Best MAME version for classics only on a slow machine

[Texasmame]

After much testing on my PII 450 with ~380 megs of RAM, I've found that MAME .78 works best.  Smooth sound, even with overlays.  The bezel artwork does slow things down a bit, tho, on some games (Asteroids is a good example).  No need to frame skip, etc.  Also running an authentic SoundBlaster card and Win98' with all drivers updated, etc.  Using MAME32 but any .78 MAME should yield similar results.

So, if you're looking to play just the classics, that seems to be the best version to do it with, IMHO.

BTW, this is also the first version in which ARMOR ATTACK is fully playable with sound, overlays, etc.

Maybe this will help someone, somewhere, someday!

 

[Dmod]

Based on your input and that of another thread, I started backing up my MAME version and did notice an improvement in speed compared to v110.  Now I'm trying to determine how far back I should go.

Did you come up with a useful diagnostic you can share for testing MAME versions?

Is there a list of games you found that are good at showing the slowdown in later versions of MAME?

[diverdown]

I should know this answer, but its easier to ask again.


If i have a full mame 110 romset and i uninstall mame 110 and install 0.78 does it really matter if i dont do anything to the romset.... ?  I assume i will lose some games but don't really care in this current build.

[Texasmame]

Based on your input and that of another thread, I started backing up my MAME version and did notice an improvement in speed compared to v110.  Now I'm trying to determine how far back I should go.

Did you come up with a useful diagnostic you can share for testing MAME versions?

Is there a list of games you found that are good at showing the slowdown in later versions of MAME?

For me, I checked three games:

Spy Hunter with the Bezel artwork
Asteroids Deluxe with Bezel
Armor Attack with overlay

No particular list of games which are better in which versions, tho.  Those three were just my "benchmark" games.

[Texasmame]

I should know this answer, but its easier to ask again.


If i have a full mame 110 romset and i uninstall mame 110 and install 0.78 does it really matter if i dont do anything to the romset.... ?  I assume i will lose some games but don't really care in this current build.

I have about 4GB of ROMS.  I ended up using RomCenter and "updated" them with that and most all of them work.