Preparing Computer for Dedicated MAME32 Use

[jakl14]

I was wondering about setting up a computer for running MAME32.  I would like to know if there are any settings or things of that sort that would put all of my computer's processing power toward MAME32 and the emulation of the games, instead of wasting it on things that will not be used(pretty much everything else).  I have already done a factory reinstall, and am not really sure where to go from there, besides uninstalling all the AOL crap.

[cdbrown]

Whats the OS you're using?  Might help a little.  Do a search on the web for the tweeks for your OS and you should be good to go.

[jakl14]

I am running Windows 98

[jakl14]

Well, Im finding it hard to put down in words what I am wanting to do.  Yes, I am wanting to put all the processing power toward MAME, but I am also wanting to get rid of all the other crap that comes up.  I guess Im wanting it to be like Windows isnt really there, its just MAME32, yet I would want to get to the desktop or whatever, should I ever need to do maintainence.

[Tailgunner]

Easiest way would be to do a format and then a clean install. Choose custom install when it asks, that'll give you the ability to tell the installer exactly what you want installed while leaving out all of the excess crap.

[taz-nz]

Easiest way to gut alot of the un-needed rubbish out of Win98, including IE, OE, Active desktop (i.e. the biggest source of crashes in Win9x), is to use a program call 98lite, you can download it for free from http://www.litepc.com/download.html, I ran it for years before switching to WinXP on my main PC, 18months no re-installs and then only to change hardware.
Runs mame(32) without fault. I plan to use it for my cab.

Your best way to install it is:
Clean format the HDD
Boot from a Floppy with Cd-rom drivers, copy windows Cabs to folder on HDD
Install 98lite from another floppy.
Restart PC,
Boot from a floppy that loads nothing other than himem.sys (very slow if you don't)
Run 98lite to install Windows (Win98 SE is your best bet)

This will give you a rock solid, and fast loading copy of windows.

[paigeoliver]

Also, unless you are short on RAM or hard drive space, then it won't help very much. Windows is only going to eat about 2 percent of your processor speed (assuming you don't have stupid background spyware processes and message monkeys going). The difference it makes is minimal.

But, chopping down windows is good if you are short on RAM or hard drive space. Or if you are having reliability problems.

BTW. Windows 95 OSR2 is probably the most solid of the 9X series of Windows. No real USB support though (a scant few items work, ironically enough, almost all of them are USB hubs). Win 95 OSR2 is also fast as crap. I think that is why MS finally stopped supporting it.

[jakl14]

I just bought some RAM, and am now up to 319MB

Another thing along the same line that I was thinking about was running games at 100% and what I need to do that.  I was hoping more RAM would increase performance in games like Metal Slug, but I am still running around 70%.  I dont really want to spend the money on a new PCI graphics card(no AGP slot), because Im pretty much wiped out from buying a cabinet, controls, a monitor, etc.

What I am really wondering is how consoles like Xbox, which have a 733MHz processor, are able to run games like Halo, while Im having trouble running arcade games with my 600MHz.  I understand that every single bit of Xbox's processing power is going toward the game, and I think they have Geforces graphics cards in them.  So, is it possible for me to theoretically turn my PC into a dedicated console-type machine?

System Specs:
Intel Celeron 600MHz
319MB RAM
Integrated Intel Graphics Controller with latest drivers
11GB HD

[Grasshopper]

Why not just use MSDOS? The only real disadvantage is that it doesn't support USB.

The main advantages are that it is much more stable that any version of Windows, it boots up very quickly, and it does not need to be powered down in a orderly way so you can just switch off once you have finished playing.

Another alternative is Linux, admittedly hard to set up but much faster and more stable than Windows.

[Captain Rotundo]

I just bought some RAM, and am now up to 319MB

What I am really wondering is how consoles like Xbox, which have a 733MHz processor, are able to run games like Halo, while Im having trouble running arcade games with my 600MHz.  I understand that every single bit of Xbox's processing power is going toward the game, and I think they have Geforces graphics cards in them.  So, is it possible for me to theoretically turn my PC into a dedicated console-type machine?

Well first off console games are written directly to the hardware.  They know EXACTLY what the system is, and don't have to account for any variations.  Second the X-Box doesn't run at a vary high resolution compared to a standard PC (hence some of the difference in Halo PC requirements, though a lot more goes into it due to the various PC configurations)

MAME uses the processor only.  A better graphics card will only marginally increase performance, and then only if its has better 2D ability (even in this case you probably wouldn't notice a raw speed increase).

Your Celeron-600 just isn't "good" enough.  I would recommend, if your up for it, trying a GNU/Linux setup with xmame, I find Xmame to be noticably faster on my dual-boot dsystem at home than any windows counterpart.  Then you could also try recompiling mame with optimizations specific to your processor (if your up for it) although that might not be that much more noticable anyway.

I don't have figures but I would say xmame on my Athlon XP1800, with 512MB is about 10%-15% faster than MAME32.  I rarely run windows so I havent benchmarked much or payed attention to standard MAME etc.

of course the increase is only noticable on games that don't run 100% on Windows

BTW- I run Debian.

[SpAwN]

I don't have figures but I would say xmame on my Athlon XP1800, with 512MB is about 10%-15% faster than MAME32.  I rarely run windows so I havent benchmarked much or payed attention to standard MAME etc.

Have you tried running AdvanceMame using SVGAlib vs XMame to see if there is any performance difference?

[Captain Rotundo]

Have you tried running AdvanceMame using SVGAlib vs XMame to see if there is any performance difference?

I haven't run anything in GNU/Linux yet other than Xmame under X.  Seeing as its been abotu a year since I bought my cab and I am ony now designing the CP (I move slowly and in spurts I am not yet to the software testing phase - for the games I am playing now xmame in x does fine, for the cab I will attempt to squeeze everything I can out of the machine.  Although I do firmly believe that saying SVGALib is flat out faster than X is a total Myth, and I've run GNU for long enough to know.