Arcade Cabinet Taito Type X²

Tech Talk
1

Hello, I was planning on making my own arcade cabinet but I had a very important question. I was considering on buying a Taito Type X² motherboard but online here they ring in at ( http://www.arcadespareparts.com/arcade_boards/motherboards/taito_type_x_motherboard/12789.html )

In total it is just $850.00 USD for the pure board, not the full hardware.

Going online and doing some research I have estimated, if I were to buy it all separate and assemble myself, it would come out to be $254 if I were to buy each part individually.

So my question is, should I buy the offical Taito Type X² which will bring me down a good $850.00 USD, or make my own version of the board, same parts and everything but it is unoffical for 254. I really do not know if there is any difference or I am just talking out of my arse on this one. But I am unsure if there is any difference in which one I buy…

Taito Type X² (Official, Just the motherboard)

Home Made Bootleg Version

Taito Type X²
[LIST]
[]OS: Microsoft Windows XP Embedded SP2 [3]
[]CPU: Intel LGA 775 CPU. Supported CPUs include Celeron D 352, Pentium 4 651, Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 [SIZE=4]$105.00[/SIZE]
[]Chipset: Intel Q965 + ICH8 (dg31pr +ich7) http://www.amazon.com/Genuine-Dell-Optiplex-Motherboard-Compatible/dp/B004HE3WIM[SIZE=4]$40.95[/SIZE]
[]Video output: 640×480 (VGA), or 1280×720 (HDTV 720p)
[]RAM: 667/800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM. Supported capacities 512MiB, 1GiB, 4GiB. http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Technology-240-Pin-KTD-XPS730A-4G/dp/B002RSEN3I/ref=sr_1_2?s=miscellaneous&ie=UTF8&qid=1317274786&sr=1-2[SIZE=4]$27.80[/SIZE]
[]GPU: PCI Express ×16-based graphics. Supported GPUs include ATI RADEON (x1600Pro, x1300LE) or NVIDIA GeForce (7900GS, 7600GS, 7300GS) http://www.amazon.com/ATI-Radeon-X1600-Pro-512/dp/tech-data/B000E5VQOU/ref=de_a_smtd**[SIZE=4]$79.90**[/SIZE]
[]Sound: Onboard Realtek HD 7.1 channel Sound (supports add-in sound cards)
[]LAN: 1000BASE-T 10/100BASE-TX
[]I/O ports: 1x JVS, 4× USB 2.0, 1× serial (max 2), 1× parallel port, 2× PS/2, 2× SATA
[]Audio inputs: AKG C535EB Stage Microphone, line-in (Surround 7.1)
[]Audio outputs: 7.1, SPDI/FX
[]Expansion Slots: 1× PCI Express ×16 (used by video card), 1× PCI Express ×4, 2× PCI
[*]Storage: SATA 3Gbit/sec Hard Drives
[/LIST]
The Type X² system-board uses an updated Intel platform with a PCI-express system bus, and supports more recent graphics GPUs and Intel CPUs than those supported by Type X.
Compatibility: Due to platform specific drivers (Windows XP Embedded), game software is not interchangeable between Type X² and the older Type X/X+ platform.

2

The main question you have to ask yourself is what are you going to use the pc for? If its for super iv ae I would beef up the specs quite a bit especially since the pc version is superior to both the console and typex2 when you look at it graphically.

3

I think the biggest thing here is that you’re talking about piracy. Yeah, your ‘bootleg’ machine would be cheaper, but if you’re going to be running software meant for the Type X2, you’re breaking the law.

If you’re looking to just build a computer to run PC titles on, then building one yourself is a no-brainer.

4

Unless you somehow got a hold of the specific WinXP embedded and somehow got the X2 software to go with it, there’s really no point in getting that specific and highly outdated hardware. For $850, you can piece together something that will be 4 times as powerful with modern cpus and video cards for the most part and probably still have enough to buy a copy of SF4 AE. Everything on the tech specs for the X2 are 5+ years old now.

5

I’m not sure of all the differences between home ports, but I’ve noticed SFIV does not have their top scores displayed during attract mode. Otherwise I’m pretty sure the games are the same. For any game that never did get a home port, that’s about the only reason I would get the Type X2 for. I hear Rumble Fish is pretty hot.

6

You could make an equivalently-powered system for cheap, sure, but you won’t be making a Taito X2 compatable system. The proper embedded OS is different (although it may be on the game specific hard drive) plus it includes hardware you can’t buy off the shelf, like for accepting JVS inputs; it looks like USB, but its very different.

You can build a PC, or you can buy a Taito X2 main board, but I dont think you’re gonna be able to build an X2 main board.

7

We my main purpose for the system is to just run it from home. But make a fully operating coin-op cabinet.
@Toodles, I was speaking with someone who has worked with a X2 Board and how you were talking about the JVS inputs, all I have to do is buy a PS3 controller. Take it apart and then rewire the buttons onto the board of the controller as it has a USB connection. Open up XPadder and register all the buttons then configure them to the arcade settings.

See I have BlazBlue Continuum Shift HDD + Dongle, which I got for cheap due to the fact a local arcade bought about 3 of them when they only needed two. So all pretty much need is the board for it.

Also if I do own a copy of Microsoft Windows XP Embedded SP2.

8

Well, I dont own a Taito or any other JVS motherboard. I hope you’re correct. Good luck with that.