Current CPUS's and MAME (same old questions)

[clok]

I built a mame cab and upgraded it for years.. the last PC it had in it was a e8400 OC to 4GHz it ran everything i needed... But as with all things i got far to busy with life and its been ages since i kept up with this stuff. I am planning a BARTOP.. and was wondering how current gen CPU's (amd or Intel) compare. As I buy most my stuff used on AnandTech lets keep it to 2 years or newer stuff. baseline Guantlet Ledgends must play ok.. it was borderline on my e8400 depending on OC.. 3.8 seemed to be about the edge, anything slower CPU speed wise and it showed..
How do the cheap Intel chips do? Like an I3 3220?  or the AMD FX-4100?  the $100ish give or take 420 buch chips do? Im trying to keep MB CPU and ram in the $250 area

[Haze]

avoid the current AMD cpus at all costs, they're absolutely absymal for MAME (their main strength is applications which can use a LOT of cores, MAME is not one of those)  People have 'upgraded' from previous gen AMD and seen a performance *drop*

a decent clocked i5 is your current best bet for price/performance.

[nipsmg]

Haze:  Thanks for this response, I was looking at the AMDs.

The problem is, the chip numbering schemes, chip architectures, and clock speeds are ALL OVER the map.  Does chip architecture matter (ivy bridge vs whatever)?  Any recommendations on which specific processor that is currently available for purchase?  I went looking for the I5 2600K and had issues at newegg.

[Haze]

Haze:  Thanks for this response, I was looking at the AMDs.

The problem is, the chip numbering schemes, chip architectures, and clock speeds are ALL OVER the map.  Does chip architecture matter (ivy bridge vs whatever)?  Any recommendations on which specific processor that is currently available for purchase?  I went looking for the I5 2600K and had issues at newegg.

I don't think you're going to see vast differences between the various intel chipsets, although I'm not 100% up to speed on what's what, I just wanted to advise caution against the AMDs because we've heard quite a few horror stories regarding them (which is a shame, because it's good for everyone when the competition is strong)

[404]

I've had the luxury of testing many, many different hardware configurations for mame including using certain configs to test just how well newer and older versions of mame run on the same hardware. I will say that i would not agree with the notion that AMD processors are 'Abysmal' for mame however, I would agree that they are not optimal and do lag behind their intel counterparts.

If you are purchasing a new PC or purchasing pc parts for a rig solely for mame, your best bet is to buy intel.