Following my own instructions (recommend me some games?)

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cools
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Following my own instructions (recommend me some games?)

Post by cools »

I've got this Sony PVM-1371QM that's doing a whole lot of nothing. I'm looking at it and thinking I'm sure I can find a MicroATX/SFF desktop PC that can sit underneath it neatly, so why not put together a tidy little emulator setup...

Bought one of these VGA to BNC cables a while ago, and picked up a BNC T-piece to combine the sync lines for the monitor.

Did some research into suitable MicroATX cases, couldn't find anything. Looked at the dimensions for some SFF desktop prebuilds, and the Dells seemed to be good. Wasn't looking to spend much cash but spotted these 755s with the highest spec CPU and next day delivery, so grabbed one. They're a little narrower in desktop mode than I'd have liked, but the feet on the monitor will fit perfectly so not a problem.

I've got a passively cooled Radeon HD2400 PCI-E doing nothing, but it's a full height card. Fingers crossed that this bracket will do the job.

Audio - headphones from the front port of the PC. The monitor also has a 3.5mm input so a short M-M 3.5mm audio cable is all I need to connect them at the back.

Controls I've not decided on yet. I'm not going with keyboard encoders or anything I've got to build, and don't want adapters mid way. Anyone have any recommendations for USB pads/sticks?
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Re: Following my own instructions (recommend me a controller

Post by cools »

Long shot - anyone know of an inline device that does the same job as a J-PAC in disabling video that isn't 15Khz?

I.e. VGA IN > Protection device > VGA OUT
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Re: Following my own instructions (recommend me a controller

Post by joeblade »

I've got three of the Dell Optiplex's now!! :lol: although 1 of them i've had for years...great little emulation machines imo... ;)

mmm Pads & Sticks...purely subjective....

I've got a tankstick modded with seimitsu's and concave buttons which works for me...If I was getting something now I'd do a custom job ie minipac, buttons and sticks and put it into the smallest 2 player base i could make that comfortably allows for 2ply gaming.

Any of the hori's are pretty good tbh but the cheapest to play with are the datels I believe, pad wise...I'd love to get an original sega saturn usb pad..missed one on fleabay a couple of weeks ago now! :(
For gods sake, its a carton box - not the holy grail!
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Re: Following my own instructions (recommend me a controller

Post by cools »

I always found the Saturn pads felt flimsy, plus a guaranteed Sega USB one is going to cost a bomb. Think I'm going to go with a couple of Hori PS3 pads just to see how things go - they'll be tiny and cheap compared to some sticks.
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Re: Following my own instructions (recommend me a controller

Post by Mr-Megalo »

I kept back a 3-1 Magic Box and an original Saturn pad for my emulation setup.

Matt, do you need analogue ? I might have an original Playstation pad and USB convertor kicking around
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Re: Following my own instructions (recommend me a controller

Post by cools »

I really like the look of the Hori Fighting Stick Mini 3, if I could find one or two for a sensible price.

Don't need analogue Meg, thanks for the offer. If I do at a later date I'll go with a DS3 or something, I'm trying to avoid converters as much as possible for this setup.
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Re: Following my own instructions (recommend me a controller

Post by joeblade »

I really like the look of the Hori Fighting Stick Mini 3
Don't bother with them mate unless you like the feel of the original ps2 mini hori...i've still got one....don't get me wrong they look great but the buttons feel like early leaf buttons on a competition pro (spongy) and the travel on the stick is ridiculous imo... :problem:

Ok maybe for a quick gaming sesh though...
plus a guaranteed Sega USB one is going to cost a bomb
You'd think so but the one I missed on fleabay went for £25ish shipped... :(
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Re: Following my own instructions (recommend me a controller

Post by cools »

£25 for one is too much for this :D
Ok maybe for a quick gaming sesh though...
That's pretty much all this is for. I'll keep an eye out.
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Re: Following my own instructions (recommend me a controller

Post by Asure »

I'm using a DC arcade stick. Pretty heavy, rock solid. They can be found on the cheap if you look around. Easy to mod too. :)
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Re: Following my own instructions (recommend me a controller

Post by cools »

Not sure why but this makes me somewhat nostalgic. Looks far cooler tower next to the monitor than underneath.
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Everything works fine, display won't sync to 31KHz but it doesn't blow up either.

I'll be going through my GroovyUME instructions and checking they're okay, only this time with a 15K monitor.
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Re: Following my own instructions (recommend me a controller

Post by ninn »

NICE!
Looks so cool!

I got one of those pcs too, took it for its size.
I have to get such a setup too! :-o
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Re: Following my own instructions (recommend me a controller

Post by cools »

I'd love to get one of these monitors in slightly better condition, with the flap. Have been waiting a long time though.
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Re: Following my own instructions (recommend me a controller

Post by rugdoctor »

cools wrote:Not sure why but this makes me somewhat nostalgic. Looks far cooler tower next to the monitor than underneath.
Image

Everything works fine, display won't sync to 31KHz but it doesn't blow up either.

I'll be going through my GroovyUME instructions and checking they're okay, only this time with a 15K monitor.
Scrunched up tissue beside the computer :oops:
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Re: Following my own instructions (recommend me a controller

Post by cools »

Heh, yeah its a screen wipe ;)
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Re: Following my own instructions (recommend me a controller

Post by joeblade »

cools wrote:Not sure why but this makes me somewhat nostalgic. Looks far cooler tower next to the monitor than underneath.
Image

Everything works fine, display won't sync to 31KHz but it doesn't blow up either.

I'll be going through my GroovyUME instructions and checking they're okay, only this time with a 15K monitor.
Like it cools! :awe:

Almost got an fm towms, sharp x68000 feel about it! 8-)

I take it this will be for GroovyUME arcade and console shizzle?
For gods sake, its a carton box - not the holy grail!
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Re: Following my own instructions (recommend me a controller

Post by cools »

Yeah, I'll shove GroovyUME on it. I'm not sure if my Radeon will actually fit a low profile machine though, the heatsink extends quite high. May need to cut it back, or see how well Powerstrip works.
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Re: Following my own instructions (recommend me a controller

Post by ninn »

is there a reason you are using this, instead of the default graphics-card?
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Re: Following my own instructions (recommend me a controller

Post by cools »

The default is an Intel. That doesn't work with CRT_Emudriver (hacked Radeon drivers)
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Re: Following my own instructions (recommend me a controller

Post by cools »

Furthermore, the Intel doesn't work with Powerstrip either.

I've managed to kill the optical drive (well, if anyone can find me the D300 firmware version for a Dell OEM TS-L633A DVD-RW drive that'd fix it. Updating it wasn't a good idea, none of the newer firmwares work), other than that successful day.

The Radeon 2400 I'm using won't go down below an 8.0MHz dotclock, so I'm considering replacing it (it just means I can't get *really low* resolutions). Everything else is working fine though, as per the instructions.
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Re: Following my own instructions (recommend me a controller

Post by cools »

Picked up a pair of Hori Fighting Commander Pro 3s for this. Get good reviews, cost peanuts and look the business.
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