just upgraded my main pc, should i upgrade my arcade cabinet?

[severdhed]

hey guys, it's been long overdue, but i upgraded my PC today...it isn't top of the line, but it is better than what i had, and was pretty cost effective.  i'm now running:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000
4GB DDR2 800 ram
500gb SATA2 hard drive
Radeon HD3450 (it was only $15 after rebates, i don't do pc games..it is fine for everythign i do)
Vista Ultimate x64

this is running really well, and the extra memory support of the 64bit OS is awesome.  (i'm thinking of throwing in another 4gb of ram just because i can)

anyway, this frees up the components that were in this PC:

Pentium 4 3.0ghz w/ hyperthreading
2gb DDR 400 ram
four 80gb SATA hard drives
Radeon 9600xt video (agp)


right now, my arcade cabinet has:

AMD Athlon XP 2500+
1gb ddr400 ram
40gb IDE hard drive
GeForce 4 MX 440 video (agp)
xp pro

my question is, is it worth upgrading the cabinet with this pentium 4 system?  most of the games i try run pretty well right now, with the exception of 3d fighters and most chd games.    the p4 system currently has 32bit vista installed, but i would install xp if it were going in my cabinet...should i bother doing this?  i know it is not a huge performance increase, but double the ram, a little faster on the cpu, and faster hard drive access might make it run even better...what do you guys think?


:edit, i changed the specs on the new drive from 250gb to 500gb

[JinxedSoul]

If you want to run the new Hyper-Spin Front end then yes

[waveryder]

WOW. That is so spooky. I'm facing the same decision myself, with almost the same specs. Except I got a spare nvidia6600gt to put in. I've been going back and forth trying to decide if its worth the effort of getting the comp outta the cab and replacing. I haven't found anything that makes it worth doing though. All my mame stuff plays well as does my psx and zinc. I'll probably continue to back and forth till the 3ghz is to slow to do anything 

[TOK]

No, you should build another MAME cabinet. 

[Turnarcades]

I doubt the performance gains will be significant enough. I've tested many supposedly high-demand games on both 1.6Ghz P4's right up to my 3.2Ghz main PC and many dual core variants with graphics cards and nothing much changes. I think many of the performance issues are actually due to emulation techniques (accuracy over performance in MAME), so I wouldn't bother. How new do you really need to go, and for the sake of a few games...?

I'd put it to better use and build another cabinet with a different aim. Try your hand at a dedicated driving cab, a Bar-Top, or a Cocktail. With that power anyway you could build a more advanced panel and maybe have a machine emulate newer console games, with some analog controls etc.

[ark_ader]

If the PC is working for you then leave it alone.  I would give it a clean of dust bunnies and maybe backup that drive in case it goes south.

I'm thinking of the same thing for my next cab.  I have a Athlon 3000 with ATI X1550, but could dumb it down to just the Xbox.  Since I just play the classics and Laserdisc games you don't need much.

Maybe with those spare parts you can build a server to stream content around your domicile.

If it aint't broke don't fix it. 

[TheShanMan]

Do a test: install a 64 bit OS, then try some of the games you wish you could play before putting it in the cab. That should help you make the decision.

[severdhed]

well, i already have a pc that serves as a file/media server, so i don't really need another one, it is an athlon xp 2800+ with 1.5gb of ram, so it is just fine the way it is.

as for another cabinet...i am in the process of getting rid of some cabinets.  i had one good working cabinet for a while, then a few months ago,i decided to get two more...one for gun games (using a playstation 2), and one for vertical classic games with a trackball, 4way, and spinner.    well, about 2 weeks after i picked up 2 empty cabinets, my wife and I get the bright idea to start looking to buy a house (we currently rent a house). well, we found a house we really like, but the basement isn't finished like the one we are in now, and due to the way it is laid out, i'm not sure if I am going to bother finishing it..since there isn't alot of open space.  there is a family room on the 1st floor where my home theater setup and cabinet(s) would go, but i'm not sure if i really need 3 cabinets taking up all that space.  so i am going to keep my first cabinet.  i have two friends who are interested in taking the other 2 cabinets,  both of which will need my help to get them up and running (they are just empty cabinets at this point) so i will still get to work on them, just at someone else's expense.  my one friend however is unsure if he has the room for one now, so he has to let me know in the next few days if he still wants it.  if not, i may end up keeping it and putting it in the basement.  there is a workshop setup down there, so I will probably spend a good bit of time down there anyway.  so i guess it depends on if he takes the cabinet or not.