http://www.tmsoft.com/article-arcade.htm
Introduction
A couple months ago I started out on a mission to build a home arcade system. I wanted to play all the classic video games as well as those console favorites. I played around with emulators before on my PC so I knew a little bit how it all worked. After months of researching and visiting a lot of different websites, I came up with an economical plan that didn't require too much time and the end result was a highly polished professional arcade system.
In this article I outline every component that was purchased, how much was spent, and my reasoning behind each one. I only wish I had this information when I started to build my own arcade as the majority of it was scattered throughout websites and forums. This is why I'm posting this information so you can save a lot of time and money. There are many factors to consider--You could drop $3,000 and buy a complete arcade system that plays maybe 100 games, or you could assemble your own for about half the price and play thousands of games. The choice was an easy one for me
the intro from the site