Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum
Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: petman on February 19, 2019, 08:27:09 pm
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Yes, I have read and read and most posts are older or don't hit this point head on. My question is...what processor and video card do I need (at a minimum) to run "everything" without lags or blur or whatever other issues may exist. I am a noob to this, but have honestly done a lot of reading. My thoughts on the matter are as follows
i5-4000+ is probably a good enough processor. Several of the old threads call this "awesome" but then they are old.
i7-4000+ is probably "overkill" for what is needed but would it allow for expansion as new emulators come online.
As I was reading the threads about the CPU and video card, it was often asked "What do you want to play?" Well I want to be able to play everything. Tekken seems to be a quite difficult game for computers to run smoothly so seemed a sort of benchmark. Wondered what I need to play that smoothly? i5 or i7 or even i9? Also it seems that more and new emulators are coming out and the last thing I want to do is build this thing only to find out it is too slow 6 months out.
As for a video card, the GTX 1050 seems like it would handle anything thrown at it and is the one component that most seem to agree on. Do you agree or is it marginal given today's new emulators/games?
Thanks a bunch. I am going to get the computer built and working before I build my cabinet as that seems to be the harder part.
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This is an easy one.....
Step 1. Create or aquire a time machine.
Step 2. Travel 10-15 years into the future.
Step 3. Buy whatever is top of the line then.
Step 4. Congrats.... now you have a pc capable of running all emulated games from emulators available in 2019 at full speed.
No I'm not being sarcastic, that is the legitimate answer. There are plenty of games in mame that will only theoretically run with a processor speed not yet available. It is a similar situation with many emulators for modern-ish consoles. So you can't run everything unless you want to buy a $10k super computer or something and even then I'm not sure with a couple of games. Not trying to be a jerk, we just need to get that idea out of your head.
I always suggest that a person just set a budget and buy their pc based around that budget.... Personally I don't buy high end pcs for cabinets, but I do, for example, take my old pc and transfer it to my mame cab when I buy a new desktop. Then it'll be modern but won't break the bank.
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Even if you could, but why?
Check out the all killer no filler thread. Anything else, add it one by one. Having a machine with tons of crap is exactly that - crap.
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Ok, well Craigslist has this which seems good (obviously much cheaper on CL) however wondered if the graphics would be good enough. Could you give me some info on that? I like the smaller size to put in a portable while I build my cabinet. Any help here is appreciated.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FKDLX7J/ref=psdc_13896591011_t2_B07H5Q82CR (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FKDLX7J/ref=psdc_13896591011_t2_B07H5Q82CR)
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Yes, I have read and read and most posts are older or don't hit this point head on. My question is...what processor and video card do I need (at a minimum) to run "everything" without lags or blur or whatever other issues may exist. I am a noob to this, but have honestly done a lot of reading. My thoughts on the matter are as follows
i5-4000+ is probably a good enough processor. Several of the old threads call this "awesome" but then they are old.
i7-4000+ is probably "overkill" for what is needed but would it allow for expansion as new emulators come online.
As I was reading the threads about the CPU and video card, it was often asked "What do you want to play?" Well I want to be able to play everything. Tekken seems to be a quite difficult game for computers to run smoothly so seemed a sort of benchmark. Wondered what I need to play that smoothly? i5 or i7 or even i9? Also it seems that more and new emulators are coming out and the last thing I want to do is build this thing only to find out it is too slow 6 months out.
As for a video card, the GTX 1050 seems like it would handle anything thrown at it and is the one component that most seem to agree on. Do you agree or is it marginal given today's new emulators/games?
Thanks a bunch. I am going to get the computer built and working before I build my cabinet as that seems to be the harder part.
OMG how many times do we have to answer or see that question?
Do a friggin search. :angry:
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Apparently at least one more time. Please link to the post that actually answers this question directly, thank you.
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Apparently at least one more time. Please link to the post that actually answers this question directly, thank you.
