Low end PC for mame - recommended games?

[jgossin]

My employer will be selling several low end PCs they no longer need.
333Mhz CPU
64-128 MB Ram
I'm guessing only 4MB for video ram
and probably on board sound.

I'm thinking about running DOS mame on this, unless someone recommends another format of mame.

I was wondering if this would be powerful enough to play games like Double Dragon 1 & 2,
Bad Dudes,
Crime Fighters 1 & 2
Golden Axe
or even some shooter classics like 1943.

But if I'm stuck with Pacman, Dig Dug, etc, thats ok I guess.

If anyone might have a list of some 80s-90s games that could run on this setup please let me know.

Thanks!

[Tiger-Heli]

http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=14155

Also, I would start out with the windows build of R37B16, which allows hardware stretching, and only drop back to DOS MAME if you couldn't get decent performance out of this.

[Lilwolf]

btw, when you say selling... you mean for about 10 bucks or less right?

You can get a MUCH faster computer for maybe 25 bucks on ebay or computer liquidators.    Computers loose their values quickly... And when you get to a certain age / speed they sell for about shipping costs.

[RayB]

I don't think those games will run properly. If I remember correctly, I wasn't able to play the late 80's side-scrollers like those until I got myself a 500mhz machine (and then I used Callus to run them).

[tommy]

I don't think those games will run on that PC either, i don't even think that PC will run on that PC.

[Q*Bert_OP]

I used to have a 633 mhz. PC and stuff like pac-mania,raiden ran very slow........

[pointdablame]

I used to have a 633 mhz. PC and stuff like pac-mania,raiden ran very slow........

You can get a lot of games running on a 633mhz system, you just need to use and old version of Mame.

For that 333mhz, I'm sure you can get some stuff to run.  Use dos if you know how, and use an old version of MAME. You could also try Vantage if you want to use a vertical screen.

[RayB]

You'll be able to run more stuff than people here are carrying on like you will.

[Tiger-Heli]

You'll be able to run more stuff than people here are carrying on like you will.  Some of us were playing MAME full speed back in the 486 days.   

Use a good version of DOS mame, like .36 and you'll be fine.

Keep in mind he didn't ask if he could simply "run MAME" on his system. He's not looking to play PacMan. He had a specific list which are all late 80's side-scrollers.

And I'd wager that it will play them.  It might be at Frameskip 7 or 8, but it will probably work and be playable.  (I used a Pentium 200 for years, but it's also been years ago).

[RayB]

And I'd wager that it will play them.

[tommy]

No way Golden Axe runs perfect on it.

[dweebs0r]

Let me state at first that this IS NOT a rom request, just a question concerning roms. 

I have a Linux PC running a Celeron 600 and it runs even the older Mame roms terribly slowly.

If I switch to an older version of Mame and compilie it from source,

how can I make my newer romsets work with the older roms?

Thanks,
-Dweebs

[Tiger-Heli]

how can I make my newer romsets work with the older roms?

Clrmamepro

[Shifty]

I run mame on a P2-350. Bad dudes, 1943 and Double Dragon run fine on it, pretty sure Golden Axe does too.

Running Mame32 v62, on both Windows 98 and 2000, and with 64 or 128 MB ram (I've changed the OS and memory over time). MK I, Streetfighter and Marvel Superheroes run at *almost* full speed on Mame 37b15.

FWIW I tried a Celeron 450 thinking it would be an upgrade and it wasn't as fast as my P2-350.

[dweebs0r]

Man, I dont know what I am doing wrong then.

I am using a Celeron 600/192 Megs ram with Ubuntu Linux. 
Using Fluxbox as a low memory consumption desktop and I can barely run
Pacman fullscreen on the latest Mame build.

I haven't tried using an older Mame yet, mostly because I am not sure that I can use clrmamepro.

I'll play around more when I have some time.

-Jody

[iwillfearnoevil]

Man, I dont know what I am doing wrong then.

I haven't tried using an older Mame yet, mostly because I am not sure that I can use clrmamepro.

an older version is a must for older computers!

[JoyMonkey]

No way Golden Axe runs perfect on it.

The first PC I used for a cab was a PII 266 and I'm positive that it played Golden Axe just fine. This was back in the 0.34bX days, when you could only use DOS, ArcadeVGA was only a glimmer in Andy's eye, the only frontend for a cab was ArcadeOS, I had to walk ten miles in my bare feet to school and back with only half a potato for lunch and children respected their elders.