Portable JAMMA emu PC
- Thread starter Dreygor
- Start date
J
jassin000
Even if you lack the ability to output C-Sync directly from your PC video card, you can quickly/easily/safely make it from any VGA H-Sync+V-Sync by using a Extron 580xi.
DIP switch #6 (COMP SYNC)
DIP switch #6 (COMP SYNC)
UPDATE: Finally found time to mess with my buddy's Blast City. It takes a CRT Emu 15khz RGBHV signal through the VGA connection no sweat. Video levels are perfect and don't need to be amped with a J-Pac or whatever other RGB amp. Same can be said with a Sega New Net City running a Sanwa PFX. I've since acquired a Sega Net City with an MS-2933 monitor. I'll give MAME a whack through the VGA connection there too.
So if you want 15khz MAME on a Blast City the cheap way, a $5 Radeon HD6450 card + 2x $8 Zero Delay encoders does the trick. In comparison, Dreygor mentioned above he spent ~$200 for the ArcadeVGA + J-Pac. Save some dough bruthaz. Save some dough.
So if you want 15khz MAME on a Blast City the cheap way, a $5 Radeon HD6450 card + 2x $8 Zero Delay encoders does the trick. In comparison, Dreygor mentioned above he spent ~$200 for the ArcadeVGA + J-Pac. Save some dough bruthaz. Save some dough.
JPac has its advantages since it works right out of the box for controllers, too bad it doesn't have an audio amp. Arcade VGA is unnecessary if you manage to flash the bios of a generic HD radeon with the firmware that allows it to output 15khz for the initial bios screens.
Dreygor
Grand Master
At this point everything runs pretty good for me. So I don't mess with the actual hardware anymore. I have been working on adding some console systems that mesh well with cabinet controls.
One thing I do wish is that there was a modern video card that would run to a CRT. I decided I wanted to set up Dolphin emulator to run Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars. If you read the first post the CPU and RAM is more than enough to run it. Well it runs like total garbage due to the video card bottle neck. It runs like crap even with all the setting turned to low
This thing absolutely rocks any 2D system and MAME game. Oddly it can run every Dreamcast game via ReDream just fine.
Just anything that relies on the video cards horsepower .. forget about it.
One thing I do wish is that there was a modern video card that would run to a CRT. I decided I wanted to set up Dolphin emulator to run Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars. If you read the first post the CPU and RAM is more than enough to run it. Well it runs like total garbage due to the video card bottle neck. It runs like crap even with all the setting turned to low
This thing absolutely rocks any 2D system and MAME game. Oddly it can run every Dreamcast game via ReDream just fine.Just anything that relies on the video cards horsepower .. forget about it.
thomas3184
Grand Master
Crtemudriver supports pretty modern cards if you check their compatibility list now
As far as J-Pac working right out of the box, true. But I've run into lag issues across different PC's due to keyboard emulation. Plus, if you've installed MAME as many times as I have, you find shortcuts. Once I've mapped my joystick buttons in MAME and in the front end, the config files are saved. I just copy those config files into new MAME builds and never have to worry about it configuring joysticks ever again. Even so, keyboard mapping is a 15 minute activity.
There are. That's the beauty of CRT Emu. You aren't bottlenecked by video card. It works higher end AMD video cards.
Dreygor
Grand Master
Do you know what most modern card from AMD will run with the CRT emu? Also for some reason my trisync is not wanting to switch from 15khz to 31khz I was going to try to run straight up VGA out of the PC but my monitor was not cooperating. So I gave up lol. If I could get the 31KHZ running I was thinking it wouldnt matter what video card I put in there. right?
It would look bad. Not quite as bad as running 15khz games on modern LCD's without scanline emulation, but almost to that degree. CRT Emu has presets for tri-sync monitors.
Dreygor
Grand Master
I may look into swapping the video card out then and try the CRT Emu at 15khz. I have a few other projects I need to get out of the way first. Will probably keep the JPAC in place for the control though.
I need to find a better way to hold the video card steady also. If I am going to try a higher end video card it's going to be larger and I wont be able to just let it hang.
