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Building A Virtual Pinball Cabinet
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<blockquote data-quote="seattlemark" data-source="post: 211044" data-attributes="member: 1959"><p>Since you are looking for the computer, a few thoughts. From what I've read, not everyone puts the PC (or PC guts) into the cabinet. Here's an article about someone who has a powerful external PC: <a href="https://virtualpinballblog.wordpress.com/2014/02/26/my-pinball-cabinet-build/" target="_blank">https://virtualpinballblog.wordpress.com/2014/02/26/my-pinball-cabinet-build/</a> where he says in part:</p><p></p><p>- - - -</p><p><em>"THE CPU</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>If the cabinet is the chassis, the PC is the engine. I’m using my gaming rig to run this beast. It’s far more than capable of doing it.</em></p><p><em>One thing that will set my pinball cab apart from the others is my choice to connect the PC externally to the cabinet. This eliminates the need for air circulation in the cab, as the only nominal heat produced is by the two LCD TVs. Another asset is that anyone can plug their own computer into the cabinet using the supplied 6′ umbilical harness. You can see the harness later in this post."</em></p><p><em></em></p><p>- - - </p><p></p><p>Jeff above recommended the GTX 970, as the sweetspot. If it's used for more than pinball (and you can afford it and the more powerful power supply that's needed for it), I whole heartedly agree. In my case, around a month ago I upgraded to the GTX 960, which with the sales and rebates going on was quite a bit cheaper than the 970. I almost went with the GTX970, but then I determined that I would have also had to put in a different/more powerful power supply. (The GTX 970 has additional wattage needs and additional power cable needs over the GTX960.) At that point I didn't want to hassle all the extra costs, my labor, and getting rid of a power supply that I had just purchased two years ago. The GTX 960 is proving to be more than powerful enough for what DX11 TPA needs. According to this post, Jeff is using it too: <a href="http://digitalpinballfans.com/showthread.php/10005-Buying-a-new-PC-to-run-DirectX-11-TPA-What-specs-do-I-need?p=203517&viewfull=1#post203517" target="_blank">http://digitalpinballfans.com/showthread.php/10005-Buying-a-new-PC-to-run-DirectX-11-TPA-What-specs-do-I-need?p=203517&viewfull=1#post203517</a> (I remember that post of Jeff's as it was a contributing factor in my getting the GTX 960 for TPA.)</p><p></p><p></p><p>That said, if you are going to use your new PC for more than Pinball, either externally or in the cabinet, the GTX 970 is good choice too.</p><p></p><p>By the way, some of the merchants that sell NVIDIA GTX 960, 970, 980 have various game give-aways going on periodically. I think currently Batman Arkham Knights. But it's not necessarily all the merchants. Check the fine print. I know it's online with some merchants, but not sure about brick-and-mortar merchants.</p><p></p><p>P.S. Another part of my decision of the GTX960 over 970, was that if I ever need a more powerful graphics card than the 960 for way more taxing games than Pinball demands, I might also need to get an entirely new PC that has a more powerful processor, more RAM, etc. And for that new PC I would then get a GTX 970 or GTX 980, or above, depending upon what's affordable at that point. Then the existing GTX 960 and PC could be dedicated to my future Pinball cabinet. (Or as an alternative to an actual cabinet I have another possibility. For less than $10 in additional brackets I have figured a way to convert my existing articulated arm wall mounted rotated 40inch TV into "murphy bed" style so it lays almost perpendicular (at 6.5 degrees angle) to the wall. The wall mount costs $29 US currently at Amazon, so that's a total of $39. Before I convert this though, I am waiting to see when TPA fully supports cabinets and DMDs. As until I actually move one of the bolts in the stud and add the bracket, I am not certain how well this is going to work or how safe it's going to be for my wall. I'm an Engineer, but not that kind. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> )</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="seattlemark, post: 211044, member: 1959"] Since you are looking for the computer, a few thoughts. From what I've read, not everyone puts the PC (or PC guts) into the cabinet. Here's an article about someone who has a powerful external PC: [url]https://virtualpinballblog.wordpress.com/2014/02/26/my-pinball-cabinet-build/[/url] where he says in part: - - - - [I]"THE CPU If the cabinet is the chassis, the PC is the engine. I’m using my gaming rig to run this beast. It’s far more than capable of doing it. One thing that will set my pinball cab apart from the others is my choice to connect the PC externally to the cabinet. This eliminates the need for air circulation in the cab, as the only nominal heat produced is by the two LCD TVs. Another asset is that anyone can plug their own computer into the cabinet using the supplied 6′ umbilical harness. You can see the harness later in this post." [/I] - - - Jeff above recommended the GTX 970, as the sweetspot. If it's used for more than pinball (and you can afford it and the more powerful power supply that's needed for it), I whole heartedly agree. In my case, around a month ago I upgraded to the GTX 960, which with the sales and rebates going on was quite a bit cheaper than the 970. I almost went with the GTX970, but then I determined that I would have also had to put in a different/more powerful power supply. (The GTX 970 has additional wattage needs and additional power cable needs over the GTX960.) At that point I didn't want to hassle all the extra costs, my labor, and getting rid of a power supply that I had just purchased two years ago. The GTX 960 is proving to be more than powerful enough for what DX11 TPA needs. According to this post, Jeff is using it too: [url]http://digitalpinballfans.com/showthread.php/10005-Buying-a-new-PC-to-run-DirectX-11-TPA-What-specs-do-I-need?p=203517&viewfull=1#post203517[/url] (I remember that post of Jeff's as it was a contributing factor in my getting the GTX 960 for TPA.) That said, if you are going to use your new PC for more than Pinball, either externally or in the cabinet, the GTX 970 is good choice too. By the way, some of the merchants that sell NVIDIA GTX 960, 970, 980 have various game give-aways going on periodically. I think currently Batman Arkham Knights. But it's not necessarily all the merchants. Check the fine print. I know it's online with some merchants, but not sure about brick-and-mortar merchants. P.S. Another part of my decision of the GTX960 over 970, was that if I ever need a more powerful graphics card than the 960 for way more taxing games than Pinball demands, I might also need to get an entirely new PC that has a more powerful processor, more RAM, etc. And for that new PC I would then get a GTX 970 or GTX 980, or above, depending upon what's affordable at that point. Then the existing GTX 960 and PC could be dedicated to my future Pinball cabinet. (Or as an alternative to an actual cabinet I have another possibility. For less than $10 in additional brackets I have figured a way to convert my existing articulated arm wall mounted rotated 40inch TV into "murphy bed" style so it lays almost perpendicular (at 6.5 degrees angle) to the wall. The wall mount costs $29 US currently at Amazon, so that's a total of $39. Before I convert this though, I am waiting to see when TPA fully supports cabinets and DMDs. As until I actually move one of the bolts in the stud and add the bracket, I am not certain how well this is going to work or how safe it's going to be for my wall. I'm an Engineer, but not that kind. :) ) [/QUOTE]
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