Mini PC for mame anyone tried one.

Venom

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Although I do have a raspberry pi, I am quite interested in the Sinden light gun and thought would maybe put something together with a bit better spec, so hopefully can run dolphin to play some shooters via some other systems and mame.

I am thinking about a mini pc build maybe an i5 4th generation or above , , 16gb nuc, Lenova 73P or similar. I do have a gdemu and original Wii but would like to see how dreamcast and wii games play and look via a i5 PC. Also want to use mame where someone kindly sourced me a 202 no clones.

Although I would like to play rambo using teknoparrot that would require an expensive NUC or an SFF, as needs a decent gpu , and not sure want to get something that big TBH. Those canyon boxes even secondhand are still very expensive too !

Just wondered if anyone else had built a mame mini pc , what they got in the end ? Also are they very noisy fans in the mini PC's ?. Any Recommendations. Dont want to spend a fortune either :)

I am assuming dolphin and dreamcast emulators rely more on the processor than needing a high spec gpu.

It has to be a small box as limited space.
 
Titchgamer

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I also upgraded my PC once I ordered my Sindens for the same reasons as you but I actually brought a laptop :p

I to am limited on space so no room for a PC rig, But I can use a laptop for my day to day stuff and then when I want to play a game on it just connect it to my TV via HDMI.

The big downside to this is laptop hardware aint cheap but they can have some pretty decent CPU/GPU specs.
 
Venom

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Snap space is my issue, as have a stone fireplace with limited room. My amp and Xbox and sub already taking up space !

I have an i5 laptop at mo but normal graphics chip.

Thinking a m73p may be ok

Are you on the kick starter for one of the first 250 guns. Be really interested to see how you get on. Did you get a recoil one, not sure I want to spend the additional money.
 
Venom

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This looks nice , did not realise you could get onboard graphic chips like that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLX2dmioC10

Might try and see if can build this from ebay second hand stuff. Only thing I think I would need to alter is the case. It seems too small for me like a bit more room for air etc. I have never pasted a fan onto a chip before so that will be fun.

Not sure why people expect the same price on secondhand components as they are new in ebay, !

I am in no rush so will see if can pick a few things up cheap.

Will go for the processor that runs less hot !
 
Titchgamer

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Venom said:
This looks nice , did not realise you could get onboard graphic chips like that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLX2dmioC10

Might try and see if can build this from ebay second hand stuff. Only thing I think I would need to alter is the case. It seems too small for me like a bit more room for air etc. I have never pasted a fan onto a chip before so that will be fun.

Not sure why people expect the same price on secondhand components as they are new in ebay, !

I am in no rush so will see if can pick a few things up cheap.

Will go for the processor that runs less hot !
Click to expand...

Yeah I backed the original KS.

I was one of the lucky few to of played with the prototype so it was a no brainer for me to support him!

I remember watching that ETA prime video when he made it!
He does some good stuff :)
 
tronads

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I am running Groovymame is 3 of my cabs, all of which are on Dell SFF i5's with a cheap Ati card in them for 15khz.
They can be bought very cheaply, my most recent one cost me £41 on Ebay, and I had a 240gb SDD kicking about to put in it, and got an appropriate half height ati card for I think 12 quid.
 
Escape-to-88

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Pretty much snap as Tronads. Dell 3010 SFFs with Radeons. Paid about £30 each and bought a handful a few years back to experiment with different configs and Radeon series.
 
Venom

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Yes those mini pc's are not cheap compared to a dell sff.
But cant really have a pc where it needs to go, as is in lounge.

Although maybe a Nice lightgun only set up in the garage !
 
councilface

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I've been wondering this too. Id like one for my bartop as I really don't get along with raspberries AND I'm desperate to get the monaco gp simulator on there...
 
tronbaby

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I've had a couple of Alienware X51's which are SFF but super powerful. Not cheap but great. Only downside is the pwer transformer is external and a bit of a brick
 
D

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What is the best front end now for PCs? When I built one before it was Hyperspin but maybe things have moved on?

I am building one for the same reason - for my Sinden guns.

Thanks.
 
Venom

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The AMD PN6- with Ryzen 5 look pretty tempting, if they move price at all when they are a bit older.
Like to get the below £300 !!

Think they may give the nucs a run for their money,

Although there is £100 off some i5 nucs at the moment

https://www.ebuyer.com/store/Components/cat/Barebones/subcat/Barebones
 
Venom

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Guys what do you think will be best the amd or the i5 tall for wii and dreamcast and mame mostly thanks Need to start saving !! Second hand mini pc prices are a joke !Venom2020-11-15 14:12:00
 
baadm

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Intel has quietly rolled out i3-10100F, outstanding for the price. Just check the benchmarks. Turbo 4,3Ghz, 4 cores / 8 threads just pair it with itx or matx motherboard and you are ready to go.

AMD Ryzen 3 3100 and 3300x are also great.

baadm2020-11-26 14:51:50
 
chubsta

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i would really like to see how the new m1 mac mini performs with mame - eta prime has just done a review of the new mac pro running emulators and it performs fantastically even under rosetta 2 emulation! for the price i think a mac mini m1 would be a viable option once native emulators are released
 
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