Mame pc.

[bonehead]

Ok so I’m getting the need for a Mame pcb. Spoken about it for over a year now and done nothing.

I have an iPac 2 so ready to plug and play.

Questions is what spec pc would be the minimum to play Mame games at their best? Only want to play arcade games on it, not racing, shooting or other console games just arcade games.

Thanks
Steve

 

[AnDyC]

I run a Intel q9650 quad core cpu, 8gb ram and a geforce 750ti and can play everything I need in mame/demul/supermodel3/taito type 2/teknoparrot etc.

Obviously if you only want to play golden era games you can lower the spec. AnDyC2018-02-13 20:26:52

 

[big10p]

I like to have an occasional bash on newer games sometimes, like Cave shooters, so I run i3 in my mame cabs. Just make sure you get a newer gen i3 if you go for one. Think mine are generation 3 or 4. They work well but maybe a frame or 2 gets dropped here and there on the more demanding games.

 

[Flinnster]

In all honesty I'm getting more impressed with the pi box the more I work with it.
I've been running cave shooters OK, but yeah.. you won't emulate any Naomi / Taito F3 or other early 3D hardware on it.
But.. it's super small - my box is the size of an MVS cart - and there are no fans or moving parts to get screwed at power off.

 

[AnDyC]

Does the pi run the latest mame or is it still a crappy hacked up old version?

 

[Flinnster]

Not sure about 'hacked' but it's running the 1.06 reference romset so still fairly old I guess.
Then again most games are over 30 years old anyway. Old is relative

 

[ZedEx48K]

For golden era you just need an old p4 3GHZ for 10/15 quid and then to decide what method you are going to use to get a 15k output.

 

[penrhos]

P4 3Ghz or quicker, 4Gb ram, 2Tb HDD if you want all the romz. decent video card.

I use Windows 7 64 bit

 

[bonehead]

Ok thanks.
What video card should o go for if I want to run 15khz?

Cheers

 

[big10p]

The power of the graphics card doesn't matter, as mame doesn't use it, so you can just go for a cheap Radeon, if you're going to be using CRT emudriver and GroovyMAME (recommended!). There's a list of compatible cards in this thread:
http://geedorah.com/eiusdemmodi/forum/viewtopic.php?id=47

You may also want to get yourself a JPAC, if you're going to be sticking this in a JAMMA cab. I also recommend getting an SSD as it makes booting/loading MUCH faster. You don't need a huge one if you're not bothering with CHD mame games (newer games that have huge disc image files). Think my SSDs are only 128GB and I have a full romset and videos (for the frontend).

big10p2018-02-14 14:53:02

 

[ZedEx48K]

Yeah, an older ATI card or you have the ArcadeVGA if you want to pay more for less hassle.

You can also clean up a mame romset to less than 30gig (ignoring CHDs and most are worth ignoring)
ZedEx48K2018-02-14 16:33:49

 

[big10p]

Yeah, should have said I filtered out all the CHD, adult, casino games etc. No point having stuff you're never going to want to play.