I need to find a better way to hold the video card steady also. If I am going to try a higher end video card it's going to be larger and I wont be able to just let it hang.
An inexpensive PCI-E riser or flexible riser should do the trick for open air MAME PC's. Here is an example. Basically, it's an extension cable for your video card connection. Allows you to lay your video card on its side where you can fasten it down on stand-offs. Boom, problem solved.
Like I said, it is an expensive hobby. I am always looking for cheaper alternatives to do things.
Dreygor
Grand Master
Ah good idea! Down side is I have to reconfigure the whole platform that slides in and out of the blast. To that end I saw this...
https://www.amazon.com/Phanteks-PH-...t=&hvlocphy=9011272&hvtargid=pla-659524775226
Dreygor
Grand Master
OK So I had stumbled onto a list of all the PS2 games that were made and realized that would be an awesome system to have running in my Blast City .. but .. the emulation PC I had in the machine just was not going to cut it.
So I decided to do a major overhaul to my build and correct the situation. So I bring you build 2.0 !!!
First I had to devise a way for the board to hold a more beefier and much heavier video card. So I went to the internets and found this open frame set up on amazon..
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KXNBKWZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1
The motherboard I had is actually somewhere between an ATX and a MATX so I had to get the ATX one and drill some extra holes so I could put the stand-ups in the spots where I needed them.
Then I proceeded to figure out how to remount everything and do away with some of the excess cabling.
The new video card is an XFX 2GB Radeon R7 260x which is a vast improvement from the Ultimarc ArcadeVGA I originally was using. This also included a learning expierience and ALLOT of PMs to @acblunden2 about how to set up CRT Emudriver 2.0 and how to correct some errors I made along the way .. oopsy.
Also included in the upgrades was 32GB of 1600 Corsair Vengeance Ram, a new Corsair 550 watt PSU, and a 1TB Crucial M2 SSD .. no one said I was taking the cheap way out
I am going for the horsepower to run pretty much whatever I want
The motherboard did not have a M2 slot so I had to buy an adapter card. It does not seem to affect the speed much .. it's VERY fast.
When you get bored you need to go check out what was actually on the PlayStation 2 .. games from Naomi, Atomiswave, TTX, TTX2, Cave, Namco System 246 and 256 and a crapload more!! I will have to say a bulk of the good ones were Japan only.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_PlayStation_2_games
Overall I am very happy with the end result.
So I decided to do a major overhaul to my build and correct the situation. So I bring you build 2.0 !!!
First I had to devise a way for the board to hold a more beefier and much heavier video card. So I went to the internets and found this open frame set up on amazon..
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KXNBKWZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1
The motherboard I had is actually somewhere between an ATX and a MATX so I had to get the ATX one and drill some extra holes so I could put the stand-ups in the spots where I needed them.
Then I proceeded to figure out how to remount everything and do away with some of the excess cabling.
The new video card is an XFX 2GB Radeon R7 260x which is a vast improvement from the Ultimarc ArcadeVGA I originally was using. This also included a learning expierience and ALLOT of PMs to @acblunden2 about how to set up CRT Emudriver 2.0 and how to correct some errors I made along the way .. oopsy.
Also included in the upgrades was 32GB of 1600 Corsair Vengeance Ram, a new Corsair 550 watt PSU, and a 1TB Crucial M2 SSD .. no one said I was taking the cheap way out
I am going for the horsepower to run pretty much whatever I want The motherboard did not have a M2 slot so I had to buy an adapter card. It does not seem to affect the speed much .. it's VERY fast.
When you get bored you need to go check out what was actually on the PlayStation 2 .. games from Naomi, Atomiswave, TTX, TTX2, Cave, Namco System 246 and 256 and a crapload more!! I will have to say a bulk of the good ones were Japan only.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_PlayStation_2_games
Overall I am very happy with the end result.
The setup looks nice
So in your experience the Zero Delay encoders are faster than J-Pac? I never used it myself because I felt it was a gimmick, looks like I should give it a go.