VOGONS


Home made arcade machine

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First post, by DundyTheCroc

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I had a free week and decided to finish something, that was in my mind for a long time. It is nothing special, the project is well known, but needs time and a lot of dirty work. Here are some pics and info.
Cabinet is made from 10mm MDF that a neighbor gave me for free. All work is done just with jigsaw and a lot of sanding at hand. Assembling is made with wood glue, clamps and some metal brackets. Here is cabinet before the paint:

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Of course, you need some help at times 😀

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The heart of arcade machine is old Core2Duo E8400 with 4GB RAM, 250GB HDD, Radeon HD 5450 video, 17 inch LCD monitor and Win 7 OS. All PC components are on the back door for easy access:

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Back panel is not a beauty, it has power socket, 2 USB ports, audio I/O, HDD and Power LEDs and power button:

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Audio system is 2x5W speakers, the marquee part of cabinet is redesigned into 2x2 liters close volume speakers. Audio amplifier is the one built into monitor, about 2x1.5W.
I had time to print just two stickers, the ones needed to finish assembly. Here is the finished cabinet:

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The cost of project is 26 euro for joysticks and buttons and 15 euro for paint, metal parts and screws. All other parts are from old computers, PC speakers, monitor etc.

Reply 1 of 13, by kixs

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Nice work. I like it very much 😀

I had the same plan for awhile... but in the end bought an original full size 40+ years old empty arcade cabinet in very good condition. I've only put the 21" CRT monitor inside and mounted Pandoras box console to the front - it uses all sanwa parts. Plan is to use some PC for better emulation and also some beauty touches...

Requests here!

Reply 2 of 13, by gerry

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very nice, like the beast busters decal ! that takes me back!

making your own from scratch like this is a great project, I've seen a few since MAME started becoming popular and I think just the act of standing by a cabinet somehow makes a difference when playing games

Reply 3 of 13, by Brawndo

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I envy you for actually completing yours. I have several in project mode right now, a full size arcade cabinet built around a 29" CRT arcade monitor, a separate podium 4-player control panel, a mini 2-player cabinet for my son, and a 2-player portable control panel plus individual player 3 and player 4 removable boxes. I have a ton of joysticks, buttons and interfaces, just need more time! I plan to build a little bar top like yours as well. They're fun projects for sure.

Reply 4 of 13, by BitWrangler

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Nice, some kind of build is on the "someday" list here, but I am looking for/trying to think up, the magic combination of solid enough it doesn't dance around when you're giving the stick hell, without being a pig to move around or take up too much space.

Unicorn herding operations are proceeding, but all the totes of hens teeth and barrels of rocking horse poop give them plenty of hiding spots.

Reply 5 of 13, by Joakim

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Nice way to make use of a core2duo. They are probably the least liked CPUs at the moment.
And nice work with the arcade too, a half sized one takes up less space.

Reply 6 of 13, by DundyTheCroc

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Here are the last upgrades: bottom marque with LED light and custom size table with telescopic legs (from broken Ikea table). Plan to change C2D with i5-4570, but the MB I have fails to boot at all. C2D works fine with all older games, but is weak for the new 3D ones.

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Reply 7 of 13, by Joakim

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Looks a little bit unstable maybe, but you might not have a toddler running around like I have, performing safety test on everything using his face. 😁

(You could ofc fix it to a wall.)

Reply 8 of 13, by DundyTheCroc

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Yep, the legs are not top stable, typical Ikea quality 😀

Reply 9 of 13, by Hezus

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Very impressive!:)

Visit my YT Channel!

Reply 10 of 13, by gerry

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Joakim wrote on 2021-09-13, 05:06:

Nice way to make use of a core2duo. They are probably the least liked CPUs at the moment.

are they? I have a few of those 🙁

I guess for mame and other emulators they're pretty good though

Reply 11 of 13, by DundyTheCroc

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Not only for MAME, at my working place I use old IBM laptop with C2D, perfect for Internet, reading PDFs etc.

Reply 12 of 13, by Joakim

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I have been thinking of the possibility to run GeforceNow on a C2D.

Reply 13 of 13, by mrwho

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Very nice! I'm planning to do something similar, but I'm tackling the hardware and software first, and leaving the cabinet for last.
What OS, front-end and emulator(s) are you using? I'm looking for something simple to set up and to use, but still didn't find anything to my liking...

“Hey, you sass that hoopy MrWho? There's a frood who really knows where his towel is."
My home retro drivers repository: ftp://retro:drivers@mrwho.duckdns.org