Looking for General Advice On New Build

[ctaylor]

Hello all

This is my first post on these forums.  I recently decided to rebuild my MAME arcade cabinet with something a little more modern so that I can run my usual MAME titles, along with select Naomi titles.  I have been reading for hours over the past days to figure out how to get the most accurate display with what I am working with and I am looking for advice.

I have not purchased a video card just yet, as I was not sure which route would be best.  I have a Sansui 25" CRT TV (US model) with S-Video and component inputs.  I would like to get a video card that is capable out outputting to this TV in 640x480 or lower resolutions for graphical accuracy.  Most people on the forums recommend the HD 4350 or similar card, but I was not sure if I would be limited to older cards like this based on my setup.  Would I need to run soft15khz or use special drivers if I am outputting to a CRT TV via S-video or component?  Would I see any benefit from purchasing a card similar to the Arcadevga 3000 if I am using these connections on a standard tube TV?  My original set up was a P4 3.0ghz with an ATI x800 going over S-video.  I had the 7-pin dongle to send a component signal, but my TV did not recognize anything when I connected the cabinet this way.

Ideally, I would like to get a card powerful enough to run Naomi, SFIV and maybe other arcade-based PC titles.  Also, I have seen a lot of back and forth on which version of Windows would be ideal for a modern MAME setup.  While I am most comfortable with Windows 7 64-bit, would I see any benefits with running XP professional 64-bit?  

Here is what I have already purchased/setup for my new rig:

i5-2500k @ 4.5Ghz
MAME .145
GameEx frontend

Any advice you have is greatly appreciated!

[nickbuol]

I stumbled across this today and didn't see any responses.  Did you figure out your video card question?  Just look for something with SVideo out, and really you should be just fine using a CRT TV.  That is what I am doing.  I just went cheap (old) because MAME runs like a champ with it, and the higher resolutions aren't needed with a non-HD tv.  Frequency issues don't seem to be there either.  I think that a lot of it has to do with the "standards" of SVideo being designed to output to a standard TV.

I'm not saying that I've never seen video "tearing" but it seems like those are during video, not actual gaming, sequencies and when I try them on a monitor, I get the same, so maybe it is just the game and its emulation.

[rabidfrog]

I bought a vga to component transcoder that was recommended on these forums, for use with a TV with component inputs.  I also bought an arcadevga card, but I was not able to get a working picture on the TV.  I found a crt HDTV that I can get a few usable resolutions on, so I'm going that route.  But part of me is tempted to try a cheap videocard and powerstrip just to see if there's a way to make it work.