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

[tetsujin]

I'm too confused!

Forgetting second hand for now, where is a good place online to buy these parts cheap?

I need to get my head around this as its all new to me.

[pubjoe]

Markedkiller put up a good component list last page.

I do think it'd be a good idea to get yourself to Pete's next month.

[tetsujin]

I think I might!

Question is, do I bring a box of stuff?

As I said in my openIng post, I have never owned a pc and always worked on macs but never had to take them apart/upgrade as its with work so not my problem.

I used to have one of Joel's mame jamma things a few years ago and that played most stuff very well IMO.

[pubjoe]

Mametopia, yeah that was good.

Bring a box.

I used to love PC building but now I just find it painful, hence my use of Macs too.

Tinkering goes hand in hand with mame to be honest. It's enjoyable and worth doing at least once though.

[AeroCityMayor]

... where is a good place online to buy these parts cheap?

I've not bought anything for a few years but here's my dealer: http://cclonline.com"

I always used to check all the prices online then end up going to them anyway

HTH

Cheers,

Ralph.

[Pete]

Retrorepair was selling a Mametopia board on UKVac not so long ago it sold very fast.

[tetsujin]

Retrorepair was selling a Mametopia board on UKVac not so long ago it sold very fast.

Isn't that Joel who made them?

[tetsujin]

... where is a good place online to buy these parts cheap?

I've not bought anything for a few years but here's my dealer: http://cclonline.com"

I always used to check all the prices online then end up going to them anyway

HTH

Cheers,

Ralph.

Cheers mate

[chubsta]

As others have said, definitely get a Radeon HD4350 card - i got one off eBay for £16 a couple of months back - whatever else you do with the system you will not have a greater impact than being able to run GroovyMame easily rather than standard mame, it really makes all the difference.

A super-fast processor will make most games run well but if they dont look right what is the point?

[chubsta]

Also, i use Macs myself and hate pcs, but i can build a pc and have mame up and running on it in not much more time than it takes to install windows so it is really easy, just plug stuff in the right socket, hard to go wrong...

[tetsujin]

Thanks dude.

I don't have a problem with the 'build' side but its what to build it with that's new to me.

I need a list of what to get really.

I'm set on a Radeon HD 4350 but that's all I know.

[AeroCityMayor]

Hi d00d,

For a budget setup, restrict your processor to Intel C2D. E8xxx will do the trick nicely. (I have an Intel E8500 3.14 GHz C2D)

For the above processor, you'll need a "socket 775" motherboard, Check the motherboard manufacturers' websites to check processor compatibility.

Also, further on down the line, use a 64 bit OS (I'm using WinXP64) for a 25% - 33% "free" increase in speed across the board!

In terms of reducing lag I'd also advise avoiding USB connections for your controls - Stick to PS/2.

I've not bothered with graphics cards but make sure the drivers are compatible with your OS.

HTH

Cheers,

Ralph.

[cools]

The USB / PS2 thing has been debunked IIRC Ralph. Don't use crap USB devices was what it boiled down to.

[pubjoe]

The USB / PS2 thing has been debunked IIRC Ralph. Don't use crap USB devices was what it boiled down to.

Do you remember a source on that cools?

[cools]

I checked it out subsequent to that post. There were originally two issues - lag and key rollover. This was on really old USB standards. Anything using fullspeed USB should exhibit no measurable lag, and the key rollover is device dependent.

While there are quite a number of articles with different debates - amusingly the neatest one I can find is on the Ultimarc site: http://www.ultimarc.com/usb_vs_ps2.html"

[markedkiller78]

Actually, I have a mametopia board here in a box I tested it about 6 months ago & all was good.

[tetsujin]

Mark, you mush have enough spare to sell to make a decent Mame PC to me


So far I am liking the little PC Joe linked to on the other page (Core 2 Duo, Radeon HD4350 card blah, blah..)

Is that one I should try an get?


Unless you wana sell me that mametopia...

[markedkiller78]

I do, but that CD2 will probably be cheaper. I suspect I over paid a little but hey ho.

If you are looking at C2D the 6XXX & 7XXX are decent chips too. The E8400 is one of the best though.

I paid & am asking £110 shipped:

http://www.avforums.com/forums/archived ... -30-a.html"

Shuttle SN68SG2
+ X2 4200
2GB DDR2

All you need is a HDD + Single Slot HD4350

A £30 SSD would be my recommendation + £23 new / £10-15 second hand HD4350 on ebay. Make sure you get a single slot. I stupidly thought the shuttle could take a double. It has 2 bays, but the GPU is the outermost

[cools]

I have a HD2400 spare that I'd let go for the price of a pint - I'm not sure it's up to SSFIV standards but I know it works flawlessly with MAME. It's passively cooled.

[markedkiller78]

That shuttle has Integrated graphics engine NVIDIA GeForce 7025. So it will run 2D mame without a dedicated GPU.

I dunno about CRT EMU though.