Mainboard and Processor...

[Gromet]

OK, Getting ready to order my Mainboard and processor.   Figured I should probibly go with an AMD over Pentium due to price and people telling me the AMD is better for gaming (not sure if this is true but the price is better)  I am going to be running Win98SE due to my dual trackball config, any suggestions what would be the best processor/mainboard/mem setup to go with that will run everything the best...?

Thanks

P.S. It is going to be running an ArcadeVGA card for a WG D9200 monitor, so it has to have an AGP slot...

[Tiger-Heli]

OK, Getting ready to order my Mainboard and processor.   Figured I should probibly go with an AMD over Pentium due to price and people telling me the AMD is better for gaming (not sure if this is true but the price is better)  I am going to be running Win98SE due to my dual trackball config, any suggestions what would be the best processor/mainboard/mem setup to go with that will run everything the best...?

Thanks

P.S. It is going to be running an ArcadeVGA card for a WG D9200 monitor, so it has to have an AGP slot...

Basically, I recommend either pricewatch.com or www.newegg.com.

I bought a refurbished KT333 board from www.newegg.com for $23 with shipping, and it's worked flawlessly, but you only get 15 days warranty, so it's a gamble.

Otherwise, Processor wise - The XP 2200 seems to be at a pretty good breakpoint at $61 now.  Most of MAME will work fine with less, but it's only slightly more than a 1700.

Memory wise, I would go DDR and at least 256.  More than 512M is prolly not good with Win98SE.  Currently, it's about $25 for 256M.

For a new motherboard, either the Shuttle AK38N for $52 (that's what my refurbished one is) or the Biostar M7VIT Pro KT400 for $58 are good choices.

Little known mobo facts -

KT266A is better than KT266 and runs 133Mhz FSB (266DDR FSB)

KT333 boards run DDR333 memory, but may only run 266 DDR FSB, depending on Manufacturer/model, most Biostar KT333's only run 266, most Shuttles and Gigabytes support 333 FSB.

KT400 boards support DDR400 memory, but don't run DDR400 FSB, so won't work with the new XP3200 processor.

The new XP3200 processor only works with NFORCE 2 Ultra 400 or KT600 chipset boards, both of which are fairly pricey (Actually, newegg has a Shuttle one for $61 which would be a good choice also.)

[jakejake28]

@ newegg.com i bought a 2400+ athlon xp processer for $69, and bought an Asus A7N266-VM (amd version, of course) for $85. i agree with tigerheli about DDR, cheap but efffective.

[radiator]

a bit more expensive, but any mobo with an N-Force chipset is a good thing (they also have excelent on-board sound)

 

[Tiger-Heli]

a bit more expensive, but any mobo with an N-Force chipset is a good thing (they also have excelent on-board sound)

 

Just to clarify, there are four (six?) N-Force chipsets, the originals (with and without video), the Nforce 2 (with or without video) (not available new) and the Nforce 2 Ultra 400 (with or without video).

The OP will not want the onboard video, and I think the KT333 or KT400 series has more upgradeability than the original Nforce, although no one really argues that the Nforce 2 Ultra 400 isn't the best overall chipset out there now.

[SpAwN]

I've been considering upgrading my PIII 450 with an AMD XP 2500. Will an AMD 2500 play Mortal Kombat well? Is there anything that lets you play MK with no problems?

When you are upgrading just a MB & Chip could I reuse my Dell Pentium case? Or should I buy a new case? Or should I just mount everything to a piece of wood

Thanks for posting all the info so far, its really helpful

[Tiger-Heli]

>I've been considering upgrading my PIII 450 with an AMD XP 2500. >Will an AMD 2500 play Mortal Kombat well? Is there anything that >lets you play MK with no problems?

I would think so, but can't say for sure.

>When you are upgrading just a MB & Chip could I reuse my Dell >Pentium case? Or should I buy a new case? Or should I just mount >everything to a piece of wood

Depends if the Dell Power Supply uses a Standard 20-pin ATX connector and if the case uses the standard locations for standoffs (mounting screws).  If not, you will need a new PS and I would just mount the board to the wood on the side of the cab (better cooling), unless you need to worry about cats/animals getting into the cab and messing things up.

[traknfieldSUPAstar]

>I've been considering upgrading my PIII 450 with an AMD XP 2500. >Will an AMD 2500 play Mortal Kombat well? Is there anything that >lets you play MK with no problems?

I would think so, but can't say for sure.

>When you are upgrading just a MB & Chip could I reuse my Dell >Pentium case? Or should I buy a new case? Or should I just mount >everything to a piece of wood

Depends if the Dell Power Supply uses a Standard 20-pin ATX connector and if the case uses the standard locations for standoffs (mounting screws).  If not, you will need a new PS and I would just mount the board to the wood on the side of the cab (better cooling), unless you need to worry about cats/animals getting into the cab and messing things up.

Under no circustances should you EVER use an aftermarket motherboard with a dell power supply!!!!!.... it might look like it has a standard 20-pin atx connector but it has it's own proprietary power supply!!!!.... if you ever connect one to a normal, oem mb, you could at best, burn out your new motherboard, or worst, burn out your motherboard (as in starting a fire)

also, mortal kombat 1,2, and 3 work fine on my pc... i have an amd 1700+ with 512 mb ram running under winXP, so a 2500+ should be cool

[F|end]

I have a Pentium 3, 733 mhz and MK1 runs cool! But Puzzle Bobble 2 doesn't...

