O'Boyle's Arcade - by the "book"

[Spyridon]

Wow, how time does fly.  17 months since I posted in this thread.  Well, here is where we are.  Game has been fully playable...hence the no progress.  What happened is that building this mame machine, got me into collecting and restoring original arcade games.  Now I have 17 of them in my basement.  I do love the dedicated machines, but the mame game still gets lots of play.  Next step on this is to replace the crappy 19" computer monitor that is just sitting in the cab.  It was just a temporary setup, but I think 17 months is long enough.  Time to go.

What is your opinion on the best 27" arcade monitor to use?  I'm considering the WG D9800 for $395. 

Specs:
Resolution: CGA-SVGA, 15 kHz-38kHz
Used On: MAME Cabinet Flat CRT
Replaces: WGM2798-U0FS06S

Games:
Global VR, Need for Speed Underground. Can be used in Pro Buck Hunter. Also has 4 spacers for CRT.

I plan on running this off of an ArcadeVGA board

[Spyridon]

I'm considering the WG D9800 for $395. 

I orderd the D9800 from eBay for $345

[Spyridon]

Okay, here is what I didn't show you from 17 months ago...

I installed some tinted plexi and used two thin pieces of wood to hold it in place

Then painted them black

and screwed into place


On to the control panel wires.  I used quick connects on all of the wires

Ground wires in place

One of the joysticks and corresponding buttons all wired up

and the rest of the wires (still need to get the cable ties in place to clean this up)


The finished control panel:


Working game in the place its been for the last 17 months (getting regular use):

...

Which brings us to today

...

Got this nice package in the mail today:



Placed the new monitor in the cab to test it out (it's heavy).  Need to figure out how I'm going to permanently install it:


Fired up the computer.  Got the Windows boot screen.  So far so good:

When it got into Windows, the screen was all messed up.  Plugged the old monitor in and lowered the screen resolution.

Bingo:


I need to pick up a bezel that will work with this size monitor.  Screen text is a bit blurry so I need to figure out how to adjust the monitor.  Also need to determine if I'm going to pick up a ArcadeVGA board or play around with Soft-15KHz.  (anyone have a recommendation?)

Well, it's good to get that small monitor out of there.  I'd like to finish this up so I can get back to restoring the dedicated cabs.

[BASS!]

My opppinion,
If you are going to go with just mame, and no other emulators, other than classic systems then the avga is a fine card to use. It is rock solid, and the driver comes with all the resolutions that you may need. If you are a pc gamer, and you would like to drop in some heavy graphic games, then soft 15khz is the best route to go. I am currently running a ati x850 xt with soft 15 and it runs like butter. Its all up to you though.

[Spyridon]

Also, the text is very blurry in Windows and in my Mala setup.  I'll have to figure out what to adjust. 

[Spyridon]

Also, the text is very blurry in Windows and in my Mala setup.  I'll have to figure out what to adjust. 

I adjusted the focus and picture is a little better but still not perfectly clear.  My game list in MALA is hard to read whereas on my computer monitor it was perfect.  I ordered an ArcadeVGA card today so I probably won't spend too much time on this until that card is in.

[cmoses]

What resolution are you running at?  You will probably need to adjust the MALA layout to use a little larger font for your game list.  Give up a few games on the list for a larger more clear font.

[Spyridon]

What resolution are you running at?  You will probably need to adjust the MALA layout to use a little larger font for your game list.  Give up a few games on the list for a larger more clear font.

I am running at 640 x 480.  Anything higher and the monitor gives an overscan message.  Games look good running, especially something like Dragon's Lair.  Maybe with the ArcadeVGA card, I can get the resolution higher.  If not, I'll just have to adjust the game list in the layout.

[Spyridon]

Got the ArcadeVGA card installed as well as a new bezel from Happ.  Picture quality is great on the games, but I will need to adjust the font on my layout.  It's a bit hard to read on the big monitor.