Performance differences between mame versions?

[menace]

I've heard that as each new mame version comes out the minimum pc requirements go up.  So if I'm running a p2-400 what would be the performance difference (just ball park it here) between mame .37b12 and mame .61--the .37b12 is when they added u.s. championship vball so thats as low as i want to go    I'm fairly confident .37b12 will run faster than .61 but if its only ever so slightly then i won't bother 'downgrading'  thanks!

[Howard_Casto]

for each whole number release (.6,.7,.8 ect) mame can (but not always) loose about 1-5% in terms of performance.   In all honesty though, this really only effects games that you could barely play as at least 50% of the games in mame will run easily on as little as a p 200 mhz.  So install .79 on the system... if your favorite games are just barely running or aren't quite fast enough to be playable then downgrade.  Otherwise don't bother as it's often more trouble than it's worth.  

[lokki]

Hi,
Another factor that affects MAME performance is emulation accuracy. Older versions of MAME may play certain games faster (MKII comes to mind) but newer versions are more accurate.

You may want to consider having two versions of MAME installed, and only play certain games in a the new version.

[menace]

thanks for the replies--I can see there isn't much to be gained by using older versions.

[lokki]

thanks for the replies--I can see there isn't much to be gained by using older versions.

With Older computers older version of MAME will be perform better.  If you can afford a newer computer then newer mame is the way to go.