project 64, Freedo

[Tempest]

My system:

17:08:39.0 1/29/2008: GameEx: Version 9.08: Starting Log

17:08:39.1 1/29/2008: Operating System Platform: Win32NT

17:08:39.1 1/29/2008: Operating System Name: Windows XP

17:08:39.1 1/29/2008: Operating System Version: 5.1.2600

17:08:39.1 1/29/2008: Checking for versions of .net Framework installed

17:08:39.1 1/29/2008: .net Framework 2.0 Installed

17:08:39.1 1/29/2008: Intel® Celeron® CPU 2.40GHz, 1022MB

17:08:39.1 1/29/2008: 2.39Ghz

I have Mame,Daphne,Nebula,Visual Pinball, Zinc, and Raine working well.

I have tried Future Pinball, Mjolnir, and Model2, but the games run too slow for my system. (is that the way it is or am I doing something wrong?)

What other Emulators should I try without duplicating what I already have?

According to what I've read Freedo should run on my system...What do you think?

How about Project 64?

[Brian Hoffman]

Pj64 should be ok... Id upgrade your processor to a pentium tho. More cache memory and better instruction set support. It would be pretty cheap just to pop in a new cpu in the same slot

[Tempest]

Pj64 should be ok... Id upgrade your processor to a pentium tho. More cache memory and better instruction set support. It would be pretty cheap just to pop in a new cpu in the same slot

I found this, What do you think?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...6819116027#spec

$80.00 - How do I know if it will work with my motherboard, or not?

Should I get a cooling fan?

I will appreciate responses from everybody.....

[Brian Hoffman]

I found this, What do you think?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...6819116027#spec

$80.00 - How do I know if it will work with my motherboard, or not?

Should I get a cooling fan?

I will appreciate responses from everybody.....

is you celeron plugged into Socket 478 ? if so then most likely... You motherboard manual will tell you the supported chips.

you should get a fan as well

[Tempest]

is you celeron plugged into Socket 478 ? if so then most likely... You motherboard manual will tell you the supported chips.

you should get a fan as well

I don't have my manual, I did a search for my part#, and found this:

General Features:

Intel 845GL Chipset

microATX form factor (also called mATX or uATX) w/20-pin ATX power connector and 4-pin ATX12V power connector

Socket 478

400 MHz FSB

Support for up to 2 GB DDR RAM (DDR 200/266 MHz)

Two (2) UDMA/33/66/100 IDE controllers

Integrated Intel 845GL graphics

Intel Pentium 4 GHz 1.40 â?? 2.60 GHz Socket 478 processors/400 MHz FSB

Intel Celeron 1.70 - 2.80 GHz Socket 478 processors w/400 MHz FSB

It looks like the best I can do for my computer is:

http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Pentium_4/In...32PC2600D).html

$123.00 - do you think it would be worth it?

[Brian Hoffman]

I don't have my manual, I did a search for my part#, and found this:

General Features:

Intel 845GL Chipset

microATX form factor (also called mATX or uATX) w/20-pin ATX power connector and 4-pin ATX12V power connector

Socket 478

400 MHz FSB

Support for up to 2 GB DDR RAM (DDR 200/266 MHz)

Two (2) UDMA/33/66/100 IDE controllers

Integrated Intel 845GL graphics

Intel Pentium 4 GHz 1.40 â?? 2.60 GHz Socket 478 processors/400 MHz FSB

Intel Celeron 1.70 - 2.80 GHz Socket 478 processors w/400 MHz FSB

It looks like the best I can do for my computer is:

http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Pentium_4/In...32PC2600D).html

$123.00 - do you think it would be worth it?

I think this is a better deal...34 dolla.. its 800mhz bus speed but i bet it downclock just fine... Id try it for the price.

http://www.pcprogress.com/product.asp?m1=p...%2D800%2D260OEM

or if your bent on getting that exact one try.

http://www.starmicro.net/detail.aspx?ID=115 its 75.00

Can I get a hell ya!?

[Tempest]

I think this is a better deal...34 dolla.. its 800mhz bus speed but i bet it downclock just fine... Id try it for the price.

http://www.pcprogress.com/product.asp?m1=p...%2D800%2D260OEM

or if your bent on getting that exact one try.

http://www.starmicro.net/detail.aspx?ID=115 its 75.00

Can I get a hell ya!?

I'm not bent on anything, that's why I asked, You proably already guessed, but I don't have a clue!

