MAME advice needed, older version support files

[Brad Lee]

So I've decided to quit trying to stay 'current' with mame versions and have decided that I'll probably go with .69. I'm still sorting through what games were added in the .70's so it may fluctuate by a few versions either way

Now then, I've got a full set of the .81 roms and samples, artworks etc, and am fully capable of reducing that set to whatever version I use, via clrmame/romcenter.
What I'm slightly concerned about is the "other" files used by mame, like the hiscore.dat, cheat.dat, and the like.

I'll use the cheat file as the example.. from the primary location(Pugsy's site) I can find cheat.dat's for 36, 37final, 54, 56, 67, as well as 81 which is only a few weeks old.
Would it be better to get the newest 81 version, or would it have changed and been made useless with an older version of mame? I'm assuming since it covers up to 81 that it'll have cheat info for a bunch of games newer than 69- will this have any effect on speed, or is it pretty optimized that it will just ignore games that dont exist yet

Also, will the front end be affected by the version Im using? Will the current version of MameWah play nicely with 69 for example?