MAME computer of choice?

[koolmoecraig]

I've been out of the MAME scene for a while...

What's the best self contained set-up nowadays for a machine geared towards early 90's games and prior? Is there some mini ATX rig that people like?  I'm going to be running it into a real arcade monitor.  Do I still need an ArcadeVGA card from Ultimarc?

Thanks in advance!

[kahlid74]

I'm not super up to date on the ArcadeVGA but I assume you would still need one.

As for the computer, if you're playing 90's and older games would you also be playing 3D games from the 90's?  Gauntlet Legend, etc.  If not, depending on the version of Mame you use, a 1Ghz proc would suit you fine.

Personally, this is what I go with for any MAME build I do now.  It's powerful enough to run all the 2D games as well as MAME can handle and 90% of all the 3D games:


You can take the case out if you like mounting the computer inside but that's generally where I am.  I also like building the computer versus buying a pre-made.  And if I'm building a full size cab, I always do this versus ITX just because it's cheaper than a 200+ dollar ITX system that's not as powerful.

[koolmoecraig]

Great info.  Thank you for taking the time to post that.

[koolmoecraig]

Do you guys run Vista or still XP?

[mcseforsale]

I have a stack of Dell GX-260s and the like that I took home off-lease from work a few years ago.  They're P4 3GHz and 1 GB of ram and I'm running stuff all the way up to 2000s...including Killer Instinct, etc.

Still running XP...it's lighter.

AJ

[wp34]

Depending on the monitor you are using you might want to take a look at GroovyMame.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/board,52.0.html

I'm running it (with XP) and it is really quite impressive.  You don't need ArcadeVGA if you have a compatible video card.

[Howard_Casto]

Yeah and avga is rather slow by today's standards, so you'd have trouble running supermodel, ect.