Noobish question - performance versions of MAME?

[Dan_Dan_91_07]

Hi, I've got to a point where I'd love to be able to play some newer games on my cab, without running the PC versions or upgrading my PC a lot.

You see many 3D games run slow or not at all as my computer is an old P4.

I have got Zinc up and running and I am pretty darn pleased with being able to play such games as Bloody Roar at a high frame rate, tried to get the Model 2 emulator running but found out my graphic card wasn't good enough - black and white graphics were displayed, also I had tried FOREVER to get a Naomi emulator running but couldn't.  I tried a few other emulators as well, these all only supported a small handful of games, but they all had problems - such as not being able to remap the controls.

I am started to think there isn't much else I can do, you see, non-arcade emulators are out of the question.

There is one other thing that I'm thinking however. I'm sure I have read on here though that there versions of MAME that focus on performance and not accuracy, is this true? I have read all that I could about other MAME versions and could not find anything about this though, however I think two likely candidates, if this is true, are advancemame and mameuifx.

Are there versions that focus on performance? Plus, can you recommend any other emulators that fit this criteria?

Thanks for any help.

[nitz]

I'm not an expert on mame derivatives, but since no one else has replied, I'll try to help out.

I'm pretty sure advancemame just gives you more options for playing mame on different types of monitors, so it doesn't sound like that's what you're looking for. I think mameuifx (or is it mameplus?) may give you a performance increase on some games, but IIRC it's the Sony Playstation hardware based games which zinc already covers.

There is fastmame, but I don't think that's been updated in forever. When I used an old PC, I was able to get full speed on some of the '90s Midway games like MK series, NBA Jam, and Rampage World Tour by using fastmame. *Maybe* an old fastmame would run some of the 3D games faster on your machine, but I wouldn't expect too much, and the games you want to play might not even be supported depending on how new they are.

I tried a few other emulators as well, these all only supported a small handful of games, but they all had problems - such as not being able to remap the controls.

If you've found an emulator where the only problem is not being able to remap controls, look into a free program called autohotkey. It allows you to easily remap controls for any application.

Hi, I've got to a point where I'd love to be able to play some newer games on my cab, without running the PC versions or upgrading my PC a lot.

...non-arcade emulators are out of the question.

Unfortunately, PC versions, upgrading, and/or non-arcade emulators are likely your only options for certain games. You're probably going to have to compromise a bit somewhere if you really want to play 3D stuff.

Hope this helps!

[Howard_Casto]

I'll chime in....   

Basically everything NITZ said, but as a rule, if you want a 3d game to play well on an older pc you do NOT use mame.  Almost all of the special "fast" editions of mame do next to nothing. 

Increasing performance in MAME, however, comes down to the following:

Get a PCIE video card, or at the very least make sure you aren't using a crappy onboard video card.  This isn't 1999, MAME now takes advantage of hardware acceleration to some degree. 

Get a 64 bit processor along with a 64 bit os and run a 64 bit version of MAME.  This will increase performance on cusp-level games.

Get a dual core, or better yet, quad core processor... it does what the last one did, only more-so. 

Get an intel processor.  Modern MAME hates amd,  you'll always get worse performance out of it. 


With that being said.....  anything fancier than maybe Crusin' USA isn't going to run well in mame anyway, regardless of your pc specs.  As a rule "modern" 3d arcade games don't run well in mame. 

There are emulators like Demul, that are starting to emulate atmoswave and naomi titles, but that emulator craps all over itself if you don't have a fairly modern video card running, so you will be in the same boat.

For dreamcast ports, you are going to need a Dc emulator guess what?  Demul is also your best DC emulator and all the others use the same plugins anyway, so you are still screwed on the system specs.

Most emulators that run newer consoles (ps2, gc, dc, ect) require high system specs as well so those aren't good alternatives either. 

Pc ports are pretty much your only viable option unfortuantely. 

[krick]

There was some discussion in this thread about older versions of MAME...

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=53349.0

Some of the highlights...

