Mame in cab thread. Frontends, gamelists, configuration etc.

[pubjoe]

Go to Pete's next month.

In fact, turn up with all the ordered components and leave with an AO* group effort mamebox.

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[cools]

CPU you want as much as possible, GPU is far less critical. Multicore offers a bit of benefit with GroovyMAME but not drastic.

I'm using a Pentium Dual Core 2.5GHz and it's fine for everything bar 3D or interlaced games (they have some weirdness with the refreshrate in 31k). I'd like something quicker but in all honesty that'd be throwing money away.

[markedkiller78]

Good to know.I sold an i5 760 for peanuts a few months back thinking I would never use it

[cools]

I sold an E8400 setup in much the same way. That didn't have a PS2 port but I could've used the CPU.

[markedkiller78]

I sold an E8400 setup in much the same way. That didn't have a PS2 port but I could've used the CPU.

I remember that, I thought about buying it

[tetsujin]

I think I need to understand what I need in a PC to make it 'MAME Ready'.

In this day and age I wont need things like CD drives etc as I can just use mem. cards etc?

So, ...

Case
PSU
RAM? (size)
Motherboard???
graphics card???
Hard Drive (size)

Thats it right?

Slap it all in a box and im good to go.

If I looked for second hand parts, what part would you start with (to decide what best suits after that).

[cools]

CPU first. Everything else hangs off this but is far less critical in terms of what it actually is - you could still use a 10year old HDD and case for example if desperate.

[tetsujin]

CPU first. Everything else hangs off this but is far less critical in terms of what it actually is - you could still use a 10year old HDD and case for example if desperate.

So CPU is like the heart of the PC.

If I was to be building a good MAME PC, that would be small and compact, what CPU would I want that I could get cheap enough without getting silly?

I want it to go in one of the small boxes that look simple and small but I am not sure if too small and sleak compromises my options?

[cools]

Just makes it more expensive.

A MiniITX wallmount case will set you back about £60 without PSU, and the cooling will be woeful.

You don't particularly need a case, but it makes mounting the parts more difficult. And a case that can't be wallmounted means you'd have to figure out some way of attaching it to a PCB mounting board.

[pubjoe]

http://r.ebay.com/LT2Otp"

+

http://www.arcadeshop.de/product_info.p ... anguage=en"

=



Exactly what I did. The shuttle system cost me £75 over two years ago. Mine was lower spec though. Obviously closer to home would be better - the ebay item is just an example really, but postage isn't much more than it'd be inside the UK anyway.

[markedkiller78]

That looks ideal PJ.

[tetsujin]

That's exactly the sort of look and style I am after.

So would that sort of spec and size be ok and cooling would be ok?

I'm just not sure on the specs side of things!

[tetsujin]

How is this pc for spec/price?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/XPC-SHUTTLE-P ... 232b341a67"

[markedkiller78]

That's probably AGP rather than PCI (you won't get an hd4350) for it. Too old IMO, I have one with a similar spec in my loft.

[tetsujin]

Do you think I am better off building from scratch then? Do you have anything you would sell that would be any good?

Also, if I cot a pc like the one I linked to, could I gut it and keep the psu, hd, etc and just swap the motherboard, up the ram and Gpx card as this way I can get a nice small case and the things to run it, or is that a stupid idea?

[tetsujin]

That's probably AGP rather than PCI (you won't get an hd4350) for it. Too old IMO, I have one with a similar spec in my loft.

What's AGP and PCI?

[pubjoe]

They're both types of graphics card sockets. PCI-express is the newer, current type. For ease and CRT compatibility, the most modern you can get is a HD4xxx series ATI graphics card, afaik.

I searched google for a "Core2duo shuttle". Shuttle is a popular brand of Small Form Factor (SFF) computers - of which I've owned many models, old and new. They come new as "barebones" systems (Case, Motherboard and Power Supply included, to which you need to add your own Ram, harddisk and Graphics card to). Second-hand shuttles on ebay will usually have all the components of a fully built system included, but check the description.

Core2Duo (C2D) is a type of CPU from intel - when they got good, after the atrociously hot running Pentium 4 (P4). Exxxx (eg, E6400) is Dual core and Qxxxx is quad core. Dual is plenty enough for mame afaik. Even better are the newer "i" models. Price/performance wise, I personally think a C2D shuttle is a good choice for a small, cheap second-hand system, but if you can get an i3 (dual core), i5 or i7 (quad cores) for similar money, go for it. Pentium 4's actually do a decent enough job of mame and are cheaper, but various issues such as heat, age, AGP graphics (often) and price of compatible RAM mean that it's worth passing on imo. You also have the AMD brand of CPUs, but their model numbers are even more meaningless!

[Pete]

The Atomiswave emu needs GPU aswell as CPU.

[tetsujin]

So if I can get an i3 (dual) or i5 motherboard I'm on the right start?

After that I need a gpx card, something cheap but good enough for mame.

Joe, are you saying that I could get a sff which would have the above in?

[pubjoe]

Second hand, yes. That ebay one I linked to would be good if it ends at around £80. It's 'only' Core2Duo though. I don't know if there's anything arcade-related that needs a better processor (?). A Core2Duo does the job for me anyway.

Pre-built Core2Duo Shuttles pop up frequently and cheaply on ebay.

Also, I know that the shuttle I linked to has a PS2 keyboard port, which is a requirement for JammASD compatibility and also an arguably less laggy input method than USB. I've never read concrete proof that USB actually has more lag by the way. It's a popular assumption due to the software controller, but I couldn't comment further than that.