BTW: Hell ya!

Thanks for your help!

[Tempest]

Pj64 should be ok... Id upgrade your processor to a pentium tho. More cache memory and better instruction set support. It would be pretty cheap just to pop in a new cpu in the same slot

Hell yeah!

I finally drank enough beer today to calm my nerves enough to try installing the new processor. When I pulled the heatsink out, the old processor came out with it...it didn't give me a chance to release it with the lever. I popped the new one in, added a little heat sink compound.....computer booted right up! What was I worried about?

I took a couple of before and after notes...not sure what they mean.

Before After

Dead or Alive 45% 34%

Carnevil 28% 21%

I used F11 to show frame skipping, so to me it makes sense that the numbers are lower, but if that's what the numbers mean, it doesn't seem right that Carnevil would have lower numbers than Dead or Alive. So I'm not sure....

Even though Carnevil doesn't run at full speed, Carnival does!

Thanks for the advice Brian!

[Tempest]

Hell yeah!

I finally drank enough beer today to calm my nerves enough to try installing the new processor. When I pulled the heatsink out, the old processor came out with it...it didn't give me a chance to release it with the lever. I popped the new one in, added a little heat sink compound.....computer booted right up! What was I worried about?

I took a couple of before and after notes...not sure what they mean.

Before After

Dead or Alive 45% 34%

Carnevil 28% 21%

I used F11 to show frame skipping, so to me it makes sense that the numbers are lower, but if that's what the numbers mean, it doesn't seem right that Carnevil would have lower numbers than Dead or Alive. So I'm not sure....

Even though Carnevil doesn't run at full speed, Carnival does!

Thanks for the advice Brian!

Hell no!

I played Tempest, and it is running at 85%! that means that it's not frames skipped, it's the percentage of full speed!!! AAAHHHH!

When I right click on my computer, it say p4 2.6GHz, but it's running at 1.3GHz. WTF?

I checked the BIOS, I see the clock speed, but not a way to change it...So then I pulled the battery out to reset. The clock on the computer is now wrong, so I would assume that that worked, but it is still running @ 1.3GHz.

If it were a 2x4, I would cut it into pieces, and use it for blocking....

At least it still runs, and I can still setup stuff on it.....I'm not upset, I just don't get it....Will talk to you tomorrow!

[Tempest]

I think I've gotten to the bottom of it, since my board is 400Mhz, and the processor is 800Mhz, when the FSB speed was cut in half, it also cut the processor speed in half. Make Sense?

[bkenobi]

That's correct. You need to set the FSB speed to the appropriate value for you processor. I had an Athlon XP that was supposed to be a 3200, but was only running at 2000 out of the box. Turns out it was running at 200MHz instead of 333MHz. Not a big deal, just go to BIOS and set it manually.

[Tempest]

That's correct. You need to set the FSB speed to the appropriate value for you processor. I had an Athlon XP that was supposed to be a 3200, but was only running at 2000 out of the box. Turns out it was running at 200MHz instead of 333MHz. Not a big deal, just go to BIOS and set it manually.

I checked again today just to make sure before I replied, my bios won't let me change the bus speed.

I have 6 options regarding CPU information:

Hyper Threading..........Enabled

CPU Speed.................Normal (other option is compatible)

Bus Speed..................400 MHz

Processor 0 ID............F29

Clock Speed............1.3GHz

Cache Size..............512 Kb

The first two have white text, and I can change them, The last four have blue text, and can't be change (as far as I can tell)

Any other Ideas? Is there a way to update my bios to allow for these changes?

[bkenobi]

It depends on your BIOS what you can or can't set. Typically, you should be able to set 3 things that adjust the CPU speed: FSB, multiplier, voltage. For non overclocking setups, you would set the FSB and multiplier according to what the CPU was designed for. In some cases, the voltage is adjusted slightly to improve performance and/or stability. If your CPU was designed to run with a faster bus speed than your BIOS allow, you will either need to accept it, get a new motherboard, or find a hacked BIOS for your system. However, I thought you checked that the MB supported that CPU prior to buying, so I assume it's just a setting you need to change.

What motherboard and CPU are you using?

EDIT: After checking the first couple posts, I think I see the problem. It looks like your motherboard supports up to a 400 MHz FSB, but the CPU you purchased sounds like it needs an 800 MHz FSB. Unless that board offers some SICK overclocking, you won't be able to use it at full speed. In fact, it will only run at half speed! I hope I'm wrong, but it doesn't look good...

