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Windows 98, XP, DOS, or Linux?
spystyle:
--- Quote from: Tilzs on June 06, 2004, 08:13:08 pm ---Linux works great if you are able to get it setup. You don't need Xwindows, just run advance mame and advance menu. If you want more fancy front end you might want to look at windows however, there are a bit more choices.
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Have you done any tests to prove it ?
I've tested FreeDOS,WIN98SE, and WINXP professional via FPS with different builds of MAME, and I'm certain that WIN98SE is quick, the proof is in the pudding, you must test before telling him who "not to listen to"
(It's even quicker if you remove internet explorer using the free 98lite utility, and if you shell out $40 for a cheap GeForce card Nvidia's drivers fly in WIN98SE)
Not to mention if he's a noob he may like to simply run MAME32, no muss no fuss, easy to setup with reasonable speed.
In my opinion XP is way too bloated for use on a cabinet.
TaaJ:
--- Quote from: spystyle on June 06, 2004, 09:57:17 pm ---
--- Quote from: Tilzs on June 06, 2004, 08:13:08 pm ---Linux works great if you are able to get it setup. You don't need Xwindows, just run advance mame and advance menu. If you want more fancy front end you might want to look at windows however, there are a bit more choices.
--- End quote ---
Have you done any tests to prove it ?
I've tested FreeDOS,WIN98SE, and WINXP professional via FPS with different builds of MAME, and I'm certain that WIN98SE is quick, the proof is in the pudding, you must test before telling him who "not to listen to"
(It's even quicker if you remove internet explorer using the free 98lite utility, and if you shell out $40 for a cheap GeForce card Nvidia's drivers fly in WIN98SE)
Not to mention if he's a noob he may like to simply run MAME32, no muss no fuss, easy to setup with reasonable speed.
In my opinion XP is way too bloated for use on a cabinet.
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Pretty sure you meant to quote me.
Yes I have tested it using benchmarks. Eliminiating Themes alone gave me a 4-5% boost in overall speed.
That 4-5% boost puts it about on par with SE. Of course there are other "services" to disable (for both). SE is faster yes, but I'm sick of reading threads where people say SE is twice as fast. (heck, some people say it's 5-10x faster). The difference is not that big.
And certainly when emulating games where you are hitting you are pretty much hitting a cap too begin with. If you're emulating some of the newer games, I guess the 1-2% perfomance you'd get would help a tad...
SirPoonga:
Right now, linux. Because it's a duel cely system. I am getting a new computer fo rit which will have XP on it. I have enough windows only emulators and windows game that are good for arcade cabinet that I need to get windows back on the cabinet.
vputz:
I'm using Linux myself, although it's not a standalone cab, it's my home-theater PC with a CP attached.
I will say this: I absolutely love Linux, and I absolutely would not recommend it to the casual cab builder unless they are already familiar and comfortable with it. Maybe one of the bootable MAME distributions. Just getting TV-out working correctly was a hassle.
If you're looking for a rewarding educational experience, don't mind a bit of frustration, and like to work with an industrial-strength OS, you can't go wrong with Linux (I *love* my HTPC box, which serves now as video recorder, MAME box, webserver, mail server, and more).
But if you've never worked with it before, it can be pretty intimidating and can result in some weirdnesses (my current wierdness: neither the keyboard or my CP can generate keypresses fast enough to keep the birds in the air in "Joust"--but plugging in a USB gamepad and using the joystick works just fine).
-->VPutz
seibu:
--- Quote from: jcoleman on June 06, 2004, 03:40:42 pm ---
You do NOT need X-Windows to support MAME on Linux. As a matter of fact, my last two Linux builds for my cab did not even have X-Windows installed. AdvanceMAME is the way to go with Linux, particularly if you have an arcade monitor. A friend and I (you may remember him from MAMEd-Millipede fame) have both used Linux successfully in three cabs. The Matrox g400 is a great card to use with this setup, BTW. This is the way to go if you want TRUE resolutions and scan rates.
ArcadeVGA is also great for this, but I don't know how well it's supported in Linux, and that is off topic anyway. :)
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I can back this up completely. By the way, the ArcadeVGA is great to use under Linux. The console displays at 15Khz from boot and you can use AdvanceMAME to set up all the resolutions. Since AdvanceMAME programs the video card directly, it's basically like having any other card but with stupidly low pixel clock capabilities. Yay!
Also, if you use something like Gentoo Linux and compile everything specifically for your architecture, you may well see a speed increase over Windows or DOS. I certainly did!