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Author Topic: Trouble running some MAME games - New CPU???  (Read 1732 times)

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shan1784

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Trouble running some MAME games - New CPU???
« on: September 16, 2010, 11:50:04 am »
Hey Everyone,

So I've finished my first cabinet and am playing around with adding new games and I came across the Tekken series... My cab was an original Tekken machine so I obviously wanted this...

They play horrible!!! Sound sutters, very choppy graphics...

I read that it takes a higher end cpu to run these games and since the machine in my cab has a Pentium 4 D at 2.6 Ghz, I set it up on an external hard drive and took it over to my desktop which is an i930 oc to 4.2 ghz.. They all played perfect all the way up to Tekken Tag...

I then tried it on my sons computer which is powerd by a AMD 64 X2 4800+ at 2.6 Ghz... It didn't play so well there either but better than the cab..

Then I tried my other sons computer which has a AMD 64 X2 6000+ at 3.0 Ghz... It played much smoother, almost perfect just a little sound stutter but not bad at all...

So now I am going to order a new CPU, Motherboard, and Memory... I wanted to run it past all of you since I'm new to the MAME scene and all...

I chose a E8400 which is a core 2 duo and runs at 3.0 Ghz... Should be much faster than my sons AMD 6000+ chip but won't touch my desktop i930.. I wanted something in the middle so I thought this would be a good chip... As for the motherboard I went with an ASUS P5QL/EPU LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard and the memory is A-Data DDR2 800 2 Gig...

I hated spending the extra $$$ but these are the kind of games me and my kids enjoy so something had to be done...

Does this sound like a decent setup to play games with the 3d polygon graphics like the Tekken series?
Thanks,
Mike
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releasedtruth

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Re: Trouble running some MAME games - New CPU???
« Reply #1 on: September 16, 2010, 12:08:11 pm »
The E8400 is a popular OC platform as I'm sure you're aware and there have been a few threads with some impressive results from them. The quest for polygon perfection really is one we haven't quite won yet. May be a few years before standard hardware can crush the FPUs required.

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Re: Trouble running some MAME games - New CPU???
« Reply #2 on: September 16, 2010, 12:14:09 pm »
Look into running the emulator Zinc.

It'll run the Tekken games on much more modest hardware than what MAME requires.  And it'll use hardware acceleration to spruce up the graphics.  Its a pain to set up, but doable. 
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shan1784

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Re: Trouble running some MAME games - New CPU???
« Reply #3 on: September 16, 2010, 12:24:08 pm »
Look into running the emulator Zinc.

It'll run the Tekken games on much more modest hardware than what MAME requires.  And it'll use hardware acceleration to spruce up the graphics.  Its a pain to set up, but doable. 

I was thinking about that... Are there any good how to articles? Does it matter that I'm using an Arcade VGA 3000 card for the graphics.. I'm not to sure how powerful that card is...
Thanks,
Mike
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shan1784

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Re: Trouble running some MAME games - New CPU???
« Reply #4 on: September 16, 2010, 01:15:20 pm »
Actually looking at zinc right now it only supports Tekken 1 to 3... Doesn't support Tag which is the one my kids really want...
Thanks,
Mike
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Re: Trouble running some MAME games - New CPU???
« Reply #5 on: September 16, 2010, 11:07:42 pm »
It's a common error to assume it's power that's required for MAME. The emulation software core has to be developed over time too, so even with astronomical specs it would be difficult to reproduce the kind of playability you're thinking of as the emulation core needs to be developed.

The MAME team strive for accuracy before speed - this means for many releases certain games will not be even remotely playable whilst they achieve accurate emulation - this does not mean a game will run fast. Once they believe the code emulates the hardware accurately enough they will change code to improve performance - this is a process that may take many years, even with the advances in PC performance. Back when .chd games were first introduced it took well over a year and many subsequent releases before games like Killer Instinct became playable, and that was coupled with the fast-advancing PC technology then.

What you have to bear in mind is that the newer games are they try to emulate, the more complex the emulation software code has to be, the longer it will be before accuracy reaches acceptance levels and the bigger the initial spec demand will be. Also bear in mind that part of the MAME devs policy is to not push too hard with new games as they are potentially still out in arcades and hence still earning profit and liable to attract unwanted attention to the entire project.

Bottom line is using MAME is not like trying to get performance from a PC game - think of it in this sporting analogy: "the goalpoasts keep moving, the players get subbed, and the strategy changes with each new opponent" and you'll see why the status quo is what it is.