CPU advice for a slightly older enterprise HP

[bensonr2]

I am using an HP from work we were getting rid of as a dedicated Mame PC. Everything works great; except some of the more demanding to run titles like NFL Blitz are not giving me the same performance I am getting out of my main custom built PC.

The PC is an HP 3130.

Currently it has a i5 650 which is clocked at 3.2-3.46 with 2 cores and up to 4 threads.

The highest spec cpu that will work with this PC is an i7 870 which is clocked at 2.93 to 3.6 with 4 cores and up to 8 threads.

I can also put in an i5 670 which is clocked at 3.46 to 3.73

Which is the best processor to go with based on those specs? Price isn't an issue. I plan to buy a refurb and both of those processors are about the same cost.

My understanding is clock speed is pretty much all that matters for Mame as it makes little to no use of multiple cores. But others have told me always go for the i7 over the i5. It just gives me pause though because the base clock speed of that particular i7 is so low.

For example the current i5 can run Blitz but I get frequent audio stutter. Where as on my i7 2600 (stock no overclock) runs it near perfect and that's not a particularly recent processor itself.

Any advice is much appreciated.

[BadMouth]

The only using 2 cores thing is no longer true, but only some drivers (the code for a specific arcade hardware) utilize more than 2.
Not sure about the driver for the Seattle hardware Blitz runs on.
Still in general the higher clock speed is better, but it does depend on the particular game you're trying to get to run full speed.

Have you tried reducing the original hardware resolution of NFL Blitz in MAME ? (IIRC it's a DIP switch setting)
That helps a good bit.

Also disable HLSL if it isn't already.

Might be enough to get it working without having to upgrade.

If you are going to buy another processor and you like 3D games, I'd go for the i7 because other emulators like Demul will utilize it.
(assuming the PC can also accept a modern video card)

That's my $.02

[bensonr2]

It has a PCIE x16 though I believe only 1.0. But my understanding is you can still but in a 2.0 card in a 1.0 slot?

I have a cheap AMD card in the slot right now I found laying around in the junk pile at work. I more just added it to give an hdmi out and also because if I put in the i7 870 there will no longer we integrated graphics.

Blitz runs as is and is completely playable. But I get distracting audio stutter. HSL is disabled. I tried playing with the graphic settings on the dipswitches. That helped a little for some of the more recent golden tee but not for Blitz. Though even in golden tee there is still stutter but I noticed some improvement.

The processors I previously mentioned I can get a refurb for under 100. So I feel that is worth taking a shot to see if it gives the improvement I want. I figure my i7 2600 has enough performance so maybe just a slight cpu bump will get me to where I want to be.

But if not I'll look into putting together a custom rig at a later date with a more current i5.

[BadMouth]

I should have also mentioned  that having a 64-bit OS and 64-bit version of MAME makes a big difference on those games as well.
The i5 Win7 machines where I work only have the 32-bit version of windows installed.

[bensonr2]

Was running win7 pro 64 but I wiped it with a fresh install of win 10 pro 64 anyway. Running mame64 172b.

[paigeoliver]

Why not just run the PC version of Blitz instead? Or even buy a real machine if that is your make or break game.

[bensonr2]

I'm trying to keep everything as "arcade like" as possible.

Also Blitz is not the only early 3d era game I am running. Gauntlet Legends, Golden Tee, MK4, Soul Calibur and a few others.

I'm getting pretty good performance. Just a little short with a couple games like Blitz and Golden Tee. Again my main rig with the i7 is just a bit better and trying to see if I can match or get close to that with the slightly better cpu's available for this particular PC.

If it doesn't work out the way I hope I probably will put together a new custom build rig at a later date. I might use my current main PC as the Mame cab and start building a new main desktop.

[paigeoliver]

I have found one decent solution to problems like this is to not worry about it, the PC is the only component in your cabinet that you are likely to ever replace. Enjoy your other games, eventually Blitz will work right.

[BadMouth]

....or use an older version of MAME.
My cab runs these games full speed (just barely) on v.146, but when I tried v.170 it choked hard.  Games weren't even playable.  IIRC, the Cave 3D shmups were added back around v.152 so a version or two after that is worth a try.
(I'm running them on a circa v.142 shmupmame build)

EDIT:  might want to see when Golden Tee Fore first stated working if that is the golden tee game you were referring to.

[bensonr2]

Thanks, I'll see if I can get a little more performance from some of the older versions.

I am using Launchbox as a front end; so I could probably pretty easily run multiple versions of mame for a few specific games.

That said though I still want to try adding a little more processing power.

Long term I think I will put together a custom rig with a more recent i7 or i5.