Using a Computer With a TV as a ROMANATOR

[miked]

I was going to do an article series on this, making an emulation computer. Using the MSI Wind nettop 100 as the formfactor. However the VGA only out with no upgrades is a hinderance.

I would love to see this article. Maybe even comparing pros and cons to a modded xbox or just tips on turning an old unused computer into an emu box, with a list of minimum specs need for the emulation of certain systems etc.

Or just write it the way you write it

[fastbilly1]

Its still being worked on. I just need a few days to work on it on a computer that has the emulators installed.

[Jrecee]

I was going to do an article series on this, making an emulation computer. Using the MSI Wind nettop 100 as the formfactor. However the VGA only out with no upgrades is a hinderance.

Though if you had a suitable case, or have built with custom cases before, the Zotac IONITX-D is a much better board and it does HDMI out thanks to its ION chipset. You will be hard pressed to find a better motherboard in that powerusage range (full load is something like 30 watts for the whole computer).

Nettop 100 barebones (needs harddrive, discdrive, and ram):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6856167037

Zotac:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813500030


Oh I should say this, the Zotac is a 1.6ghz dual core with a geforce 9400m. So itll play Left 4 Dead and Call of Duty 4 (though at low settings). Ive been eyeing them since they were released since I want to build four of them into a lanparty block. All computers already updated, networked together, with all games patched, ready to go just need mouse/keyboard and monitor.

Honestly didn't really understand a word of that. My abilities with the internal workings of computers end at finding the right cable to put in the right hole. I suppose I could figure out how to switch an hdmi videocard with the VGA one that most budget computers come with. Would it be safe to assume that any video card with hdmi is probably more powerful with the videocard that comes with a $300 pc? I just wouldn't want to spend money to downgrade for nothing but a different port.

[miked]

Jrecee: If the computer was made in 2001 just about anything you could put in it would be an upgrade. At that age I would think it has an AGP slot, but I have seen alot of machines from the same time frame that only have PCI slots. If it is only PCI, your pretty limited. On newegg I cant find a card that is PCI and has HDMI support.

You could convert DVI to HDMI but it would have no audio since HDMI's audio is sent through the same port and doesnt have the red/white audio inputs as an option. If you are running a surround sound system, you could still get some quality audio to the system but not the TV itself.

AGP cards seem to be high priced. $70 and up VS. 30-100 for a PCI card. It might be better to go PCI anyway with these prices. If you want take a pic of your motherboad and I can tell you what slot it has.

Fastbilly: I will be patiently waiting for this article. Very cool.

[Jrecee]

Jrecee: If the computer was made in 2001 just about anything you could put in it would be an upgrade. At that age I would think it has an AGP slot, but I have seen alot of machines from the same time frame that only have PCI slots. If it is only PCI, your pretty limited. On newegg I cant find a card that is PCI and has HDMI support.

You could convert DVI to HDMI but it would have no audio since HDMI's audio is sent through the same port and doesnt have the red/white audio inputs as an option. If you are running a surround sound system, you could still get some quality audio to the system but not the TV itself.

AGP cards seem to be high priced. $70 and up VS. 30-100 for a PCI card. It might be better to go PCI anyway with these prices. If you want take a pic of your motherboad and I can tell you what slot it has.

Fastbilly: I will be patiently waiting for this article. Very cool.

I meant putting a new videocard in a new $300 pc, like those slim version dell inspirons.

[miked]

oh.........

You would be set with one of those. According to the Dell link you put up earlier it has a vacant PCI express slot so your pretty much set to go. If you want to run NES SNES and arcade games you should just get a new card for the machine you have and hide it behind the entertainment center or something. No point in wasting cash ya know?

[Jrecee]

oh.........

You would be set with one of those. According to the Dell link you put up earlier it has a vacant PCI express slot so your pretty much set to go. If you want to run NES SNES and arcade games you should just get a new card for the machine you have and hide it behind the entertainment center or something. No point in wasting cash ya know?

Yeah. . . another issue with it, USB 1.0. And only 2 of them on the whole thing.

I came across this too:

http://www.circuitcity.com/applications ... CatId=2627

Even comes with DVI and Windows XP!

[lordofduct]

have you read my two very long post jrecee???

if you have a computer alrady, all you need is a video card which you should have inferred from my post. And not even a super fly one, you can pick up a cheapy Nvidia card with DVI out for like 50 bucks on newegg. As long as you have any PC around with enough power to run an emulator, and any Nvidia vid card with DVI out, then you're set to go.


Oh and if you by a new HDTV... like you said you wanted to... VGA is still always an option as a lot of HDTVs come with VGA in as well (it's how I play my Dreamcast on my HDTV).




It appears though you keep looking at prebuilt PCs from local best buys, circuit city, or even dell. These ARE NOT going to be cheap for what you want as they aren't really geared towards what you want.

If you need a computer (because say you don't have anything sitting around) I'd suggest checking out newegg, looking for a simple barebone kit, a processor, and a cheap Nvidia video card. Put it all together, and run! Shit you can do this for pennies on the dollar. I'm talking like 300 bucks or less. Ain't like you need cutting edge.



for instance check this little bad boy:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6856158007

comes pretty much built with a cpu, hdmi, hard drive, all kinds of goodies for 350 bucks. More powerful then the computer you just poted in the last post.

My point is you can go there and find all kinds of machines. I found a Atom 270 for 80 dollars. You have to get a hard drive and OS yourself and it doesn't have DVI... but 80 bucks!?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6856119011

shit toss in a 30 dollar hdd and Linux and you have a pretty nice little media thin client (as long as you have a VGA display).




OH and to warn you... just because you can get a computer that outputs HDMI or DVI to an HDTV with high resolution. Depending the TV you will still have some level of "fuzziness" to the icons and text. Televisions are optimized for colour and visual emerssion... and not for text and fine stuff like that. LCD will give you the best result probably, but still it isn't the same as a REAL computer monitor which is built with text and the sort in mind.

[Jrecee]

Nah I have no plans of buying a new hdtv anytime soon. . . .

I looked at some of those kits on circuitcity.com but really had no idea what other stuff I would need to supply. I figured at the least I would have to buy a copy of windows which is like $75. . . The ones I was looking at were all ready to roll out of the box for under $300. That one with the dvi built in is $290 on newegg. . .

[GSZX1337]

Its still being worked on. I just need a few days to work on it on a computer that has the emulators installed.

Have you decided if you were going to write about Linux/Mac emulation (IIRC, you were mulling over that)?