Jeremy's Cocktail Project

[jeremymtc]

Hi guys. I've been a lurker here for quite a long time, probably for about the last 8-9 years. I'm quite familiar with MAME and the BYO scene, and have always wanted to build my own arcade cabinet. I have finally decided to quit procrastinating and get a project in gear.

To that end, I pulled the trigger on the purchase of suitable computer components about a month or so ago. With an eye toward a decent budget computer build, this is what I bought:


JetWay I31GM4 LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
FSP Group ATX300-PA 300W ATX 12V (v2.2) Power Supply
Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
AllComponents 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
HITACHI Travelstar 7K200 80GB 7200 RPM 2.5" SATA 1.5Gb/s Notebook Hard Drive
Logitech Cordless Desktop EX 100

I've got all the above parts setup as a test rig, using an 8800GT, a decased 19" 5:4 LCD and the remains of an old ATX case I gutted out as a mounting substrate. OS is WinXP32, and I'm currently playing with GameEx as a frontend.

 

[jeremymtc]

With the basic computer hardware taken care of, I turned my attention to the controls and layout for my project.

I already had an old HotRodSE stick I had purchased back in '01 or so, and I had initially planned to use it for it's sticks, buttons, and encoder. However, a really killer deal came up on my local Craigslist, and I jumped on it.

For $150 USD, I got the following:

AMD Socket A system w/ 160G HDD
Ipac4
OptiPac
4x Ultimarc Red T-Stick 4-8 Way selectable JS
3x 2.25" Red STC Trackball
~20 Happ Buttons
~50 Cherry Switch
Happ Dual Coin Door
Happ Coin Mechs
Big box of various momentary switches, nuts, bolts, hardware, female spade connectors, etc.


All of this hardware was basically new, and had very little previous use. The acquisition of this new pile of loot kind of changed my gameplan wrt my control schemes and panel layouts.

I decided on a 3-sided cocktail layout:

[jeremymtc]

Here are the layouts for my horizontal and vertical control panels:

[jeremymtc]

I've ordered and received three sheets of 3/4" black melamine-faced MDF (which is actually more like particle-board than actual MDF), and I plan on starting my cut-work this weekend. I've already made a dummy control panel out of 5/8" MDF in order to test my layout and to make sure that I was capable of the basic woodwork/routing skills needed for construction in 3/4". So far, it's looking hunky-dory.

I had spent the last few evenings finishing up the basic cabinet design, and feel that I have it pretty much where I want it... Though I'm certain that I'll encounter some areas where some "revision" becomes necessary 

I hope to have some updates and progress pics up soon. Cheers!

[SpeedEng]

lol I hope your not keepin the 8800gt in there seems like overkill..


im pretty much just picked up my parts too
e2160
pos pcchips mb
1x2 gb xms ddr2
150gb raptor (I just upgraded my wife gamin rig to a ssd vertex and 1tb hd)
old left over agp 6600

gl man!

[jeremymtc]

Yes, the 8800 is massive-overkill for MAME but I do plan to be able to use this system for HTPC uses as well, and there are PC titles which may find their way onto this platform as well. The video card recently came out of my main PC gaming rig, and I don't have any other use for it. I plan on installing A/V, networking and USB outputs on the cab as part of its basic functionality. I'll throw in more storage as it becomes necessary.

GL on your project too!

[jeremymtc]

Small update... No sexy pics though, have to get some new batteries for me camera 

I've got all my basic panels cut out, but still have some finishing work to do on them before they can be bolted together into a proper cabinet... I still need to drill my panels, and cut out my access holes for wiring, fans and speakers. Getting there, though. I promise some pictures soon.

I've been ordering and buying parts and hardware willy-nilly. On the way, or already received are the following:

Happ 2.25" trackball mounting kits (to be flush-mounted)
Happ 19" Flat-Screen Monitor Bezel (this is pretty cool, nice and well-trimmed vacuformed piece - fits my monitor like a glove)
Happ ventilated inset cabinet handles (they had them on sale for a pittance)
DB-25 Breakout Boards (for CP wiring)
RJ-45 Extenders (for CP wiring/connecting - I already have bulk CAT-5e cable, connectors, and expensive crimper left over from when I wired my shop)
A/V-Out Wall Panel with HDMI, USB and RJ-45 connectors (I've realized that I will still need to plumb Audio-Out, as the 8800GT I have doesn't fully support the HDMI specification. Bummer)


I also manged to find a nice set of speakers lurking in my workshop, factory speakers taken from a BMW E30 project. Will use these combined with the amp and sub from a cheapie PC 2.1 system. Still have to figure out what I want as speaker grilles... Should I go with the ubiquitous grilles used on the old Namco cocktail games, or something else? Opinions?

That's about it for now...