[Tempest]

In fact, it will only run at half speed! I hope I'm wrong, but it doesn't look good...

I concur...I just put $100.00 in memory, and 60$ for the fan & processor.

I'm pretty much done fooling around, And am looking at getting a new computer (should have done that first)

The only thing that confuses me (well, not the only thing ) is that I have read that since the games are emulated, that graphic cards aren't important, but it seems that alot of people have pretty nice cards...What's the scoop?

I would like to try and get this right the second time...

[Brian Hoffman]

I concur...I just put $100.00 in memory, and 60$ for the fan & processor.

I'm pretty much done fooling around, And am looking at getting a new computer (should have done that first)

The only thing that confuses me (well, not the only thing ) is that I have read that since the games are emulated, that graphic cards aren't important, but it seems that alot of people have pretty nice cards...What's the scoop?

I would like to try and get this right the second time...

Mame doesnt care about the Gfx card.. But NullDc(dreamcast) PSCX2 (ps2) and most other consolse emulators do. Plus I like to play PC games..

It looks you stuck on the processor.. Your fps rates arent bad considering the pentium is running half the speed. Which goes to show you that you need to be sure to get a pentium not a celeron in your new rig.

Id think you can easily recoup some $$$ of all you did was spent 60 bucks on the chip. Id flip it on Ebay. Just do a barebones.

[bkenobi]

Well, that statement is true...and false.

For MAME, the goal is to emulate the hardware accurately to run the original roms as true to the original as possible. This means that there is no changing of the rom to allow for enhanced hardware that could run much faster. However, that doesn't mean that other emulators follow suit.

As far as console emulation, many systems are just done with bruit force these days. I don't think there's any need to worry about writing drivers to use the advanced graphics capabilities of the newest NVidia or ATI cards to play Pitfall. On the other hand, there are some fancy drivers for more modern systems that do help. Look at Dreamcast or PSX emulation for example. Those both have pretty impressive graphics and I believe they both have drivers that work with your video card.

In general though, I personally wouldn't worry about getting anything fancy for a graphics card for an arcade cabinet. I personally would spend the money on a hefty CPU and enough memory. BUT (there's always a but), it depends on what you want to play. If you only want to play 1970's arcade games, don't worry about it. You probably already have a good enough system. If you want to play modern consoles emulated on your PC, then you need to spend more money.

[Tempest]

You guys need to stop arguing about things you agree on!

I'm not saying this is the end-all, but I have been looking at this:

XFX GeForce 680i LT SLI Motherboard CPU Bundle

Are you ready for dual-GPU computing? Whether you're a gamer or just a graphics buff, the XFX NFORCE 680I LT is an excellent chassis. It is designed for Intel processors like the Core 2 Extreme, Core 2 Extreme Quad, Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad, Celeron D, Pentium 4, and Pentium D series. It has 2 PCI Express x16 slots, perfect for running two SLI-ready GPUs. There are also 2 PCI Express x1 slots and 2 PCI slots. This Vista Ready motherboard features the NVIDIA nForce 680i LT SLI MCP Chipset. It supports RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 5 setups and SATA components. Other features include Onboard LAN, 8 possible USB ports, and NVIDIA technologies like FirstPacket, MediaShield Storage, nTune Utility, and more.Take advantage of this great offer! Buy this Motherboard in a bundle with an Intel Core 2 Quad 2.40GHz Socket 775 Processor!

I think its $329 at tiger direct. Will this do? Somewhere else cheaper? I know I'll have to get faster memory, and a Graphics card (recomendations?), and I can get a 750Gb sata 300 hard drive for $140.

And yes, I can run tempest on my celeron D, But I'm becoming obsessed, And I have Moljnir, Model2, ESPxe, FreeDO, and SSF running, but they won't run on my computer.

[bkenobi]

Damn, I guess Brian beat me to the submit button.

Anyway, I usually check pricewatch and pricegrabber to see what price things should cost. Then I typically check out a few of the deal forums to see if there's a decent price on anything. Finally, I see what Newegg has for competitive prices. I usually find that I can get a couple things at Newegg and save on shipping. Whatever else is worth the expense of shipping from elsewhere, I do that.

Oh, and if you are looking to get good reviews on hardware (like motherboards and video cards), I find Newegg particularly useful!