard some debate on that and I'm not so sure that single core is the way to go.  With dual core, you can run Mame on one core and all other services (like the windows GUI) on the other core.  From my research it seems like the speed increase by using two cores is generally about the same as the clock speed difference between two equally priced CPUs.  The bonus here would be that you could run Fraps or an MP3 player on the extra core without speed loss.  Also, the dual+ core chips will be 64bit.  It doesn't mean much now, but who knows, a solid 64bit build of Mame might show up.

I've seen people say that they get a 17% increase in Linux running 64bit build of Mame over the 32bit builds.  Would be nice if they figured that out in Windows.

[Hoopz]

get the fastest, single core CPU you can afford) and the motherboard to support it, 

I've heard some debate on that and I'm not so sure that single core is the way to go.  With dual core, you can run Mame on one core and all other services (like the windows GUI) on the other core.  From my research it seems like the speed increase by using two cores is generally about the same as the clock speed difference between two equally priced CPUs.  The bonus here would be that you could run Fraps or an MP3 player on the extra core without speed loss.  Also, the dual+ core chips will be 64bit.  It doesn't mean much now, but who knows, a solid 64bit build of Mame might show up.

I've seen people say that they get a 17% increase in Linux running 64bit build of Mame over the 32bit builds.  Would be nice if they figured that out in Windows.

A quote from Mamedev regarding version .120 and multicore processors:

MAME 0.120
October 15th, 2007

Come and grab the latest official “stable” build of MAME from the Latest Release page, or from the ZTNet Mirror. As of this release, I am officially producing a 64-bit native Windows binary along with the usual 32-bit builds to help encourage more testing of the 64-bit native code. For the most part, games run at least as well as the 32-bit versions, and some run significantly better thanks to the architectural improvements of native 64-bit mode.

Another notable change with this release is the movement of some core shared files in the source tree. A number of files in the mame/machine and mame/video directories were really more core shared components, and so they have been given a new home in the emu/machine and emu/video directories.

As always, report bugs with this version over at MAMETesters. Have fun!

[kelemvor]

I was just going off of what I've heard from other people here too.  My Mame machine will be strictly that and won't run anything else on it so I don't know what, if any, increase I'll see.  But yes, if you are running other things on the same system, then a dual core CPU might be better.  I guess we just have to have someone do a bunch of tests and see what they get.

And I'm assuming this will be WIndows XP as well.

[weasel-like_animal]

I think you already have very good answers here, but I'll add that keeping the cabinet as-is is a cool idea (not cutting up existing wires). That is the cool thing about the J-pac, you can use your existing controls and monitor to interface with MAME.

If you have to clean or replace controls, that is super easy and a ton of people on this site could help you do that, or supply cheap parts. In my opinion, it's way cooler to have a real cabinet with stock graphics and controls, running MAME.

Good luck.

[u_rebelscum]

... a fast CPU (get the fastest, single core CPU you can afford) ...

Two things here.  First, even when mame was still single thread, it should read "...get the faster per core CPU you can afford)...".  Mame on Core 2 whatever at 3.0 GHz is faster than on Core (1) whatever at 3.0, even if only one CPU is being used.  Going Duo or Quad didn't slow mame down so no reason to limit to single core (dual/quad coring does increase cost, but that's already listed as a separate point).

Second, to my amazement, mame is moving partway to multiple threading now.  Some games already see 25% speed increases in multithread mode.  Of course, not all (read "very few") games benefit yet, and it's still very much WIP.  But I didn't think mame would be at this stage for a few years, and it's still working at going more multithread.  Apparently it's not like most people (me included) have thought it would break the threads (each CPU and other chips per thread), but some other way that's far more scalable.


Of course, if you never upgrade mame from 0.120, [shrug] most games will see zero benefit from a second core.  But remember, one core from a "Core 2" family CPU still kicks P4, "Core", and athlon CPUs back sides in mame.  (The last two not as much as the P4 gets whipped, but still.  Come on AMD, I've bought your CPU my lst two computers; if you don't catch up I'll have to go back to Intel.)