Please Help a confused newbie out

[Josh]

I am in the final process of getting all of my parts ordered and make sure I have everything.  I am stuck about what to get for a monitor

I want to play MAME, as well as atari and nintendo emulators

I plan on using  MAME32 in Windows XP

It seems the more I read the more I get confused about what is best.  I am not totally on a shoestring budget, but I do have to keep it to a reasonable level

I thought at first I would go with a 27" TV with s-video.  Probably with a ATI 9700 Video card or something along that line.  How would this work for me?  Would I be able to play all of those games and have a decent looking picture?

Another alternative I thought about would be to get a ArcadeVga card from Ultimarc, along with their video amp and use a arcade monitor like this one
http://www.happcontrols.com/monitors/49615700.htm
How would this work for me?

What are some pros and cons for each alternative?

Is there another alternative I need to look at?

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide

Josh

[Paul Olson]

An arcade monitor will look better than a TV.  The monitor you linked to will not work very well with MAME.  You need to get one that will do 15khz.  The ArcadeVGA is made for a 15KHz monitor, if you don't have one, I don't think it will help you.  The Radeon 9700 is definately overkill for a TV or an arcade monitor,  the resolution just isn't high enough to justify a card like that.

If you have the $500 for that monitor, I would suggest buying a working jamma cabinet.  That will give you a good monitor, and a game to play while you are getting everything set up.  I'm enjoying Tekken 2 until I actually get the computer downstairs to the cab.

Paul

[Josh]

What arcade monitor would work better?  I want to stay in the $400 range if possible.  

If I just went with a tv would I be happy with the results?  What video card is recommended?

I am building a cabinet from scrach, so I don't want to buy another one just for the monitor

[Paul Olson]

Some people are happy with a TV, others need a real arcade monitor so they have accurate emulation.  Try a TV first, I'm sure you already have one you can hook up to test.  The ArcadeVGA is a Radeon 7000 series chip, so it is definately not cuting edge.  I haven't heard of anyone having any problems playing any MAME games with it.  So anything like that, or newer, would be a good choice for a video card.  The Radeons are usually recomended for tv-out also.  A lot of people here seem to like the Wells Gardner d9200.  It is a 27" or 33" multires monitor.  Any 15KHz arcade monitor should work fine.

I wasn't suggesting buying the cabinet just for the monitor.  I was going to build a cab from scratch, but then decided just to buy one and throw all of the MAME stuff in there.  It should get me up and running a lot quicker.

Home built is a great way to go, I'm sure I will do it someday.  I was just offering another option to get started.

Paul

[Josh]

Thanks Paul,
 
I just want to have something that is decent and playable when I am finished.  

Sometimes I think I would have been better off buying a cabinet, but too late to turn back now

I think I am just going to order a video card and use a TV for now.  If I don't like it I can always replace it with a arcade monitor at a later date

Thanks Again

[whammoed]

If you are looking for "decent" then a tv will do.  It will give you a decent picture and is cost effective.  If you end up deciding that only arcade perfect resolution will do, then you will need an arcade monitor that will do 15k and run it either using an arcadeVGA card or advancemame.  I don't think starting with a tv is a bad idea.  If you like it great!  If you don't, there is always another place to use a 27" tv in the house.

[Josh]

What is a recommended somewhat inexpensive video card?  

newegg.com has the ATI RADEON 9200 Video Card, 128MB DDR, 128-bit, TV-Out, PCI  for $92

I would rather not spend that much, but I didn't find much else cheeper on their web site

Thanks for the help

[whammoed]

If you want to go with newegg, this should be sufficient and cheap too.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-161-112&depa=0

[MonitorGuru]

What arcade monitor would work better?  I want to stay in the $400 range if possible.  

If I just went with a tv would I be happy with the results?  What video card is recommended?

I am building a cabinet from scrach, so I don't want to buy another one just for the monitor

You can build a "brand new" arcade monitor for around $150.  Here's how:

1) Watch your local department/electronic stores for deals on 19"/20" CURVED/ROUND corner television sets. Any brand, any features. Often they hit the $79-$89 price range.

2) Crack the case, find out how many pins the tube uses and the DC ohm resistance of the yoke wires (ask if you dont know how)

3) Go to 8liners.com OR surf ebay for "replacement arcade chassis". Purchase the correct chassis with the correct # of pins and yoke impedence. $55 to $65 on average.

4) Rip out ALL of the electronics out of the TV, leaving the case, tube, (attached) yoke, tube grounding wire and degaussing coil.

5) Place inside the TV set the new arcade chassis (mount with nylon zip-ties or whatever to where the original board was)

6) Attach all wires up, inspect, power up.  


Tada... you now have an arcade monitor that contains 100% new parts, and will sync to old arcade resolutions (15KHz) for use with an ArcadeVGA card or others.

You can save yourself $80-$90 by simply taking any old 19/20" TV you have or find at a rummage sale or thrift store for a few bucks and using that, though the tube will not be new. If the picture is acceptable as a TV, then the tube will likely be okay to use for arcade, just watch for burned in/brown screens or missing colors.


Read the "Whoo mama" thread here for more info.  See pictures of swapped in tubes on theses replacement chassis here:

http://www.oscarcontrols.com/chassis


Also if you dont want to mount the whole TV plastic shell, you can pick up standard arcade monitor frames for around $10-$20 to use.


Oh BTW--you can build a 25 to 27 inch version for around $260.  $160 for a new 25/27" TV on sale, and then a $95 chassis.  No need to spend $400 on one plus all that shipping costs (easily $50-$80 in shipping on an arcade tube that size)