MAME Benchmarking site updated (FINALLY!)

[elvis]

I pulled my finger out and finally got my MAME benchmarking site update.

http://benchmark.mameworld.net/

[edit] MAMEWorld is down, use the direct link here:
http://www.gamedude.com.au/arcade/benchmark/

It's now database driven, and accepts public entries.  Feel free to benchmark your own system(s) and upload the data for others to see. 

The aim is as always - a resource for folks to use if they ever have troubles choosing what hardware they want to run MAME on.

Don't feel the need to benchmark bleeding edge hardware/software only.  Benchmarks from old builds on old hardware are just as useful.  People don't always buy new hardware for MAME - sometimes they use old leftover stuff and want to get an idea of how it will run.

I knocked this up in a bit of a rush, so if something's broken, please let me know and I'll fix it ASAP.  Also if you're benchmarking on obscure hardware that's not listed on the site, let me know and I'll add it to the database.

Happy benching!

[brophog]

Actually, older hardware is probably more helpful for a few reasons.

One, people use it more, as elvis said. But second, almost everything runs on older hardware with very few exceptions. Think of your favorite games and almost none of them require newer hardware to run........on any version of mame.

[Silver]

Hey, you could add RB's results on his new Conroe (Core 2 Duo).... probably the fastest way in the world to play mame right now....

http://rbelmont.mameworld.info/

[elvis]

Hey, you could add RB's results on his new Conroe (Core 2 Duo).... probably the fastest way in the world to play mame right now....

http://rbelmont.mameworld.info/

I'll email hit today and get permission.  As soon as that's confirmed I'll add them.

[edit] I notice he uses the -nosound option.  That affects the benchmarks (for some games it can more than double the end result, depending on audio hardware).

I'll try and get a hold of a Conroe core and repeat the tests myself.

[MiKman]

Is the benchmarking site currently down?  all I get is the following:

ERROR
The requested URL could not be retrieved

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

While trying to retrieve the URL: http://benchmark.mameworld.net/

The following error was encountered:

Connection Failed
The system returned:

    (110) Connection timed outThe remote host or network may be down. Please try the request again.

Your cache administrator is root.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Generated Fri, 18 Aug 2006 17:53:20 GMT by zipcache.ztnet.com (squid/2.5.STABLE10)

[horseboy]

All mameworld sites are down at the moment. I have no idea why, though?

[AaronGiles]

[edit] I notice he uses the -nosound option.  That affects the benchmarks (for some games it can more than double the end result, depending on audio hardware).

I'll try and get a hold of a Conroe core and repeat the tests myself.

That's the least of your troubles. -nosound has very little effect on speed anymore. Plus, the options are significantly different now, so your old command line is useless as well. You'll need to update your methodology before you can hope to get any kind of consistent results with modern builds.

[Howard_Casto]

Agreed...

Regardless this is a futile effort anyway.  The only way to have a truely useful database is to have someone (or a team of someones) try every single game on every single version of mame toggling on/off every single speed effecting option, with a wide range of computers with different specs and processors. 

I can tell you from experience on controls.dat you might get 10 people to help you on a regular basis and the fact that your project actually requires different pcs to test makes it an even harder thing to tackle. 

In the words of sir bender:  "Thou art royally boned."

[elvis]

Plus, the options are significantly different now, so your old command line is useless as well. You'll need to update your methodology before you can hope to get any kind of consistent results with modern builds.

Yeah, I know.  I slapped a quick disclaimer up on the "howto" page saying it's out of date.

If I get time this weekend I'll throw some commands up for benchmarking MAME under various operating systems for various builds.  Obviously if old and new builds are going to be in the database, there needs to be a guide for each of the major core changes, with 0.107 being a good example of such a thing.

Regardless this is a futile effort anyway.

I can tell you from experience on controls.dat you might get 10 people to help you on a regular basis and the fact that your project actually requires different pcs to test makes it an even harder thing to tackle. 

All good there.  There's quite a number of folks who have submitted benchmarks in the past manually.  I was quite surprised at the feedback actually.  I've been in contact with some of them again and they are keen to take up the cause and keep contributing.

Recently I also made a self-running CDROM that benchmarks various games.  I handed it out to a number of geek mates, and they emailed me the results.  When I get time, I'll add that data too.

The beauty is that the contributors don't need a great deal of technical knowledge.  As soon as I get the howto part fixed, it's a matter of copy, paste, submit.

Once there's enough data in the database I'm going add a few other searches to play with the results.  As they say, there are lies, damned lies, and then there are statistics.  But I think it will be fun to see what interpolation of the data will try to "predict" about future MAME builds and future hardware.  Always good for a laugh.

All mameworld sites are down at the moment. I have no idea why, though?

Yeah it looks like the whole of mame/mameworld sits behind the same reverse proxy or something.  Everything seems busted at the moment. 

If you want to get to just the database itself, it's hosted on a different server:
http://www.gamedude.com.au/arcade/benchmark/

Despite numerous emails the MW kids never got back to me about database access (part of the reason it took so long to change the site).  So instead I slapped it up elsewhere for the meantime.