Looking for Advice on CPU.

[wonkalow]

So Im rebuilding my PC for my mame machine. I want to get it to a point where I can play the majority of the good CHD games. Blitz's, gauntlet legends, Golden tee etc. If I have to pay a lot I have no problem with that. But I want to get them running smoothly for as cheap as possible (not cheap, just cheap as I can, I understand cheap isnt possible for this).

After tons of reading (albeight im not bright and didnt understand the majority of it) I think I understand that the CPU is where the bulk of your performance is going to come from. I have an XFX MG-63MI-7109 Motherboard, and Crucial 3gb PC5400 DDR2 667MHz Memory. Which im assuming will work fine, like I said though I could very well be wrong.

The CPU I currently have I bought for a project PC, its an Intel Pentium D 940 3.20GHz Dual Core.

My question is. would I be best off buying a different CPU, or is it possible to overclock that cpu (through basic, safe means. Im a Computer tech in training so Im capable but not the best).

Also, Im thinking of Mounting the MB inside the cabinet rather than being in a case... Does that affect heat in a possitive/negative way ? Making it easier to OC?

Any advice I'd greatly appritiate.

[headkaze]

There are basically 3 ingredients you need for the fastest Mame

- Mame64 (Mame compiled for 64-bit architecture)
- 64 bit CPU like Core2 Duo or Quad. You want to aim for about 4Ghz. Quad Cores are not really taken advantage of in Mame yet.
- 64 bit OS like Vista 64 or (my favourite) XP 64

As for overclocking read the 4Ghz Core 2 Duo vs M.A.M.E. 0.120 (benchmark results) thread. Taz is our local overclocking expert so you would really need to ask him or someone on par about your possibilities of overclocking as RAM speed, motherboard, cooling, CPU, FSB speed, voltages, BIOS settings etc. all need to be taken into account to successfully overclock.

A Dual Core 3.2 Ghz with everything running on 64-bit would probably run Blitz at 100%. I get about 90% on my Dual Core E8400 running Mame64 + XP64. The sound stutters though so I would need to overclock to get that running at a decent speed.

[u_rebelscum]

There are basically 3 ingredients you need for the fastest Mame

...
- 64 bit CPU like your Pentium D 940 (It will overclock to a max of about 4.4 GHz depending on hardware though). You want to aim for about 4Ghz. Quad Cores are not really taken advantage of in Mame yet.

There is a HUGE difference between Core2^tm and pentium 4 cpus.  Don't confuse "dual core" with "Core2^tm"; a Core2^tm, be it solo, dual, or quad, has about twice the power per Ghz as a P4, dual or not.  The Pentium D is just dual core P4s.

Sorry, your Pentium D @ 3.2 is about the same as a Core2Duo @ 1.6 Ghz - 1.8 Ghz.  Over clocking to 4 Ghz will be like a Core2^tm @ 2.0 Ghz, still not quite blitz level.


[rant]  Intel should not have named the current cpu brand "Core".  Can you get more generic?  "Dual core Core2^tm" is not redundant, even though it sounds like it is.  "Dual core P4" sounds as good as Core2^tm, even though they are not close.  Trying to educate my parents and coworkers about the differences is just a case of    Way to go, Intel! [/rant]

[headkaze]

I had no idea the Pentium D wasn't Core Duo, oops my bad. So that would also mean it's not a 64-bit processor right?

[Goz]

The sweet spot for overclocking $ vs power is the E8400... all of them do a bare minimum of 3.6Ghz with no voltage bumps, etc... simply change the FSB and make sure your RAM timings are within tolerance. Most of them will do 3.8 - 3.9Ghz with little alterations to voltage / PCI-e settings. Price point for the E8400 is around $145

[u_rebelscum]

I had no idea the Pentium D wasn't Core Duo, oops my bad. So that would also mean it's not a 64-bit processor right?

It is a core duo, or a dual core. 
It is not "Core2"^tm, with the capital "C", "Core" brand. 

Intel did a good job confusing the two.