running MAME 0.56 on P2 400mhz....is it worth upgrading to a P3 500mhz system?

[marknetwork]

Hello,

I am currently running MAME 0.56 on a P2 400Mhz system but I got a cheap P3 500Mhz system on ebay but the P2 is already all setup and it wouldn't be easy switching.  

Would upgrading from a P2 400mhz to a P3 500mhz system be worth it?  Would I be able to run better games than on the P2?

basically...is it worth changing the computer from hte P2 to the P3?

Thanks!
Mark

[SirPeale]

There are a lot of factors involved with such a question.  What kind of motherboard?  Memory?  Video card?

You could just try swapping out the old hard drive and video card to see any improvements.  That would be fairly easy.

[SirPoonga]

Also what games do you play that are currently slow that you would like to see run better?

[Howard_Casto]

No, not really.  

I mean you can, and might see some minimal performance, but honestly 400 mhz is slow.... 500 mhz is also slow.  By that I'm not mocking you.... there are just three "cusps" of processor speeds that effect mame games.  

Slow (600 mhz and below)  will run the older 80's games and possiibly the capcom and neogeo fighters.  

Medium (700 mhz to 1 gig)  get the newer midway games (mortal kombat) and the lightgun games (area51)  running at a playable speed.  

Fast(anything 2 gig or above)  will run everything that is playable (i.e. doesn't require a fictional 5 gig processor)  at decent speeds.  

If it's a lot of hassle I wouldn't bother.

[Lilwolf]

What you are looking at between two computers is this.

What games are now 100%.

You might find that you can now play another 100 - 500 games.

but finding them will be slow.  And there really isn't any good hardware required ratings for games.

A nice project might be somehting similar to the mame speed projects, but instead just rank them on one system... full speed... With the same video settings (no stretch, ect) and see how fast ingame the game will go.  So if your system barely runs game X, you can go down the list until it stops running well.

but you will probably need to run them on multiple systems.  And it would take  a bit of time.

[Tiger-Heli]

I agree with Howard_Casto (now there's a scary statement).

I've had machines in all three groups, btw.