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First machine, need opinions on MAME PC
Arc Kalocal:
So I'm building my first machine, and I am going to be building a new PC to run MAME in it. I would like the PC to be able to run anything, new or old. I'm not sure what all I would need and am looking for some input from the experts!
Here's what I've got so far:
400W PSU
4GB DDR3 RAM
500GB HDD
Core i3-3220
Asus P8B75-M/CSM Mobo
Video card ???
I'm looking to use a Wells Gardner LCD monitor and I'm not sure what the best card to use would be. I've heard of the Arcade VGA but I'm not sure if I'd need it on the LCD monitor or if I would need more than that to run newer games as well.
Also I was planning on not using a case for the computer at all and just mounting it inside the cabinet for better airflow. Good idea or no?
shponglefan:
Any modern PC will be able to run the vast, vast majority of MAME games at full speed. The exceptions are the extremely processor intensive games like NFL Blitz, Gauntlet Legends, etc.
Insofar as mounting PC components without a case, there is nothing wrong with that. Just make things are secured properly so they can't get jostled around.
paigeoliver:
There is no need to decase your PC. Real arcade games that run on PC hardware generally have a whole case inside the cabinet.
If you are building on any sort of budget then the computer is the last place to spend money. A $1000 gaming rig will only run about 3 percent more titles in mame than $50 used pentium 4 will. Your video card is only important if you want to run a 3D frontend or want to use some of the funny graphical options in mame, for straight emulation it basically isn't used at all.
And if Happ still has any of those TriSync 27" monitors that use picture tubes then buy one of those (they still had a few last I checked). They look so much better with older titles than the Happ lcd monitors do.
Arc Kalocal:
This rig, minus the video card should only run me about 200$. I'm building it from scratch so the case would actually be an added cost. I'm mostly interested in games like Gauntlet Legends, TMNT, D&D, and MVC2. So by the sound of it I may actually want a real video card or was that comment in regards to the CPU? I'll check out the trisync monitor but I'm not much for preservation as much as I am a Clean crisp look. What sort of video card should I be looking for if I choose an LCD or a CRT? And how realistic is it to run newer games like SF4 or tekken tag 2?
paigeoliver:
Gauntlet Legends is the only problem game you mentioned. It doesn't really run on common hardware at full speed.
Scratchbuilding a computer for mame is a great way to flush money down the toilet. My 40 game arcade collection has 39 games and a single mame cabinet, about a $2500 build at that. I just replaced the motherboard battery in it a few weeks ago, because the PC running it is 8 years old. It couldn't run gauntlet legends 8 years ago, it can't run it today. Mame vs. hardware just isn't there for 3D titles yet. You can toss tons of processor power and money at it and only a few more games become playable. Spend your money on your screen and controls and wait for the hardware to catch up to the 3d games because it hasn't yet (and they aren't very good to tell the truth, not compared to native PC apps you can run on the same system.)
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