Is this setup overkill?

[javeryh]

I will strictly be using this computer to run MAME and maybe another emulator like Daphne or SNES... I got this advice from someone...

All parts from Newegg.com:

Motherboard:
ABIT KN8 Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4-4X ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail - $83.00

Powersupply:
Thermaltake Silent PurePower TT-420AD(DUAL FAN) ATX 420W Power Supply 115/230 V UL, CSA, TUV, CE - Retail - $38.99

Processor:
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice 1GHz FSB 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Processor - Retail - $146.00

RAM:
CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM Unbuffered DDR2 533 (PC2 4200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory - Retail - $81.99

Speakers (2.1 as specified):
Logitech X-230 32 Watts 2.1 Speaker - Retail - $32.98

Sound Card:
Since you want a 2.1 system, the integrated sound card from the motherboard should serve well enough.

HDD:
Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 ST3250823AS 250GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM - $112.75

As for the graphics cards, I'm not sure how intensive MAME is on the GPU, but I assume it's mostly CPU intensive so something simple should do:

SAPPHIRE 100120 Radeon X300SE HyperMemory 128MB DDR HyperMemory (32MB Onboard VRAM) 128-bit DDR PCI Express x16 Video Card - OEM - $48.00

If the emulator is GPU intensive, then go with the best card you can get (6800 Ultra or higher. 7800GTX if your really willing to spend.)

[darthbane2k]

probably overkill yes - definately overkill for mame and zsnes, dont knw much about daphne.

With that spec id expect you to run zinc too etc...

[Howard_Casto]

For mame, the rule of thumb is to:

Get the cheapest new parts you can find. 

While a top of the line abit motherboard is great, you can get away with a sale of the week mb at yoru favorite online computer store.  They usually give you a deal with an included processor and those are the deals to take and build your system around that. 

So an athlon 64 is overkill, while an athlon xp would be just right.  Again, get a package deal, see above.   

Also get a good video card.  Mame might not use it, but every other emulator does, especially 3d ones.  Also good modern video cards support hardware rotation, which is quite useful as well as a superior quality tv out. 

With ram just get a lot.  More than a gig is wasteful though.  Again, super spiffy top of the line ram isn't necessary, just get what's on sale (at the right buss speed of course). 


A good mame pc needs about a 2 gig processor give or take 500 mhz and 512 megs of ram with at least a radeon but probably a radeon 8000 or higher.


Fancy harddrives are a waste of money as all emulators load the entire game into memory.  Get what's on sale and make sure it has plenty of storage capacity. 


The powersupply is about right.  All the mame accessories you tend to plug in eats up the wattage.  And with any computer, the powersupply is the ONLY thing you can't get cheap with. 

And btw, in the computing world, name brands mean absolutely nothing.  Abit may be the mb of choice for the gamer elite, but unless you are running doom 3 at 3200 x 2400 in full detail or something crazy like that, you aren't going to see any diference between it and a comparable generic brand. As a matter of fact, I make it a point NOT to buy anything abit.  Their brand name is half of the cost. 

[whammoed]

If going with new parts from newegg, why not get an asus board that has mylogo2?  This allows you change the bios boot splash to your own image.  Pretty handy for an arcade machine where you would like to hide the fact that its a pc running emulation.  It could be a nice touch.

[Lilwolf]

I was about to say... why go egghead... usually more expensive then some others out there...

but it would be pretty cool to change that image

but www.pricewatch.com is a great place to get the cheapest price... beware, cheapest price usually means the worst support... so only good if you can put the machine together without calls to support.

[divemaster127]

hello, i have the same exact setup on my mame computer & it plays most of the chd roms awesome do to the fact its such a powerhouse & its not expensive to build its a one time purchase i would go for it
thanks
divemaster

[javeryh]

Thanks for all the awesome advice guys!  This is DEFINITELY going to be the hardest part for me as far as putting my cab together.  I'm very computer illiterate.  It took a while for me to get a frontend (gamelauncher) and MAME working properly!

The ultimate goal is to be able to run MAME and a few other emulators (but I will NEVER play a computer game like Doom 3 or Half Life 2 on it).  This will strictly be for arcade/NES/SNES gaming - I really don't see myself getting more advanced than that.

Whammoed:  does the type of motherboard matter as far as interacting with everything else?  I know that you plug everything into the motherboard so I don't want to run into some sort of Mac/PC incompatibility.  And do all ASUS motherboards come with mylogo2?  I'd love to be able to disguise the computer in there (no Windows boot screen, right?)

THANKS!!

[elvis]

The powersupply is about right.  All the mame accessories you tend to plug in eats up the wattage.  And with any computer, the powersupply is the ONLY thing you can't get cheap with. 

