64-bit MAME frontend?

[krick]

I'm in the gathering phase of a mame cabinet computer re-build.

My plan is to make the jump to Windows 7 64-bit because of the performance gains in recent MAME versions.

According to MAMEUI's JohnIV...

The "x64 version of MameUI coupled with x64 Vista is the fastest Windows platform, consistently 25-30% faster than x86 on the same hardware."  I've seen other testimonials from 64-bit users who confirm similar results

Of course, I'm going to be using a command line version of MAME instead of MAMEUI, but the performance gains are the same.

But I digress...

My point in posting was that I'm currently using MAMEWah as my front end on Windows XP (32-bit) and I wanted to know if there were any 64-bit compatible front ends that work well in a MAME cabinet.

EDIT:  I forgot to mention that I'm using a 15KHz arcade monitor, so whatever frontend I use has to be compatible.

[Dazz]

Honestly, you aren't going to see much of a performance increase with a 64bit frontend.  I'm not sure what 64bit would really add to a frontend.  Of course you should be able to launch 64bit MAME through any frontend. 

[krick]

Honestly, you aren't going to see much of a performance increase with a 64bit frontend.  I'm not sure what 64bit would really add to a frontend.  Of course you should be able to launch 64bit MAME through any frontend. 

I probably didn't explain myself well, or maybe I'm just retarded.  Anything is possible. 

I plan to run Windows 7 64-bit with a 64-bit build of MAME.  I'm not expecting any performance increase in the front-end.  I just want a front-end that is compatible with a 64-bit OS and 64-bit MAME.

I can't really find any good resources that indicate which front ends will work on a 64-bit OS.

[Dazz]

Honestly, you aren't going to see much of a performance increase with a 64bit frontend.  I'm not sure what 64bit would really add to a frontend.  Of course you should be able to launch 64bit MAME through any frontend. 

I probably didn't explain myself well, or maybe I'm just retarded.  Anything is possible. 

I plan to run Windows 7 64-bit with a 64-bit build of MAME.  I'm not expecting any performance increase in the front-end.  I just want a front-end that is compatible with a 64-bit OS and 64-bit MAME.

I can't really find any good resources that indicate which front ends will work on a 64-bit OS.

I'm pretty sure that all frontends work as expected in a 64bit OS.  Windows 7 x64 is backwards compatible with 32bit software.  I've been running Windows 7 x64 in my cab for a long while now.  I've tested HyperSpin, Maximus Arcade, GameEx and Mala all without any issues.

[krick]

I'm pretty sure that all frontends work as expected in a 64bit OS.  Windows 7 x64 is backwards compatible with 32bit software.  I've been running Windows 7 x64 in my cab for a long while now.  I've tested HyperSpin, Maximus Arcade, GameEx and Mala all without any issues.

That's good to know.  I had no idea the backwards compatibility was that good.  I heard lots of horror stories in the early days of 64-bit Vista.  All the computers in my house are still running XP (32-bit), so this is new territory for me.

[Dazz]

I'm pretty sure that all frontends work as expected in a 64bit OS.  Windows 7 x64 is backwards compatible with 32bit software.  I've been running Windows 7 x64 in my cab for a long while now.  I've tested HyperSpin, Maximus Arcade, GameEx and Mala all without any issues.

That's good to know.  I had no idea the backwards compatibility was that good.  I heard lots of horror stories in the early days of 64-bit Vista.  All the computers in my house are still running XP (32-bit), so this is new territory for me.

Yeah, XP x64 was horrible.  Driver support was greatly lacking.  Vista x64 was a bit better than XP x64, but Win 7 x64 is by far the nicest OS I've ever used.  32/64 bit compatibility is great, but one thing that Win 7 has is that you can run apps that may not run natively in Windows 7 by enabling the program to operate in XP/Vista backwards compatibility mode.  I haven't come across a single application that I have not been able to run in Windows 7.

[headkaze]

Never had a problem with XP 64. I guess it depends on the hardware you have.

[Howard_Casto]

Never had a problem with XP 64. I guess it depends on the hardware you have.

Ditto....

now if you were an early adopter.....

When xp64 first came out 64 bit processors were just in existance at the consumer level, much less drivers for video cards and what have you.  Now that xp64 is "ancient" though there are plenty of drivers and stuff and compatability is really high. 

[TheSlim]

Xp 64 worked fine for me. Every driver I tried worked, even the LCD top guns.

[krick]

Which frontends are capable of running at 640x288 on Windows 7?

I know MameWah can.  Are there any others?

[Gray_Area]

Which frontends are capable of running at 640x288 on Windows 7?

I know MameWah can.  Are there any others?

That's where you may run into some trouble, is 15khz resolutions in Win7.

[krick]

Which frontends are capable of running at 640x288 on Windows 7?

I know MameWah can.  Are there any others?

That's where you may run into some trouble, is 15khz resolutions in Win7.

I have an ArcadeVGA 3000.  Supposedly, it can do 15KHz resolutions in Win7.  The problem is that Win7 doesn't like switching between interlaced and non-interlaced resolutions.  So you can't run your front end at 640x480 or higher.

The whole reason for considering Windows 7 64-bit was for the boost in MAME performance, but it's turning out to be a major hassle.  I just might end up sticking with XP 32-bit for simplicity.

[Howard_Casto]

Don't use win 7... win 7 isn't cabinet friendly... use 64 BIT XP. 

That little blurb you quoted at the top of your post really meant "a 64bit windows os and mame64" not "win 7/vista 64bit and mame64."

Mame doesn't really care... a 64 bit os is a 64bit os. 

If you would actually look at his benchmarks you would realize that never even tested mame in xp 64bit.  He was just comparing a 64 bit version of windows to a 32 bit one. 

[krick]

Don't use win 7... win 7 isn't cabinet friendly... use 64 BIT XP. 

After doing some research, there appears to be at least two workarounds for the Windows 7 15KHz resolution issue.

In what other ways is Windows 7 not cabinet friendly?

[Howard_Casto]

UAC (which you can turn off)
"Aero" desktop (which you can turn off)
Poor support not just for 15khz but low resolutions in general
Higher system resouce requirements
Doesn't have a lot of common dlls required for older mame apps.  (Can be downloaded)

Now granted, as you can see by my list, a lot of this issues can be fixed, BUT once you turn everything off and install all the missing stuff, you essentially have windows xp with twice the system requirements. 

Win 7 can be used well on a brand new high-end machine.  Any other hardware should avoid it though.

[krick]

UAC (which you can turn off)
"Aero" desktop (which you can turn off)
Poor support not just for 15khz but low resolutions in general
Higher system resouce requirements
Doesn't have a lot of common dlls required for older mame apps.  (Can be downloaded)

Now granted, as you can see by my list, a lot of this issues can be fixed, BUT once you turn everything off and install all the missing stuff, you essentially have windows xp with twice the system requirements. 

Win 7 can be used well on a brand new high-end machine.  Any other hardware should avoid it though.

I know you love to hear this, but you were right.   

I've given up on Windows 7 and switched to XP x64...
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=111245.0

[BigDaddyE]

I spec'd a smokin computer for my cab in November of 2010, didn't have it up and running till Feb of 2011, because of the issues detailed in this thread between Win 7 and 15 khz.

After a lot of help from this board, I reverted back to XP and have been happily playing ever since!

You learned my lesson a lot quicker!

Big Daddy E