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Basic computer requirements for Mame cabinet????
skyblast:
Newbie question...Getting ready to build my first mame cabinet and I was wondering what the minimum computer requirements would have to be?
I am interested in only running the basic emulators, mame, nes, snes, etc. I also plan on building my own arcade controls.
I have already purchased a 22 inch, flat screen CRT?? Am I ok on this one?
As for as the computer goes?
1) 2.0 ghz to maybe something dual core? I don't need too much do I ?
2) graphics card? Any suggestions
3) Ram? Maybe 1.0 gig?
4) hard drive 100 gig?
Anything else?
Thanks for all your help guys. I am trying to save as much money as possible. Hopefully I will be able to go on Craig's List and grab a computer that has everything in it already??
Thanks
Blanka:
EEE box or Wind PC box?
Turnarcades:
Aaah... always the topic of much debate. Once you get down to it and play around with the settings/different emulators/frontends/OS, you will see you need very little to make an adequate, even great emulator PC.
My benchmark tests ran my personal basic setup (Mamewah/XP/pre-0.106 MAME plus most Atari/Sega/Nintendo emulators up to 16-bit) with negligible slowdown/lag as far down as P3 equivalent 600mhz CPU, 128mb ram, on-board graphics and sound and just a 20Gb hard drive. I would recommend though for this kind of setup shooting for at least a 1Ghz CPU with 256mb ram, which will also even run 32X and Mega-CD with no trouble.
For a mid-range system with quicker rom-booting times, no lag and possibility of more demanding, plug-in type emulators, I'd recommend a P4 equivalent 1.6Ghz+ CPU with decent on-board graphics, 256mb ram+, and a bigger hard drive obviously. This can get you decent N64/some MAME .chd/possible PSX emulation and faster response times for MAME rom loading.
I'm currently using a custom version MAME v0.105, Laserdisc, PSX plus all mentioned above with no slowdown or glitches on an ex-business P4 2.4Ghz small form factor PC I picked up for 50 quid. Had to get a 160Gb hard drive to manage the bigger PSX isos and laserdisc games, but that wasn't much so I've got an excellent arcade PC done for £80.
I have spent years testing different emu's, settings, OS tweaks and perfecting the Turnarcades/Mamewah frontend though so I had already ironed out most creases my the time I got round to building my new arcade this month!
Blanka:
Second hand will do for sure, but those specs mentioned cannot be bought in a new system. If you want a no-brainer solution for cheap and new, those simple Atom powered boxes are really nice.
Malenko:
minimum requirements are:
power supply
motherboard
cpu
ram
hard drive
video card
and if you want sound, a sound card
case,keyboard, and mouse optional but suggested