Main > Project Announcements
New pinball table build: PIN-o-RAMA - 40/28/12
bgspot:
This is gonna be sick! I'd luv to build one of these someday too. Keep us posted!
elfman12:
Thanks, all. I put Vista on it but will eventually upgrade it to Win7. I have been running the RC of 7 since last July, and love it. I just had this license handy when I was setting it up, haha.
I'm finding sales on monitors (there's always a good one on sale), since there are only certain things that are a must (1080p on the playfield, view angle, response time, DVI or HDMI inputs, etc). And since only a few manufacturers actually MAKE the panels for all of these TV's, the specs are pretty consistent. A 40" LCD can be found for as little as $425 new and even $300 open box at some places (BestBuy is a great place to look). I found a 37" for $325 new (but wanted to go 40"). Since all you'll be using is the LCD panel itself, that makes the tuner/remote control/speakers etc. not that critical. A second monitor (for a 2-monitor setup) can be found for under $150 new. A simple dual-core PC can run Visual Pinball or Future Pinball quite well.
As for the pinball parts, just drop by your local amusement machine place and pick up many parts there. If not, ebay or pinballlife.com are great resources. The woodworking is simpler than my MAME cab, and I'm only using about 2 4x8 sheets for the main bits. The side art graphics will probably cost more than all of the wood and small hardware! ::)
I'm planning on building a table for a friend of mine (a surgeon that loves pinball, so he has the cash :D), so I hope to have mine paid for by the profit from the that one. (I say hopefully of course, haha)
Gamester:
Wow, a core i7 860 to run a pin? That's a pretty beefy system. Surely the requirements for Future Pinball aren't nearly that high? If so, I may be putting off my pinball build longer than anticipated... that's a lot of coin. I knew that it required a pretty capable video card, but I didn't think it needed a CPU anywhere near the level of an i7. :dunno
Anyway, very cool project. Curious to see how it all comes together! :cheers:
elfman12:
--- Quote from: Gamester on January 28, 2010, 05:40:43 pm ---Wow, a core i7 860 to run a pin? That's a pretty beefy system. Surely the requirements for Future Pinball aren't nearly that high?
--- End quote ---
Nah, just got a good deal on that CPU - was planning to use it in a video edit system, but that fell through. (I work with/configure PCs for a living) I might even test a smaller board/cpu in this after I finish the build, and if there's no major difference I'll move this PC out and put in something smaller. The GPU is the most important thing, though, you're right about that.
As I said in an earlier post, any dual core with an Nvidia (9800 or later) card would do just great, so don't worry! ;D
IG-88:
Did you decide to de-case the 40" just so you could use a lock down bar? I don't know if I would have had the "guts" to do it. My luck the damn thing would fail 2 months after I got it built and then no chance of returning it.... :o