Computer Tower

[JuddWack]

I was wondering if inside their cabinets if ppl usually use computer towers or just have the pieces screwed to the wood on the inside?
Also does anyone ever put extra weight (ie cinder blocks) in their cabinets.  Some of them seem like they may tip over if someone leans on it.

[JLR2000]

Well, for my setup I have the PC tower inside my built upright cabinet.  The PC is always on, since it's on the network.  I have no special fans inside, but adequate room and vents for air flow.  The cabinet is slightly warm but I have never had any problems with heat in the 1+ year I have had it running.

My cabinet is built using 2x4 frame and MDF for the exterior.  Since you are just starting out, I'll tell you that MDF is very heavy.  The cabinet is so heavy, there's really no chance of it tipping over, plus add the weight of a 27" tv to that.

BTW, since my PC is always on, the switch I put in on the back powers the TV, Speakers and Marquee light.  So when flipped, it gives the appearance of being "off" when in reality, the PC is still on.  This was much simpler, and no waiting to "boot".

Good Luck.

[eightbit]

Many cabinets are converted arcade cabinets or modeled after actual cabinets. These were put in arcades and had people hanging all over them and beating on them. They were designed to not tip over.

[ripzone]

I just use a pc tower inside my cabinet. I think its better because the pc is protected from shorts and other things that can damage it!

Just my 2 cents!

[SNAAAKE]

you should ALWAYS use a case just to be safe(keeps MB and everything safe inside a case) and after having a huge monitor and a CP your cabinet wont tip over if someone leans on it(this is not even an issue you see).

[jerryjanis]

Mine's in a tower...  It just seems safer and easier for me...

[Brad Lee]

Tempest cabinets aren't designed topheavy so I didn't worry about adding weight or supports. Most cabs should be good with just the weight of the monitor, especially once it gets settled into carpet

[Driath]

wow very nicely done... what kind of a SBC is that in there? I have an old SBC from when i had my computer in my car

[Brad Lee]

wow very nicely done... what kind of a SBC is that in there? I have an old SBC from when i had my computer in my car

Via EPIA-M mini-itx. Runs at 933mhz, tv-out, s-vid out, 5.1 onboard sound. Real nice for all of the classics that I play, a little weak on some of the new fighters, but those are heavy duty games anyway

[Sasquatch!]

I guess I'll be the ka-ray-zee rebel here and say that I have a desktop case in my cab.

[LockeN]

Via EPIA-M mini-itx. Runs at 933mhz, tv-out, s-vid out, 5.1 onboard sound. Real nice for all of the classics that I play, a little weak on some of the new fighters, but those are heavy duty games anyway

Could you provide some more details on what games are playable and which are not?  I was looking at those boards a few weeks back as potentially being nice for mame but decided it'd probably be too under-powered for some of the games I'd like to play.

The newest games I'd really be interested in would be the older Street Fighter II games or side scrolling games like The Simpsons or X-Men or shooters of the R-Type/Gradius mold.

If those games or other games from around that time and older are playable with that board I'd probably reconsider it as an option.

[Driath]

... a little weak on some of the new fighters, but those are heavy duty games anyway

That's probably the onboard video kinda dulling out on you. My pc is a 733 with only a first generation Geforce and it handles fighters pretty well... It's a C3 though isn't it? Don't know how that compares with P3/AMD... anyways maybe you can get a Radeon PCI card to help your gfx out? and if space is a problem they sell those L converters for PCI slots so the gfx card will be parallel to the board.

[Chris]

Mine is in a tower with the sides off.  I leave the sides off so I can connect the power supply to the coin door and the fans I installed in the top of the cabinet.



I was thinking of getting an all-in-one motherboard (this one has integrated sound, but not video) and just mounting the board to the inside wall of the cabinet as the original JAMMA board would have been.  Perhaps to protect it I could mount a plexiglass shield over it?

I have also been considering removing the internal power strip and re-wiring the cabinet following the directions on Bob Roberts site at http://www.dameon.net/BBBB/buildit.html.  This would make the cabinet more like an arcade game and less like a PC in an arcade cabinet; it would also add the protection of the filter and fuses.

