Ultimate Specs for a Cab

[JRoz]

Hi Guys,

Finally got my cab the way I want it (after 2 years ) but want to upgrade my computer now.  Its a decent Pentium 4 3gig with about 3 gigs of ram, but I want to be able to play the newer PC games on it.  I'm looking to build a PC and want the most affordable specs.  I use to build PC's back when I installed car computers, but have been out of it for about 5-6 years now and have no clue whats good to get.  I want to spend no more than $500.  Keep in mind its mostly for Mame and n64/Dc games which i know don't require a ton of power..but want to be able to play SF4 and games like Virtual Tennis 3 etc.  Let me know if anyone has or knows the perfect pieces for arcades.  I'm surprised there isn't another article out there with the best recommended parts or specs ..unless i'm not looking hard enough

[MJ]

How about this?
http://www.hardware-revolution.com/500-gaming-computer-2/

AMD Athlon II X3 445 3.1GHz Triple-Core 95W
ASRock M3A770DE: Socket AM3, 770 Chipset, ATX
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1333
SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 5770 1GB (DirectX11)
I assume you don't need a new case or DVD drive, so use that $ towards a bigger HD or processor.  OS is not included...

FWIW:
Processor hierarchy: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-gaming-cpu-core-i5-760-core-i7-970,2698-7.html
GPU hierarchy: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/geforce-gtx-460-radeon-hd-5570-gaming,review-31965-7.html

[JRoz]

thanks for the info man

[ahofle]

How about this?
http://www.hardware-revolution.com/500-gaming-computer-2/

Now that is a useful link!  I've been looking for something like that, thanks!