Cheap mobo/cpu/vid/ram combo from Newegg $84

[amadama]

In my eternal quest to be a cheapskate I have found this good kit at Newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135082

$84 bucks (free shipping too) gets you:
A motherboard
Built in Nvidia 6100 graphics (verified to work with Soft15Khz!):
http://community.arcadeinfo.de/showthread.php?t=7925&page=3
An AMD Athlon 3200+
512MB DDR2 ram

you will need to get a power supply and a heatsink/fan and hardrive (or USB thumb drive)
Did I mention that it has a $20 rebate too bringing your total down to $64.
You won't be playing the latest .CHD based games too well but it should be smooth for all the classics.

Good luck!
Alex

[robC]

I am building a new bartop machine for a friend, and I picked up this mobo last week. Bought a $10 fan and used a spare drive, and it's complete. This thing works great! I tested it out with games like Killer Instinct 1 & 2 and all the Neo-Geo fighters and it is very smooth! The small size and integrated video are going to be perfect to fit into a small space.

If anyone picks this up, be aware that the Mobo supports DDR333 memory, and they ship you a DDR400 stick. You need to go into the BIOS and adjust the memory speed down to get it to work. Also get the most recent video drivers from Nvidia.

-Rob

[leapinlew]

very nice find! I just spend $35 on a video card for my last machine. I probably would spring for the whole thing and avoid the mess.

[amadama]

leapinlew
Good to here this info is of use.

robC,
let us know if you come across any issues with this setup (although it sounds like you are more than happy with it!)

Alex

[amadama]

Ok,
Here's another one for the cheapskates out there:
Nvidia 6200 AGP card $45 with $45 rebate = $0 (well, shipping does apply)

http://shop4.frys.com/product/4760509

[vertygo]

Would it be safe to say you'd need more CPU than video card power to play the chd games ? Seems like the video card has pretty little to do with it, but I could be wrong ?

[robC]

vertygo,
   Yep, you are right. Don't need to worry too much about video card power when running mame games. The Athlon 3200+ seems to have plenty of horsepower for everything at least up to KI 1&2, Neo Geo fighters, etc. Runs smoother than the 2.9 Ghz p4 I have in my upright cab. Haven't tried any windows games yet to see what the GF6100 can handle, but overall, very happy so far!