Whats the minimum pc spec for mame?

[pbGames]

Hi,
  Can someone please tell me if a pentium 4 with 512M memory is good enough for mame?

[CoryBee]

Hi,
  Can someone please tell me if a pentium 4 with 512M memory is good enough for mame?

Simple answer. Yes.

Don't use newer versions of mame if you want better performance. Find one pre .100

[Haze]

Question comes up all the time.  There is no real answer.

'A Pentium 4' is a very loose definition of the system although if it's only got 512MB ram then I'd guess it's a very low-end one in the first place.

Like I've said every time this subject comes up, you can rewind versions a bit to find slightly faster ones, but you'll also lose out on bug fixes made along the way, even to classic titles.  Personally I'd never be seen dead wanting to run anything but the latest version (unless there was a specific bug preventing me from doing so) but I'd also not really recommend anything less than a good Core2 for that.

Keep in mind that even in the very latest version released yesterday (0.150) we've seen important fixes to older drivers like Double Dragon, the sound in Top Speed/Full Throttle and protection fixes for a whole bunch of Data East drivers.  If you decide to use older hardware, and have to use older versions you'll be missing out on those fixes and hundreds of countless others that have been made between the versions.

[rpgposer]

My cab has a 3.4 ghz p4 with 2gb of ram and a discrete agp video card.  It runs most 2d games fine using mame version .148.  I plan on updating to .149 or .150 (didn't know it was released) when I have time. 

[pbGames]

Thanks for everyones comments.  I am sure lots of people ask the same kind of questions...

I assume when you mention .1x.  I mean the version? And the current version is .149?

I was going to install hypersin too.  Looking at the size of the download I assume 1G memory is probably better.  With possibly a core 2...

[TKW4rr10r]

It's just not as simple as knowing what version of mame will run on your PC. It's like when someone asks me what king of PC/ laptop should they buy. I always have to ask first "Well, what are you going to use it for?"

You first need to answer what OS will you be using, since that can potentially be more of a resource hog then the version of mame (or intended games) you will be running. In most cases, XP will require less Ram and resources than win7, for example. I personally wouldn't run Win7 on anything less than 2GB of Ram to start, regardless of any other hardware specs. Core 2 Duo and above preferred,

But then you have to take into account any front end (HS will require much more recent hardware) and what type of games you will be playing. I have a couple builds in planning stages and due to needs in each cab, I'll be using very different PCs for these very same reasons.

A P4 with -just- 512mb of Ram will not get allot done, unless going with stripped out version of an OS and playing basic games in an older version of mame. If that's what you are looking for then great. But at some point you'll have to look at any future plans for the cab and determine if its worth it to go low spec on the PC now, if you'll just be going through all this configuration again in the not to distant future.

[michelevit]

A p4 2ghz is the minimum. I'm able to run windows xp and mame. Golden era games (80's work fine) Newer games do not.
I'm only interested in Golden Era games and one a shoestring budget so I usually build with an old Dell P4. You can use an older Mame build and romset, but your time is better spent just finding a newer used pc. They are out there, just look on Craigslist. Everyone is updating to laptops/tablets, so there is a plethura of low priced desktop systems.

[paigeoliver]

Minimum PC spec that will run all the important 2D games at full speed without a lot of obvious emulation flaws would be something around a 450 mhz Pentium 2, Windows 98 or DOS and a mame version in the .55 to .60 range.

Obviously none of you are going to run out and try to set up a system that old for mame. But it shows that anything you find meets the minimum spec.

By the way, before you go scoffing at using a mame version that old you should realize that the mame everyone is drooling about on their cell phones and raspberry pies is a port of a version a lot more ancient than that. The new versions of mame are without a doubt superior to the really old versions, however much of that is in ways that are essentially invisible to the user.