PCI or AGP for MAME project?!

[Ortizimo!]

I'm starting my first project after years of waiting. I'm stuck now since I cannot find a motherboard with an AGP slot anymore and almost everywhere thread talk about AGP cards and even older cards. These are my questions...

1- What new PCI style cards should be used (ATI or NVIDIA ) I was thinking about getting a x700 or an x1650 ATI since they're cheap now but I don't want to waste the $$$ then is not the right one to get.

2- Should I get a 256MB card or a 512MB? Does memory really comes into play here since I'm not upgrading to play the latest WoW or Crysis, just arcade?

3- What monitor should I get? I've seen the Happ and others but I'm confused on cga and ega and vga for arcades...I'm thinking is the same thing like a PC  but arcades are not my area of expertise, specially when a cga monitor has a full color picture over it..DONT DO THAT!.

Really confused...ortizimo!

[Ummon]

Read the wiki. Go away. Come back and read the wiki. Go away. Do again if necessary. Also look up 'video card' in Wikipedia.

[TOK]

Decide what monitor you want to use first. If you decide you want an arcade monitor, you can either go with the ArcadeVGA from www.ultimarc.com or you can read further to figure out which cards available to you will run at 15khz.

If you're building the system for this, you're probably just going to find PCI Express cards. That is fine.

A 256 meg card will be fine if you're just running MAME stuff on it. MAME uses very basic 3D stuff for effects (like imitating the appearance of scan lines), which you're not going to want if you run an arcade monitor anyway.

If you want the build to be simple, you can probably use any video card with S-Video or Component out along with a TV and get a decent image. If you want an arcade realistic image, go with a true arcade monitor. If you want absolute plug and play run all games simplicity with no sweat but the least accurate arcade image, go with a PC monitor.

Each setup has its advantages. Hope that helps.

[Ortizimo!]

Thank you TOK, I just wasnt sure what to get...now I know.

[Ortizimo!]

Ok, I get the 256mb card issue but what about a rom like Area 51? Will a 256mb card run it?

[retrometro]

Ok, I get the 256mb card issue but what about a rom like Area 51? Will a 256mb card run it?

I've recently upgraded my mame cab pc and this thread was very helpful.  It took a while to read the entire thread but you'll find many of your questions answered (and then some).

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=72776.0

[ideft]

Mame does not rely heavily on video cards.  I pretty sure that a 64 mb onboard would run 95% of the games just fine.  Mame relies more on cpu speed.  A video card is just an easy way to output to a TV.  Don't get too hung up on video cards as most will be overkill for mame.  Focus more on the cpu and ram.  Not sure about Area 51 as I don't have chds.  My guess would be you would need a pretty decent computer to run it.

[Ortizimo!]

Thnx for all your help...

[Ortizimo]

Ok, here's the rig...

AMD 6400 Dual Core
2GB ATI Crossfire RAM PC6400
80GB SATA HD---------------------------------ill upgrade later
20x SATA DVD
Floppy-------------------------------------------for troubleshooting and such
ATI Crossfile X8600 GTO 256MB
Gigabyte MOBO

All I'm missing now is the monitor but still cannot decide which one to use...can anyone recommend a brand? I was looking at HAPP.com but they have so many. Also, I think the Killer Instinct cabinet holds a 25" monitor...I've google but I cannot seem to find anywhere so I can confirm this. Thanks!

[northerngames]

KI runs a 25" standard res monitor.

you will need a arcadvga card or run soft15K on your current card in order to display the pc on a arcade monitor safely and with the correct native display.

there is low res 15K med res 25K and Hi res 31K AKA VGA

you cannot display 31K on a 15K or 25K or vice versa etc.

almost all the arcade games were 15K so that is the choice of most members here as 25K is very limited and 31K vga monitors cannot display the authentic arcade low res displays.   

[Ortizimo]

Thanks...

[Nemss316]

My current CPU is:

2.4 P4
512MB of RAM
GeForce FX 5200 AGP.

I am running Soft15KHZ and hooked it up to my arcade monitor to test, and it works great!

The only thing I may upgrade is the RAM. the only game I have slowdown in is KI2.

I would call anyone you know, and maybe see about salvaging some PC parts and build one. Might be cheaper than buying new!

[Ortizimo]

Thanks...I'll look up the 15khz software...dont understand the last part but incase were confused...i already have the KI1 cabinet...all I need is the monitor...thats another thread...