PC Processor comparison with Mame/Mala (headkaze)

[slsimon]

Hey guys.  Thought I would toss this questions up to you and see what type of feedback that I can get back.  I have a chance to obtain a core 2 duo processor, (2.13Ghz) for a great price.  I currently have a P4 3.0GHZ (800Mhz) FSB processor with a compiled version of mame (.122u3 with sound diff update as well as hiscore update). Thanks to headkaze's awesome mame compiler. 

I know that the hyperthreading is a virtual core processor in Windows while the duo actually has 2 core processors.  Correct me if I am wrong here.  I am just wondering if it would be worth my time to purchase the core 2 processor, install on my system board, and then go through the compilation process with the same version of mame that I currently have? 

This question is pointed directly at headkaze.  If I do decided to purchase the processor what compile options should I select in your compiler for the duo 2 processor to get maximum efficiency out of the compiler and mame executable? 

I would compile mame with the u1, u2, u3, u4, u5, u6, u7 updates.  I can't remember if the hiscore and or the sounddiff update would need to be compiled next in the list.  I have mame up and running at the moment, so I am not sure if I want to take the risk of breaking something during the upgrade process. 

Any suggestions from the forum members and or headkaze? 

[u_rebelscum]

I have a chance to obtain a core 2 duo processor, (2.13Ghz) for a great price.  I currently have a P4 3.0GHZ (800Mhz) FSB processor...

Even if you ignore special builds, C2Ds run mame about twice as fast as P4s, and it's not because of multicore vs hyperthreading.  I just posted this on a different forum:

ROM	Core Solo/Duo	Pentium 4
	3600 Mhz	3500 Mhz
blitz	53.84	24.76
calspeed	37.6	17.01
carnevil	126.65	57.19
crusnusa	118.04	57.1
mace	57.3	26.049
propcycl	37.17	16.61
xevi3dg	157.49	80.09

Data from mame benchmarks, mame ver 0.118, in FPS.  Notice that the C2D is running about twice as fast for most game, even after you adjust for the 3.5 vs 3.6 Ghz.  Call it a 2x speed up per hertz.

You'll get a bigger speed up getting the C2D (2x * 2.13 Ghz / 3.0 Ghz = 1.42, or a ~40% increase) than you did when you switched from standard optimization to your (I assume) P4 optimized build.  I'm not sure how well (or if at all) a P4 optimized will run on a Core2, but you can try.  Getting a core2 optimization on a core2 machine (or a P4 on a P4 machine) normally only ups from between 2%-10%, depending on game.


The question is how many games are boardline, that a 40% increase will fix?  A few games still need a 4.0 Ghz C2D or faster to play at speed, while most games already run fine with a 3.0 P4.  If the games you want are either of these, it won't help.