Just saying thanks!

[AnodizedOS]

I just wanted to say thanks to the developers of GameEx and the people involved in making the additions to this program. I've never really been a hardcore gamer, but for as long as I can remember, I've been fascinated by computers and technology. My first computer was a Sinclair ZX 81 way back then in the day. Later that was upgraded by my parents to the Spectrum 48k. Other Systems I've owned were Atari ST, Amiga 2000 and of course PC's in all their variations.

Anyway, my point being, I truly appreciate GameEX and it's capabilities to tie all my favorite Emulators into one single GUI. Not to mention the options to use it as a stand alone HTPC frontend.

Aside from the fact that playing all these retro games (including Mame arcades) not only brings back those fond memories of my childhood, but it's also so much fun even for an adult

My wife sometimes wonders why I'd want to play "old" games, but hey, it's a nostalgia thing I guess

So, keep up the great work with this awesome program!! And to anyone even thinking about buying it or not, it's definately hands down the best money you can invest if you're into retro gaming!

[daweinst]

I second that. I'm really, really impressed with GameEx. It's pretty rare that a software program works exactly as you'd like it to. Every time I think "hey wouldn't it be cool if it could..." it turns out that feature is already included. I'm using GameEx on a mini-IPX pc that I built into an NES. Setting up GameEx was by far the easiest part of the build.

Thanks Tom!!!

[greatflash]

I second that. I'm really, really impressed with GameEx. It's pretty rare that a software program works exactly as you'd like it to. Every time I think "hey wouldn't it be cool if it could..." it turns out that feature is already included. I'm using GameEx on a mini-IPX pc that I built into an NES. Setting up GameEx was by far the easiest part of the build.

Thanks Tom!!!

I agree also..

It would be nice if you could post a pic of your NES pc.. Would be nice for us all to see

[emphatic]

My wife sometimes wonders why I'd want to play "old" games, but hey, it's a nostalgia thing I guess

If my girlfriend had asked me that, I'd say "Would you prefer I got a younger girlfriend as well?"

Emph

[daweinst]

I agree also..

It would be nice if you could post a pic of your NES pc.. Would be nice for us all to see

I finally finished the project and took some pictures. Details of the build, with more pics and some videos are here:

booteeee.blogspot.com

Let me know what you think!

[Adultery]

Looks nice! That SATA problem is a pain to diagnose, that's for sure! Who doesn't need a dremmel tool around the house?

The heat vents concern me though, I must admit. No kind of case cooling fan in there? It would be a shame to fry that.

[daweinst]

Looks nice! That SATA problem is a pain to diagnose, that's for sure! Who doesn't need a dremmel tool around the house?

The heat vents concern me though, I must admit. No kind of case cooling fan in there? It would be a shame to fry that.

Thanks for checking it out. The dremel is pretty sweet, and I'm sure will come in handy.

As for the lack of fan...there's not much room left for a case fan. The heat sink has a little fan on it. The Nintendo case itself has little vents. Since I'm new to building computers, I really don't know how concerned to be about heat. Should I buy a thermometer and stick it in there to see how hot it is when running? What temperature is dangerous? I've tried to limit play to a few hours at a time.

Dan

[bkenobi]

Try running speedfan to see what temperatures your system is running at. It depends on the hardware you are running, but I think HDD temps shouldn't exceed 50C and CPU temps shouldn't exceed 60C if I remember correctly. I haven't looked at mine recently, but basically the hotter stuff gets, the sooner the hardware will die.

[daweinst]

Try running speedfan to see what temperatures your system is running at. It depends on the hardware you are running, but I think HDD temps shouldn't exceed 50C and CPU temps shouldn't exceed 60C if I remember correctly. I haven't looked at mine recently, but basically the hotter stuff gets, the sooner the hardware will die.

Thanks, speedfan is pretty cool. It can only read the temp of my HD not my CPU. The HD gradually heats up to 52C after an hour and a half, then it hangs at 52C. It's also kind of a hot day out today. So I guess the computer is running on the hot side, but it's not totally awful. Am I crazy to just leave it as it is with no fan?

Dan

[bkenobi]

Heat is one of the biggest enemies of a PC (the other big one being dust...but that's also heat related). Anyway, if you don't have good enough air flow, you could cook things. You have a couple options there. I believe speedfan has an alarm that can trigger at a user defined temperature. If you are concerned with it (I would be), you could set it up so that there is an alarm that goes off at a specific temp and it automatically shuts down at a few degrees warmer.

[daweinst]

Heat is one of the biggest enemies of a PC (the other big one being dust...but that's also heat related). Anyway, if you don't have good enough air flow, you could cook things. You have a couple options there. I believe speedfan has an alarm that can trigger at a user defined temperature. If you are concerned with it (I would be), you could set it up so that there is an alarm that goes off at a specific temp and it automatically shuts down at a few degrees warmer.

You scared me straight. I picked up a tiny little fan from radio shack that I was able to fit in the case and it seems to be doing the trick. The temp hasn't gone above 44C after 2 hours. It was at 52C after 1.5 hours with no fan. Thanks a lot for your help!

[bkenobi]

No problem. Even a little air flow can make a big difference (free convection sucks compared to forced convection). Anyway, I won't get into heat transfer in my spare time...I do enough of that at work

[Tom Speirs]

Im not an expert on doing it and its not possible on all hardware, but you could try underclocking the cpu, ram and video card. ive done it myself in the past as to reduce noise on my living room PC.

[bkenobi]

That's also an option (maybe), but be aware that the system is already a bit on the slow side (for some emulators). You would probably be fine underclocking for classic MAME titles and older consoles (NES, Genesis, etc.). Just don't plan on playing DC or PSX titles with that system underclocked (I don't know if you can play them right now anyway though)!

[jester82]

This is the best piece of software out there! Big thanks to Tom and all the others that have made GameEX what it is today! I dont regret sending cash to Tom for this! I will have pics of my Custom Console that i have created cause of this software. Big thanks!

[daweinst]

Im not an expert on doing it and its not possible on all hardware, but you could try underclocking the cpu, ram and video card. ive done it myself in the past as to reduce noise on my living room PC.

That is an interesting option. The fan makes a little noise, but I think it's tolerable. Since my system is mini-ITX, I'm already having performance issues, so I'll avoid the underclocking.

Since this topic was started to say thanks...once again I really want to thank the GameEx team, and everyone on the forums, especially bkenobi, who have been really nice and helpful. With ya'lls help, I've gotten everything running pretty smoothly. I had friends over last night, and my system passed the supreme "can my drunk friends figure it out" test.

[bkenobi]

That's always the tough one!