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MAME isn't a commercial product and thus there isn't a team playtesting it on thousands of machine configurations and thus there aren't any official minimum or recommended system requirements. You haven't told us which games you want to play and as I've already explained "all of them" is an invalid answer as you'll never get them to all run full speed. We aren't psychic and thus can't answer. Even if we were psychic, it's difficult to answer anyway, as, again, no minimum or recommended system specs are available.
Also Lilwolf asked this exact same damn question a day ago and since he actually gave us an idea of what he wanted to play, we could answer him. So just look at that post.
No free fish dinners are provided here at byoac, only fishing poles and directions to the lake.
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MAME is built without regard to the games running at full speed.
As long as newer games are added and emulation is improved, the fastest processor on the market will always fall short of running "everything". MAME is made to emulate hardware, not run games at full speed.
Current MAME builds are optimized for Intel. The best you can do is buy the best Intel processor with the best single core performance that you can afford. (Although MAME is utilizing multiple cores now)
There will still be newer 3D arcade games that it won't run fast enough to be playable.
For Demul, you'll also need a decent video card. I have no idea what the current requirement is. I stopped upgrading years ago. It's a case of diminishing returns. You can play thousands of free games on a free old PC, a few dozen more on a $300 PC and and 5 or 6 more than that on a $1,000 PC. And there will always be a few games that are just on the edge
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A PC out of the trash is fine. Nearly everything that needs more than a PC out of the trash has analog or other specialty controls and more buttons than you can comfortably configure on an arcade panel.
The PC in my Mame cabinet just turned 17 years old.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7Lck8ywWco (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7Lck8ywWco)
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Nearly everything
Not the same as everything. That’s why these threads is stupid.
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A PC out of the trash is fine. Nearly everything that needs more than a PC out of the trash has analog or other specialty controls and more buttons than you can comfortably configure on an arcade panel.
The PC in my Mame cabinet just turned 17 years old.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7Lck8ywWco (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7Lck8ywWco)
lol got you beat. The machine in my gorf is a 300mhz cyrix chip running dos. I probably need to throw something in there before it fails from old age but so far it's still chugging along.
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A PC out of the trash is fine. Nearly everything that needs more than a PC out of the trash has analog or other specialty controls and more buttons than you can comfortably configure on an arcade panel.
The PC in my Mame cabinet just turned 17 years old.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7Lck8ywWco (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7Lck8ywWco)
lol got you beat. The machine in my gorf is a 300mhz cyrix chip running dos. I probably need to throw something in there before it fails from old age but so far it's still chugging along.
I used to have a Gorf cocktail with a 233 AMD, but it is long gone. I bet it is still running on that setup.
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Thank you. I will look for something bang for the buck then. I think I want more than "trash" but seems a very wide range or computers will work just fine. At the fear of another lashing, does someone have minimum for Tekken? This seems to be a point of contention. Fi you think my question is stupid, feel free to say so, if you have something useful, that would be more appreciated.
As for the flames, I think the problem is that people don't know what they don't know. I think I want "everything" but then I read the all killer no filler and other threads that suggest I want may 10% of the games that are actually available. Given that we are new, the last thing we want is to get something only to find we needed something better. I figured a sticky that said something like
i5/8gb/gtx 1050 - runs up to PS1
i7/8gb/gtx 1060 - runs up to PS2 and Tekken
i9/8gb/gtx 1070 - runs up to Wii or Xbox
The above is just a simple example since again, we all know I don't specifically know what I am talking about, but something like that. With so many lists of games, thought maybe they could be somehow further sorted by processor/ram/xxx. Anyway, I was looking to be spoon-fed a bit but I will use what I have learned from all the threads and do my best. Thanks for the guidance.
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Was too lazy to watch the video but ETA Prime set up an "all gaming computer" here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-yqWurK8H8) a couple of days ago.
PS Don't be lazy.