Amen to that.  I don't know how many times I've seen people buy first-rate components and slap it together with an el-cheapo power supply, only to have the PSU, components or both end up damaged withing 30 days.

Use the same analogy on anything you like: computers, people, cars:  put crap fuel in, and expect bad things to happen.

[whammoed]

Thanks for all the awesome advice guys!

[Skadar]

If it's any help to you, this is what I just went with from Newegg.com:

SAPPHIRE ATLANTIS RADEON 9600 Radeon 9600 256MB DDR AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail Item #: N82E16814102320    $76.00

AMD Athlon XP 2800+ Barton 333MHz FSB Socket A Processor Model AXDA2800BOX - Retail Item #: N82E16819103377    $98.00

gigaram 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered System Memory Model GR9053-512MB/400/SA - Retail Item #: N82E16820221005    $44.25

Maxtor DiamondMax 10 6L080P0 80GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA133 Hard Drive - OEM Item #: N82E16822144233    $59.25

LITE-ON Black IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model SOHD-16P9SBLK - Retail Item #: N82E16827131410    $19.99

Foxconn TLM454R3M6-C350 AMD Socket A(462) AMD Athlon

[javeryh]

whammoed:  Thanks for the tips.  I will keep an eye out for it.  I'd love to be able to flip the power switch and have it boot into my frontend without a trace of "computer" noticable to whoever is playing it...

Skadar:  Does that setup allow you to play the most recent games in MAME?  I want to make sure whatever computer I put together can handle Street Fighter Alpha 3, Mortal Kombat 3, Killer Instinct and other more recent arcade games (yeah, I like fighting games even though I suck at them  ).  I'm really going into this blind - out of everyone I know, I'm the most knowledgable with computers - scary, eh?

[M3talhead]

Dont feel bad man, I used the following setup for my MAME cab so I could play some top-notch PC style games if I ever felt the urge. Some say I went a little overboard, but hey, to each his own right?


Apex CASE /350W PS
N82E16811154017
$29.50

MoBo MSI|VIA K8T800 PRO K8T NEO2-F   
N82E16813130469
$98.00

AMD 64 |3000+ ATHLON 64   
N82E16819103486
$146.00

512MB CORSAIR DDR 400mhz   
N82E16820145026   
$51.00

Western Digital HD 80GB WD800JD 8MB %   
N82E16822135106
$60.50             
           
Subtotal
$388.99

Shipping and Handling
$21.35

Total
$410.34

[MaximRecoil]

No such thing as overkill for a Mame machine. Even if you go with the latest and greatest on everything, spending a fortune in the process, you still won't have the berries to play some of the newer games that are in Mame.

If you only like the classics, then those specs are fine, and will ensure that you can keep up with Mame itself (independent of what games you choose to play) for a while, as it continues to get more and more resource intensive with each new release.

Don't buy an Athlon XP. The higher end ones cost about the same as the lower end AMD 64's but you will get more real world performance out of the 64 due to higher bus speeds, more cache in some cases; not to mention that it is more "future-proof" for newer standards such as PCI Express and the such. Not to say that PCI Express is likely to ever be much use for Mame (it certainly doesn't hurt anything though) but as time passes, it will be harder to find older standard components and all the best deals will be for what is common at the moment.

[javeryh]

$400 is doable.. I've spent so much already what's another $400, right?  I don't need a case though since it's going in a cocktail so that makes it a little cheaper.  I'm tempted to go with one of the setups listed above just for the sake of making the decision as easy as possible but I do like whammoed's suggestion of being able to change the logo upon powering on.  I really want to hide the fact that there is a computer in there...

After assembling all of the computer parts and turning it on, what happens?  I mean, I've never turned a computer on and NOT had it boot right into windows.  How do I install MAME or the frontend or just generally operate the computer?

[M3talhead]

Check out my project thread. I have everything setup to where you dont even know a PC is in there. Custom boot screen, startup sound, and front end.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=32169.0

[javeryh]

Check out my project thread. I have everything setup to where you dont even know a PC is in there. Custom boot screen, startup sound, and front end.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=32169.0

With the computer you described above?

[Jedi Master Matt]

With the computer you described above?

[M3talhead]

Check out my project thread. I have everything setup to where you dont even know a PC is in there. Custom boot screen, startup sound, and front end.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=32169.0

With the computer you described above?  I noticed in your other thread that you ordered the wrong motherboard.  Which one did you actually end up using?  I might just go for it.  Is there any advantage to getting 1GB of RAM over 512MB?  I've been told the more RAM the better...  thanks!

I ended up getting the 939 (only because I wasnt able to return the processor due to Neweggs return policy). Overall though, I'm very pleased with the way th cabinet plays.