* 0.36 is recommended for EXTREMELY old machines
* 0.55 is good on low-end machines and seems to have 99% of games that people play with any regularity.
* 0.92 was the last version before the major sound re-write.
* 0.93 had the audio rewrite.
* 0.95 was a large input rewrite.
* 0.99 - Robotron blitter emulation fixed, which slowed the game down so it runs at the same speed as original.
* 0.106 was the last version before the video and artwork system was re-worked.
* 0.107 is the first full release for the new video code - the actual rewrite appeared in 0.106u1
* 0.108 hiscore.dat was removed (and replaced with save states).
* 0.112 CPS2 decryption was added.
* 0.116 was a big Donkey Kong update.
* 0.117 is the first full release with CPS3 decryption added.

TL;DR  if you have performance problems on older hardware, try 0.106, 0.92, or 0.55

[Donkbaca]

... Or just shell out 50 bucks/and or do some snooping and get a 3.0 ghz or better P4.  That will play everything that is playable, more or less.

[krick]

... Or just shell out 50 bucks/and or do some snooping and get a 3.0 ghz or better P4.  That will play everything that is playable, more or less.

Not really.  The P4 is a dog and modern MAME versions are pretty intense, especially anything that uses discrete sound emulation.

I'd set the bar at a low-end Core2Duo as a good minimum target.

Incidentally, two years ago, I spent $180 on the following...

ASUS P5KPL-CM motherboard $55
Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale (Core2Duo) 2.5GHz cpu $70
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) memory $55

...and was able to overclock it to 3.5GHz using the stock Intel heatsink.

I only had to change TWO settings in my motherboard BIOS.

This is what I'm still running in my MAME cabinet today.

[Donkbaca]

Nope.  I am running a P4. 3.0ghz MAME 139.  Runs everything I want it to run, what I can't run in it I can run in Zinc or M2.  Only things I can't play are a couple of gun games and a couple of 3d games, but 99% of what I want runs well.

[Howard_Casto]

Nope.  I am running a P4. 3.0ghz MAME 139.  Runs everything I want it to run, what I can't run in it I can run in Zinc or M2.  Only things I can't play are a couple of gun games and a couple of 3d games, but 99% of what I want runs well.

Well, considering the guy is already running a P4 and is unsatisfied with the performance, it's pretty obvious that a p4 doesn't run what he wants to run. 

That being said, a p4 with a good video card to go with it will run 90% of the playable games in mame. 


For those interested, there are are refurbished p4's on dealnews.com for 100 bucks + free shipping right now.  They are great for mame cabs that aren't going to play anything fancy!

[Dan_Dan_91_07]

Thanks guys, you have cleared up the confusion I had. 

I have been working on a laptop that wasn't working, and I have managed to get it booting again. It has a 1.8 GHz dual core, Intel Celeron processor and 3 GB of RAM. This plays the games much better and so, I am happy. Also, the Model 2 emulator is working properly. 

I'm gonna have to carry out some modifications on my cab though, if I want to be able to tun it on and off without opening it up. The laptop hasn't got any bios options that'll sort it out. Ether that or get a new computer that won't have this problem.

[Howard_Casto]

There was some discussion in this thread about older versions of MAME...

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=53349.0

Some of the highlights...

* 0.36 is recommended for EXTREMELY old machines
* 0.55 is good on low-end machines and seems to have 99% of games that people play with any regularity.
* 0.92 was the last version before the major sound re-write.
* 0.93 had the audio rewrite.
* 0.95 was a large input rewrite.
* 0.99 - Robotron blitter emulation fixed, which slowed the game down so it runs at the same speed as original.
* 0.106 was the last version before the video and artwork system was re-worked.
* 0.107 is the first full release for the new video code - the actual rewrite appeared in 0.106u1
* 0.108 hiscore.dat was removed (and replaced with save states).
* 0.112 CPS2 decryption was added.
* 0.116 was a big Donkey Kong update.
* 0.117 is the first full release with CPS3 decryption added.

TL;DR  if you have performance problems on older hardware, try 0.106, 0.92, or 0.55

I'll add one to the list

0.110 is the first version of mame to support the output system... so if you use ledblinky or mamehooker you can't go any earlier than this.