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Yeah don't watch eta prime's videos for knowledge... the dude is dumb as a box of rocks. I've watched a few of his "run everything for $40" videos and the idiot runs one game with relatively low specs on an emulator and assumes they will all run. If you want to know if gamecube emulation works you run a game like f-zero, which is really demanding, then if it runs you can assume that all gamecube games will run ect… Like I mentioned earlier, it's difficult to run newer console games on a pc unless it's super powerful, so just assume they aren't going to run.
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I think the animosity in this thread is slightly overkill, the guy says he's a noob and because there's a search function doesn't mean it's easy as pie to find the right info nor understand it all.
BadMouth gave the best lead here, basically look for the recent generation CPUs delivering as much GHz as you can afford, preferably one w/ at least 4 cores.
(the Single Thread Performance he mentions is a popular rating delivered by passmark software at cpubenchmark.net, you can check their website database, but afaik they don't quote top boost or overclock performance, so the usefulness is limited)
If money is not a problem get one that reaches well above 4GHz on boost (4.5GHz or more) check that on ark.intel.com
If you look to save a bit get an unlocked model (ending in 'K' or the upcoming 'KF') so you can unlock the multiplier and run all cores at max performance relatively safely (requires a mobo fit for overclocking, a beefy PSU, and good cooling fan)
Don't bother wich 'i' series it is, because a i7 is stronger on paper doesn't necessarily mean it gets you a significantly better performance VS. an i5 or even i3 that overclocks well.
The i3-8350K for instance is a strong performer, some users even manage to push it to 5GHz, although you might not reach exactly this far with your own rig, it's still a clue this processor overclocks well and you could get a result rather close to that. You'll find some higher-end i7 or i9 than can't even overclock by +10%, which means they're less value for the money.
You'll worry about the GPU and RAM after you get this: CPU+mobo (and cooling fan if you go the overclocking route) right.
Yet as you were properly advised overall in the thread, even with the best rig you won't be able to play everything, nor everything right/perfectly. Emulation is not just a matter of power, a high-end PC will only allow you to play a bunch more of the heavier games and emulators.
I like to compare the hobby to audiophile madness, where a couple hundred dollars rig will contribute to 80% of the overall quality, then trying to reach in the 20% remaining will cost you several hundreds more up to thousands while in practice you'll only get 5%/10% better sound.
In any case take your time to think the basis of your PC well (CPU+mobo and fan accordingly)
You'll always find people to tell you a cheap/old/used PC is enough or even a Pi, but they're often those who play mostly old school titles that don't require a high performance rig at all. Likely you'll find those who will tell you to purchase a NASA-worthy supercomputer.
That's why some legitimately ask "what do you want to play", though it's impossible to tell exactly which is the perfect sweet spot configuration, but I'll add my own 2c to conclude:
- indeed if you don't want to regret buying a too-low-end PC that will disappoint on demanding games and emulators, don't go full crazy spending a year's worth of salary, but don't cheap out too much either, and think about the following carefully: for how many years do you want this computer to be relevant? emulation evolves, and not always in the direction better optimization/speed, overall it's something that requires more and more power over time, MAME in particular is very much like that.
In any case thinking about the proportion of games a decent computer will allow you to play well, you know the money you spend on it represents only a minuscule fraction of what the real consoles+games and arcade boards cost (a single arcade pcb exchanges for several hundreds or thousands).
PS: unless you already have a display and don't plan to buy a new one for your rig, you might want to think your picks and budget including that too, for instance if you are interested in FreeSync or G-Sync then you cannot buy just any monitor nor any GPU, they'll need to be compatible.
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Thanks you!
I ended up with a "cheap" i5 7600k with a GTX 1080TI.
Seemed like a really good deal after looking around for a while. Now I need to go ahead and get it set up, run well, and find/buy the ROMS, etc.
Thanks again.
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Know your emulator: what is it supposed to emulate? Why? How? What is its history? And so on....... In short, read the documentation.