Pros and cons with XP

[Edgedamage]

Hello I just got a L7VMM3 pro2800a+ motherboard with onboard sound and video. I have a 13gig HDD and 256mgs of ram. The comp will be used for my cocktail cab for vertical games only. Should I stick with win2kpro or upgrade to XP? I don't want to go back to win98. Also can you use DOS in XP?

[paigeoliver]

Truthfully, with a vertical only cocktail setup with the stuff you have I would use DOS 7.0 (stripped off a win 98 boot disk), or Windows 95. I wouldn't use any NT based Windows for a vertical cocktail cabinet.

[Edgedamage]

Also I should have said that the cocktail cab is a school desk type. And the computer is in a really small case with a vertical stand. Which I plan on using just when I am using the cabinet. Most of the times the computer will be used as a spare for my sister in law's when they totally trash their systems. What I was thinking with win2kpro was to set up users and when I wanted to use the comp for the cocktail cab I just log in as mame. And have the comp use a front end that runs in vertical mode.

[Edgedamage]

Here's the pic of the cab. With a space that small inside I don't want to worry about heat issues.

[jerryjanis]

Truthfully, with a vertical only cocktail setup with the stuff you have I would use DOS 7.0 (stripped off a win 98 boot disk), or Windows 95. I wouldn't use any NT based Windows for a vertical cocktail cabinet.

How come?

[paigeoliver]

Truthfully, with a vertical only cocktail setup with the stuff you have I would use DOS 7.0 (stripped off a win 98 boot disk), or Windows 95. I wouldn't use any NT based Windows for a vertical cocktail cabinet.

How come?

Software overkill.

[JoeB]

If you are going to play only classic vertical games, that system is a complete OVERKILL!

It will be generating too much heat and you'd be wasting the power (if there is such a thing).

The reason being that a lot of the new hardware (especially in the MB world) is only enabled via software drivers that are only available for 2000 and XP.

If you run that PC in 98 or DOS, you will not be running at top speed.

If you plan on playing classics only.  Put a P3 or older computer in there.
If you need the power, lots of info on the web on how to strip XP (or 2000) to its guts for super fast boot up time!

Good luck!

[Minwah]

With that spec PC I would use XP for sure...

I somewhat agree that you probably don't need that high spec PC for vertical games.  That said I bet some of the newer vertical shooters require a bit of poke (?)

[Edgedamage]

Well true the horsepower is overkill for vertical games. But the choice I had was buy a used p3 system for $150. Or the motherboard for $125.
Plus I use thumb drives and portable HDD's I hate with win98 that you need drivers for every storage device. Where as win2k does the install on the fly. Looks like I will stick with the op systems after 98.

[Jakobud]

If you have horsepower (which you have more than enough of) why not just use XP?  Considering that all the newest Mame versions are basically being programmed with Windows in mind, this would be a good thing.

[Lilwolf]

REAL reasons to use XP...

1) Better support for Windows monitor rotation.  ATI and NVidia both have hardware support which (I believe)

2) Front Ends... if you want a frontend that has any fun stuff to it... you might be looking at windows only.  

3) Multiple Emulators.  There are some GREAT vertical shooters for different systems (cps2/ect) which might run better on different emulators... (but with your processor speed... you can probalby use mame for them all).

Your probablems will probably be HD and memory problems.  256 will give you problems in some of the later games... and you will probably have to ignore all HD games... but not a big deal on a vertical cab.

But remember...  You CAN play horizontal games on a vertical cab... Just smaller...  So don't limit your favorite games just because..

[paigeoliver]

My vertical mini-mame cabinet has an Athlon 650 and runs every single vertical romset full speed with zero exceptions.

Also, you aren't looking hard enough if you can't find a 600ish mhz system for $80.

[Edgedamage]

My vertical mini-mame cabinet has an Athlon 650 and runs every single vertical romset full speed with zero exceptions.

Also, you aren't looking hard enough if you can't find a 600ish mhz system for $80.

Hmmm not so true in Canada. $20 comp part in USA.  Sells for $30 to $40 in Canada.

[paigeoliver]

Well, could that be because $20 US is worth $30-$40 Canadian?  

My vertical mini-mame cabinet has an Athlon 650 and runs every single vertical romset full speed with zero exceptions.

Also, you aren't looking hard enough if you can't find a 600ish mhz system for $80.

Hmmm not so true in Canada. $20 comp part in USA.  Sells for $30 to $40 in Canada.

[JoeB]

hmmmm ...

last time I checked the US$ isn't doing very well.. The CDN$ is very strong, and the Euro is even stronger than the US$.

WOW.. You guys are getting pounded!  (hehehehe)

Well, could that be because $20 US is worth $30-$40 Canadian?  

My vertical mini-mame cabinet has an Athlon 650 and runs every single vertical romset full speed with zero exceptions.

Also, you aren't looking hard enough if you can't find a 600ish mhz system for $80.

Hmmm not so true in Canada. $20 comp part in USA.  Sells for $30 to $40 in Canada.

[Lilwolf]

Sorry, I wasn't talking about mame... I know it handles it well.

but that is in both 98 and XP (98 and ATI you have to fiddle with your registry to get the option tab to show up... I posted about it AGES ago if anyones interested)

So basically you can use more frontends without trouble.

but yes... it IS overkill for that app... I believe you can get it to run almost as fast as 98 if you disable some of the fugglies...  But for slower computers... it might not be worth it...

BUT... (anther one) you might find that the games that you loose in the speed decrease will be made up with windows only emulators (finalburn ect).  You might have more games at your disposal.

[Spaced Invader]

From what I understand you already have Win 2K Pro...there is no issue use it. It's a great OS and with SP3 and DX9 (be sure to load all service packs/upgrades) it basically is XP (kernal upgrade)...without the new GUI garbage. On that system with vertical games there is absolutely no reason to upgrade.

nuf said

[JoeB]

Actually,

the only major advantage of XP over 2000 is the remote desktop feature (which is basically terminal services)

It allows you to control the arcade machine from a remote system on the network to do maintenance.  Then again, you can do the same thing with VNC.

[_Iz-]

vfxweb.com has inexpensive systems around the 600mhz mark for between $100 and $150 canadian...

[Edgedamage]

Well I was finally able to test my new motherboard
ECS:L7VMM3 with soldered on 2800pro duron processor.
With win2kpro using the onboard video and onboard sound. Using mame32 0.80 and "out of the box" the motherboard ran all the games silky smooth but had slight problems running MK2-3 and that was with scan lines and hardware stretch on. The MK games would have static in the audio. The vector games ran amazing. I guess if I really cared about the MK fighters I would put a good vid card in the empty AGP slot. For a $125 CDN this board is pretty good.

[Edgedamage]

Whoops also thanks to everyone who gave me tips.

[Chris]

the only major advantage of XP over 2000 is the remote desktop feature (which is basically terminal services)

XP also has multiple USB mouse support.  I have 98 on my cab for this reason (dual lightguns plus trackball), but as soon as MAME: Analog+ gets updated to .80 I'll probably move to XP.

[delta88]

OK, if you have a mobo already use it.. never tell someone to get a slower pc blegh. i have a 166mhz, if you try you can get a lot of games to play.. a faster pc means faster setup!!!!!!

nuff said!!

d88