Suggestion for computer

[Haloman800]

Hi, I'm building my 2nd arcade. I would like suggestions for a computer that will

 

1. boot up quickly (~10 seconds)

2. boot up by hitting an external button (e.g. start) instead of having to hit the physical power button

 

Also, do you recommend Linux or Windows? My first one ran Windows 7 and I frequently encountered slowdowns.. Maybe this was due to hardware but I wonder if I'll have better luck with Linux.

 

I'l be running Hyperspin and emulators such as MAME, NES, Sega Genesis, and possibly Dreamcast if the hardware is good enough.

 

Thanks so much!

[Haloman800]

Okay, Windows is fine. What about PC that supports booting from a keystroke?

[CORE]

Hi AMD A10 APUs are pretty good I run a 6800k and runs well I use KODI , Emulators and some PC Games though you be better using the latest A10 APUs just replace the stock cooler they rubbish.

 

SSD for your OS 250GB

HDD for Storage 1TB

I recommend Windows 7

4GB RAM minimum 8GB if affordable

disable unnecessary Startup Applications and Services , Disable Paging on SSD and disable Disk Defrag through Scheduled Tasks , Disable Indexing on SSD it not really needed

CCleaner is good for keeping things in order defraggler to defrag your HDD once and awhile DO NOT ATTEMPT DEFRAG ON YOUR SSD!

depending on Motherboard features you can configure power on by Keyboard through BIOS most support it.

 

Dreamcast runs smooth on my A10-6800k so the newer A10-7800k should be good the PCSX2 ran rather poor Dolphin too but after some tweaking it seemed to run well you could always crossfire a card with the A10 or run a standalone card later.

[Metalzoic]

Okay, Windows is fine. What about PC that supports booting from a keystroke?

You can boot the machine by simply wiring you power button pins on the motherboard to an arcade button. For example I wired mine to a normal Happ button that is hidden on top of the cabinet out of the way. you just reach up and tap it to turn it on. Then the PCis plugged into a smart power-strip so as soon as it turns on, it then turns on the sub/speakers, monitor and marquee in order. pushing the button again powers it all down.

Not sure about booting in under 10 seconds though. Not sure why you would even want it too as I find giving your processes all plenty of time to start at power up before HS kicks in prevents focus issues.

[epayson85]

A lot of motherboards have a BIOS setting in the power options for in the event of power loss (always off, always on, last state). If you set to always on then the PC turns on anytime you give it power. So if you shut it down and then turn off the power strip then the next time you turn on the powerstrip it turns it on.