OK, here's the deal - I've got an old PIII Gateway with 512 MB RAM (I think - might be 256) and a 766MHz processor. I'm trying to display MAME to a 19" LCD (1280x1024) and it doesn't display in full screen no matter how I tweak the settings. I think I might need a video card because the onboard graphics just aren't cutting it. Obviously I don't need anything fancy - my computer is 7 years old, it's running XP and is SOLELY going to be used for MAME. That's it, nothing else. Find me something cheap!!!
Help me pick out a video card!
- Thread starter Javery
- Start date
level1online
Banned
[quote name='javeryh']OK, here's the deal - I've got an old PIII Gateway with 512 MB RAM (I think - might be 256) and a 766MHz processor. I'm trying to display MAME to a 19" LCD (1280x1024) and it doesn't display in full screen no matter how I tweak the settings. I think I might need a video card because the onboard graphics just aren't cutting it. Obviously I don't need anything fancy - my computer is 7 years old, it's running XP and is SOLELY going to be used for MAME. That's it, nothing else. Find me something cheap!!![/quote]
AGP?
Run PC Wizard, see what you got, 2x? 4x?
right now, i have a PIII 433mhz, 384mb ram PC100, agp 2x Nvidia mx-4000. i got my card at newegg.com for 30 bux. the cheapest they have now is a radeon 7000 for 25 bux
AGP?
Run PC Wizard, see what you got, 2x? 4x?
right now, i have a PIII 433mhz, 384mb ram PC100, agp 2x Nvidia mx-4000. i got my card at newegg.com for 30 bux. the cheapest they have now is a radeon 7000 for 25 bux
If you have a Nvidia or ATI card, their respective visual control programs should be able to adjust the picture so it stretches it out and cuts out the edges even if it's an onboard chip.
The problem is, this'll do it to everything so your desktop will be cut off too.
The problem is, this'll do it to everything so your desktop will be cut off too.
[quote name='level1online']AGP?
Run PC Wizard, see what you got, 2x? 4x?
right now, i have a PIII 433mhz, 384mb ram PC100, agp 2x Nvidia mx-4000. i got my card at newegg.com for 30 bux. the cheapest they have now is a radeon 7000 for 25 bux[/quote]
OK, hang on - I have to install it and run it and it might take 5 minutes or so...
Run PC Wizard, see what you got, 2x? 4x?
right now, i have a PIII 433mhz, 384mb ram PC100, agp 2x Nvidia mx-4000. i got my card at newegg.com for 30 bux. the cheapest they have now is a radeon 7000 for 25 bux[/quote]
OK, hang on - I have to install it and run it and it might take 5 minutes or so...
level1online
Banned
[quote name='javeryh']Wow - this computer is total shit.
Mainboard: Intel D815EEA
Chipset: Intel i815E/EP
Processor: Intel PIII 733MHz
Memory: 128MB (1x128 SDRAM)
Video Card: Intel 82815
Hard Drive: 30GB
Monitor: Dell E197FP
Maybe I should look into getting more RAM as well?[/quote]
how fast is your hard drive? a 7,200 rpm drive will make a huge difference. thats what i have. and it's partitioned for a slight performance boost
i got three sticks of ram 128mb (PC100) on amazon.com for 5 bux each
does pc wizard tell you if you have an open agp slot?
i might have an old agp video card laying around, 8mb ati rage, 2x
i'll double check when i get home, it might be 16mb
but if you can find that mx-4000, it has 64 mb of memory, and s-video out. 2 pixel pipelines.
i'm gonna buy a new computer in like a week or so. maybe i'll sell the parts, and ram
Mainboard: Intel D815EEA
Chipset: Intel i815E/EP
Processor: Intel PIII 733MHz
Memory: 128MB (1x128 SDRAM)
Video Card: Intel 82815
Hard Drive: 30GB
Monitor: Dell E197FP
Maybe I should look into getting more RAM as well?[/quote]
how fast is your hard drive? a 7,200 rpm drive will make a huge difference. thats what i have. and it's partitioned for a slight performance boost
i got three sticks of ram 128mb (PC100) on amazon.com for 5 bux each
does pc wizard tell you if you have an open agp slot?
i might have an old agp video card laying around, 8mb ati rage, 2x
i'll double check when i get home, it might be 16mb
but if you can find that mx-4000, it has 64 mb of memory, and s-video out. 2 pixel pipelines.
i'm gonna buy a new computer in like a week or so. maybe i'll sell the parts, and ram
Kunikos
CAGiversary!
Holy ancient PCs, Batman!
level1online: if you need reference for building a new system, I recommend the Ars Technica system building guides. Somewhere between the Budget Box and the Hot Rod would probably be best. Although the Hot Rod guide does a pretty good job explaining alternate choices, but the $1600 price tag may be too steep for you.
Techreport also has some great guides, but they haven't updated in a bit.
You may want to hold off for a little while until they drop the prices on CPUs. You could get a quad-core Q6600 ($450) for the same price that the E6600 runs today ($225-250) after July 22nd.
level1online: if you need reference for building a new system, I recommend the Ars Technica system building guides. Somewhere between the Budget Box and the Hot Rod would probably be best. Although the Hot Rod guide does a pretty good job explaining alternate choices, but the $1600 price tag may be too steep for you.
Techreport also has some great guides, but they haven't updated in a bit.
You may want to hold off for a little while until they drop the prices on CPUs. You could get a quad-core Q6600 ($450) for the same price that the E6600 runs today ($225-250) after July 22nd.
The programmer of the MAME video code has this to say about the hardware requirements if you want all the "bells and whistles" (his words):
a decent video card
(decent in this context means at least 16MB of VRAM and built in the
last 5 years or so — we’re not talking cutting edge here)
I can vouch that MAME runs perfectly fine on some of the shittiest hardware you can find. If you can't get an onboard i815 graphics chipset to work, which is approximately Geforce 1 level, then it simply must be:
1) user error
2) broken drivers: download the latest
Download the latest MAME. Set your Windows desktop to 1280x1024. Run MAME with the -noswitchres command line parameter.
Your computer specs will run the majority of the games flawlessly.
a decent video card
(decent in this context means at least 16MB of VRAM and built in the
last 5 years or so — we’re not talking cutting edge here)
I can vouch that MAME runs perfectly fine on some of the shittiest hardware you can find. If you can't get an onboard i815 graphics chipset to work, which is approximately Geforce 1 level, then it simply must be:
1) user error
2) broken drivers: download the latest
Download the latest MAME. Set your Windows desktop to 1280x1024. Run MAME with the -noswitchres command line parameter.
Your computer specs will run the majority of the games flawlessly.
bread's done