The ideal would be a AMD 2500  

[Frostillicus]

I've been considering upgrading my PIII 450 with an AMD XP 2500. Will an AMD 2500 play Mortal Kombat well? Is there anything that lets you play MK with no problems?

When you are upgrading just a MB & Chip could I reuse my Dell Pentium case? Or should I buy a new case? Or should I just mount everything to a piece of wood

Thanks for posting all the info so far, its really helpful

I just recently built my cpu for the cab, and I used AMD 2500 and an FIC AU13, I've read the N-force 2 is slightly better.  I also have 512mb.  Everything works great, except of course those games that require a 4Ghz Cpu!  

oh I got my stuff from newegg.com.

[AlanS17]

I can play the entire Mortal Kombat series with my measley Pentium 3 @ 866MHz and only 128MB fo RAM in WinXP. It's all a matter of how you tweak it.

[SpAwN]

I can play the entire Mortal Kombat series with my measley Pentium 3 @ 866MHz and only 128MB fo RAM in WinXP. It's all a matter of how you tweak it.

Maybe you could elaborate on the tweaking?

[SpAwN]

Under no circustances should you EVER use an aftermarket motherboard with a dell power supply!!!!!.... it might look like it has a standard 20-pin atx connector but it has it's own proprietary power supply!!!!.... if you ever connect one to a normal, oem mb, you could at best, burn out your new motherboard, or worst, burn out your motherboard (as in starting a fire)

also, mortal kombat 1,2, and 3 work fine on my pc... i have an amd 1700+ with 512 mb ram running under winXP, so a 2500+ should be cool

I've picked out an Asus motherboard and a AMD Athlon 2500XP from newegg.com, can I just use any of the powersupplies they offer? I'm thinking of this one http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?description=17-154-013&DEPA=1

I'm going to be setup close to you with 512 of ram as well. If mk play well then does NBA Jam play fast as well?

Thanks for the tips.

[AlanS17]

NBA Jam plays at full speed as well. I use a version of MAME called fastmame and if necessary sometimes I reduce the audio sample rate to half. For an arcade game you really shouldn't notice any difference between full and half rate, anyways. It can work wonders for speed, though. On the very toughest of games I pull sample rate all the way down to 1/4 and that fixes almost anything.

(Of course no KI, Cruisin, Wargods, or anything of THAT caliber...)

[matt888]

Gromet - What's the benefit of the Arcade card?  Can't you just go straight to a normal video card because the 9200 will have a 15pin VGA connection?  What capabilities does the card give you over the various tweaks in MAME?  

[traknfieldSUPAstar]

I've picked out an Asus motherboard and a AMD Athlon 2500XP from newegg.com, can I just use any of the powersupplies they offer? I'm thinking of this one http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?description=17-154-013&DEPA=1

I'm going to be setup close to you with 512 of ram as well. If mk play well then does NBA Jam play fast as well?

Thanks for the tips.

that one's fine... especially if your new computer is gonna be strictly for your mame cab.... if you wanted to overclock or start putting some heavy duty vid cards or a lot of peripherals and other stuff then i'd go for a good "name-brand" power supply.... just to clear things up though, dell used to use normal power supplies like everybody else, so if you have an older Dell PC then you might be okay... for me though, i wouldn't risk it...

[Vectoraster]

Gromet - What's the benefit of the Arcade card?

Gromet - Matt's right.  If you're not going to use a fixed frequency 15.75 KHz monitor then the ArcadeVGA's not your best choice.  Consider something more versatile like a Trident Blade T64 that will get you all the linemodes you'll need to take advantage of that sexy WG D9200 and try AdvanceMAME.

[grafixmonkey]

Just adding my plug for newegg to the list - I frequently buy from them, they're very good especially if you're ordering lots of parts at once.  Takes way too much time to find a list of other places that have cheaper prices and don't rip you on shipping.  (once spent 3 hours on that to find I'd save $25 on a complete 3D graphics workstation.)

mwave.com is also good.  I usually find everything I need between the two.

[SpAwN]

I hate you guys. I thought I could just upgrade to a new mobo and processor. Well, I figured I needed more memory and might as well get a new HD as well. Since I couldn't reuse my power supply, I needed a new one of those, and might as well get a case while I'm there. The newegg.com site is dangerous!

Anyways, I'm in $400.00 just so I can play Mortal Kombat

[AlanS17]

Mortal Kombat 1, 2, or 3? (Or all of them?) Cuz I'm playing on 3-yr old hardware and it runs fine.

[SpAwN]

Mortal Kombat 1, 2, or 3? (Or all of them?) Cuz I'm playing on 3-yr old hardware and it runs fine.

What hardware are you playing them on?

[AlanS17]

pentium 3 @ 866 MHz with 128MB of RAM in WinXP

[Amra]

I play MK 1, 2, and 3 on a 1.2 Athlon, with 512 Megs of PC133 @ 60 FPS with no drop...

However, as stated, Crusin', WarGods and KI are entirely different stories  Although, KI runs 60 FPS on U64Emu anyways, so no worries there... and Wargods isnt exactly a stellar game, so no worries there either

Only thing left is crusin' and that will come with time... it always comes with time....