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cheap computer
JLR2000:
My dedicated Pole Position Mame cabinet has a Dell PII 233 w/128 mb memory and it plays Pole Position I/II full speed just fine.....
My cocktail cab has an old NEC PII 350 with 128(?)mb memory and it plays everything I could want to play on a cocktail cabinet (vertical monitor).
The cabs I have to play the "latest & greatest" are all newer, fast machines, but you could make great cabs with older PCs. If you have an older machine and you want to squeeze the most out of it try:
1. Running an older version of MAME
2. Running under DOS
3. Use a cheap soundcard, don't use integrated sound
4. Put a good amount of memory in it, it's relatively cheap.
These have been IMHO the best ways to get the most out of an older/slower PC.
Good Luck.
crsdawg:
i also use an older p II (350, 128 ram) in my current cab. runs the classics just fine. seems like once you get to games of the later 80's i see slow downs. i mainly play the older games (galaga, 194X, qix, and etc) so it's not a problem. it also does well with many computer games, golden tee pc comes to mind.
as for buying, another place to check out would be computer geeks (compgeeks.com) . i think they have p II systems for around $100, a p III system for $150, and kits that have everything but cpu(athlon or pIV) in the $250 range(this could be a relatively cheap yet fairly fast choice).
good luck.
StephenH:
It depends on the games you want to play. For example, if you like early 80s games you can get buy under 500MHZ. If you like 16-bit games of the late 80s, get a P3 of at least 800MHZ. If you like 32 bit games, then you need a fast PC of 2GHZ or more.
As for RAM, you can run most games with 128MB. However, 256MB is needed for some newer Neo-Geo Games, and some other very large games.
For a cheap PC, you may want to check local stores that deal in generic brand equipment. You can get a lot of PC for a lot less, buying local, with generic brand componets. If this is going to be a MAME-Only PC, you can leave out printers, DVD drives, high end keyboards, etc to save cost.
paigeoliver:
--- Quote from: StephenH on May 18, 2003, 04:39:03 am ---It depends on the games you want to play. For example, if you like early 80s games you can get buy under 500MHZ. If you like 16-bit games of the late 80s, get a P3 of at least 800MHZ. If you like 32 bit games, then you need a fast PC of 2GHZ or more.
--- End quote ---
Why would someone need 800 mhz for the late 80s games now? You didn't need that a few years ago. Most of the late 80s games were running full speed long before 800 mhz processors even came out.
And as far as early 80s games go. Think more like 200 mhz. I have a Pentium 200 at work and have tons of 79-83 era games installed on it (DOS Mame on top of windows 95), and it runs them all full speed, most of them it can run at double speed even.
Lilwolf:
Well.. here are some suggestions...
Look around on ebay for a week... then place bids when you know whats a good deal. Try and bid on some that have shipping prices mentioned. You can get some SWEET deals on old computers... as long as they aren't in domand.
Next... if you want something more reliable... www.pricewatch.com is another good place to look.
Next... Athlons (especially 800-1.2ghz) are MUCH better price/performance... and faster at those speeds then pentiums at that speed. Especially for emulation.
Next... Video Cards means nothing... unless you want some Zinc type emulators running, or if your Monitor requires hwstretching/d3d. So go with an old TNT/Geforce or old ATI and you will be fine.
Next... Decide what games you really really want in a cabinet. Then work that way... OR... find out how much cash you really really have... and go that way... but probably not good to go both ways (because you might not be able to satisfy them both and might annoy you).
Good Luck!