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(Cringe) Sorry to ask...I'm lost with MAME PC specs!

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Gatt:

--- Quote from: Lilwolf on March 02, 2010, 07:14:56 pm ---I would love to see a project sort the games based on the same hardware, how fast they run... (so if your computer plays game X just fine... you can go down the list until it starts failing... and have a good guess that everything above it should run fine)...  But the hardware would have to be the same (1) and would have to have an AMD group, and a Intel group since they change (some games DO work better on intels)

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While it's an interesting idea in theory,  in practice it's not very workable unfortunately,  for two reasons.

1.  In general,  on any hardware platform,  early games are much less demanding than later ones which fully exploit the hardware.  Especially on the hardware of more recent years,  which is the hardware that'd be in question.

2.  Too many variables in computer builds.  I've a 2.8ghz quad-core intel,  but I'm absolutely certain it runs a good deal faster than an off-the-shelf 2.8ghz Dell.  For several reasons,  I used an extremely high quality motherboard with memory chips that run much faster than the board is rated for,  and an aftermarket cooler.  What I'm getting at is,  no two systems are equal,  *especially* off-the-shelf systems.  Many companies will cut costs by offering a high-speed processor and pairing it with low-speed memory,  or use cheap motherboards that impact processor performance,  or worst of all,  integrated video.  So,  I mean,  I could run the tests and come up with good results on a number of edge-case games,  whereas a Dell or Compaq couldn't run them well.

There's just no reasonable way to compile such a list,  because in the end,  E-machines owner #43,689 is going to be *really* upset when he discovers that his system doesn't come remotely close to the posted recommendations.


--- Quote ---I can DIY wood and wiring ok, but making a PC is kinda beyond me right now. I bought this comp for $250 off overstock and I can run, like that dude said above, 95% of arcade games perfectly...

--- End quote ---

It's intimidating at first,  but it's really not difficult.  Mounting the processor and heat-sink are the only skilled portions of the build,  everything else is just plugging things in where they go,  and you can buy a motherboard with the processor and cooler already mounted.  Of course,  there's an order to it,  perhaps I'll do a generic "Steps to assemble a PC" post in the near future with some tips.

Haze:

--- Quote from: Lilwolf on March 02, 2010, 07:14:56 pm ---A single core 3ghz will be fine.  It will play 95% of the games out there.

a 2ghz with probably run 94% of the games

And a 3ghz dual core e8400 will run 97% of the games out there... and nothing non-OC'd will run all the games...

You have to decide how much you care about those 5% of the games.  If GauntLegends was in the list, I would say its worth it...

I would love to see a project sort the games based on the same hardware, how fast they run... (so if your computer plays game X just fine... you can go down the list until it starts failing... and have a good guess that everything above it should run fine)...  But the hardware would have to be the same (1) and would have to have an AMD group, and a Intel group since they change (some games DO work better on intels)

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There is a world of difference between what a single 3ghz core of a Pentium 4 will do, and a single 3ghz core of a C2D will do.  The mhz alone is NOT a good indicator.

With modern versions of MAME you might find there are times the 3gz P4 leaves something to be desired, even when running 'classics'.  There are drivers which have improved, and as a result become slower, and some classics which are pretty demanding from the off (the 'proper' 3 screen versions of Buggy Boy and TX1 for example)

I was doing some development on a 2ghz machine with MAME the other day, and it wasn't pretty at all, a lot of things would periodically dip a bit, and because it was only a single core background tasks in Windows were more prone to cause stuttering in the emulation.  A 3ghz P4 also gives you less of a buffer if things become slower again in the future as further improvements are made, and you want to upgrade to a newer version, but as a result can't.

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