Question about Xeon processors and parellel processing

[AlanS17]

The PC I use for my arcade machine is a PIII @ 866MHz. However, I have a server at home that has a PII Xeon @ 450MHz and room for another next to it. I could get my hands on another processor easily enough. My question is this:

Which would make a better MAME machine, my PIII or the server with 2 PIIs in it?

The PIII does have an AGP card where my server only has PCI. Also, the PIII has 128MB or RDRAM and the server has like 256MB of SDRAM.

I can already play most games full speed so I'm inclined to leave it just as it is, but what do you all think?

[screaming]

I can already play most games full speed so I'm inclined to leave it just as it is, but what do you all think?

  This was just talked about.  According to that thread, I wouldn't bother with the two PIIs.

/Steve

[grafixmonkey]

We seriously need a banner at the top that says "Mame does not utilize multiple processors."  Though you can, theoretically, play two instances of Mame simultaneously on a dual proc machine, both at full speed.

That said, the Xeon processors are Intel's

[Inaba]

That said, the Xeon processors are Intel's

[SirPoonga]

What is nice about dual procs then you can assign mame to run ont he second proc, it will get that proc all alone and not have to fight the OS threads for it.

[Donger]

The idle Windows processes really only eat up small amounts of RAM, and not necessarily CPU power.  We're also assuming that all non-necessary processes are turned off on a dedicated MAME machine (ie. terminal services, networking, workstation, etc.).

[Lilwolf]

linux version of mame handles SMTP... but you don't get even close to double the speed.

goto pricewatch... spend a 150 and get yourself a superfast computer that will play all but 100 games our of the 5000 in mame.

[TalkingOctopus]

That said, the Xeon processors are Intel's

[grafixmonkey]

I don't have any personal experience with the Xeons.  I just see them in all the server class systems so I assumed they were faster or something.  (not to say that businesses are necessarily very good at choosing their computer hardware.)  

From Pricewatch...  
P4 3.0GHz:       ~ $270
Xeon 3.0GHz:   ~ $470

All for more cache?  I dunno...   maybe...

[grafixmonkey]

After some searching on the Intel site, it looks like the Xeon is simply Intel's SMP capable processor.  (Xeon is to P4 as Athlon-MP is to Athlon-XP.)  I found some Xeon models with a L3 cache, and some without, as well as some P4s with a L3 cache.  So the Xeon basically just gives you the cache and bus interface structure necessary for multiprocessing.

[TalkingOctopus]

I don't have any personal experience with the Xeons.  I just see them in all the server class systems so I assumed they were faster or something.  (not to say that businesses are necessarily very good at choosing their computer hardware.)  

From Pricewatch...  
P4 3.0GHz:       ~ $270
Xeon 3.0GHz:   ~ $470

All for more cache?  I dunno...   maybe...

Nope...they just have more cache and I think some additional security features.

[grafixmonkey]

And multiproc support.  (there's more to multiproc support than you think - the proc needs a different cache structure, and is sometimes given more than one bus interface.)

There's apparently now a Xeon MP that is built to do multiproc with more than two processors.

....   all of which is completely irrelevant because mame won't use it.