OS Benchmarks

[planetjay]

Has anyone benchmarked MAME under XP vs. Linux? Also does anyone know if MAME supports multiple cores on a CPU?

[Brian74]

Pretty sure someone did a OS benchmark. I think it was XP 32 & 64 win7 32 & 64. Idk if anyone has used Linux. I believe if you use mame32ui, there is a spot for dual cores. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

[keilmillerjr]

Has anyone benchmarked MAME under XP vs. Linux? Also does anyone know if MAME supports multiple cores on a CPU?

I will install some other OSes on a thumb drive and benchmark later. I choose 90 seconds as a standard with what I belive to be the 2 most demanding roms.

Benchmarking with MAME

Benchmarking standard
$ ./mame -bench 90 roms/rom.zip

Model Name: iMac
Model Identifier: iMac12,2
Processor Name: Intel Core i5
Processor Speed: 2.7 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 4
L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 6 MB
Memory:   12 GB

mame0149-64bit on Mac 10.8.3

$ ./mame64 -bench 90 roms/blitz.zip
Average speed: 187.82% (89 seconds)

$ ./mame64 -bench 90 roms/gauntleg.zip
Average speed: 248.59% (89 seconds)

mame0149-64bit on ubuntu 13.04

$ mame -bench 90 roms/blitz.zip
Average speed: 188.93% (89 seconds)

$ mame -bench 90 roms/gauntleg.zip
Average speed: 238.11% (89 seconds)

Model Name: custom arcade-pc
Processor Name: Intel Core i3-2100
Processor Speed: 3.1 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 2
Memory:   4 GB

mame0152-64bit on Windows 8.1 with Media Center v6.3.9600

C:\Emulation\mame0152>mame64 -bench 90 roms/blitz.zip
Average speed: 129.73% (89 seconds)

C:\Emulation\mame0152>mame64 -bench 90 roms/gauntleg.zip
Average speed: 173.72% (89 seconds)

[planetjay]

So, On your iMac Gauntlet Legends is running 2.5x faster than it needs to? I'll have to try that on this Mac later. The 0.149 "G" CHDs are almost downloaded.

THANKS! I wasn't aware that you could benchmark inside of MAME. What I'm wondering is if I'd be better to install Linux or XP on a MAME machine I'm building. Since it's been over a decade since I built one, everything has changed A LOT. I guess it'd be best to install XP and Linux on 2 identical HDs and -bench a hand full of games on each.

I'll post results later.

[keilmillerjr]

So, On your iMac Gauntlet Legends is running 2.5x faster than it needs to?

Yes.

THANKS!

When choosing an OS, I think you either have to go with the one with the most support (windows), or the one that boots the quickest (linux). If you are content with a simple front end, definitely do with linux. If you want some fancy ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---, go with m$oft winblows. XP is almost dead. Unless you have ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- old hardware, go with something newer. I'm actually liking the speed windows 8 offers. It still has a normal explorer shell, don't ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- a brick. All you have to do is press the icon labeled "desktop" in the metro ui interface. You can even disable it.

After a bunch of agonizing pain and time wasted, I finally got ubuntu running a native install off my thumb drive. The results is blitz is 1% better on ubuntu 13.04 than mac 10.8.3, and gauntlet legends is 10% worse. I think this may be due to the fact that it has to load a large chd off the thumb drive, and Ubuntu was running extremely slow from the thumb drive. I'll try a windows 8 install next.

[planetjay]

On my Late 2009 Mac Mini:

  Model Name:   Mac mini
  Model Identifier:   Macmini3,1
  Processor Name:   Intel Core 2 Duo
  Processor Speed:   2.53 GHz
  Number of Processors:   1
  Total Number of Cores:   2
  L2 Cache:   3 MB
  Memory:   8 GB

$ ./mame64 -bench 90 roms/gauntleg.zip
Average speed: 119.37% (89 seconds)

In all fairness I was downloading CHDs and playing FLAC files while I did this... 

Now I have to finish the Linux MAME machine and test it. And then find a FE and figure out how to kill off the shell and make the FE the shell.

[planetjay]

  Dell GX270 @2.8GHz with 1GB RAM and Linux Mint 15 with KDE. (Cinnamon crashes every time)


$ mame -bench 90 gauntleg.zip
Average speed: 33.26% (110 seconds)
( I aborted it)

Looks fine for NeoGeo and earlier though.

[keilmillerjr]

Dell GX270 @2.8GHz with 1GB RAM and Linux Mint 15 with KDE. (Cinnamon crashes every time)


$ mame -bench 90 gauntleg.zip
Average speed: 33.26% (110 seconds)
( I aborted it)

Looks fine for NeoGeo and earlier though.

Ouch! I would have expected higher! Do you think the lack of ram had an effect?

[planetjay]

Maybe. Also the Intel video couldn't have helped. I may pull the AGP video card out of another Linux box and see what effect that has. Keep in mind it a 32bit P4. With the same MB and different video and OS setups, I should be able to see which is best. Can't wait to see how bad the mini-ITX board with the Via C3 CPU does. But that one will only be for vertical games so it should be overkill. 

I got Mahcade running last night. It's what replaced Wahcade. I need to install it all again on my other MAME machine I'm building too so I may do a write up on it too. It doesn't exactly work like the guides say. I guess at some point I'll need to bench Ubuntu too just to see how it compares to Mint and XP. Good thing I have 6 identical 250GB HDs from my old Quicksilver 2002 G4!

[keilmillerjr]

I updated my post with test results from a new pc I built to be used in my arcade machine I am building.

Post: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,133583.msg1376327.html#msg1376327

[nitrogen_widget]

I'd be interested to see the differences between HLSL & GLSL on windows & Linux.
I don't know if the shaders being used are the same though.

[keilmillerjr]

I'd be interested to see the differences between HLSL & GLSL on windows & Linux.
I don't know if the shaders being used are the same though.

If you can tell me how to change those settings, I might be able to run some tests for you.

[nitrogen_widget]

I'd be interested to see the differences between HLSL & GLSL on windows & Linux.
I don't know if the shaders being used are the same though.

If you can tell me how to change those settings, I might be able to run some tests for you.

I was hoping you knew how to do it. HA!

I do dual boot into linux32 bit & win7 64 bit. (linux 32 allows me to utilize all of my ram with a special kernal)
I could throw a 64 bit install on a spare partition & try to figure it out and apply to Gauntlet legends on .153 (what my distro has in repositories)

[keilmillerjr]

Can a mod bookmark this thread? It would save a million questions pertaining to what computer one should build for use with mame.

[PL1]

Not sure what are you asking for.   

Are you asking that this thread be stickied?

Would you like a link to it in part of the FAQ?

This looks like it might be a suitable place to link here from the "What type of build meets my needs?" part of the FAQ.   

2. Make a list of the games, emulators, and front end you want to use. This list should include any "can't live without" games and will help you choose a suitable computer. Check the dual joystick, rotary joystick, analog joystick/yoke, and spinner gamelists to see if there are enough "can't live without" games in each list to justify including these specialized controls in your build.

BTW, people willl still post 999,995 of those million questions because they are lazy or don't know how to use search effectively or want the latest bleeding-edge info, etc.., etc. ad infinitum.


Scott