[LockeN]

... a little weak on some of the new fighters, but those are heavy duty games anyway

That's probably the onboard video kinda dulling out on you. My pc is a 733 with only a first generation Geforce and it handles fighters pretty well... It's a C3 though isn't it? Don't know how that compares with P3/AMD... anyways maybe you can get a Radeon PCI card to help your gfx out? and if space is a problem they sell those L converters for PCI slots so the gfx card will be parallel to the board.

From what I've read about the C3 they've got built into those mini-itx boards, they perform about as well as P3s that are only half as fast in Mhz.  So we're talking a ~900 C3 is about the equivalent of a ~450 P3.  Not too impressive, which is why I initially decided those boards wouldn't work for a whole lot more than the classics.

[elfman12]

I was wondering if inside their cabinets if ppl usually use computer towers or just have the pieces screwed to the wood on the inside?

Well, I used a Happs circuit board holder  http://www.happcontrols.com/amusement/acesor/49045100.htm     and it works ok, although I don't think that I'd recommend it. My Motherboard is a bit loose, and everytime I unplug a KB, Mouse or USB cable, it seems a bit flimsy. Other than that it's ok for what it is. And it clears alot of space inside the cab, if needed.

[Minwah]

I'm not going to use a case.  Firstly I can save the cost (of the case) since I'm building the PC from scratch.  Secondly, I don't need any drives (except hard drive of course) since I use a USB portable drive.  This should give me a load of space in the bottom of the cab, and I'll protect the m/board with a shelf (to stop things falling on it).

Not sure how well it will cool since it will not be in such a vacuum, but I reckon with some experimentation it should work fine.  A fan or two mounted to the cab itself to draw air through should be sufficient I think...

But I haven't done it yet so who knows  

[Brad Lee]

Via EPIA-M mini-itx. Runs at 933mhz, tv-out, s-vid out, 5.1 onboard sound. Real nice for all of the classics that I play, a little weak on some of the new fighters, but those are heavy duty games anyway

Could you provide some more details on what games are playable and which are not?  I was looking at those boards a few weeks back as potentially being nice for mame but decided it'd probably be too under-powered for some of the games I'd like to play.

The newest games I'd really be interested in would be the older Street Fighter II games or side scrolling games like The Simpsons or X-Men or shooters of the R-Type/Gradius mold.

If those games or other games from around that time and older are playable with that board I'd probably reconsider it as an option.

Well I swapped for my regular pc's guts over new years. Simpsons ran decent, 40-50 fps. Vert shooters like 19?? and a lot of the other jap ones ran fine. I've got the Via board re-installed in a seperate case so I can do some more testing.
One flaky thing that is probably resolvable but I didn't see an easy fix was the Hardware Stretching option, it fileld the whole screen but it was very jaggy. Not a bad little board, and I was planning on getting one anyway for a media box before I had even considered getting a cabinet so it's not a waste of the $150 anyway

[eightbit]

I'm not going to use a case.  Firstly I can save the cost (of the case) since I'm building the PC from scratch.  Secondly, I don't need any drives (except hard drive of course) since I use a USB portable drive.  This should give me a load of space in the bottom of the cab, and I'll protect the m/board with a shelf (to stop things falling on it).

Not sure how well it will cool since it will not be in such a vacuum, but I reckon with some experimentation it should work fine.  A fan or two mounted to the cab itself to draw air through should be sufficient I think...

But I haven't done it yet so who knows  

Power supply is going to cost you as much as a case. I've bought cheap cases in the past just to get the PS for another case and then thrown the new case away. A new case is only like $15 any way. If you put a exhaust fan on the top of the cab and a vent near the bottom you won't have any trouble with heat. Thats a big area for that mobo to heat up. I haven't seen many cabs except the bartop ones where space is even an issue. I tossed a case in the bottom of my cab but I'm going to move it one of these days and mount it so that I can access the cd-rom from an access panel in the front of my cab. I'm going to get around to doing that right after I play a couple more rounds of Mr. Do......