UPDATE: 1/15/07 Computer Number 3
While the BBox ran older games just fine, there was a
clear problem with some of the more modern games.
During the Superbowl a bunch of my friends were playing NBA
Jams and it just kept locking up and requiring a system
reboot. I tend to play the older games, so I hadn't
experienced this problem but, needless to say, I needed
something that was going to be able to handle some of the
newer ROMS.
AMD Athlon 3 GHz
512 MB RAM
All of the other components were recycled.
UPDATE: 4/13/03 Computer Number 2
I finally decided to upgrade the computer that drives the B-Box. Originally I had a
Celeron 900 MHz. I could over clock it and the computer would recognize the CPU speed in the BIOS, but after a system reboot it would reset to 600
MHz. Most of the newer games would be jerky during game play. I upgraded my main computer about a month ago and took the left over parts and used it for the B-Box. After some
initial test, I think I will be happier with the new setup. As an example, Mortal Kombat was slow and unplayable. Here are the new specs on the computer that drives the B-Box:
AMD Athlon 1.33 GHz
256 MB RAM
ATI Rage Fury 128 video card
2 - 4 gig hard drives
1.44 floppy drive
40x CD-ROM Drive
Diamond Monster sound card
Kingston NIC card
Inwin case
Original Computer in the B-Box
The computer was actually one of the cheaper things that is in the B-Box. I pretty much pieced it together from spare parts laying around the house.
Originally I was running a PII 233, but decided that I would want a little more horse power for some of the newer games. Here are my machine specs. Also, I learned the hard way about video cards. Original I bought some old SIS video card with 4 mb video ram, but it had the s-video out on it which was the most important point. I had read that the video memory was not important for MAME and I got a good deal on eBay for it. As it turned out, the video card was a piece of crap. I couldn't get any games but
Asteroids to run on my TV. So I went to the MAME newsgroups for help and got the answer I needed.
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Intel Celeron 900 mhz (over clocked to 1 GHz)
256 meg RAM
ATI Rage Fury 128 video card
4 gig hard drive
1.44 floppy drive
4x cd-rom drive
AWE 64 sound card
3com NIC card
Some cheapo case
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That pretty much raps up what will be running this beast.
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