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Hardware for 2012 Mame cabinet

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MTPPC:
I use the M350 for a HTPC. I think it is unnecessary for a MAME build. Just cut the mobo tray and expansion card backplane of a junked case.

404:
I'm not a mame expert by any stretch of the imagination but I have tested dozens of different configurations since becoming a mame addict. Everything from old 1990's pentium and celeron processors, AMD processors, VIA processors to today's modern PCs and everything in between.

I think the best way to approach the question is, what exactly do you want out of your mame setup? What do you want to play? What OS do you plan on using? How fast do you want this unit to realistically boot?

If you just want to play the classics and don't mind losing some of the more bleeding edge support for some games, you can use a throw away pentium 3 era PC and use mame V0.106 and below. Those versions of mame used a different rendering engine. The engine was much faster but sacrificed some minuscule accuracy.

If you want to play some more advanced 3D games i would suggest at least a socket 775 or socket 939 PC using ddr2 memory and above. Running a 64bit cpu (pentiumD or AMD64) and a 64bit OS is a major plus as mame 64 bit builds run with a noticeable performance increase. You will also be required to meet these minimum specs along with a solid ATI 3-series or Nvidia 7-series and above card in order to run those elusive Taito Type-X games.

The majority of 3D games emulated in mame do not use OpenGL, DirectX or any other middle-ware to process 3D graphics to your graphics card. Mame uses a minimal amount of graphics processor effort for anything. The bulk of Mame's emulation ie done via CPU. It's just something to keep in mind while deciding on which direction your next project will be headed.

RyoriNoTetsujin:

--- Quote from: TJCOMBO on June 28, 2012, 03:53:11 pm ---I am building a MAME cabinet and I am not up to date on what is new these days with MAME and computer hardware.

What is a good low cost/ high performance, efficient computer hardware option for MAME?  I would like to play almost all games that are fully playable, definitely the mid and late 90s fighters and the latest games.

--- End quote ---

Paige and the rest are right, you can do MAME on the serious cheap nowadays.

My question is: You say "low cost," but what exactly is your budget? You can build a beast of a setup for $500-$600 right now that will be waaay overpowered for what's playable in the latest versions of MAME, and get you nice PC gaming too.

I'm generalizing a bit, but here's my guidelines: The areas to spend your money on are CPU, GPU, and OS (definitely 64bit Win7 or better).  The areas to "skimp" are the mobo (to a certain extent...), the HDD and RAM. If you go with a discreet GPU, make sure your power supply can handle it.

I'd also say this; if you're thinking mini-ITX form factor but you have the space for something - ANYTHING bigger, use something bigger. If you're building min-ITX, you're already in a "specialty/enthusiast" territory, and you will be required to make compromises, either money or features/power. Even microATX gives you comparatively significant breathing room.

I don't know... my thought has always been save up a little extra, buy a little bigger/more power than I think I'll need - dodge Buyer's Remorse and the disappointment that my rig can't play "that one game that's playable in MAME now..."

 :cheers:

mytymaus007:


I'm generalizing a bit, but here's my guidelines: The areas to spend your money on are CPU, GPU, and OS (definitely 64bit Win7 or better).  The areas to "skimp" are the mobo (to a certain extent...), the HDD and RAM. If you go with a discreet GPU, make sure your power supply can handle it.


Just wondering what is better then 64bit Win7 :dunno

TJCOMBO:

--- Quote from: RyoriNoTetsujin on July 05, 2012, 09:05:48 am ---
--- Quote from: TJCOMBO on June 28, 2012, 03:53:11 pm ---I am building a MAME cabinet and I am not up to date on what is new these days with MAME and computer hardware.

What is a good low cost/ high performance, efficient computer hardware option for MAME?  I would like to play almost all games that are fully playable, definitely the mid and late 90s fighters and the latest games.

--- End quote ---

Paige and the rest are right, you can do MAME on the serious cheap nowadays.

My question is: You say "low cost," but what exactly is your budget? You can build a beast of a setup for $500-$600 right now that will be waaay overpowered for what's playable in the latest versions of MAME, and get you nice PC gaming too.

I'm generalizing a bit, but here's my guidelines: The areas to spend your money on are CPU, GPU, and OS (definitely 64bit Win7 or better).  The areas to "skimp" are the mobo (to a certain extent...), the HDD and RAM. If you go with a discreet GPU, make sure your power supply can handle it.

I'd also say this; if you're thinking mini-ITX form factor but you have the space for something - ANYTHING bigger, use something bigger. If you're building min-ITX, you're already in a "specialty/enthusiast" territory, and you will be required to make compromises, either money or features/power. Even microATX gives you comparatively significant breathing room.

I don't know... my thought has always been save up a little extra, buy a little bigger/more power than I think I'll need - dodge Buyer's Remorse and the disappointment that my rig can't play "that one game that's playable in MAME now..."

 :cheers:

--- End quote ---

I don't really know what you can and cannot play of the modern games barring speed, but I want to play most of them. If I can spend $300 to play just about all of them, including the Tekkens, Mortal Kombats and Killer Instincts, then that is a definite must have.  If it means spend an extra $200 on top of that $300 or so to play Gauntlet and SF RUSH or what have you, then that's a big no. 

Honestly, I am just looking for someone to tell me what exactly to buy with what is currently out there. I know more than the basics of computers, but I have never assembled one myself.  Would someone mind telling me exactly all the brands/parts needed on a powerful, yet not too expensive setup (mobo, cpu, OS, RAM, HDD, GPU, powercord, anything else I may be missing) so I can put it together?

Is the Win7 going to give you more juice and flexibility then say just Linux?  I really would not want to buy it if I have to.

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