| To run MAME at top speed I wanted to get a pretty
fast computer, but I didn't want to spend a TON of money either
so decided to go with an Intel Celeron processor. The extra
cache memory on the Pentium-II processors was not real important
for MAME and the Celerons were a lot cheaper. I opted for a
400 MHz Slot 1 Celeron. This computer runs 99% of MAME and NEOGEO
games perfectly. The computer was purchased in MAy of 1999.
You can get an even better computer for a lot less money at
this point. I would suggest to enyone buying a computer for
this type of project to get one at least this fast. Having a
good amount of memory is very usefull too. It will help If you
plan on using some of the larger ROMS in you game. The computer
is as follows: |
| I chose the Soundblaster AWE64 gold because
I was going to be using the DOS version of MAME and ArcadeOS
the DOS only frontend so I wanted a good sounding DOS compatible
sound card and this is it. I got it for $58.00 at Computer
Geeks. |
S2 Midiland 4030 Speaker/Subwoofer
with control module
Module mounted in cabinet |
I chose the S2 Midiland 4030 system because
of it's terrific sound and because of the control module. The
control module is a separate piece that is made to mount in
a 5 1/4" drive bay and has controls for Volume, balance,
Bass, Treble Etc. on it. This was perfect for the project because
this way I could mount this module just inside the coin door
and have access to all the sound controls. Most speaker/subwoofer
systems have the volume on a speaker or the subwoofer itself
which would be very difficult to get to in the cabinet. The
list price is around $169 but I got it for $120 at Beyond.com.
Here is a
review of this product on Tweak3D
The version that I have is black not white. |
Front speakers |
The Front speakers were mounted behind the marquee
by cutting a hole just smaller than a speaker and strapping
it down to the board with the speaker pointing down. |
Computer in cabinet |
I mounted the computer directly to the cabinet
side with plastic PCB standoffs instead of putting the entire
case into the cabinet. This way it should get better airflow
and the cabinet can be moved without knocking everything around
in the case. The CD-ROM and 3 1/2" FDD were mounted just
inside the coin door so they can be access through the coin
door to update software. I made a brace out of an angled piece
of aluminum to hold down the video and sound cards. Click the
image on the left to see a good close-up of the computer. |
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Inside the cabinet -
All components |
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The OS is strictly DOS. The DOS version of MAME is faster
and the ArcadeOS frontend that I use is a native DOS program.
ArcadeOS is the best DOS only frontend for MAME. It was written
by Brian Lewis for
his PC2JAMMA project. Make sure to check out his project HERE.
ArcadeOS is the only frontend (that I know of) that supports
arcade monitor frequencies. Edit the arcadeos.cfg file and
change the switch to tell it to display arcade frequencies.
(incabinet=1). Then in the autoexec.bat file add the following
lines:
When the PC boots, it will start arcadeOS and then it will
beep 3 times when it has changed the video frequency to be
compatible with an arcade monitor. Then you can turn on the
monitor.
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